Speech at The Platform on the Democracy Day: 12th June 2025
Lagos, Nigeria
I: Introduction
1. Happy democracy day to all Nigerians! Thanks to Senior Pastor Poju Oyemade and the Covenant Nation for the invitation and for their impactful national service in organizing this annual conversation.
2. I was asked to speak on “Rebuilding Our Nation”. This is a short topic but would need volumes of books to address. The topic itself presumes a sense of nostalgia for a “a nation” with a glorious past, and to which we now need to “rebuild”. Several thoughts race through my mind: have we had a nation? I am reminded of the famous quote by the late sage—Chief Obafemi Awolowo who argued that: “Nigeria is not a nation. It is a mere geographical expression…” (Path to Nigerian Freedom, 1947). During the campaign for the federal elections in 1959, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello were reported to have had exchanges which reflected the fundamental differences about Nigeria among the founding fathers. Zik was reported to have told Bello: “Let us forget our differences”, and Ahmadu Bello retorted: “No, let us understand our differences. I am a Muslim and a Northerner. You are a Christian and an Easterner. By understanding our differences, we can build unity in our country”. Have we had a true country? Chinua Achebe’s view was that “There was a Country”. From Awolowo’s view in 1947 to the views of Ahmadu Bello (1959), and Chinua Achebe (2012), what has changed?
3. Nigeria is said to have about 371 ethnic groups speaking over 500 languages. It is also a multi-religious country. Our current national Anthem, which I love, acknowledges our differences but with a positive affirmation of our resolve to stick together–“though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood, we stand…” The march to nationhood is still an aspirational prayer in the last stanza of our Anthem where we pray to God of all creation to grant this our one request to “help us to build a nation where no one is oppressed, And so with peace and plenty Nigeria may be blessed”.
4. The point must therefore be made that Nigeria, in its chequered history, has always been a work-in-progress in its march towards a more peaceful, united, equitable, and prosperous nation. We need to be intentional about creating what the slogan of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN, 1978-1983) described as “One Nation, One Destiny”. Consequently, it may be more appropriate to possibly rephrase the title for this intervention as: “Creating a Sustainable Nigerian Nation”. This should indeed be the urgent everyday conversation by all Nigerians, and I won’t pretend that I can address it in a few minutes’ conversation. Nigeria was stitched together some 111 years ago and within the first 46 years our founding fathers organized and liberated us from colonial rule. In the last 65 years, we have had chequered experimentations to forge a nation and liberate our people from underdevelopment. I will argue that this second epoch of our “liberation struggle” has not been fought with purpose-driven organizations, with intent to defeat underdevelopment nor have we intentionally created the new Nigerians to forge a new sustainable nation. Mine will just be to provoke debate and not necessarily to provide all the answers.
5. Before we go further, a few caveats are in order. Every Nigerian has his/her long list of what is wrong with Nigeria. I have my own list. But I am not here to rehash the Book of Lamentations. I am a die-hard optimist and believer in Nigeria’s future. I applied for my current job because I believe that I can join millions of Nigerians in the search for solutions. Yes, solutions—not lamentations! I see the Nigerian cup as half full, and not half empty. I carry my own Nigerianness on my head and my dress (see the Eagle). To keep my optimism going, I try a lot of the time to focus more on what is right with or working in, Nigeria. Yes, we still have a very long way to go. But we must appreciate how far we have come.
6. Second, I would disappoint many who would expect me to comment on the economy or to use this forum to offer another “blueprint” for economic reforms. I have access to the FGN to offer my advice, and this platform cannot serve the purpose. But let’s be clear: the audacious structural reforms embarked upon by the current administration of HE Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR have rescued the economy from the tipping point. The endorsements by the World Bank, IMF, London Financial Times, rating agencies—Fitch, Moody’s, etc—are well deserved. Of course, many people know that I made a living criticising the World Bank and the IMF. As Governor of Anambra, I have even rejected a World Bank loan because of the terms. But on the matter of the trajectory of the current economic reforms, the World Bank etc are largely right (Funny enough, when these institutions criticise the government, some people use them as validation of their own criticisms but when the same institutions give a positive report, they are derided as “neoliberal, out-of-touch institutions”). In 2023, I had described the state of the economy when this government assumed office as akin to a standing dead horse, and public finance was about to tip from insolvency, with potential catastrophic consequences including possible mass retrenchment of workers and/or arrears of salaries and pension. Public finance is back on a solvency path and macro fundamentals are recovering positively. Yes, there are still a lot more to do, but I urge the President and his team to stay the course. Many analysts have interesting “opinions”, but I urge them to go deeper: conduct rigorous counterfactual analysis and provide credible alternatives! As a friend said recently, the task is always easy especially if you are not the one doing it. This is one country where every year, people celebrate the previous year(s) as the “good old days”, and every new regime points out how it is the only one to bring positive change since the world was created.
