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Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe,
Prof. Chinua Achebe
Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe
He was born on Professor Akinkugbe has
served as World Health Organisation Expert on Health Manpower and WHO Council Member on Health Research. He was the President of the Nigerian Association of Nephrology(1987-90); Member of the Governing
Council and Board of Trustees; Obafemi Awolowo Foundation (1992); International Society of Hypertension (1982-90);
and Board of Trustees of the African Association of Nephrology(1986). Professor Akinkugbe has been on the editorial
boards of many distinguished publications, including the Journal of Hypertension
(1984-90), Human Hypertension (1988),
Kidney International (1990), Blood Pressure (1991) and News of Physiological Sciences (1992). He has published, edited and authored numerous
theses, books, journals and reports, which include: Angiotensin
and the kidney: Observations on High Blood Pressure in the West African: East
African Medical Journal (special supplement, 1969) – Symposium on
Blood Pressure and Hypertension in Africa; Hypertension and stroke control in the community:
Principles of Medicine in Africa, 1976; The Health of Nations
- Medicine, Disease, and Development in the third World (1995); High Blood Pressure
in the Africa 1972; Cardiovascular Disease in Africa, 1976,
and Nigeria and Education – the challenges Ahead, 1994 Professor Akinkugbe is the Atobase
of About Toluwanimi Olujimi
Toluwanimi Olujimi is a THE INTERVIEW ‘LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWERSHIP’ Q: My idea of leadership
Prof. Oladipo Akinkugbe
Q. There is the suspicion that That
is a convoluted, complex question… Now the major architects of Nigerian independence are three people, and I don’t
mention them in any particular order. The Sarduana of Sokoto, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo; those
are the three major architects of Nigerian independence. Of course, the first Prime Minister was Tafawa Balewa
should also be mentioned; however Balewa was a product of the three thinkers and planners who led delegations for
the country to achieve self -government of the regions, and later on, the independence of this country. And they
were, in their own ways, highly principled, selfless, and possessing a great sense of integrity. They
were motivated by a concern for the masses, and a deep ambition to put in their best.
They were not what I will describe as people on horses that throw their heads back and believe they are the masters,
and the rest of the people, servants. These three men worked with the masses, and understood the politics of the
time; they were more concerned with taking care of infrastructures and providing social services. They wrote manifestoes
and pursued their ideals with zeal; making money was not a major consideration. And when such criteria are measured
against those of contemporary leaders, you find that the appropriate leadership qualities needed for nation building
is lacking. Q. Blame for We must examine why it is that the electorate –
the followers-- make poor leadership choices. I have always regarded education as a potent and powerful instrument
of social reform that requires serious and immediate attention. Unless the masses are well educated, they will
continue to tolerate poor leadership. They are the ones to decide whether a leader is performing well or not, after
all, and whether to remove him as a result! That is the power of the masses, you see... the people must be educated
to understand the power they possess…You will find that if you sat some members of the leadership down, and took
them through major issues of the day, many would be found wanting in the real understanding of issues. Q: That problem, many will argue, is wide spread… Precisely! I once went to the library of the National
Assembly to study the constitution. I then asked the librarian how many senators actually used the library. She
replied: ‘very, very few. Sadly, very few...’ So, I doubt if many really have had a thorough read-through of the
constitution, and these are the ones supposedly practising the constitution, the act of governance... Now, in the GODFATHERISM, MAMMON WORSHIP
AND THE CULT
OF MEDIOCRITY Q: Sir, how would you respond to the phenomenon of "godfatherism"
in Nigerian politics? The politician who keeps his nose in the air, and believes he can lecture
the electorate is likely to lose at a just and fair
In a recent paper, The
Cost of Talent, I argued that in a free enterprise economy,
talent is given full rein, and the appetite grows with nourishment. In the stampede for wealth, the truly gifted
person who is further endowed with a sense of honour and values often gets trampled upon, and may even get crushed
in the race. After all, the end justifies the means, as the saying goes… Interrupting…Mammon worship…Can Nigerians ever free themselves from the albatross
of mammon worship?
