CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK
Thirdly, democratic practices and processes are being rapidly discredited in the Northern Region of Nigeria, simply because the leaders of the N.P.C. who also rule Nigeria have never believed in a democratic form of Government. Fourthly, because of the error of omission of our Government, Nigeria is already beginning to slide in Africa. African nationalists now look upon our Government as a tool and a stooge of Western Imperialism. Fiftly, the actions of our Government do not measure up to some of its pronouncements, and its conduct is far from being guided or influenced by the ideals which today animate and rule the hearts of the people of Nigeria. Sixthly, our Government appears to find itself helplessly and hopelessly on an uncharted sea, in the face of the country’s problems.
These questions are now relevant. What do we do to accelerate our progress on the road to modem development, to arrest the deteriorating situation with which we are beset, and to retrieve the integrity, honour and self-respect which true national sovereignty ought to confer on our country? And, knowing what and what to do, how do we go about accomplishing them? There must be many and varied answers to these questions. A good many have occurred to me, and I now want to pass on to you the more important ones among them. I do so in tabular form.
- The Anglo-Nigerian Defence Pact, and the October 1 Agreement under which we assume and undertake all the rights and obligations of Britain under valid International instruments, should both be abrogated forthwith.
- Every vestige and every channel of the undue influence of Britain and her allies in and on Nigeria should be totally eradicated. This, in my view, can be done in three significant ways. First, by the widening of the circle of our international friendship, and in particular by the immediate establishment of diplomatic, cultural, trade and other mutually beneficial relations with Soviet Russia, China, and Eastern Germany; second, by the progressive but accelerated termination of our undue economic dependence on British and other Western Agencies and Business concerns; and third, by the translation or transformation of Nigeria into a Republic, and by the initiation, at an early date, of steps to this end.
- The Federal Government should right now set before the nation well-defined economic objectives and development programmes which will be embodied in a successive series of five-year plans. The objectives and the programme should be sufficiently bold and expansive to fire the imagination and stimulate afresh the hopes of Nigerians and their fellow-Africans. To this end three important considerations must be borne in mind. One, our economic objectives and development programme must be rooted in and strictly guided by the socialist ideals of (a) equal opportunity for all, (b) equitable distribution of the national products, (c) the liberty, dignity, and well being of the individual, and (d) brotherhood among all mankind. Two, the admission of foreign investment into the country should be carefully regulated, and channeled in the overall national interests. In the words of the Report of the Conference on Administrative Organisation for Economic Development – ‘To allow all foreign firms to enter indiscriminately may stifle nascent local enterprise and jeopardize the balance of economic expansion. It may also rob the country of valuable Sources of income … ‘In this connection, a comprehensive list of categories of industries, specifying those that are in the present and in the near future reserved for the public sector, as well as those that are, in the short term, reserved for the private sector, should be prepared. Three, the development of agriculture (its modernization in every sense of the word) must go hand-in-hand with industrialization. If agriculture stagnates, industries will either not grow, or become a bane to the people.
- In order that our planned economy may be in the best interest of our people, a high-powered Economic Planning Commission should be set up forthwith, This Commission would consist only of qualified Nigerian economists and public men, and its membership should be full-time. The Commission, may, from time to time, avail itself of such expatriate expert advisers as appear to them to be sufficiently well-meaning, and detached from local business interest. It will be the duty of the Commission to produce a five-year plan for the Federal Government. It will assess and appraise the various surveys of our natural and man-power resources, establish priorities, determine the type and the location of industries, work out and supervise details of the development programme and the manner of its execution, and make a periodic review and any necessary modification of the programme.
- In order to correct the imbalance in our federal structure, more States or Regions should first and foremost be carved out of the existing Northern Region. To ensure viability, the North should, as a first step, be broken into three States – the Middle Belt, the Bornu and the Northern States. The Mid- West and the C.O.R. States should also be created as already proposed.
- To ensure the advent and growth of democracy and democratic practices in the North, the following reforms should be introduced without delay:
- a) Emirs, District Heads, Village Heads and Ward Heads, and other Native Authority functionaries should, from now on, have nothing at all to do with the maintenance of law and order during election and on polling day, and should be present at polling stations and in the polling booths only to cast their votes.
- b) During elections (Federal, Regional or Local) there should be no restraint whatsoever on public meetings. Political parties should be free to hold public meetings where and when they choose, unless in the interest of law and order the prescribed authority is of the opinion that meetings of rival political parties should be regulated by the issue of permits, or by agreement among local party leaders. For this purpose, the Nigeria Police Force should be the prescribed Authority, and should also be responsible for maintaining law and order during elections in the Northern Region as well as in the other parts of the Federation.
CONTINUES NEXT WEEK
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