Independence special: Nigeria on its way to Afghanistan – Prof. Fatunde

Prof. Tunde Fatunde’s foray to the academia dates back as far as 1980. The revered scholar of francophone studies who lectured for years at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) before moving to the Lagos State University (LASU) is known widely for his unbending stance on justice and good governance across board. Billed for retirement soon, the former secretary of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, contributions to the development of the nation’s education sector cannot be overemphasized. In evidence of his contribution to the growth of knowledge in Nigeria, Fatunde has produced accomplished and eminent Nigerians such as governors, senators, captains of industries, etc.

In his usual blunt, objective and confident aura, the highly respected don aired his views on a couple of national and international issues in this interview with Olaotan Falade of TheNewsGuru.com.

Read on!

Sunday, October 1 marks Nigeria’s 57 years of nationhood and two and a half years of the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari as president. How would you describe the journey so far?

I will talk like a surgeon operating on a patient diagnosed with cancer. To make the patient live a normal live again, doctors recommended amputation of the affected body part but the patient gets scared and refused to undergo the prescribed surgery. Professionally, the doctor has performed his duties. It is however left for the patient to heed to the advice or as usual take the case to a nearby church or mosque for healing or prayers. The scenario illustrated above describes in details the Nigerian situation.

Our 57 years of nationhood can be described as a total waste. The ruling class are not working in the interest of the country. Looting of public funds has become a reoccurring decimal since independence at all tiers of government. If you read newspaper analysis of the recurring cases of stealing and corruption in Nigeria, you will be surprised at how heartless our leaders are.

Is it not surprising that after 57 years of nationhood, we are still at this level compared to others that we started the journey together? The problem we have as a nation is that we are yet to elect purposeful leaders that are ready to do all that it takes to develop this nation.

Most developed nations that our youths are dying to go today did not get to where they are overnight. What these nations did was to invest heavily in education and vocational training. This simple logic is the reason countries like America, France and Britain are doing exceedingly well today.

That is why when our youths, especially the brilliant minds, leave Nigeria, they don’t work in factories but in universities, polytechnics and other educational based sectors, where their services are needed to further boost the human investments in those countries.

Most Nigerian leaders have consistently refused to admit the fact that our only option of salvation is to invest in education and vocational training to bring out the best in the people. It is a well-known fact that half of the Nigeria population cannot read and write. Now, you imagine where Nigeria will be if those people are literates, obviously, we won’t be at this stage.

Now, let me make this very clear. Nothing is wrong with us as a people and those developed countries are no magicians. However, what these countries did that we have consistently failed to do is the deliberate apportioning of the larger share of their budgets to the funding of education and vocation training. Until Nigeria follows this modest part, our journey to Afghanistan in the next couple of years is assured.

Recently, there has been an upsurge in the demands for secession by the different ethnic groups/regions in the country. What do you think is responsible for this?

Thank you. First of all, I am a Pan-Africanist who believes in the unity of Africa despite her multi-ethnicity nature. I believe that at this stage we should rather be working towards the actualization of a more bonded Africa rather than a dismembered one. I believe that in this global world we should gradually move to the attainment of the United States of Africa. If you look at the charter of the African Union, modelled around the European Union, EU, it clearly states that Africa should gradually move towards the attainment of a United Government of Africa by first of all starting with the regions.

This however led to the division of the continent into five regions by the AU. These are ECOWAS, the Maghribian, SADC, East Africa and the Central Africa. This is a practical expression of the thinking of our national leaders who fought for our independence. The intention on the long run is to have regional integration in terms of economy and concentrated bilateral relationships. If different nations can deliberately set the ball in motion for a united front, then the ruling class should do more to ensure that the country remains together.

However, agitation or demands for secession does not just happen overnight. It is a result of accumulated disgust or neglect for a particular tribe by the ruling class. And these obviously are signs of leadership failure. Most of the ruling class in Nigeria today derive satisfaction in greediness and selfishness. They have no concrete plan to develop the nation other than to loot its resources dry amongst themselves.

There is a lot of discontent in the land today because of the biased approach of President Buhari. Virtually all sensitive appointments in federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are occupied by either his kinsmen, friends, families or tribe. He (Buhari) runs the country as if other tribes do not exist. All his actions as president do not reflect federal character.

People have continually waited thinking he will change his lopsided approach but it’s even getting worst and that is why the call for secession has been more intense under him. You can’t be using peoples’ resources and expect them not to revolt when the proceeds of such resources are shared without them having a taste or feel of it.

Buhari’s administration is the most sectional since independence. He has proven over time with his actions that he is not a national leader but a sectional leader.

People have realized that instead of them to live in slavery, they will rather go their separate ways but that is not the answer.

Some politicians and other eminent Nigerians recently lent their voices to the demands for restructuring of the country. What is your take on this?

Yes! In the Nigerian context, restructuring is the only viable way out of the current squabbles that the nation is enmeshed in. However, there are different interpretations of restructuring. Some believe we should go back to the 1963 constitution. I will say yes but with a modification. Allow minorities (in the south and north) to form their own governments so that they don’t become tools of operation and agitations of the 60s. It is only when that is done that we can have a united, strong and prosperous Nigeria.