Tens of millions of Nigerians live below the poverty line, and so cannot cater
for their families. Many earn very little; many others are unemployed. The implementation of forms of social security,
a social contract has to be articulated and prosecuted by the entire system, if we are going anywhere near turning
around the fortunes of the generality of our citizenry, regardless of their political affiliation. Q: How can we develop a strong focused
civil society? By educating the polity and encouraging energetic, enthusiastic and passionate
involvement in the democratic process… As
I have stated earlier, the problem we face in I can tell you that I haven’t seen the man who represents me since the last
election. If he comes again to solicit for my vote, I will ask him what he achieved while in office. But he won’t
bother with people like me; he will go into the streets and markets to cajole people. So you see--it’s a huge problem
that cannot be tackled simply in a year. If democracy is allowed to run its full course -- for example, suppose
we had continued with democratic rule since the first republic, by now, 40 years after,
we would have moved closer to transparency. CORRUPTION Q: What measures should Sanctions are very important. If sanctions
are not imposed on those who err, the wrong signals are sent. People
will then say, ‘if I steal and am caught, I will not have to repay anything; in two or three years, I shall be
out of prison, and can then enjoy my loot. If people are allowed to go on with that mentality the country is in great
trouble. There is no deterrent to bad, corrupt behaviour, you see. In other countries, those who are found to be
corrupt are punished. So, if one is caught-- in the In the past, if anybody was caught and tagged a thief or imprisoned, that
was his end; his family, as well. Unless, and until we begin to hold in disdain proven criminals, things will not
improve. People will not learn their lesson until a big man goes to jail; so really, the followership has to become
more assertive, and hold our leaders accountable. I think
that the more education people have the more judgmental they will be about issues of the state. For instance, no
man is going to offer me N10, 000 as bribe, and I believe the same goes for the general run of professionals in
the country. But it is a different thing for the market woman; even N1, 000 will make a lot of difference to her
day. Q: What are some of the subterranean factors that nurture corruption in As a medical man, I view corruption as cancerous,
a kind of societal cancer. But as you know, as I also said
at a time, the things that fuel corruption are the two extremes of poverty and greed.
Now, if a system is such that people don’t earn enough to keep and maintain the basic necessities of life, they
will look elsewhere to make up for it… Several years ago, I had as my patient, a policeman.
After the usual clinical attention, I sat down to chat with him, and asked him how much his salary was. He gave
me a figure, and then I asked him how much he made in a day at any of the hastily improvised road blocks policemen
set up along our roads and expressways. He smiled and said, ‘Professor; how do you know all this—are you an SSS
man?’ I’m just interested, I replied, and then he gave me a figure that was about twice the amount he claimed was
his salary. How much of this amount do you give to your boss?
I then asked him. ‘Prof,” he asked, again, much surprised: how do you know these things? So, I told him that even
very young Nigerians know what goes on in the country, and he gave me another figure. I said to him: if you don’t
give anything to your Oga, he will probably post you to a remote area; where you are now is quite lucrative. He
laughed, and I added up all the figures, and then asked him how many children he had. Six, he said. Again, I asked:
“how do you clothe and feed these children and your wife?”
He said to me, and I will never forget this -- ‘I’m not ashamed
to be corrupt; the other alternative is to become an armed robber, and I’m not prepared for that. Now this is a
man with six children that he feeds and clothes. Even with these basic necessities, he is not able to cope, but
for the bribe he collects from motorists… Q: The pathology of corruption infests, infects, and permeates
every cadre of our society… Yes…you can see how many people are involved in
corrupt activities, and are not even ashamed of it. Their frame of thought is that if they cannot get adequate
remuneration from their legitimate employments, rather than embarking on actual armed robbery sprees, they might
as well extort money from innocent passersby – which to you and me amounts to theft. But what this means to people
such as the policeman is that the system in the country does not adequately provide for them. Someone in a similar
position in Europe would probably work at two or more jobs rather than resort to corrupt activities, or if he or
she was without a job, would receive certain allowances through social schemes; personal health insurance and subsidized
or free education for the children. All these things are guaranteed in industrialized countries. Even if one doesn’t
have a lot of money, the family, at least, would be taken care of. Q: You alluded to the role of social oppression
- particularly poverty, as well as greed - in perpetuating this problem… Let’s first zero in on poverty. If you go to Advertise here
So, people with a tendency for corrupt behaviour,
and who come from very poor backgrounds, are often quite greedy, because they want to more than make up for what
they feel they have been denied. So they stash away more than they will ever use, and deprive the ordinary man
from access to it, thinking that now they can never go back to being the poor one in the crowd. That type of greed
is so widespread now that even the young ones don’t want to work, seeing that certain members of the older generation
have become financially successful through dubious means. So they are prepared to cut corners, as well. Moreover,
