'The only area where Nigeria has made “progress” in 60 years is in population explosion. 'Power must return to the South, and in my view, it must go to the South-East. By the election of 2023, Nigeria would have had 24 years of unbroken democratic rule.'
Call him jack of all trades, master of all, and you will not be wrong. Dr Olu Fasan, who turns 60 today is a journalist, publisher, lawyer, an academic and economist.
He is a columnist for Nigeria’s best read Newspaper, Vanguard. In this interview, Dr Fasan reveals why his opinions appear as anti-Buhari, disclosing that he holds President Muhammadu Buhari in high esteem. He also spoke on the state of the nation and the way forward. The truth is whether I like it or not, my name tells everyone I encounter overseas that I am a Nigerian. So, it behoves me to champion the progress of the country. If Nigeria is respected globally, it would rub positively on every Nigerian living abroad.
I remember an occasion when a club took some of its members to Benin and I was invited to come along, but throughout the journey everyone was trying to behave themselves, fearing that I would write an unfavourable story about them when we returned to Lagos. Being a student journalist was really an exciting part of my growing up in Nigeria.
For instance, with respect to journalism, immediately I arrived in the UK, I enrolled for a Diploma in Journalism at the famous London School of Journalism, and after graduating, freelanced for some newspapers before establishing a magazine. The truth is that all the three careers are complementary to one another.
The only area where Nigeria has made “progress” is in population explosion. But if you are going to have a large population, then you must have a growing economy because you have to be able to feed your people. So, the state of affairs in Nigeria is not good at all. And things will get worse unless there is a radical change on both the economic and institutional fronts.First, it’s a good thing that the military has stayed in the barracks for 21 years now. But by the time Nigeria celebrates unbroken democratic rule for 24 years in 2023, 16 of those 24 years would have been under former military rulers – Obasanjo, 8; Buhari 8.
The second point is that 21 years of unbroken democratic rule has not delivered the so-called dividends of democracy for Nigerians. So, for me, Nigeria has not fared better, despite the 21 years of unbroken democratic rule. The only thing is that the soldiers have stayed in their barracks, which is great. But other than that, there is little else; the economy is comatose, poverty is rife, insecurity has taken thousands of lives; corruption is endemic; virtually no state institution in Nigeria is working as it should.
Buhari has no idea how to run an economy; he thinks that he could command an economy, as he commanded his soldiers while in the army, and it would respond to him. Then, on politics, I find Buhari’s refusal to accept and lead a national consensus for restructuring Nigeria unacceptable. He is running this country stubbornly. A true leader must build consensus for positive change. All over the world, whether in the UK or the US, progressive parties and governments have been agents of reforms.
What is your assessment of President Buhari’s administration on fighting insecurity and graft and improving the economy?
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