Former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday, lamented the myriad of issues bedeviling Nigeria and called for a democracy that incorporated her diversity.
He highlighted individualism, greed, ethnic sentiments, lack of patriotism and religious attachment as some of the issues impeding national progress.
Also speaking at the event, Chairman of Board of Trustees, Anya Ndi Igbo, Dr Uma Eleazu, regretted the worsening insecurity, dwindling value of the naira, corruption and japa syndrome plaguing the nation.
Amaechi and Eleazu spoke at the Annual Lecture of TheNiche, with the theme: 'Why We Stride and Slip: Leadership, Nationalism and the Nigerian Constitution,' organised by TheNiche Newspaper.
Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, also dismissed claims in a book titled 'Stepping on Toes', which was authored by former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman.
He said the lies in the book were numerous, adding that Usman's claims were ingenuine.
Too many lies
His words: "The lies were too many. For instance, she claims that she was not indicted by the panel. Ten-count and she was found guilty. I went with a copy of the memo to the President in which the President endorsed her removal.
"Count one, the panel said she was guilty and gave reasons, including the fact that an MD with N2.5 million approval limits can approve a N2.8 billion contract. No appropriation.
"Why was that document not published? Prominent Nigerians were involved. She gave waivers to prominent Nigerians which she had no power to give. These were dollars accruable to Nigeria's economy, but she was bold to write a book and Nigerians followed her to launch the book. How will Nigeria move forward?
Nigeria lacks national leaders
"Nigerians choose who to believe and who not to believe. Nigerians choose who to vote and who not to vote. I doubt that we've had national leaders. The only person near nationalism is President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"If removed, can you name another person? The rest are not national leaders. Please give it to South-South because we are more national than all Nigerians put together.
"If you put a South-South man as President, he will appoint all Nigerians to various positions, but if you put a Yoruba man as President, he will make the chief of staff a Yoruba; the chief of army staff, Yoruba; chief of defense Staff will also be a Yoruba. "Take the court, for instance, the only person who seems to have made a change there is Atiku. For the rest, an Igbo candidate, Igbo lawyers; a Yoruba candidate, Yoruba lawyers.
"Atiku brought a mix. That is Nigeria. A remarkable national leadership is the ability of the leader to galvanise the totality of a nation around the common national banner with a vision and a sense of mission.
"Genuine nationalistic leadership transcends ethnicity, religion, creed, region or geography. A truly remarkable national leader is the one that is able to rise above these limitations to take the nation to that place where they long for, but have never been before.
"It is a place of national greatness, pride, achievement and shared goals, aspirations and shared prosperity. Are you proud to be Nigerians? Just go to an immigration office outside Nigeria and get the disgrace of your life.
"Most times we elect people who have shown us openly that they are ethnic leaders. When you elect them, what do you expect? Do you expect them to govern the nation for you when they have told you that they are there for the interest of their ethnic groups?
Democracy needs to be assessed
"The return of civil democracy, since 1999, means that Nigeria has been a sustained democracy for only the last 24 years. Even then, our democracy now qualifies to be assessed in terms of the needs of a nation that tottered on the brink of disintegration in 1967.
"Our union as a nation remains imperfect, ethnic and regional tensions and sentiments remain alive. They have been joined in recent times by new interests and even more dangerous forms of expression.
"Militancy and insecurity are prevalent. New forms and waves of crime had emerged. In recent times, sectarian pressures have climbed into prominent positions to further complicate a bad economy and political landscape, but by and large, the freedom of our civil democracy remains intact as the dominant order.
"Is there any democracy? Was there any election? How do we choose the civilians in civil rule? The implication of the civil rule is that we all met and agreed on the number of civilians that would rule.
"In my state, there was no election. The police arrested people until the early morning of the election day. They came to your house at midnight and took you."
Everything that can go wrong in Nigeria has gone wrong - Eleazu
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
In his keynote address, Chairman of the event, Dr. Eleazu said: "In today's Nigeria, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. Thanks to the fumblings of our leaders, the economy isn't growing. In fact, the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, has slowed considerably due to poor economic management. The Naira has lost its value, the interest rate is so high that it doesn't encourage either savings or investment and with all these, the economy cannot grow.
"Foreign investment cannot flow in because of the unpredictable exchange rate. Without foreign capital inflow, we cannot attract new technology that could help in solving our problems. Indigenous scientific research has long been stopped because those in power are not serious about technical education and scientific research.
"The physical infrastructure that supports growth and businesses are dilapidated. The general business climate is harsh and uninviting. The foreign businesses here are taking their flight out of the country. Security wise, we appear to be living in a Hobbesian state of nature where as he puts it in his book, the Leviathan, there is war of all against all and the life of man is nasty, brutish and short. Daily, people are killed in cold blood; others are kidnapped, raped and put through inhumane physical torture only to collect ransom from their relatives.
