Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, has warned that Nigeria needs a major overhaul if it is to progress.
This was the topic of Makinde’s remarks at Thursday’s 12th Annual Zik Lecture in Awka.
According to jerrymusa.com the governor claims that Nigeria has remained mostly unchanged for sixty years after gaining independence, despite suffering through a civil war and numerous elections.
He spoke highly of the late Nnamdi Azikiwe, describing him as “the Zik of Africa” who battled for Nigeria’s unity.
He stated, “Right now, if Nigeria is to progress, a complete reorganisation of the country is required. Right now, we need to discuss which organisational setup will serve us best.
Zik was a lively guy who always wanted to rock with the times. What would Zik be saying to us right now if he were still alive and had some sway over Nigeria? Zik will not be among those advocating for a partition of Nigeria because a candidate from his region lost the popular vote.
What we have to do is unite not just Nigeria but all of Africa. I seriously doubt that Zik will instruct us to split up Nigeria. If we had listened to what Zik said in the past, there would never have been a problem with race.
He elaborated by saying that the high ethnicity is due to the centralization of power.
The great degree of ethnic diversity is due to the centralization of power. What would have occurred if XYZ had been elected president? How can we embrace the constructive rivalry that exists between us to advance the country?
He was born in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria, and became known as the “Zik of Africa.” Eastern Nigeria was his place of origin. We can see why he was so patriotic and why he thought of Nigeria as a single, indivisible nation.
In the year 2023, the country has recently recovered from yet another election in which race and religion played major roles. Some people said “Emi lo kan” when I was a member of the G-5 governors who advocated moving the president to the south of Nigeria.
Well, Zik’s yearly lecture gives us yet another chance to discuss the process of creating a nation. Zik spoke Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. He saw no dividing line between the major parties in Nigeria.
“Today, over 60 years after independence, Nigeria has managed to remain unquestionable. Despite the civil war and the several elections that followed, we managed to stay united.
We shouldn’t be talking about; should we be together? Of course, we are together, given our history and the circumstances surrounding Zik’s birth and the part he played,” the governor continued.
Joyce Banda, president of Malawi; Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra State; and Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, were among those present.