7. Just like every Nigerian has a long list of what is wrong, so also is the list of “expert solutions”. For many, the list would include: restructuring the federation and a new constitution; collaborative and coordination arrangements among the three tiers of government; tackling corruption; ensuring predictable and stable macro environment (including low and stable inflation and exchange rate); addressing security, law and order; rule of law; state policing; providing infrastructure (especially electricity and transport); food security; addressing poverty and unemployment; investing in people (health, education, and empowering the vulnerable groups); prioritizing technology, industrialization and creative economy; fully exploiting our natural resources; tackling challenges of the environment—desertification, flooding and erosion; ethical and transformational leadership that also delivers efficient, effective, transparent and accountable governance, etc. The list is long but real challenge is HOW to accomplish these, especially given binding resource constraints and the distributional consequences. I won’t waste your time on these.
8. Let me return to the substance of our contribution– the nature of organization and citizenship required for sustainable nationhood and success in the second “liberation struggle” against underdevelopment. The first is that we must give our politics a soul by intentionally orchestrating ideologically driven political parties. Second, a new Nigerian must be “born again” through ethical-value rebirth. The time for both was yesterday but today is still on time. Tomorrow may be too late.
II: Ideological Foundations for the Next Nigeria: Let’s give a soul to our politics.
9. Ideology is a system of ideas, beliefs and ideals which define our worldview about the economic, social and political organization of a society to guarantee happiness, liberty, and welfare of citizens. Individuals who share a similar ideology form a political party, organize and seek power to govern in accordance with their ideology and its consequential policies and programs. More practically, political parties are grouped as either left of centre or right of centre, depending on their location on the spectrum of neoliberal-progressivism to supra conservatism. There are however different shades in between. But a political party worth its salt must have a defined ideology, from which one can even predict its possible stance/policy on different economic and social issues. Party and government policies and programmes are largely derived from the ideology of the party. A political party that is ideologically driven ensures policy/programme clarity, predictability, and continuity. Without ideology, parties govern by whims and policy/program reversals are common even when the same party retains power. For those who call for policy continuity, they are inadvertently bemoaning the absence of ideology in party or governance. Ideology is therefore the soul of a political party, and in a multi-party democracy, it is the only way to ensure policy/program continuity and sustainable progress.
10. On this score, our past may be the beacon to our future. We seem to have developed backwards, as the gains of the second and third republics in terms of rigorous ideological debates/struggles have literally disappeared. I invite you to review the ideologies/programs of the five and later six political parties in the second republic, 1979-1983 (GNPP, NPN, NPP, PRP, UPN; and NAP). I can still remember their ideologies and cardinal programs, and I miss the rigorous ideological debates among parties of those days. All the six states controlled by Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s UPN implemented its programs on free education and free medical services, and all states of NPN implemented its cardinal programs of mass housing and green revolution, etc. During the third republic, President Babangida experimented with two ideologically defined parties—NRC as right of centre, and SDP -left of centre!
