Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti state, has urged Nigerians not to give up on the country as Nigeria is still in its infancy in nation-building.

Mr Fayemi, a former chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), gave the advice on Thursday in Lagos, at the inaugural memorial lecture of Emeka Obasi, the late publisher of Business Hallmark.

Mr Fayemi, visiting Professor, African Leadership Centre, School of Global Affairs, King’s College, London,  and a  former minister of mines and steel development, spoke on the topic: “If this Giant Must Walk; Manifesto for a New Nigeria”.

Delivering the lecture, Mr Fayemi said both the old and new generations of Nigerians should keep faith in the country and work towards tackling challenges slowing down nation-building.

According to him, only those with the delusion of grandeur will agree that Nigeria is not yet there.

He said said insecurity, injustice, poverty and others are a source of concern about the future prospects of the country.

“The task of nation-building is not a one-off or static exercise, but is rather a dynamic and permanent work in progress.

“There is no experience of nation-building that is perfect from the outset and remains so, despite changing times and circumstances.

”We may indeed wonder that despite the great efforts of more than 60 years, how come this great wall has barely left the foundation stage, even with our enormous wealth of bricks and mortars and expert builders?

“Sixty-four years may be a long time in the life of an individual. But a sixty-four-year-old nation, is a nation yet in its infancy.

“Therefore, rather than despair over the failures of the past, it would be more productive that we look ahead with great hope at the infinite future that lies ahead of us,” he said.

Mr Fayemi said that Nigerians must arm themselves with the immortal admonition by the French West Indian psychiatrist and political philosopher, Frantz Fanon, that “every generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, betray it or fulfil it”.

He said that Nigerians must understand that nation-building is a work in progress, an endless endeavour, adding that no generation ever completed the nation-building project.

According to him, over the years, Nigerians have agonised over retarded development despite successive governments and strategies of policymakers for achieving the much-desired national development.

“Before we can think of development, we must first solve the problems of nation-building because you cannot develop what you do not have,” he said.

On the”Manifesto for a New Nigeria”, Mr Fayemi said that for the ‘Giant to walk’, what was needed was a fundamental re-engineering of the governance system in a way that would make the country work better for everyone.

He said that the quality, vision, patriotism and competence of the political leadership were critical to the transformation of the country and the possibilities of good governance.

The former governor called for devolution of power, decentralisation and restructuring, which, he said, were  ways to re-imagine and reinvent the country to make it work well for everyone.

“Our idea of restructuring must be motivated only by our generational responsibility to make the giant walk tall and to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign.

“This should be based on the operative principle that true greatness lies in building a country that works for everyone, regardless of the language they speak or how they understand and worship God,” he said.

Mr Fayemi said that it was necessary for  the present crop of leaders to listen to what the youth were saying, and a lot more that they were probably not saying yet.

“In responding to the challenges that this moment imposes on us, we must recognise that a business-as-usual approach will no longer be sufficient,” he said.

Fayemi said that Nigeria needed to be re-imagined, re-created and re-made.

He commended the board and management of the public policy forum and the wife of the late Business Hallmark Publisher, Dr Betty Obasi, for keeping the legacies of the late veteran journalist.

He said that Mr Obasi never gave up on Nigeria but expressed the belief that the “Giant Must Walk”, hence the need to continue the struggle.

The chairman of the occasion and ex-gov. Donald Duke of Cross River, faulted  the description of Nigeria as giant, saying  indices around the country never indicated same.

Noting that the nation had not grown but was still struggling, Mr Duke said that Nigeria had not truly become the largest economy in Africa and had not met the basic expectations of the people in education, healthcare, infrastructure and other sectors.

He described Mr Obasi as an incredible pan-Nigerian, who did not see any wall of partition.

In his speech, Prof. Anya O. Anya, an elder statesman, commended the good works of the late Mr Obasi, noting  that” a good man never dies”

In her speech, Mrs Obasi, while introducing Prince Emeka Obasi Memorial Foundation (PEOMF) at the programme, said that the event was about profound reflection on her late husband, whom she described as her friend.

The discussants at the lecture included Sen. Shehu Sani, a civil rights activist; Femi Awoyemi, chairman, PROSHARE and Prof. Anthony Kila

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of PEOMF by the special guest of honour, Gov. Alex Otti of Abia, who was represented by his deputy, Ikechukwu Emetu.

Mr Obasi, the Publisher of Hallmark Newspapers and former commissioner for information in Abia, passed on March 15, 2022, at a Lagos hospital, at the age of 58.

(NAN)