they see that society appreciates this class of people all the same – splashing their ill gotten wealth all over
magazines, contributing to a culture of vulgarity. It is sad to see individuals who have stolen huge sums contribute
to churches, and their donations are accepted. Nobody queries anybody as to how the money in question has been
made; that fracture of morality has seriously degraded Nigerian society. Q: What is your prescription for treating corruption? Let me reiterate… the antidote to corruption has
to be some kind of sanction to be administered with a great sense of urgency. This is not a question of adjourning
the case, and allowing it to drag on for 10 years. We must deal with the situation in this country—many other countries
have a similar matter on their hands, and are tackling it fervently. And once we address the situation by introducing
sanctioning measures that should serve as a detriment. Sanctions should be imposed immediately, and the higher
placed the culprit, the more impact his or her punishment will have on our people. But involvement in corrupt practice must be proven
beyond all reasonable doubt; otherwise it only leads to unfortunate and senseless witch hunting. So how seriously
we are taken depends on the speed with which such cases are dispensed with. The judiciary appears to be part of
the problem, unfortunately, because cases take so long to be dealt with. If a person is found guilty, and it takes
six long years for him to be penalised, the lesson relating to that situation is ultimately lost. So sanctions
are very important to tackling corruption; but we have not had enough convictions to show the world that we are
serious about dealing with it. Q: The government has launched an elaborate anti-corruption
campaign. Despite the rhetoric, many Nigerians feel that little has changed. Compounding this perception is the
fact that for three straight years now, I'm a strong believer in any effort to end corruption
in Q:
You have mentioned that bringing to book individuals well known for
social, political, and human rights abuses and corruption should ultimately be the responsibility of the government.
What other measures can As I mentioned earlier, we can wage a systematic
war against corruption that targets every individual that has stolen from this country, and/or has engaged in corrupt
practices. There should be no sacred cows! Some have been involved in corrupt practices for 20, 30 years now, and
are still walking the streets as though they are more important than other people when their place is actually
behind bars. As far as I'm concerned, those people should still be brought to book. It’s never too late, provided
their cases can be proven beyond all doubt. And unless this is done, there will be no justice for the innocent.
In waging this war against graft, we have to be careful not to malign those who are innocent, or use the anti-corruption
crusade for vendettas. THE COLLAPSE OF THE EDUCATIONAL
SECTOR Q. The educational sector is in a steady state of decline,
many would argue, in a state of crisis; what your opinion? Education is a very large umbrella,
Professor Akinkugbe, in a warm handshake with Mrs. Birkman, while her husband, His
Excellency Mr. Karel Birkman looks on
Q: Professor Fafunwa [guest of the Achebe Foundation], believes
that the introduction of the Universal Basic Education, UBE can make an indelible mark in the history of Nigeria.
What is your assertion? Now,
I’m a strong believer in the need to ascertain what a country owes an individual, and in the area of education,
I am firmly of the opinion that primary education should be free for every individual. That goes for junior secondary
education as well. But beyond junior secondary, I have my own reservations whether at that stage —when people begin
to think of going into tertiary institutions —universities and all that, should also be free.
This is because we are now talking in terms of millions and tens
of millions of people. Depending on aptitude then--the capacity of the
student to learn and to diversify into different areas--we should become a little more selective in what the average
citizen should be doing; I don’t advocate that everyone does whatever s/he likes. There ought to be a means of
identifying individuals of high aptitude, then prioritizing the various academic and professional fields in terms
of the country’s man power development. We can’t have universities with 50 percent, 30 percent psychologists, political
scientists, and sociologists, while 20 per cent are engineers, lawyers, and medical doctors or those in related
fields. Other under subscribed disciplines are mixed up and thrown in together, but should really be treated as
specific, separate, fields. So, it is important at some stage for the machinery to choose those qualified for higher
education. Q: A more selective admission process… Precisely! Those students who are admitted to tertiary
institutions should have the aptitude to complete their chosen programmes--at that stage, many are called, though
few are chosen. There will be tens of millions of people who desire to go farther than the secondary level, however,
the system cannot absorb everybody. There has to be a mechanism for choosing the best brains. But ability to pay
one’s way through should not be a major constraint. People often ask: university education--should it be a right
or a privilege? I’m afraid it still has to be a privilege, though qualified. Higher education should never just
be for the rich and powerful, but for those who are brilliant. There has to be a scheme of scholarship award for
the best, whether poor or rich, because they are the ones to sustain the country’s economy. Such should never be
denied this right and opportunity. Q: You have alluded to a lopsided admission
process that favours the social sciences and humanities… These days, you find that many universities have
exceeded their admission capacity. Where they should be admitting 12,000 students, they accommodate closer to 22,000.
