Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that there is the need for Nigeria’s elite to reach a consensus on how best to move the country forward.
He challenged the ruling class to identify the challenges the country is faced with and design appropriate solutions, which must discourage the winner-takes-all approach.
The governor said this on Wednesday, at the launch of a book by a former Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, entitled ‘Headlines & Soundbites: Media Moments That Defined An Administration,’ held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
He said that ordinary Nigerians have arrived at a consensus that they want to be Nigerians, but that the elite have been the ones dividing the country along ethnic, religious, political and other lines.
Governor Makinde added that those who negotiated Nigeria’s independence chose federalism and multi-party democracy because they were imperative for the country’s multi-ethnic status.
He said: “My experience is that ordinary Nigerians already have a consensus that they want to be Nigerians. But the elite, we the elite, are the ones dividing the country because we have ambitions. ‘Oh, he’s Muslim, he’s Christian, he is Fulani’ and all that.
“So, I came here to say, well, this book, I know the author, he is a Nigerian that will attract all sorts of people across the divide. And that is why I am here. I am not in APC, and I am not about porting to APC either.
“So, because we have here Nigerians from across the divide, I believe we need elite consensus, just like Professor Afolabi (former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, who delivered the keynote address) mentioned. We need elite consensus on how to move forward. But I will leave you with just one thing to ponder.
“He said here that Nigeria’s independence was negotiated under a certain condition. Of course, federalism was settled in that negotiation, multi-party democracy was settled in that negotiation. And Prof also said civil war came, and we went towards a unitary arrangement.
“Yes, I have had the opportunity to discuss with some of our leaders that were players in that period. They said, well, the only problem they were faced with, as of that time, was that they went through a civil war and they needed to unite Nigeria. That was the only problem.
“So, federalism, and all of those things negotiated, became secondary. Their major task was to unite Nigeria. But is it the same problem that we are faced with today? The answer is no. So, we must identify the problem that we are faced with today and design something that will allow us to tackle that problem.
“My own magic bullet is, Prof mentioned, designing an arrangement where there will be no winner-takes-it-all politically in Nigeria.”
Governor Makinde, who eulogised the author of the book, Mohammed, praised him for documenting his experience in government.