11. What do we have today? What we have is one party, “Nigerian Elite Plc” (NEP), with the sole goal of grabbing power and governing “as the spirit directs” or government by consultants’ “blueprints”. Forget about the different political parties: they are (with one or two exceptions) but different factions of the NEP, largely split by quarrels over exclusion or inclusion in the “dinning table”. Individuals who can’t get a sit at the table suddenly realize that “nothing is working” and either form their own parties or join others to “fight for a better Nigeria” — a euphemism for “bring me closer” (There are extremely very few exceptions however who are driven by principles). The two parties which control most of Nigerian states are PDP and APC. Can you tell an APC or PDP state if you see one? What is the difference? I don’t know how many politicians today that can hold up and explain/defend the ideologies of their parties. Indeed, the speed with which people switch parties is a testament that political parties are mere platforms of convenient opportunism— no principles, no public purpose— only personal convenience! Even the APC started off as a marriage of convenience, with the merger of ACN, ANPP, CPC, and factions of APGA and PDP, with the goal of grabbing power, albeit with avowed social democratic agenda. After 10 years of governing at the centre and controlling most states of Nigeria, it is time to be very intentional about APC’s ideological foundations.
12. I have reviewed the objectives and programs of almost all the registered political parties, and I can confirm that they are largely “copy and paste”—to scale through registration by INEC, with little or no substantive differences. In substance, almost all the political parties subscribe to the social democratic ideals (left of centre). Ideologically speaking, there are no opposition political parties in Nigeria. Any reference to “opposition parties” is mere semantics, and at best refers to factions of NEP currently excluded from the dinning table. In many instances, the executive would still have to “lobby” members of its own party in the legislature to support its agenda.
13. To give our politics content and a soul, things must change. Organizing Nigerians around ideological divides is the sustainable way to mobilize citizens across ethnic and religious divides. It is the surest way for a new politics to evolve from the current “turn by turn” (Chop I Chop politics) to transformational politics of development that guarantees an answer to the prayer contained in the last stanza of our National Anthem. I don’t know how the authentic parties will emerge. But I believe that we should intentionally orchestrate them via legislation or regulation. Without this, our politics will continue to be rudderless.
14. For me and for us at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), we subscribe to pragmatic progressivism—centrist economic agenda, progressive social charter, with conservative moral values. The five fingers of our programs include: (a)Security, law and order; (b) Infrastructure and economic transformation; (c)human capital and social contract that seeks to leave no one behind; (d)transparent and accountable governance with a new value system; and (e) environmental sustainability—effective physical planning and taming climate change, flood and gully erosion. For us in APGA, Chapter Two of the Constitution “Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy” should be the Bible and Koran of public policy in Nigeria. Chapter Two of Nigerian Constitution provides detailed “Progressive Agenda” designed to give every Nigerian a stake in the survival and prosperity of the country en route to shared nationhood. Our policies on totally free primary and secondary education in public schools plus subsidized mission education as well as free antenatal and free delivery in all public hospitals—which have benefited hundreds of thousands of children and women are part of the progressive agenda, etc. So, if you call for progressives in Nigeria, I will proudly raise my hands and can list a dozen or so policies and interventions of my government in Anambra that are intentionally progressive— to leave no one behind! Progressivism is not a slogan: it is a social-political movement and ideology.
15. As a first step towards a new party politics in Nigeria, let political parties unite along ideological lines (not necessarily a merger). We should awaken the spirits of Dr. M.I. Okpara, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Mallam Aminu Kano, etc. In 1983, the parties with progressive credentials: Awolowo’s UPN (scientific socialism); Azikiwe’s NPP (neo-welfarism) and Aminu Kano’s PRP (democratic humanism) formed the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) ahead of the 1983 general elections. Their mistake was that they could not field one presidential candidate.
16. On ideological basis, the following parties in Nigeria are largely in the same room and sharing social democratic and centre-left credentials: APGA, APC, LP, SDP, YPP, ZLP, NNPP, PRP, and AA. All these centre-left parties should form the new Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) ahead of the 2027 general elections but avoid the mistake of 1983. Unlike in 1983, the new PPA should field ONE presidential candidate in 2027. The alliance of progressives must refine and deepen the platform of progressivism and keep the flag of reforms flying. Even politicians in PDP with progressive ideological leaning may also join the alliance. Nigerians need to see Progressives Working Together—to deepen and coordinate progressive reforms across all progressive states as happened in the second republic, with impactful results. The others can then organize themselves, perhaps into the Conservative party, and present Nigeria with credible alternatives. This will signal the birth of a new politics for sustainable transformation in Nigeria.
