Convener of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Prof. Ango
Abdullahi, said it was time to go back to the drawing board as systems have
proven to be failing in the country.
Abdullahi spoke at the presentation and launching of the
book “Court and Politics” authored by Dr. Umar Ardo, in Abuja, where he
emphasized that this was not the time to point fingers but to go back to where
Nigeria had it right.
He reiterated his call for a parliamentary system of
government, describing the practice of the Presidential system of over 24 years
as a “failed system” for Nigeria.
According to him, “The time has come for us to go back to
the drawing board, so that this country can be saved. We have failed this
country enough and this must stop. We have failed ourselves and we have no
reason to complain.
“Particularly politically, we have no reason to complain.
This event to me is an opportunity for us to talk to ourselves about our
collective failure as a country.
“Today, we’ve just had power failure. 64 years after our
independence, Nigeria still generates 4,000 megawatts of electricity, what a
shame. 4,000 megawatts is not enough for one big house in another country.
“For those of us who from time to time go to Saudi Arabia on
pilgrimage, I should remind you that the Haram (mosque in Saudi Arabia) uses
18,000 megawatts of electricity daily.
“But there is a country with more than 200 million people
generating 4,000 megawatts of electricity after 64 years, something is wrong
and it is wrong with everybody. Everyone is guilty. If we begin to point
fingers, we won’t be able to solve the problem.
“For five years we tried parliamentary from 1960 to 1965 and
to some extent in 1966. Now we have been trying the presidential system for 24
years and the failure is so glaring.”
Speaking in the same vein, a former national chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, said there was need for the judiciary
to be reformed adding that Nigeria must draw lessons from its history to avoid
recurring mistakes.
He said, “As a political class, we are not lawyers, but I
think our judicial system must be reformed. This is the opinion of the
political class. Our system here in the country, be it civilian or military is
based on sentiments and emotions into our law and politics.
“I believe that we have all failed and come short of the
glory of God and we need to repent so that this country can be good for the
next generation.
“Therefore, I recommend this book to be available to all
Nigerians in the academia, legal and political, so that we can begin to learn
from what happened in the past. No country ever succeeds without a past
history.”