Many of those admitted are students of Political Science, Sociology, and such disciplines. Now these are useful
subjects; however, I am not of the opinion that they should be the dominant courses in the university. I know these
seem almost dogmatic views; but I believe they are worth considering…
DECLINE IN THE QUALITY
OF MEDICAL EDUCATION Q: How do you view
the standard of medical training in Nigeria today? Surely, it has taken a dangerous dive for the worse… Well again, I think medical education has gone
through a great many ups and downs. There were the four first generation universities; 12 to 14 years later, other
medical schools were established – those universities in the group referred to as third generation universities
began their own medical schools. Right now, I believe there are others that are state-owned, and I suspect that
sooner than later, private universities will establish their own medical schools. All this is good for education.
There was a time when graduates from the University of Ibadan were compared with graduates from anywhere else in
the world. At that time, in terms of facilities, the quality of medical staff and students were as good as the
best of them. This was true for the University of Nigeria, Nsukka…quality was at its prime. But over the years, partly because of the decline
in the economic fortunes of the country, things have turned otherwise. As for financial allocation, what was available
to only one medical school is now spread among the multitude; the resources are spread very thin, at this stage.
Because of this, staff retention became an issue. There was scarcity of human capital, a brain drain in the country;
some of our best students fled abroad. However, not all the best, necessarily, have left. There are still quite
a few top brains that are doing wonderfully well, given the right facilities to work with... Q: What measures can be taken to correct the
downward spiral? Things are being gradually corrected, I would like
to think. One example I can give is that government, right now, is embarking on the rehabilitation of eight teaching
hospitals, and I happen to be the chairman of that project. So, we are looking at giving Ibadan, Lagos, Jos, Maiduguri,
Zaria, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Ilorin a new look. I believe that, in the next month or two, the commissioning
will begin; several containers of equipment have already arrived. And to give you an idea -- each of these hospitals
is being revitalized with about N1.8 billion worth of medical equipment. So, it’s a new look entirely. By doing
this, we hope to keep some of our top brains here, and, perhaps, lure others back. We are working towards a new
era, one of our goals being that no Nigerian should have to travel out of this country at government expense for
medical treatment. All along, we’ve had good doctors; it’s just that we have not provided the tools with which
they can comfortably work. So, I really believe we are on the resuscitation trolley, and that things will soon
begin to improve. I think there is a lot to commend this present government for; it is trying to reset the trend
to enable us recapture our lost glory. PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES AND
THE CRISIS IN ACADEMIA Q: A number of private universities have come on stream in the last few years.
Some education experts are concerned about this proliferation. How does this affect the status of state-funded
universities? What suggestions do you have for strengthening state and federal universities? Well, I'm not sure proliferation is
Professor Akinkugbe (third from right) at a conference in Lagos
Certain criteria must be fulfilled, in terms of
funding, in terms of campus-size; not just an acquisition of a few buildings downtown. Certain minimum standards
must be guaranteed before one is licensed to run a private university. And the institution will be monitored; this
is not just a once and for all affair. If the university, at any time, falls short of the acknowledged standard
or criteria to be abided by, disrobing methods will have to be enforced. A private university does have certain
advantages over public ones, at the moment, though. The fact that universities are privately owned means that they
are less subject to problems of trade unionism; only the necessary faculty will be employed, and when their services
are no longer required, they are not retained. Also, the problem of cultism can be readily addressed. Even if the
culprits are not rusticated, the private universities will find it easier than federal universities to instill
discipline as thoroughly as is appropriate. Private universities, as well, are operating with
small numbers; well under 20,000, and not 40,000 or more, as in the case of federal and other public universities.
So, students are more easily monitored.
