(INTERVIEW) Nigeria@60: We Have The Intellectual Capacity To Become A Global Power— Edevbie

…Says COVID-19 Has Shown That No Country Is Truly Independent
The Chief of Staff to the Delta State Governor, Olorogun David Edevbie, on the eve of Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary while responding to questions from journalists, said that Nigeria has the intellectual capacity to become a global power.
According to him, the failure of our early political leaders in the early 60’s to manage the political challenges of the first republic that led to the first coup and then the counter-coup was the reason for Nigheria’s slow pace of progress.
Furthermore, he explained what the nation must do to experience rapid progress.
Excerpts;

Sir, do you think Nigeria has become independent after the colonial era?
Yes, we have. We gained independence and became a sovereign state on 1st October, 1960. However, as the global pandemic has recently shown, no nation is truly independent. We exist in a comity of nations; we are inter-dependent, depending on the input of other states to reach our maximum potential. This exemplifies the adage that says, “no man is an island”.

Sir, sixty years after we got Independence, do you think we have achieved something reasonable over the years?
While there is much room for improvement, we have racked up many achievements in the six decades since our independence. For example, after a bitterly fought civil war, we managed to unite our country and have kept together for the last five decades after the war. We have become one of the world’s leading oil-producing nations and a notable African leader.

Sir, what do you think we can do to improve the present situation in Nigeria?
To improve the Nigerian situation, we must do several things.
A. Elect and appoint capable leaders who can properly dimension our multi-faceted challenges
B. Hold the leaders accountable for articulating and implementing a cohesive strategy to overcome the political, economic, commercial, social and cultural challenges.
C. Cooperate with our leaders as they implement the strategy.

Sir, Nigeria will be marking her 60th Independence anniversary on October 1st. Do you think we have reasons to celebrate this milestone given where we are today as a nation?
Yes, we do.

No doubt, we obviously started well in the early years of our Independence. Where would you say we got it wrong in the course of our journey as a nation?
It was the failure of our early political leaders in the early 60’s to manage the political challenges of the first republic that led to the first coup and then the counter-coup. This continuing inability to address political challenges, coupled with a lack of planning and implementation discipline in the 70’s when we failed to adhere to national development plans has led to the current crisis that we face today.

Sir, going forward, what would be your advice to those managing the socio-political Affairs of our nation?
Nigerians need leaders they can trust and who trust themselves to work together in good faith for the good of our country and our people. We have the intellectual capacity to fulfil our mandate of becoming a global power. We just need to stop falling over our own feet and the proverbial “banana peels”.

Sir, we are regarded as the giant of the African continent. Do you think we have provided the right leadership to the rest of the African continent?
Yes, we have. Our independence gave a fillip to the struggle for freedom in many African countries. We provided leadership in the fight against apartheid in South Africa and have contributed significantly to peacekeeping, political and economic development efforts across Africa. So even though we may not have lived up to our maximum potential to lead Africa, we are clearly and without doubt, the giant of the African Continent.

What are your suggestions on how we address and tackle the issues of insecurity, the economy, infrastructure, corruption, religious intolerance and the rest of the challenges currently bedevilling our nation?
I alluded to this in my answer to your question on improving the present situation in Nigeria. This question demands granularity. Our economy needs to create many more SMEs and boost their economic performance through a range of incentives that reduce recurrent and capital expenditure and promote competitiveness. This will create jobs and improve living standards. We also need to improve education at all levels and provide opportunities for our people to develop themselves in a cost-effective and efficient manner. This will help people improve their capacity and grow in their careers. We need to support agriculture and industrialisation with well thought out and efficiently implemented programmes which include infrastructure. We need to restructure the civil service radically, so it is fit for the challenges of these times. We need to punish corruption, religious intolerance, tribalism and all the other socio-cultural ills that bedevil our society. I have experienced racism and tribalism, and I can assure you the latter is worse. Above all, we need leadership that is capable and committed to developing Nigeria and Nigerians.