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Senator
Iyorchia Ayu
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President of the Senate in
the Third Republic, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, tells SUNDAY ABORISADE that
Nigeria requires a leader that will organize its human and natural resources
for a desired transformation
Are you proud to be
a Nigerian?
Yes,
I am very proud to be a Nigerian. I was born before independence. I lived
through the colonial era as a kid. I witnessed the difficult crisis we went
through in the First Republic. Later, I witnessed the Civil War as a matured
young man. In spite of the entire crisis we went through, I think we have done
enough in building the fabric of Nigeria and I have great hopes that Nigeria is
going to be one of the great countries not just in Africa, but in the whole
world. Therefore, we should never despair when we face challenges.
Are you a citizen of
another country apart from Nigeria?
No,
I will never take the citizenship of any other country. Nigeria has done so
much for me. The country trained me educationally, it has offered me political
opportunities to serve, first as a minister in four different ministries, later
as a senator, and then as president of the senate. I consider myself a Nigerian
statesman and I cannot adulterate it with the citizenship of another country.
What is your opinion
about the leaders we have had since independence?
There
are failures, there are challenges and there are also successes. If you look at
what our fathers who fought for independence and ruled us briefly did, you will
discover that the foundation they laid was not a particularly strong one,
coupled with the fact that subsequent ambitious military officers carried out
series of distortions probably because they were too young. They actually
pulled us back. However, in spite of everything, we have recorded quite a
number of successes. The unfortunate thing is that we dwell more on failures
than on the achievements we have made over the years.
The
biggest assets of a country are its human resources. We have built tremendous
human capabilities in every field of endeavour that you can think of. From just
four universities in the country at independence, we have well over 100 all
over Nigeria now. We also have a number of polytechnics and Colleges of
Education, which goes to show that we have a pool of trained manpower. The only
regret is that the growth rate in the economic sector does not encourage
maximum use of the manpower.
How well has Nigeria
fared in the last 57 years as a nation?
Fifty-seven
years is actually a limited time to assess our greatness as a nation. Let me
speak about the United Kingdom that colonized us. I was a student in England
for about five years and I was shocked to see that there were so many
illiterates all over the place. There were more than three million illiterates
in England at the close of the 1980s and we had a similar statistics in the
United States, which is supposed to be the greatest country on earth. Hurricane
Katrina revealed the dark side of the US when we saw the massive poverty in New
Orleans. It is not that everything is also rosy in the countries that we are
celebrating across the globe. There is massive poverty and degradation there. too.
I
believe that if you look at Nigeria today, we are much more united than people
think, especially among the younger generation. If you were invited to 10
wedding ceremonies, eight of them would be cross-cultural marriages; some of
them would be across religious divides. The National Youths Service Corps,
which was put in place when I was an undergraduate, has produced so many
cross-cultural people. In fact, today, my argument is that we don’t need the
NYSC again because Nigerians are now willing to work anywhere, marry anywhere
and settle anywhere in the country.
If
you look at our football teams in the 1970s, you will discover that most
players in the IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan were Yoruba, while players of the
Enugu Rangers were Igbo. Now, the story has changed. These are small gains
which are significant in strengthening the social fabric of the nation. Nigeria
is becoming more and more united and integrated now than the situation we had
in the past.
What is your view about
today’s leaders compared to the situation at independence?
Nigerians
are ready to work under a good leader now, but the unfortunate dimension now is
leadership. We have not produced leadership that will qualitatively lift us
forward. I believe that if we were fortunate with “digital” leadership, we will
not be where we are today. All along, we have had “analogue” leaders. We need a
“digital” leader that will take us to the end of the 21st century. I believe we
will soon have one.
What do you mean by a
digital leader?
A
digital leader is somebody who is forward-looking, contemporary, understands
the issues, has the capability, and is well trained. He will see Nigeria as his
own constituency, not just his village. He is somebody who can proudly copy
best practices, whether from China, Ireland or anywhere. Look at what is
happening in China, which was a very backward country up to 1979. A great
leader emerged afterwards and transformed it to a great country that everybody
respects today. I believe that we need such a forward-looking leader who has a
vision, competence and the capability of mobilizing everybody towards the
direction of progress. Once that happens, all forms of agitations will
disappear.
What is your view on true
federalism and how can we achieve it?
There
are more than 80 federations in the world. No single federation is the same.
Each is premised on its own history and peculiarities. If you look at the Swiss
Confederation, it is almost like a confederation where decisions are taken at
very small country levels. The Australian federation is different. The South
African federation is different as is that of the United States of America.
There is nothing like a standardized federalism that some people are talking
about. Every nation works out things based on its history.
We
have been restructuring Nigeria even before the British left. There were about
six amalgamations. The 1914 amalgamation was the ultimate one, but there were
several others in the South and in the North just to bring people together.
Later, we divided into regions. Unfortunately, if we are going to blame anybody
for the over-centralization that everybody is complaining about, it is Aguiyi
Ironsi, a military head of state from the South-East. He was the one that
enacted the unitary decree that pulled everybody together. He saw Nigeria as a
military structure. Subsequent military regimes continued from where he
stopped.
What do you think about
calls for restructuring?
The
restructuring that people are talking about now is a misnomer. What we should
be advocating is devolution of power. More powers should be given to the
states. People thought if we returned to the 1963 constitution, everything
would be in order, which is not correct. What we lacked now is purposeful
leadership. We need someone who has the capacity to galvanize Nigeria into its
greatness.
What do we need to do so
that Nigeria will be on a par with other nations that were on the same level with us at independence?
In
history, empires rise and fall; nations go up, nations go down. Great nations
of today may become backward tomorrow and another one may emerge. The Asian
Tigers, for instance, took certain definite steps whether in agriculture,
manufacturing or finance. We need to learn from them. It is not as if we should
copy everything about them because some of their policies may not be applicable
to Nigeria. If we have a leader who believes in collective leadership or that
believes in the best brains that Nigeria has, a roadmap that would move Nigeria
forward could be worked out. Countries like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and
Malaysia that have moved forward so rapidly do not have the resource base of
Nigeria. They don’t have the agricultural, water, mineral and human resources
that we have in abundance here. We have greater potentials; what we need
is someone that will transform them to reality.
Are you saying that we
have not been able to produce any leader that can carry out such a reform since
independence?
So
far, if you look at the types of leaders that have ruled Nigeria as president
since independence, realistically, they are not good enough to transform
Nigeria. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo unfortunately did not lead Nigeria as a
country, otherwise this country would have been greater than this by now. He
showed leadership, was very educated and well prepared, and very organized
also. He made tremendous impact on his immediate region and moved it forward.
Even in the context of Nigeria today, that impact is still there. The blueprint
he had was still being followed by the subsequent generations. It clearly
showed that if he had ruled Nigeria, his transformation in the Western region
would have reflected across the country.
As a former Senate
President, what is your assessment of the roles of the National Assembly during
your time and now?
Nigerians are unfairly criticizing the National Assembly. Lawmakers only make laws; they cannot go ahead and implement them. There are many bills passed by the National Assembly in the last 16 years which were not implemented. There is a symbiotic relationship between the legislature and the executive. I believe that most of the problems between the two arms of government emanated from the executive. The legislature is an institution that has been trying to find its feet over the years. I think the National Assembly, so far, is doing its best. The criticisms mainly are against its annual budget, which if pulled together, does not even add up to what the executive spends through two ministries in a year.
Source: The PUNCH
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