Rather than being a curse therefore, private universities stand
to be a blessing under most considerations. For the federal and state universities, government is doing its best,
as far as I know. It's like the story of the tortoise - the tortoise breathes, but its shell prevents us from appreciating
that fact. Right underneath there, I think the government is trying hard. But I must say-- the university system,
itself, seems often to be its own, greatest enemy. (Interrupting) In earlier interviews, Professors
Alele-Williams and Wole Soyinka [guests of the Achebe foundation] commented on this as well. Professor Alele-Williams
described the problem this way “Most
academics have lost the vision. We are too busy lobbying for positions to lead the universities; we are too busy
fighting to be vice-chancellors, to be deans, that we’ve lost sight of what the battle really is about “ to educate
our children, and serve as engines of development for the nation.” I agree… Some times, university people don’t know
what they actually want… what their role in society should be… Q: One major problem that has haunted Nigerian
universities has been intermittent student unrest that altogether paralyzes the university … I will tell you a short story… many years ago,
I was part of the Longe Commission on higher education, and we undertook a tour of various universities outside
the country. At Oxford University, we met with the vice chancellor. I was leader of the delegation; at the end
of the deliberation--an expose on how Oxford is run-- I asked: ‘Mr. Vice Chancellor, when was the last students’
riot you had in this university?’ He looked round in surprise, and replied, ‘Not within living memory!’ And he
turned round to his registrar, who concurred: ‘I believe the last time this happened was centuries ago.’ What this means is that higher education can only
progress effectively in an atmosphere of peace and serenity. Not a situation whereby, you know, a student enters
medical or any other school, but it’s not certain when he will be graduating, because there are frequent rampages
that lead to the closure of institutions of higher learning, and hence, a disruption of the academic calendar.
This is not the case in most parts of the world where, as they enter an institution of higher learning, people
know within a reasonable limit, when they would be graduating. Q: What role can prosperous alumni from our universities play?
Many universities in developed countries have large endowments because they have developed a Culture of Institutional
and Intellectual Philanthropy… Many of the very important universities in the
world are really not public universities -- Harvard, Yale, Princeton; all these are private universities, and not
strictly supported by government funds. These institutions raise funds through the alumni, through donations, endowment,
donations from different organizations, and that probably is what should be done here, rather than the tendency
to go 'cap in hand' all the time to government for recurring expenditure. If you go to the University of Ibadan,
and ask how much the government has allotted for salaries and emoluments, the amount would be around N165m which
is too low a figure. So, our campuses have become dilapidated. By the
time the staff is paid, little is left. In that sort of debilitating environment, a vigorous attempt at generating
funds internally must be discovered. And I dare say that Ibadan is doing quite well at this; it is well positioned
to do this with its endowment fund, and through attempts with corporate organizations, as well as buying into projects
that are on-going. This is a kind of wake-up call that should have happened several decades ago, but it’s never
too late, even as it is also not negotiable. And although I speak of Ibadan, I imagine all other universities can
do the same. Some are better placed than others. Lagos is, perhaps, in the best placed position to generate income;
perhaps Port Harcourt…but every university should
really look into what it can do for itself in terms of generating
funds internally rather than running to Abuja every time. THE EMERGENCE OF WOMEN
IN NIGERIAN PUBLIC LIFE Allow me
to steer the conversation in the direction of the plight of women in Nigeria: Nigeria is witnessing an upsurge
in the visibility of women in public life. Some applaud this development as a long overdue empowerment of women.
Others point out that women still face many economic, political and especially educational obstacles. Do you share
this opinion? I
believe that there is a
Prof. Akinkugbe,
Talk about having a woman president in the nearest
future, why not! They've had it in Sri Lanka, Great Britain, Israel, Pakistan, and recently we see this phenomenon
in Liberia, Germany and many other countries. I believe leadership is all about how to manage people, and it has
been proven over and over again, that women possess a greater capacity to manage people than men. Whatever constraints
they may be suffering now is due to the old conservatism; but all that will be modified as the younger generation
of women come up, because these days, there are more working women in the system than there were say, two, three
decades ago. In fact, in some parts of the country, it used to be unthinkable for a woman to go out to work, but
all that has changed. In most cities now, Lagos, Enugu, Kano and Abuja, you have women professional groups working
very hard. ETHNIC BIGOTRY Q: One of Nigeria’s stumbling blocks in the journey to development
has been the problem of Ethnicism. What is your perspective on this old pathology…? I agree. That’s another cankerworm…apart from corruption,
tribalism or ethnic considerations. I don’t really know when it began to gain ground in the country, but I believe
that the politicians fueled this problem, and they did this through regional polarization; at independence, it
wasn’t fractional interests that were under consideration. But let’s take Britain, for example, which is made up
of England, Scotland, Wales, and all the rest; I don’t imagine that in the choice of Prime Minister, the question
that arises is -- 'is s/he English, Welsh or Scottish? They put all that behind them decades ago! Now, I believe that tribalism in Nigeria has taken
on a kind of professionalism. People no longer care about the country as a rule; they want to have their own share,
and with that mentality, dilute the system. Every part of this country has very bright people, and this is a question
of opportunity. At the University of Ibadan, students with first class honours in medicine, all disciplines, come
from different parts of the country. One of the brightest doctors we’ve produced in this country, and who has majored
in postgraduate work, is an Igbo man. So speaking personally, the question of ethnicity has never featured in my
assessment of students. When I was dean of medicine in the early 70s, if a student was bright, I’d encourage them.
