'This is not the Nigeria we dreamt of at independence'

In this interview with John Shiklam, the
Chairman of the Northern States
Christian Elders Forum (NOSCEF),
Evangelist Matthew Owojaiye, speaks
on Nigeria at 53, insisting Nigerians
have not realised their dreams at
independence as a result of corruption
and bad leadership
Nigeria is celebrating its 53 years as an
independent nation, as a young man in
the 1960s, what were your expectations
at independence?
We had a national anthem that time part
of which goes thus: “Help us to build a
nation, where no man is bound, though
tribe and tongue may differ, in
brotherhood we stand”. We were so
excited, carrying the Nigerian flag that
time as we sang this Anthem. Our
expectation that time was that of
oneness, we were hoping for a great
nation. We were hoping for a country
where we will see ourselves as one and
work together to develop it, a country
where everybody will make his input to
develop it. We were very happy that the
British colonialists were going away and
Nigeria was an independent nation.
We were so happy that we were going to
be equal to the white man who was
lording it over us. We were dreaming of
a nation that will compete with other
nations in all aspects of development.
We dreamt of a nation of a happy and
united people. These were our
expectations at that time. Unfortunately,
it is a very sad story since the colonial
masters left us 53 years ago.
What was responsible for these failed
dreams, what really went wrong?
One of the basic reasons for our failure
is bad leadership. We got independence
from the whiteman and we became
slaves to blackman. For a blackman to
make his brother a slave is a horrible
thing. We have not made the progress
we anticipated. How many kilometres
have we added to the railway that the
British left behind 53 years ago? Our
young people today are