III: Ethical and Value Rebirth: Towards a new Nigerian
17. After fixing our politics, where are the Nigerians to play it or follow? More often, we focus on the leadership. For sure, there is a lot that is wrong with our leadership. But leadership often reflects the larger society— its values, ethics, culture, beliefs, and expectations. Leaders are products of the society, and you can’t give what you don’t have. Most Nigerians are, through acts of omission and commission, complicit in what ails Nigeria. We must solve it together—through mass involvement and intentional social re-engineering.
18. We must deliberately create a critical mass of ‘new Nigerians’— who believe in her and are ready, if necessary, to die for her. The struggle for liberation from colonialism would not have been possible without the nationalists of the time, and the current struggle to liberate her from underdevelopment cannot be sustainable with “neo-nationalists” of today. No nation has prospered sustainably without a critical mass of patriotic, vigilant and actively participatory citizenry. So, let the neo-nationalists, ready to die for Nigeria, raise their hands—very few, I guess?
19. So how do we raise the army of Nigerian champions to create the future we desire? The answer is long. The shortest answer is to give the citizens stakes in the society by investing in their future. Examples like the NELFUND (student loan scheme by FGN) as is also the case in Lagos and Kaduna states; cash transfer schemes; Anambra’s One Youth 2skills program creating thousands of youth millionaires, free primary and secondary education, and soon-to-disburse student bursary program, etc—excite the youths/students, and could hopefully create ‘stakeholders’ in the futures project.
20. But we must uproot the debilitating culture of corruption and freebies (easy or free money) and the institutions that are weaponized to sustain them. The “culture” that celebrates and expects something for nothing or wealth without work must give way for a culture that rewards and celebrates hard work, enterprise and integrity. It is my thesis that a society where no one asks/cares about sources of livelihood or where most people expect and celebrate unearned/free money is one where transactional governance will always trump transformational leadership.
21. There is a powerful connection between “freebies culture” and criminality—bribery and corruption, drug trafficking, oil bunkering, internet scams, prostitution, trafficking in persons, banditry and kidnapping, etc. Beneficiaries of these crimes become lords of the manor, brandishing unexplainable wealth and phantom titles for validation while the society cheers in celebration. Surely a society gets more of what it celebrates. For the political class, ethnicity and religion provide easy ladder to the common purse while most of the others (especially in our superstitious society) resort to “magic”. Of course, there is a long thesis about how the pervasive looting of public treasury by politicians and sharing of same to the poor masses over time have numbed public sensitivities and normalized the behaviour to the extent that public officers who leave office “poor” are derided by the same masses as being “stupid”. Tragic! That’s a long topic for another day.
22. There is now a clash of values regarding principles for financial success. The time-tested principles of hard work, enterprise and integrity are being challenged by the “get rich young or die trying” philosophy of teaming millions of youths. Institutions that underpin the new (magical) principles for wealth are booming—native doctors, marabouts, and prosperity pastors promising a crown without the cross. These merchants of wealth by magic deceive millions of youths to shun hard work, expecting “dash” or free/easy money. Consequently, prison yards all over the world and bushes/forests are filled with youths in search of the easy life. Also, a horde of youths throng into politics with the sole intention to loot and not to serve. Are these the youths to build the new Nigeria?
23. To make progress, we must break this vicious “culture” and intentionally promote ethical-value rebirth. Here again, ideology comes as a compass for mass mobilization. This is a national emergency requiring urgent national conversation. Current legislations that literally make the fight a federal government affair are inadequate. The liberation struggle from the clutches of corruption and challenge to the superstitious belief in wealth by magic or miracles must be a mass movement requiring all social forces and organizations— including churches, Mosques, markets, CSOs, NGOs, etc. Indeed, Nollywood has a pivotal role to play. Inadvertently Nollywood promoted this superstitious belief in wealth via cultism or ritual and millions of our youths believe same to be true. Nollywood is critical in the mental and cultural reconstruction. We need a Citizens’ Code of Conduct and re-invent institutions like the erstwhile War Against Indiscipline and corruption, MAMSER and mainstream them with national, state, local government, and community institutions. Our curriculum in primary and secondary schools must include Civics and Nationalism.
