By Emmanuel Edukugho
Nigeria still bears the paradoxical and ugly reputation of a country with abundant resources, but where the wealth from this abundance fuelled corruption and spawned privileged elites that engaged in internecine struggles for the control of the wealth.
That was the contention of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary-General, Commonwealth, while delivering Bells University of Technology, Ota, 3rd Eminent Persons’ Lecture, titled “Nigeria In A Globalising World.” And if he has his way, Nigeria will undergo a constitution amendment that will see the president running a single term of six years and the governors five.
According to him, “this internecine struggle also extends to the control of political power in the country, which was why the countdown to the 2011 April elections was completely mired in tension, mutual recrimination and political desperation rather than a reasoned discussion of the ways and means of resolving various problems facing the nation.”
He submitted that globalisation has become an inexorable reality that cannot be wished away. Hence, Nigeria must retool to confront the challenges posed by globalisation in all their ramifications.
“We must begin to take the South-South cooperation more seriously because it provides us with an effective platform to engage and negotiate with the North in the relevant international fora.”
He said that although unequal international economic relations have always existed, the intensification of the globalisation process has tended to further aggravate the economic squeezing of developing countries like Nigeria.
Source: Vanguard
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