Legal expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor Yusuf Olaolu Ali, has emphasized that Nigeria will remain stagnant unless its citizens embrace virtues and values that promote national growth.
Speaking during the inauguration of the remodelled Central Mosque in Ifetedo, Osun State, Ali highlighted the need for both leaders and followers to take responsibility for the country’s development.
Ali criticized the country’s decades-long lack of progress, comparing Nigeria’s sluggish growth to the rapid advancements of the Asian Tigers. He noted that Nigeria has failed to adopt impactful leadership and cultivate a patriotic followership necessary for national advancement. Ali stressed that the challenges Nigeria faces are not solely the fault of its leaders, as followers are equally culpable for perpetuating the status quo, according to Nigerian Tribune.
Reflecting on the impact of military rule on the nation, Ali argued that the military’s disruptions caused significant damage to the country’s psyche and institutional frameworks. He attributed the lack of orderliness and discipline in contemporary Nigeria to the legacy of the military era, which he said derailed the nation’s democratic and developmental trajectory.
On the issue of tax reforms, Ali acknowledged citizens’ reluctance to pay taxes due to the perceived mismanagement of public funds. However, he urged Nigerians to fulfill their civic duties while holding the government accountable for the proper use of tax revenues.
Regarding the proposal for a six-year single tenure for presidents and governors, Ali reiterated his support for the system, noting that it could reduce succession battles and promote stability. He argued that a single-term structure, combined with constitutional provisions for impeachment, could create a more functional and self-correcting political system.
Ali concluded by underscoring the need for Nigerians to cultivate good character, stating that no governance system can succeed without integrity and a commitment to collective progress.
“Nigeria has a stunted growth in all parameters in the measurement of the growth of a country. We are stunted because by now, we should be running, but we are hardly crawling.
” All the indices of progress, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Other countries such as the so-called Asian Tigers and the advanced countries don’t reinvent themselves. You can borrow and buy technologies and as long as you are able to have it you’re making progress.
“We need impactful leadership and followers that are honest and patriotic,” he stressed.
“It’s two sides of the coin. You can’t be blaming the leaders because the followers are as bad, if not worse, than the leaders in this country.
” For me, we have to be holistic and must all play our roles, discharge our duties by doing all that are necessary to have the kind of level of development that we need as a nation.
” We grope in the dark because it is easier to destroy than to build. We may not appreciate the depth of what the military had done to our psyche as a people: lack of orderliness.
“Ordinarily, the military is supposed to be orderly, but they introduced a lack of orderliness to us. You were on a queue but when the military was in power, the soldiers would just come and pack all of you and go somewhere, especially when there was petrol scarcity. Military guys will just drive in and disrupt the queue.
“The citizens also witnessed such scenes, but they couldn’t talk. You may think they are not so important, but they have their effects on the system.
“What military has done to us is worse than what you’re thinking. So, if Nigeria had been left to grow in 1966 when the military came in probably, some of these issues contending with our developmental strides would have been overcome. So, every time you truncate democracy is a baby that’s trying to fall and you shout sit down, it will take that baby another one year to recover. The same thing is applicable to a country,” Ali said.
He continued, “Nigerians don’t like to pay bills and taxes and their reason is that usually the government doesn’t do anything meaningful with tax revenue. However, as citizens perform your own civic duties and then hold the government accountable,” Ali urged.
” If Nigerians don’t change their attitude, nothing can take us to an Eldorado. We must first of all agree on that. I have always been an advocate of a six-year single tenure; it is good for our system. It will stop the incessant fight for self-succession by the officeholder to return to power after four years tenure. You will know that once you spend your six years you’re out of the place and there will be peace.
“However, if the six-year single tenure throws up an inept leadership, there is provision in the Constitution for impeachment.
“Whether you abuse it or use it wisely is a different thing. The system is self-cleaning, but unfortunately, we have character issues.
“Most of us don’t have character and you need good character for a system to work well,’ he emphasised.
