How Nigeria can be great again, by Maitama Sule, Ofonagoro, others

By Michael Eboh Abuja—Elder statesmen, religious leaders and economists, yesterday, called for the re-adoption of the 1960 constitution, and asked that the country returned to agreements reached during the independence, if Nigeria must attain greatness, surmount its political, economic and social crisis and also achieve true national integration. Maitama Sule These were the views of Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Walter Ofonagoro, Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa, Mrs. Sarah Jubril and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah at the 2016 Annual General Meeting/Conference of Nigerian Institute for Public Relations, NIPR, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, chapter in Abuja. Specifically, elder statesman,  Sule lamented that the norms and values inherited from the nation’s founding fathers had been thrown overboard. He explained that Nigerians used to have leaders who had the interest of the country at heart, not party or selfish interest, adding that before independence, Nigeria was not immuned to crisis but that because of the quality of the country’s leaders then, the crises were resolved amicably. He said: “This was not the Nigeria we knew; things have fallen apart and we need to reverse that. We do not have leaders that we used to have, where, despite all the challenges the country faced then, it was able to overcome.” He expressed optimism that Nigeria would be truly united one day, adding that it would succeed and occupy the country’s pride of place in the comity of nations, if there are good leaders. Also speaking, Bishop Kukah said efforts should be made towards building a united, peaceful and just country, with everybody seen to be surrendering to the constitution of the country. Speaking in the same vein, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that keeping Nigeria one was a task for all by ensuring that all groups shared a common vision for the collective development of the country. Mohammed, who was represented by the Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said, “Emphasising state of origin in government applications for resource allocations must give way to state of residence; Federal, states and local governments should stop patronising any religion or get involved in religious activities. In his own submission, Ofonagoro lamented the precarious economic situation the country was in today, noting that ”the citizens of the country should be ashamed of themselves, because we could do much better than what we see today.” “The erection of churches and mosques in offices should be stopped. Religion is a personal matter and our 1999 constitution says clearly that we are a secular nation. He bemoaned the fact that despite the end of the Nigerian civil war, the country has been saddled with 50 years of military rule, as according to him, the officers who took power in 1966, and their loyal aides, have taken turns to rule Nigeria, with some ruling twice.