Dr. Rotimi Olulana is a former governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State. In this interview with BOLA BADMUS and JEPHTHAH BAREYEI, he speaks on Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary, the gains and losses recorded in the journey to nationhood. He also speaks on the two years of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, declaring that the country can still attain its potential with the right leadership. Excerpts:
Nigeria just marked its 65th independence anniversary on October 1. Looking at the journey so far, how pleased are you with the journey so far?
To me, I will say thank you to the Lord because I believe that it is by the grace of God that we are all alive today. Fortunately, enough, the 1st of October 1960 was my birthday, so when you are talking to me about Nigeria’s Independence, you are talking to the child of independence. So, it is through the grace of God that I am alive today to witness the 65th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence, and I believe that every Nigerian, no matter what level you find yourself, should be happy to witness this day. Then, I would like to say that it is true that we have gone through a lot of trauma, that is, ups and downs of leadership system – different leadership of the country – however, I believe Rome wasn’t built in a day, I believe it is a gradual step, some will come and put all their efforts to make it work. If you look back, you will see that we have a series of military governments before the advent of civilian government. The military government that we have experienced right from 1960, we had one that was led by General Aguiyi Ironsi. After Ironsi, we had some crises that brought in General Yakubu Gowon at the end General Yakubu Gowon. We had the civil war when General Gowon came in, and we were able to enjoy some kind of peace. After that, we had other series of governments like the one led by General Murtala Muhammed, which was quite brief, you know, but the few months he spent in power, I think every Nigerian appreciated what he was doing.
And following that, we had General Obasanjo’s government. Obasanjo’s government tried to put things right but to me, as much as I can see what really happened during this period of years, I can tell you that Gowon’s government was able to do a lot of things that one can physically see today, just like I can also say categorically that the Ibrahim Babangida’s government which came later equally tried its best. I can say categorically that they have all tried. I can say that the government of General Yakubu Gowon, General Murtala Muhammed, which later metamorphosed to Obasanjo’s regime, offered good leadership to the country. Then we had another civilian government at the time that was led by Alhaji Shehu Shagari; his government equally tried to do a lot of programmes, most especially his Green Revolution, and so on. But I think the governments that have come, they’ve all tried one way or the other to put things right, but I want to say congratulations to the then government of Western Nigeria because that is the government that one can say had done perfectly well and one can physically see those projects on ground till today, and I am referring to then government of Western Region headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. With the few years he has spent in power up till today, no one can doubt his integrity. He was a very sound leader and a man who had the ambition of becoming the president of the country, but was not able to get there. I say congratulations to his then government because we can see what Chief Awolowo did when he was in charge of the leadership of the Western Region. So, to me, I believe that everything that has a beginning will always have an end.
In specific terms, what would you regard as the gains, the benefits, since Nigeria gained independence from the British government?
Well, I can say that educationally, we have been able to move forward, because it is the foundation, and that is why I am referring to the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s government in the then Western Region. He was the one who introduced free, qualitative education, and that was part of what I enjoyed because I remember I benefited from the primary education, which was introduced by Chief Awolowo. Remember also that during the Second Republic, the same thing was also introduced in the states controlled by the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by Chief Awolowo. And that’s why the Western Region, whether in the 1950s or the 70’s under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had been able to have sound, qualitative, free education, and that is one of the benefits which I and several others had been part and parcel of. And it is a gain that today we can say that when we look at the educational advancement of the nation, the Western Region carries the flag; it is an achievement.
Ibrahim Babangida would have been the number one president in Nigeria today, but he collapsed his entire sweat through the nullification of the June 12 election. He would have been the best president ever produced in Nigeria, as far as I am concerned, because I remember vividly how he ran that government and what was going on in the country. We were able to see things happen economically, physically, infrastructure-wise, and the establishment of different institutions of learning. Go back to records, Ibrahim Babangida was the best, but the nullification of the June 22 election won by the Late MKO Abiola became his administration’s albatross, and that is why he became the worst leader ever produced because he refused to announce Abiola the winner of the best election that ever took place in the country. But I think recently we can all see the outcome because he had been able to come out and tell the whole world that Abiola was the winner of that election. Unfortunately, there is no justice in our land.