24. In Anambra and as part of our fight against criminality, we decided to go to the roots and seek to uproot the institutions that give the criminals a false sense of invincibility and promise of wealth by magical means. With our novel Homeland Security Law (enacted in January 2025), we have criminalized the practice by native doctors and others that promise wealth by magical means, use of any property for manufacture, sale or consumption of illicit drugs and kidnapping, etc. We have challenged anyone to come and prove that one can be wealthy through magic (if it were so, then the native doctors or some pastors should be the richest people on earth). Under our law, anyone could be questioned to explain his or her source of wealth, and we have also stopped indiscriminate award of phantom chieftaincy titles especially to persons without verifiable means of livelihood. The criminal and shady native doctors are on the run from Anambra—“Oso Soludo”, and together with the efforts of our security forces, this has brought crime rate to the lowest ever—we believe that Anambra is now the safest state in Nigeria. We have a massive re-orientation program especially challenging these superstitious beliefs in wealth through magic or miracles and systematically rescuing our youths—and redirecting them back to basics—hard work, enterprise and integrity as proven template for sustainable wealth. We are happy that some other states are following our template in this regard.
25. Our government is living by example—in austere prudence, transparency and accountability. In three years, we have not borrowed one kobo, devoting 77% of our spending on capital projects and the results of our transformation are evident.
26. As a country, we must design conscious programs to kill religious and ethnic bigotry. We need a national conversation around citizenship versus indigenship versus residency. Can we create a Nigeria where “state of origin” or religion will no longer be a defining basis to participate/benefit from the public space? A new Nigerian personality will never emerge if one is constantly reminded that irrespective of how many years or generations you have lived and even invested in a place and paid taxes all your life, you still don’t “belong” there because of your or your parent’s “state of origin”. Part of the national conversation should include a Bureau to address grievances against the Nigerian state. Part of the process of building a nation state is ongoing, open and constructive dialogue.
27. In Anambra, we have been trying some experiments with impressive successes. Our philosophy of governance is summarized by the slogan: “One State, One People, One Agenda”. We do not see the senatorial zones or religion or religious denominations. We prioritize our programs by need designed to lift all boats up especially the most neglected sections of society rather than nepotism or patronage. The five new general hospitals I have completed in three years are all in the North senatorial zone (the zone of my immediate predecessor) and none in my southern zone, and my most celebrated urban regeneration at Okpoko is also in the north zone, etc. We have erased the tensions among Christian denominations to the extent that the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN—Anglicans, Methodist, Salvation Army, etc) gave us an award as “Father of Ecumenism” and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) agreed. I have appointed permanent secretaries from Abia and Osun states, while my political appointees also come from Kogi, Ebonyi, Imo, Delta, Enugu and Imo states. Indeed, the 8,115 new teachers and over 1,000 medical professionals we recruited come from 18 states of Nigeria. We must intentionally mainstream One Nigeria with One Destiny. It may be subtle but a powerful way to create true Nigerians. On dealing with religion, Nigeria has something important to learn from the Yorubas where in a family the husband could be a Muslim, the wife a pastor, while the children choose their religion. Such a level of religious tolerance should be a template for the next Nigeria, and President Tinubu is a leader in this regard.
28. We must now conclude. Nigeria is God’s greatest gift to the black race. I am a Pan-Africanist, still dreaming of the United States of Africa, with Nigeria at its core. I believe that this century is ours to claim and to dominate the next century. But it all depends on what foundation our generation lays today for our future generations. Frantz Fanon reminds us that “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it”. As pilgrims here on earth, there is no time to waste. Complaint or protest is good but better to do something constructive about the subject of complaint.
29. Organization is power. A fundamental step towards a sustainable Nigerian nation is for all apostles of progressive change to unite around a consolidated agenda for sustainable national rebirth. For starters, all the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA) states should guarantee access to qualitative and truly free and compulsory primary education as well as free secondary education, and mass access to qualitative health care. They should also commit to a timeline to make key provisions of Chapter Two of the Constitution (which contains the principles for progressive change) enforceable. This would be the barge of progressivism and the foundation to give every child and every citizen a reasonable stake in the new Nigeria. We can’t ask for their patriotism if we have not invested systematically in their future. Let the conversation continue…
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Chukwuma Charles Soludo, CFR
Governor, Anambra State.