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Joe Effiong, Uyo
Akwa Ibom State Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo has attributed Nigeria’s continued underdevelopment and the emergence of separatist groups to a faulty constitution and the politicisation of governance.
Ekpo told Daily Sun while reflecting on Nigeria’s 59th independence that apart from journalism, which has been the instrument of positive agitation for the liberation of Nigeria from arbitrary rule, there has been no significant growth in other sectors like education, power, infrastructure and even justice and freedom.
The Deputy Governor who said he began his journalism career on October 1, 1960 in Calabar, reporting the Independence celebration for the Daily Express, explained that running Nigeria as a unitary instead of a federal system, has given rise to such separatist groups as IPOB.
“I don’t think we have any significant thing to show in 59 years of nationhood because I don’t think the life of our people is better than it was prior to 1960. Educationally, I don’t think we have made any impact because, over the years, we have never tied developmental strings to what the people study in the universities, thus the graduates have become unemployable,” Mr Ekpo said.
“Politics is destroying governance because people are not able to distinguish between politics and governance; politics has overshadowed government.”
The Deputy Governor said politics has made Nigeria lose developmental focus resulting in anti-development policies, citing the Federal Government denying approvals to states not controlled by the ruling party at the centre.
‘We pretend to be federal in character, but in reality we are a unitary government with the federating units not having the competitive spirit because the resources feeding the nation are pulled from one area, while the rest of the country just sits by to benefit. We are seeing attempts by the Federal Government trying to run government with a makeshift arrangement – no freedom, no justice.
“I think we need to begin again. We need to take a look at the constitution because we have a faulty constitution foisted on us by the ministry; from there, we will decide whether to be federal or unitary.
“We would not have IPOB if there was equity. The administration that we have today doesn’t allow for equity and competition so that the states can operate and develop.”
Ekpo blamed the poor state of roads in the South-South, particularly the Calabar-Itu road on the overconcentration of power and resources at the central government.
He further blamed the military for the woes of the country, reasoning that even when retired military personnel come back as civilian leaders, they still retain a militarist hangover, making the country the worse for it.
The Deputy Governor said Nigeria does not need another constitutional conference since there have been enough deliberations on the issue; suggesting that reports of previous exercises on the constitutional amendment be implemented.