disillusioned.
When we were growing up things were
good. In those days, once you get your
A ‘Level (Advance Level) certificate, you
will go straight to the university. When
you graduate, a job and a brand new
car is waiting for you. We never heard of
graduates being jobless. The salary was
low, but the purchasing power was high.
Today, nothing seems to be working
well, there is high level of
unemployment, poverty, crime and so
on.
Corruption was very minimal in those
days and those found to be corrupt
were never spared. Now corruption has
become the norm and corrupt people
are being glorified and held in high
esteem. Our value system has
collapsed. There is corruption
everywhere and a society that thrives on
corruption will never make any
meaningful progress. Look at the way
they are stealing crude oil. One third of
the crude oil is being stolen, the one that
is not stolen, when they want to ship it
abroad, we don’t know the quantity they
shipped. They can load 1,250 barrels
and hide 1000 barrels. Between the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), our money is stolen. When it gets
to the Federal Government, before they
share it with the states, some money is
stolen, when the states get their share,
they will steal part of the amount for
local governments, the contractor will
steal his own and no meaningful
development takes place. So stealing is
going on everywhere.
In those days, we had leaders who
believed in Nigeria. They believed in
serving their people. Awolowo believed
in making the West the best place,
Sardauna saw what Awolowo was doing
and wanted to make the North better
than the South-west. I went to
Government College, Keffi from 1963 to
1967 and we were paying only three
pounds as school fees. When you are
going to the school, the native authority
will give you money to go to the school.
If you are going back for holiday, the
school will give you transport money to
go back. During that time, we were
given everything, uniforms, books,
feeding etc free. Now, what has
happened? The public schools which
produced the ruling elites have
collapsed as a result of corruption. Can
you imagine 200 children sitting on the
ground in the class! Let me tell you, a
Grade II Teacher of those days is better
than the NCE graduates of today.
Secondary school leavers of those days
are much better than degree holders of
today. So, what have we achieved all
these years?
So, what is responsible? How did we
miss it?
We don’t have patriotic leaders in this
country. How many houses and cars did
Sardauna and Tafawa Balewa acquired?
Their children schooled in Nigeria. So
we don’t have leaders. We don’t have
leaders that want to make Nigeria great.
We don’t have people who are masses
oriented. Where are the likes of the
radical Aminu Kano, the likes of Hajiya
Gambo Sawaba and several others
today? The types of leaders we have
today are greedy and self-centred
people who are only interested in
primitive acquisition of wealth at the
expense of the people and the nation.
We didn’t have many hospitals in those
days but they were good. Today our
hospitals have become mortuaries. The
masses are being oppressed; at
independence we didn’t think that
Nigerians will be subjected to this kind
of oppression by their leaders.
Because of the failure of leadership at all
levels, terrible things are happening to
us today. It was very strange when Dele
Giwa was killed by bomb, today people
are being killed by bombs. We never
heard of kidnapping, but today people
are being kidnapped rampantly. We are
retrogressing instead of progressing.
When I went to Government College,
Keffi we had people from all tribes and
religion and we saw ourselves as
brothers and friends. We didn’t know
anything about tribal and religious
differences. Now we have turned our
children against each other. People are
killing in the name of religion. Nobody
wants to see the other. The civil service
was a place of pride and honour. Now
we have over employed people in the
civil service. Where two people are
supposed to work, ten people are
employed there. There is no efficiency
except corruption. The civil servants of
those days served the nation with
dedication and integrity. But now it has
been bastardised and people are
stealing mercilessly, including the
stealing of pension for those who have
retired from work. This is very callous.
How many of our youths are looking up
to tomorrow with joy? You have 1.5
million of them who want to enter the
university or polytechnic but only half a
million of them can be admitted. The
rest of them will remain at home. Those
who get the admission don’t even know
when they will graduate because of
incessant strike by the Academic Staff
Union of University (ASUU). If ASUU is
not on strike, non academic staff will go
on strike, the same thing with the
polytechnics. How can a responsible
government make agreement in 2009
and still fighting over the
implementation of the agreement four
years after? So for me, Nigeria is in a
bad shape.
What do you think is the way forward for
the country?
We need to do a rethink and chart a new
course. That is why 2014 is very
important because Nigeria will be 100
years by next year since the
amalgamation. I am of the opinion that
we need to sit down at a sovereign
national conference and ask ourselves
whether we still want to live together as
one entity. If we want to live together we
must all agree on certain terms - all of
us must agree to be equal partners. We
must agree to stop all these terrible
things that have continued to be a clog
in the wheel of progress to the nation. If
we want to separate, we don’t need to
carry guns to separate, we should use
biro and signed it and separate
peacefully without bloodshed.
The way things are, we are at a cross
road. How many of those who are
parading themselves as patriots and
leaders truly have the interest of this
country at heart. A lot of them are not fit
to be in leadership positions. We have
lost out. So we must sit down and
discuss and evolve a system that will
move Nigeria forward. Which legacy are
these so called leaders leaving behind?
Today we are still talking about the
legacies of Awolowo, Sardauna and
others because of their exemplary
leadership and their achievements which
are still glaring till today. Today we are
still talking of Audu Bako because of the
irrigation revolution he embarked upon
in Kano during his days as military
governor. What can you pinpoint as the
legacy of the present crop of leaders that
we have today? The North held power
for so many years, what did they
achieve for the North? The North has
more local governments than the
southern part of the country yet the
region has remained very poor and
backward in everything compared to
other parts of the country.
Why do they want power to come to the
North again having ruled the country for
many years? To me, every zone should
hold office for eight years. I don’t care
whether power comes back to the North
or not, let the South-South do their two
terms, then we move to the East, let
them do their own, then power will come
to the North and it will be the turn of the
northern Christians because the North
has produced nine presidents, only one
of them, Gen. Yakubu Gowon is a
Christian.
We need to adopt this system because
our leaders have become so sectional
that once they are in power, they pay
more attention to the development of the
section they come from. If Nigerian
leaders strive to ensure the development
of all sections of the country, all the
agitation about powershift or rotation
would not have arisen. If a governor is
developing the entire state other than his
locality, nobody will be shouting that it
is their turn to produce the governor in
the next election.
Look at Niger State with a large
population of Christians, but both the
governor and deputy governor are
Muslims. This is very insulting to the
Christians and these are some of the
things that cause disaffection and
agitation. So it is time for us to sit down
and discuss and chart a new direction
for a great nation.

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