My regret at 92 - Anyaoku

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By Iheanyi Chukwudi

Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, on Tuesday said that his regret at 92 is that Nigeria was still struggling with her pluralism and numerous challenges.

The 92-year-old diplomat who reiterated his call for a new democratic constitution for Nigeria, which will address her plurality, warned that many countries that failed to address their pluralism with genuine federal constitution had disintegrated.

Anyaoku spoke at the 14th Chief Emeka Anyaoku Lecture Series on Good Governance, with the theme, “The Imperative of Good Governance: Nigeria in a Global Comparative perspective,” organised by the board of Youth Affairs International Foundation at the Enugu International Conference Centre.

He said, “So, I have been quite consistent in advocating for a new democratic constitution for Nigeria, which addresses our plurality. This country was more peaceful and was developing faster in the first six years of our independence because it had a genuine federal constitution, which allowed the four regions to take care of their regional development, their social amenities, education, health, and internal security."

Chairman of the event and Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd.), while setting the tone for the day, stressed the need for transformative leadership, which according to him could not happen under the present structure of Nigeria.

Nwachukwu said, “This is why I have long been advocating for the restructuring of Nigeria to become a proper federation, allowing State autonomy and bringing governance closer to the people. This also allows access to the mineral, natural, and human resources for their development.

I stand for respect for the Rule of Law, the need for a forthright and independent Judiciary, a more effective, and responsive military, police and intelligence services.

I also stand for the creation of State Police and local policing for our communities. And above all, a school system that allows relevant human resource development.”

On his part, the Guest Speaker and Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, said that to address the many challenges facing Nigeria and Africa, there was need for a radical restructuring of the Nigerian federal arrangement to significantly devolve power to the people.

He also called for a rejig of the leadership recruitment process, retooling of the state as a guarantor of security, unity, and ideals of equal citizenship as well as fashioning out a new elite consensus, a complete overhaul of political parties, and a greater attention to constitutionalism, among others.