We also need to restructure the economy. After having created regions with some modifications, there is a need to disentangle the economy from Abuja. This is what some people call ‘devolution of power.’ Let those regions be in charge of certain things; education, health and infrastructure. Then Abuja can just manage foreign policy, centralized military, customs and immigration. Doing this will enable us run true federalism.

However, we should be careful not to run a repeat of what we have now at the region level. What I’m saying, in a nutshell, is that we should deemphasize spending money on politics. We should make legislation part-time. I don’t see what the legislators are doing year round that they can’t do in three weeks, especially in this information technology age. All these idea of having full-time legislators is a waste of money and other viable resources that can be channelled into the rapid development of our dear nation.

For example, the governing council of Lagos State University meets periodically on a quarterly basis. The Vice-Chancellor and other principal officers are left to run the university. Whenever the Council decides to meet, they take summaries of what has been done so far in their absence. This is a perfect model for the legislators to work with. The permanent abandonment of their various professions for legislating does not make any sense.

To make Nigeria work, all entities must come together to contribute their quotas to its developments. Demands for little republics or kingdoms will not work. And that is where I have issue with those agitating for Biafra. The Igbos are known for their hardworking nature. They recovered from the devastation of the civil war in no time. You cannot create the Republic of Biafra in Nigeria without creating more crises to the already tensed atmosphere. There are over 11 million Igbos living outside Igbo land, where do you put those ones? So for me, the idea of Oduduwa, Biafra or Arewa does not make any sense. All those small kingdoms won’t take us anywhere. And the vast majority of the Igbos agree that their lot can only improve when they are in a united but restructured Nigeria.

Therefore a united but restructured Nigeria is the solution.

We have not even started developing our country, we are just traders. All over the country, you find virgin lands and forests waiting for transformation. However, we can’t embark on the transformation without first of all transforming the community/population. The country needs to start massive investments in knowledge to achieve its desired status amongst the comity of developed and prosperous nation.

The South West of Nigeria is a testifier to the dividends that accrue from investing massively in knowledge. It’s the most developed region in Nigeria and yet does not have oil. Except recently that some deposits were discovered in Lagos, Ogun and Ondo States. The development is not magic. It is because South West deliberately invested in education and vocational training.

The good thing about this is that every 50km distance that you cover in South West has a university. Despite this, South West is yet to reach its optimal development because the level of investment in education is not yet enough.

We are running a mono (oil) economy and it’s very dangerous. No wise country will depend solely on the proceeds from oil even if it flows freely on their lands. We must invest maximally in education to develop like other great countries are doing.

Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, announced that the nation has exited recession. However, some pundits have faulted this claim. What is your opinion?

The claim of recession exit is pure propaganda. Look around you, the middle class is fast shrinking, unemployment is still high, and funny enough the Executives decided to apportion a large trunk of the budget to the military as if we are fighting a war or getting prepared to fight one.

To sincerely exit recession, we must be ready to do a surgical operation on the lifestyle of the ruling class. They (the ruling class) don’t care about the poor living standards of the masses.

We are in a situation where the president receives treatment outside the shores of his country because he doesn’t trust the local doctors and other health professionals back home. This is applicable to other priviledged public office holders. Their children also school abroad. How then do we develop the health, education and other crucial sectors if those elected to run the affairs of the nation do not patronize it?

Until people start demanding for their rights (and I believe they are beginning to now) things will continue to go wrong.

What is your opinion on the incessant rows between the Executive and National Assembly over some issues of national importance?

The only time there is crises between both arms of government is when a particular arm feel shortchanged at the expense of the other. Most times, their misunderstanding is not to the benefit of the masses. The entire budget process is shrouded in secrecy and the ruling class have continually displayed signs of indiscipline to anyone who cares to see.

Since the inauguration of the Buhari administration, there has been no guiding economic roadmap. It took him a whole six months to form his cabinet and yet nothing tangible has so far been achieved.

If there is no drastic turnaround in the way ruling class run the affairs of this country, the looming crisis is just unimaginable.

The opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said it will easily wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2019 because Nigerians have seen that they (PDP) are a better option. Is this true?

There is absolutely no fundamental difference between the APC and PDP. They are both twins of same parents. Both parties have no clear-cut economic and political roadmap. They are parties of reckless and irresponsible politicians and I’m sure Nigerians can even qualify them better.

Nigeria might slip into a deep political crisis if these set of politicians and political parties are paraded as options before us in 2019.

Recently, when the President travelled out of the country on medical vacation, some aggrieved groups and Nigerians demanded his resignation to allow for full concentration on his recovery. Is this patriotic enough?

Buhari is not a private citizen. He was elected to serve Nigerians and he knows this before contesting because he tried a couple of times before finally getting on board in 2015. Nigerians deserve to know every detail of his movement and status. He travels abroad at the slightest opportunity albeit with Nigerians’ resources without willing to give them details of his ailment and the cost implication. That to me is a display of arrogance.

