At independence, Nigeria operated a parliamentary system. There was the senate and House of Representatives at the federal level. At the regional level, there was the house of assembly and the house of chiefs. The tragedy of that constitution was that the Queen of England was the head of state and there was a governor-general who represented the Queen and a prime minister as head of government.

Once upon a time, before the era of coups and counter coups in pre-oil Nigeria, there were four financially independent regions, namely: Northern Region, Western Region, Mid-Western Region, and Eastern Region. They all maximised their unique comparative advantages for the development of their respective societies and for the overall development of the national economy. It was a situation of “live and let live”.

FIFTY SIX years after independence, we are more polarised than ever along ethnic and religious lines, a fantastically corrupt nation desiring to change and eliminate corruption, yet discovering that we want corruption back, in spite of the abundance of human natural, and mineral resources God has blessed us with.

Just today (Wednesday the 28th of September, 2016) the World Economic Forum released its Global Competitiveness Report and whereas a number of African nations like Kenya (of whom we are very quick to compare ourselves positively) improved in the Global Competitiveness Index rankings, Nigeria slipped three places and is now ranked 127 out of 138 nations.

AMONG other perspectives, society is said to be a construct of conflicting interests and influences. The combination of such divergent energies invariably powers the locomotive that takes society in the direction and destination, which its leaders and inhabitants and even ‘well-wishers’ are willing and prepared to steer it.