Nigeria’s devt is disappointing — Kwande
Former Ambassador of Nigeria to Switzerland, Yahaya Kwande, has described Nigeria’s level of development since independence as disappointing. Kwande, who spoke to Daily Trust from Cairo- Egypt, said it appears Nigeria keeps moving forward and backwards at the same time.
“I remember in the 70’s/80’s, standing in Spain airport when I saw our aircraft; the Nigerian Airways landing beautifully with everyone admiring it. That was the pride of Africa then, but today, we don’t even have any national airline, this is a disappointment,” he said.
Kwande said apart from the air carrier which the country now lacks, it was disappointing that the country has virtually no shipping line while the pride of its citizens is depleted.
“When we used to travel to England and they would say this is a Nigerian, you would find people of other African neighbouring states admiring us but now, the pride is gone because the whole world seems to be talking about Nigeria in the negative.”
The former ambassador blamed the country’s woes, largely on political leaders who he described as greedy with poor judgement for the country’s vast talents adding that, “we have forgotten our past and we are confused today not knowing what will happen in the future due to the insecurity in the country.”
“Yes, Nigeria needs strong institutions,” he said, adding that; “but the country also needs strong and courageous leaders because it is the leaders that make the institutions. However, the problem is that people go into government not wanting to push the ordinary man from the poverty level; they go there to make themselves rich. That is why Nigerian citizens must rethink and start to vote for people with courage that will move this country forward.”
Kwande added that it was a poor excuse to say Nigeria was only a few decades old.
“When did Dubai get to where it is today, competing with America and other western civilisations? What happened that within just 20 years, Dubai went far? we must learn from the successes and mistakes of other people and countries,” he said. An elder statesman and former minister of information, Chief Edwin Clark, said there is nothing to celebrate about Nigeria's 59th independence anniversary.
Clark, who spoke with Daily Trust in a telephone interview yesterday, said many countries which got independence the same time with Nigeria were more advanced.
He said though Nigeria remained one as a country, it was divided along religious, ethnic and other lines, adding that all hands must be on deck to end the challenges bedevilling the nation.
"We have to be happy that we are still together; we are alive. But with regards to the progress we have made so far, I can say that there is nothing to celebrate because we are lagging behind.
"Other countries that got independence at the same time with us are more advanced. We are the largest country in Africa, and there is no reason we should not advance.
"In the First Republic, we were making progress. There were three regions; the North, the West and the East. The three regions were working at their own pace. We had so much development going on in the country. There was no division.
"So, if today we restructure this country, I think we will be back to the 1963 situation where we had a federal system of government with fiscal federalism. So that is my position.
"Today, there is no much progress; the states are not developing. We have a situation where you have over 10 million out-of-school children. The federal government has taken over agriculture but they are not making any headway. They have taken over free primary and secondary education; these are jobs for state governments.
"So, as far as I am concerned, we are behind other countries. Today, we are the capital of poverty in the world; it's a disgrace to us. But we thank God we are together though we are divided by religion and ethnicity. So, actually we have nothing to celebrate," Clark said.