Most African Presidents are suffering from a mental underdevelopment ideology that they hold the destinies of their citizens in their hands. And it is quite unfortunate that Buhari has joined the leagues of African leaders who are sick and have refused to thread the honourable path of handing over power to a more capable hand to run the affairs while they focus on their ailing health.

You’ve been in the university community for over 37 years, how has the journey been so far?

Let me put it this way, one is lucky to survive till now despite the uncertainty in the Nigerian educational environment.

There is no adequate medical care, the rate of crime is alarmingly high and funding of universities has been deliberately low since the time of Gen. Yakubu Gowon.

And since then, lecturers have not stopped demanding for quality funding of education in Nigeria. To push home their demands, lecturers consistently embark on strike action and that is still the case till now as you are aware.

Less than four percent of the annual budget is allocated to education. Recent findings show that a senator earns over 24 million Naira monthly. That is more than my accumulated salary in 48 months! And there is nothing they are doing to justify receiving these outrageous amounts.

We are in the 21^st century that is governed by two issues; knowledge economy and the digital revolution. Fortunately, these are mass-based and not strictly for the few elites. However, to benefit from both the knowledge economy and digital revolution, we need a population that is well educated so that they can fit in maximally. And that is where the issue of quality investments in education comes in again.

Japan today imports its drinking water but they are the second best-organized economy. The secret behind this amazing feat just like South Korea is that they have invested in human beings. If you take the annual budget of Japan and the annual budget of all the rich industrialized countries today, more than half of the annual budget is devoted to education and vocational training.

The latest example is South Korea; a country that witnessed horrible war. Immediately after the 2nd world war, everything was flattened to the ground but today, South Korea is the 5th largest and buoyant economy in the world.

For your information, South Korea as at 1960/62 was at the same level with Nigeria. They were able to raise above the bars because they had leaders who decided to invest massively in education and vocational training without a political revolution.

Their university environment is structured in such a way that while you are receiving normal lectures, you are also mandated to learn a skill. The universities had vocational training centres that make it easy for students to also pick on a skill they so desire.

About 11 million children in Nigerian are out school, that’s a world record and the federal government is aware. On a larger view, it is estimated that half of the Nigerian citizens cannot read and write. Now, let us imagine a scenario that would have played out if Nigeria decides to invest massively in education like South Korea. First of all the children will be in school and the literacy level will increase. All these chaos here and there wouldn’t be as many of the youths will be preoccupied with something positive.

South Korea was flattened by the war and they decided to take the bull by the horn, by ensuring that a larger share of their annual budget is continually invested in education and vocational training. And the results of these investments are their buoyant economy and various gadgets developed by them.

If Nigeria continues to invest 3 to 4 percent of its annual budget on education, it is a straight passport to Afghanistan.

Ask any politician about the possibility of increasing the annual budget and they will tell you there is no hope of doing such. That is why we are yet to maximize our potential as a nation.

Any nation that appropriates just 5 percent of its allocation to education is gradually heading towards destruction and Nigeria seems bent on moving in that direction.

Why do you think the underfunding of education in Nigeria is deliberate?

I’ll respond by saying it is only a deep mind that can understand the problem and depth of the crises in Nigeria and also provide accurate solutions. Nobody can fault me and I stand to be faulted that we don’t have sincere leaders who have the genuine interest of this country at heart.

Look at South Korea, I keep using South Korea as an example because they were on the same level with Nigeria in 1962 and the transformation that has taken place there did not require any political revolution. This was a country that was flattened by the war. The story and video is there on the internet for anyone to see for verification.

Germany and Japan are not left out in this. They also recovered from a major crisis and deliberately invested massively in education and vocational training and they are better for it today.

In Nigeria, we have political leaders who are elected into office for development but have an ulterior evil intention of milking the nation’s resources dry.

This also showcases the tragedy of the African continent. A continent that has almost all the raw materials in the world yet has the poorest species of human being simply because of their refusal to invest in education. If you don’t invest in education and vocational training, then it is clear that we are ready to go nowhere.

This is the secret to the intimidating level of successes other developed countries have achieved and yet they are not resisting on their oars. Fortunately, these countries are not based on one continent and their success stories start with investing massively in education and vocational training and not in churches and mosques as we usually do here in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

However, the amazing thing is that those countries also believe in God too. To achieve greatness, Africa must learn to separate religion from the state.

What advise do you have for Nigerians as they celebrate another year of nationhood?

Like I earlier said, the agitation for small republics or kingdoms won’t do us any good. Nigerians should learn to live in unity with each other. Under a restructured Nigeria, the aggrieved tribes will be adequately taken care of.

The ruling class should not forget that the continuous neglect of the education sector is a free ticket to Afghanistan.

The youths should shun vices that are capable of ruining their future even if everyone around them is embracing such. If I can survive the lecturing profession for 37 years without selling a single handout, or soliciting gratification of any kind from students before awarding marks despite the abundance of lecturers that does than in the university community, then the youths can as well survive rejection of vices that can jeopardise their future.