A former Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Amb. Sarafa Tunji Isola has underlined the need for more employment opportunities for Nigerians in order to address the difficulties facing the nation.
Isola who spoke on Thursday at the 7th anniversary lecture of Penpushing Media held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, maintained that creating an enabling environment that encourages development and economic progress has become imperative.
The ex-envoy noted that rather than the ‘ritualistic’ nature of constitutional review in Nigeria, issues of illiteracy and poverty must be adequately addressed.
He called for the translation of conversations into local languages for easy assimilation and understanding of the people, due to the high level of illiteracy in the society.
Isola also advocated for a more comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying issues hindering the effective functioning of the federal system, which according to him, includes examining the federating units, sub-national governments, and fiscal federalism to ensure that resources are allocated effectively.
He said, “Everybody agrees in this country that our federal stay is not working the way it should. The practice is not functional Democracy in Nigeria will continue to face challenges until the issues of illiteracy and poverty are adequately addressed.
“We will not continuously do constitutional review, it has become a ritual now. The United State constitution has been written for how many years ago. That means our constitution is still a work in progress documents. We should be able to sit down and look into all the issues that are necessary for the federal system to work very well.”
He pointed out that in advanced countries, democracy works because the basic needs of citizens are met, enabling them to make informed decisions and participate effectively in the democratic process.
“But like I always say, emphasis should be on the people, that is the lead. We have continuously been calling our leaders up, leaders are just microcosm of the society. So if the people are bad, they will produce bad leadership.
“And our democracy would continue to have problems until we are able to solve the problem of illiteracy and poverty.”
