Nigeria is Worth Saving! May 30, 2022

(This essay was originally written for my LinkedIn audience in May 2022, with minimal modifications here).

Why am I here, discussing politics and leadership reengineering? Simple. To provoke the engagement of the nonaligned middle-class Nigerians in our leadership struggle and, at the same time, restore investors' confidence in our economy. Enough of the capital flight.

We cannot remain on the fence as prolific commentators of the state of affairs in Nigeria or as diehard critics of the leadership and expect dramatic changes overnight. It will never happen. We've to be actively involved. And that explains my involvement in the Edo Central Senatorial District election.

Ideologically, I am a Progressive Democrat and an unrepentant Awoist - a follower and believer in Chief Obafemi Awolowo's leadership philosophy. Surprisingly, these days, no politician in Nigeria can boldly confess and enthusiastically profess the Papa Awo brand.

I want to take off from where the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, left the stage. I believe in extending the ladder and I believe that Nigeria has the resources to fund Free Education at all Levels and provide Affordable Healthcare for everyone.

Above all, I know how he accomplished the enviable feat he set for himself and his Action Group disciples. It's about selflessness, audacity, creativity, confidence in his brand, and unqualified love for his people.

It began with building a formidable team of highly talented technocrats, including Stephen Oluwole Awokoya and Prof Sam Aluko, a one-time Awo critic while a graduate student in London, England. There's no doubt, it takes an Awo sterner stuff to identify with the braves.

Moving Forward.

About 35% of the recurring items within the Nigerian yearly budget are bogus and products of padding. If we can (1), eliminate those items and lock up the perpetrators, and (2), develop prosecutorial activism and adopt the Singapore approach (send those who stole or embezzled public funds to jail without trial), we will be able to purge our MDAs of citizens like the just indicted Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris. Ultimately, we will be in a strong financial position to meet the demands of our university lecturers (ASUU) and fund our entire educational system maximally.

Adding to that, in recent times, we've not been able to meet our crude oil production quota as set by OPEC as a result of the alleged hostile investment climate in the Niger Delta. According to the World Bank's reports, we are comfortably at the top of the list of countries within the OPEC cartel that are unable to meet the surge in the demands for crude oil that was motivated by the Russian/Ukraine war.

How can we, as a nation-state, justify that presidential sabotage or tolerate it, when the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the Minister of Petroleum Resources?

We have a product on the ground in abundance, pleading for exploitation, unheard; there is presently an unmatched demand for the product; yet, we're crying Argentina, lamenting the hostile investment environment in the oil-producing Niger Delta, and how broke we are as a nation-state. And no member of the cabinet is speaking out or resigning.

First, we must identify the cause or causes of the unrest. Pollution is real. Unforeseen environmental catastrophe is real. And sabotage is real. Then, develop sustainable mechanisms for the total elimination of the perils. It's that simple. That's an attribute of sovereignty, the inalienable right of a nation to legislate over the use of its natural resources.

With sustainable peace in place, backed by the adoption of the "social license" principles by the IOCs and domestic investors, we should be able to meet the demands of the markets and boost our foreign exchange earning capacity steadily.

Feigning ignorance of the adverse business climate in the region is not the best approach to managing our production shortfall in the crude oil markets. Confront the problems, disrupt them, and resolve them to be able to achieve permanent peace. That is the global approach or standard.

If we're able to implement the three simple tasks identified here (1) continuous auditing and vetting of the National Budget, (2) strict adherence to severe penalties for embezzlement of public funds and related offenses, and (3) a sustainable conducive investment climate in the Niger Delta. Nigeria will be on its way to greatness, once again.

And that brings us to the next topic that's pleading for immediate resolution: Restructuring and Decentralization of Power.

The structural deformity (unitary system and the concentration of power in one President at the center), creates dictatorship, which ultimately, allows nepotism and cronyism to thrive in Nigeria. And with the institutionalization of nepotism/cronyism, comes poverty of ideas and incompetence across the board. At this stage, credibility is no longer a vogue.

That, consequently, breeds and perpetuates a culture of low expectations throughout the leadership of the MDAs. And that's the Nigerian story of institutional decay. Therefore, that structural anomaly must go, if Nigeria must grow.

You can call it Restructuring, True Federalism, or the adoption of the 1963 constitution; I call it "Decentralization without Disintegration." It is about saving Nigeria and allowing the Federating states to grow and develop at their own pace. That's the American standard.

My campaign is self-funded. I am not answerable to any godfather or interest groups. I am accountable to the electorates. I AM PREPARED. This essay speaks for me. If it's good for Nigeria, it will be mighty great for my beloved people of Esanland.

MY FELLOW NIGERIAN VOTERS, PLEASE BE WISE, BE SELFLESS, AND BE INVOLVED. LET'S JOIN HANDS TO SAVE NIGERIA. AND BE THE STRUCTURE TO END THE CULTURE OF GREED, ETHNICITY, AND RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY IN NIGERIA. VOTE FOR THE CANDIDATE AND NOT HIS RELIGION, POLITICAL PARTY, OR TRIBE.

Please, support the cause and donate kindly.

Thank you and God Bless Nigeria.

Alex Ehimhantie Aidaghese (LL.M, MCSE) is the Accord Party Senatorial Candidate for Edo Central Senatorial District.