The governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde has stressed the need for Nigerians to think on how to make the system beneficial to all citizens irrespective of tribe or religion instead of dwelling on whether they should live together or not.
He spoke Thursday during the 12th annual Zik Lecture held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State.
Makinde, while speaking on the theme of the lecture “Reclaiming Zik’s World: Climate Justice and African Sustainable Development”, said the country is already together.
“At this time of nationhood, we should not be talking about someone from a particular zone who did not win an election. We should not be talking about splitting the country. What is before us is not only about uniting Nigeria but also uniting Africa. I don’t think that at this time, somebody should be asking us to split the country. We should focus on building a country that is fair to all Nigerians,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria is witnessing deep fragmentation of the nation’s political activities due to regional political affiliations, which must be addressed.
The former President of Malawi, Dr Joyce Hilda Banda and the 2023 Labour Party LP presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi spoke on the causes of African problems.
Dr Banda attributed the African problems to colonisation, while Obi said that the problem of Africa was purely bad leadership and has nothing to do with colonialism.
Banda further lamented that Africa is not completely free, given the fact that there is a monumental flight and exploitation of the continent’s natural resources by her former colonizers.
Speaking at the event, Obi said colonialism has come and gone, noting that Africans should fix their leadership problems.
