A well-respected and revered political scientist and Igbo leader, Professor O.B.C. Nwolise has reacted to the ongoing coup in the Republic of Niger.
Professor O.B.C Nwolise, in an exclusive interview said; “What the West did to Africa is becoming very obvious to our youths and our military. My advice to African leaders now is for them to enthrone good governance, ensure justice in their nations, mobilise the youths; let them put their talents in national productivity and wealth generation”
He added; “If African leaders do not stop the looting of the continent by foreigners and their locals, by the time African youths will move, this continent will be on fire everywhere and there will be no hiding place”
He stated further; “I saw a video where a African military man was telling Nigeria, Ghana to get ready, that the coup planners are coming to them. Youths are frustrated on this continent. Let us leave this Nigerien thing because if we move into something without adequate thinking, planning and strategising, it may boomerang”
In a 2020 interview with Tribune, Professor O.B.C Nwolise said; ”We don’t have democracy in Nigeria yet. There is no election here and that is why I have been saying for the past 20 years that we don’t have democracy in Nigeria. This system is not a democracy, not a republic, not a federation but a Nigeria state.
”In terms of general infrastructure, I don’t think we have fared better than what we saw under military rule. Most of the infrastructure we have today whether you’re talking of health, roads, bridges, expressways, or even educational facilities, hospitals, etc were constructed under the military. A lot of the roads that we see today, even the new ones that we have since 1999, were not properly constructed. We see a road that was constructed, and within one year or six months it is destroyed by water. This is because the politicians award contracts and take their kickbacks and kick-fronts and nobody supervises what job is done. Only a few contractors like Julius Berger will insist on quality work. it is just this few contractors that have their names to protect that have done good jobs in this country. A lot of the roads that contracts were awarded for to be fixed have nobody to supervise them as a result of the corruption element. So, the roads don’t last, maximum six to nine months, they are eroded again. There are instances where roads that are yet to be commissioned after completion begin to develop potholes before commissioning. These things are there and Nigerians see them.
These are not the type of things we should be seeing in a democracy where there should be accountability. There should be oversight functions by the legislative body on the executive but because of corruption these legislative oversights are not performed. So, the contractors do what they like and people don’t have utility for their money that is spent on these roads.
”For electricity, since 1999, Nigerians are still suffering. We’re still suffering. There is a lot of suffering in the land. At a point we were told that 6billion dollars was spent to fix light but where is the light? Where are the facilities? Nigerians are still dying under the weight of estimated billing, people pay for meters and do not get them, when they get meters, there is problem with installations and billings. So, there is serious problem which is sad especially at this stage. After more than fifty years as a nation, Nigeria should not be having these types of situations concerning our infrastructures. It’s a big shame indeed.”