I still do today. I don’t care where people come from; it’s the quality of their mind that I’m interested in and
want to tap into. And that is the way for us all to go. But of course, if you find that out of 10 positions,
nine are from a particular part of the country, common sense dictates that those nine should not fill all the positions
while only one space is left for the other sections to jostle for, because we are operating as a federation unit.
So, some of these issues are discretionary, and the rights of other sections of the society must be taken into
consideration. It’s a vicious cycle, indeed; ethnic bigotry or
tribalism; selfishness, greed, these are vices that we must always try to correct as they will always exist in
some form or the other. There are people, always in key positions, who will try to influence things in their own
favour. But progress in life cannot be achieved in this way. It would thrive on other fundamental approaches to
the kind of governance we want. REJUVENATING THE AGRICULTURAL
SECTOR Nigeria imports most of her food. What suggestions do you
have to rejuvenate the agricultural sector? I’m not an agriculturist; however, in simple terms,
I would like to observe that a mono product economy as we have in oil is akin to walking on a tight rope. The reason
is this; in terms of a boom as we have with the price of oil now, everybody is grinning from ear to ear. But supposing
the price of oil drops suddenly and drastically, we will then be in trouble, because we depend so much on the proceeds
of oil to run our economy. We must, for that reason, try hard to diversify. There are various ways to encourage small and medium
enterprises so as to get everyone involved in building the economy. It is not something that is solely public-driven.
There must be private input, and I think the name of the game in many countries, is PDP – Private, Public, Participation,
and it is very important, because when people begin to write numerous grant applications, very few actually sit
down to ask themselves what it is they can do on their own. Perhaps, all one needs is a small amount of capital;
a good proposal, and the project is readily approved by the bank. People must take more interest in what they can
do by themselves, and not only what they can get working for somebody else. THE HISTORIC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY VOTE Q: Sir, in a historic vote, the National Assembly recently rejected a move
to amend the constitution and extend the tenure of the President and State governors. What is your reaction to
this development? I really don’t care to comment on this, because it is a politically charged
issue, and people have their motives; the enthusiasm
BNW Advocates' Island
PARTING THOUGHTS Professor, thank you for your thought provoking responses.
Do you have any parting thoughts on restructuring the Nigerian State? Restructuring can be political, economic and social.
I’ve talked about the need for corporate governance and leadership not to be seen as one large tree in the forest.
All that has to do with restructuring… Now is the time to rethink the process of our ways, and so, we begin to
think of the man on the street as part of governance. He should ask what his own role is, his own function in the
scheme of things. That is important. Everybody must attune his mind to the words of the late John Kennedy (Jnr)
-- 'think what you can do for your country, and not what your country can do for you…’ which is a very profound
idea, indeed. Even the promotion of integrity in one’s place of work, perhaps, in the local government; is a major
contribution. So, restructuring has many facets, and everybody becomes part of the movement. At various conferences, there have been many people
of integrity and intelligence discussing issues extensively. A great deal of song and dance appears to have been
made on the issue of resource control, but we mustn’t forget that we live in a country where so much demands rehabilitation.
Again it may, of course, be that the politicians will eventually resolve that issue instead of the insistence on
36 states. It is better to have six regions, geo-political zones that, perhaps, will be more viable than some states
are now. And there will be enough within the individual regions, in terms of resources such as oil minerals and
agricultural produce to move us all on! Q: Thank you Professor Akinkugbe for sitting
down for this conversation You are welcome!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the interview are not necessarily those of the Chinua Achebe Foundation.
The Chinua Achebe Foundation, an intellectual and cultural organization, believes in the right of every Nigerian
to express their opinion. Chinua Achebe Foundation Interview Series: Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe in Conversation with Toluwanimi Olujimi
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