By Dipo Olowookere
A lecturer at the Lagos State University (LASU), Professor Sylvester Odion Akhaine, has attributed the current crisis facing Nigeria to leadership failure and the absence of patriotic nation-building elites.
He said this while delivering his paper at the maiden OpenLife Annual Summit on Thursday, August 22, 2024, in Lagos.
The event, which brought together stakeholders from various fields and sectors, such as politics, banking, academia and security organisations, was themed Creating Enabling Environment for Economic Growth Through Strategic Tackling of Insecurity.
In his presentation titled Insecurity and the National Economy, the LASU don submitted that to get out of the quagmire the country needs, “A new social force that is patriotic and a commitment to the security values.”
The Political Science Department lecturer showed the nexus between insecurity and the worsening economy, noting that it “directly affects the productive forces.”
“Food crop production has become impossible due to prevailing insecurity in the country. The unearned income from the sales of crude oil has been jeopardized by oil theft, which has reduced the country’s foreign exchange earnings and inclined it towards perpetual borrowing,” he said.
Professor Akhaine emphasised that this situation has undermined the strength of the national currency against major foreign currencies.
“The manufacturing sector, which is largely import-dependent for essential components, is hard-hit. Many companies have had to fold up compounding a sub-element of the insecurity in the country, that is, job insecurity,” the immediate past Head of the Political Science Department in LASU stated.
However, he expressed optimism that Nigeria would get out of the woods because it has “the natural resources and the demographic capital to solve these problems.”
“Is it not intriguing that a country that could lead peace initiatives in sister West African countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and restore democratic governance structure, is struggling to maintain social order in what I have referred to as the endless present?” he queried.
Earlier in his welcome address, the publisher of OpenLife magazine and convener of the OpenLife Summit, Mr Idumonza Isidahomhen, assured participants that recommendations would be sent to President Bola Tinubu for implementation.
“To demonstrate our commitment to an improved Nigeria, we, at OpenLife, have developed a monitoring mechanism to keep tabs on government activities in ensuring that resolutions don’t end up in the trash cans,” he said.
Other speakers at the event were a former lawmaker who represented Ogun West Senatorial District in the 7th Senate, Mr Akin Odunsi; the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Bashir Adewale Adeniyi; and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogallah.
Adedapo Adesanya