Dr Mimiko and Prof Akinyemi at the Inauguration Lecture
Dr Mimiko and Prof Akinyemi at the Inauguration Lecture
Nigeria’s former Foreign Affairs Minister - Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has identified corruption as the major hindrance to the development of the country.
Akinyemi stated this in Akure, Ondo State, while delivering the Public Lecture to commemorate the Inauguration of the second term of the State Governor - Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, titled: “Leadership, Democracy and Development: A Paradigm Relationship.”
He noted that the Nigerian economy was not the type that could develop billionaires without such person being corrupt. The erudite scholar lamented that the country no longer has values to hold on to as both the old and the new generation of Nigerians are corrupt.
He said, “now, there are no more values to hold on to. Parents not only encourage their children to beat the system, they aid and abet the children in the nefarious activities. No one believes anymore in the concept of society. It is every man for himself and God for us all.
“Perhaps, bringing God into it might have had a salutary effect if not for the fact that Nigerians have created their own God in their own image. In my youth, to be accused of theft or any other criminal offence was tantamount to being banished from society, not only for the accused but for his entire family. To be convicted was tantamount to suicide.
“But now, no one asks for the source of wealth. People in jail, accused of murder, run for and win elections. More than a score of members of the Nigerian Senate have EFCC court cases against them. It’s only in Nigeria that you steal billions and escape with less than a million Naira fine.”
Speaking on the development in Ondo State, Akinyemi tasked Mimiko to maintain the tempo of developmental projects put up by his administration in the last four years. He congratulated Mimiko for his encouraging achievements in his first term in office and charged him not to relent, saying: “At the same time, I commiserate and feel sorry for him because having set such high standards of achievements, he is going to be under considerable pressure to maintain that high level of achievements for second term.“Now that Governor Mimiko has scored a distinction in the first term, I am also expecting another Grade A performance during this term.
“I know what Ondo State looked like in the 50s, at least as seen through the eyes of a young adult. I have seen what it looked like in the 1990s and what it looks like now. I am impressed by what I see. It has been a long journey and you should be proud of how much things have changed within such a time frame.
“We are celebrating a democracy-driven development icon. I concede that in Ondo, Lagos, Rivers and Edo states, I can see evidence of dividends of governance, in this case - democratic governance.”
On the state of the nation, Akinyemi wondered whether Nigeria is currently operating a democratic system of government.
“We still need to ask whether on the national scale, we claim to be operating a democratic system in Nigeria or is it a civilian system. I will concede without much conviction that we are operating a version of democracy especially in contradiction to the years of military rule.
“Irrespective of the cynical game between the military and the civilian political elite in the governance of Nigeria, the biggest threat to our putative democracy is not from the military, but from the state of our un-development.
“The real tragedy is that we have bred several generations who have lost hope in today and tomorrow. They have given up on Nigeria because Nigeria has given up on them.”
On the way forward, the former minister advised that oppression and marginalisation must be discarded by all. “The political elite must make a conscious effort to arrive at a consensus that will be the outcome of negotiation, give and take, compromises among others. The system to be put in place should not reflect temporary advantages secured through a temporary monopoly of power,” he said.