One of the greatest mistakes Nigerian political leaders continue to make is the belief that the salvation of the country lies in the hands of the developed economies of this world. Every now and then, the Nigerian president, ministers and governors jet out of the country in pursuit of investors and investment. They also go begging for grants and aids. Since the return of Nigeria to civil rule in 1999, the country has signed uncountable memoranda of understanding (MoU) with different countries and groups. Most of these MoU ended as soon as the ink of the pens with which they were signed got dried.
They have forgotten that a country that manufactures gun and ammunition would always want to sell their products to sustain themselves. So, it would be out of place to approach such a country talking about how they could help restore peace to your country. The best they would always do is to sell you their wares to continue killing yourselves! Or how can you go to a country that manufactures generating sets (generators) to seek their help on how to end power problem in your country? It does not make sense. Nigerian leaders have been globe-trotting looking for help where none would ever come. And they hardly learn their lessons.
A former president Olusegun Obasanjo, last Thursday, at an event to mark his 83rd birthday, pointed out that it was futile for any nation to depend on another nation for her development.
Telling the story of African backwardness, Nigeria in the main, Obasanjo used the old third world countries of Asia such as Malaysia, Vietnam and South-Korea that were of same level with Nigeria to drive his message home.
He recalled that “Malaysia which was worse before we gained Independence in 1960; South Korea which was below us; Vietnam which was in war and we looked at all these and we wrote a book (The Asian Aspiration)” have all left Nigeria behind.
While making some comments on Pan-Africanism and Liberal Democracy, the ex-president noted that Pan-Africanism is like a binding cable that connects five African countries with other Africans in the Diaspora which should be used to the advantage of all Africans without discrimination, saying whatever democracries that are being practised in Nigeria and Africa, it must be finetuned to cater for African needs and suit their diversity.
“The point is this, whether it is liberal democracy or globalisation or even democracy, as they practise it, even with them, no two democracies are the same.
“Now, whether we should redefine our democracy or not, I don’t know. But can we have a democracy that satisfies our needs? I think that is the point. It can be defined in our own way to satisfy ourselves and we must be careful when we are doing that. Whatever we define for ourselves, when we are doing that, there will be hues and cries. They will call us names. They will do all sorts of things,” he pointed out.
According to him, “Lee Kuan Yew, founding Prime Minister of Singapore was a good friend of mine. When Lee Kuan Yew was moving in the Mid – 1970s, I was in Singapore in 1974. There was no name they didn’t call him and he worried. When Singapore now moved from Third World to the First World, Lee Kuan Yew wrote a book titled – From Third World to First World – they all shared and basked in the success of Singapore.
“Now, if we do something not too far away but radical enough to meet our needs and we succeed, they will grudgingly accept us. But if we do and fail, we will be on our own”.
The former president further said: “What we must realise is that the world will not wait for us. They will not want us to succeed because if we succeed, then we have taken something away”.