At Independence, every Nigerian was full of hope that Nigeria was going to be better with their leaders being in control instead of the colonialists. They expected a lot of developments and a lot of things that would happen so that Nigerians would become a transformed country, but have we achieved much 65 years after?
What I can say in that respect is that we have not been able to make a solid achievement that we are supposed to make, but that is not the wrongdoing of Nigerian leadership, no!
So, who do we blame for that?
The colonial masters who brought the so-called Independence are the real people, not only Nigerians. What they have done is totally against the development of every country in Africa because they programmed it. They made sure that people who were educated, well-enlightened, were not allowed to take over leadership of the country; it’s all about all their operational systems. They have their eyes on our resources, and that is the bottom line. They are far interested in how to rake our resources from us; they are not interested in the development of our country in any form, they are after those who can listen to them and carry out their own plans. These are the people they allowed to get to the leadership positions in the country.
Should we still blame the colonialists 65 years after, and is what you described still going on now?
Indirectly, can I tell you? Indirectly, it is still going on. If you look at France, it colonized some countries, such as Niger, and so on. You can see what those countries are doing now. The young people who came up in those countries, even though they were not elected, discovered that these colonial masters had no good plan for their countries, and this is why they disagreed totally to allow them (colonial masters) to be in control of their resources anymore. So, if in Nigeria, if tomorrow we can be able to do the same thing, I can assure you that there will be a tremendous achievement if we have honest leadership, people who are dedicated to the progress of Nigeria. The colonial masters, with their evil machinations, have put their plans and programmes into process, which they are following diligently because what they are after is what they can rake from our countries in Africa. So, the white people do not have an interest in the development of your Individual countries in Africa.
But they achieved some infrastructural development in Nigeria before independence in 1960?
They were able to put up leadership that had no standard education to diligently follow the progress and development of the land. They put their puppets, that is what they succeeded in doing against Nigeria, and we are all witnesses. Today, really, I don’t want to go deep into that because it might look as if it is a tribal statement. But no, we all know the truth, we know what is happening, we understand the system. They believed that they should give power to the group that would ensure their plans and programmes would continue to manifest in every system or whatever system of government, whether military or civilian, so that was what they did to us.
Before the 1966 coup, from your statement, the Western Region was moving ahead, based on the type of system that was in place then. Now, as of today, things are not working right, and people are actually calling for the reintroduction of the parliamentary system. Is that the way out for Nigeria, and how do you think we can achieve that?
Well, I am not part of those who believe that a system of government is our problem; the system of government is not our problem. Our problem is dishonesty, selfishness, which bedeviled the hearts of those who have access to leadership of the country; that is our problem. It is not the system, yeah! If you are determined to be a committed leader to the progress of your society, or whatever level of leadership you find yourself, if you determined to be honest, if you determined to be dedicated to the progress and success of your society, nobody can push you around, you will follow the trend of the kind of leadership that can give the best to your society. But if you follow the trend that you met on the ground, which is, get there and have your master, whom you are reporting to, then they give you the guide on how to go about it. So when you have about N10 billion to spend as a local government chairman, then in that N10 billion, it may mean that you have to go and give N6billion to the man who put you in that seat. This is because most of the people you are seeing today who find themselves in the position of governorship or whatever level of government were sponsored by one political leader here and there, through godfatherism. Before you know what is happening, what is left in your kitty out of N10billion is N2billion or N1.5billion, and you will have to take your own share, and that is why there is nothing left for society to develop the community, because you have little to spend.
So, what you are saying is that this lack of development has nothing to do with the presidential system of government or the parliamentary system of government?
It has nothing to do with all that; it is all about leadership, that is, the person in the seat of power. If we have a good president, assuming Chief Awolowo emerged as one or someone in that class, the country would be better run.