Dr. Joseph Wayas was the Senate President during the Second Republic. In this interview, he says Nigeria has made considerable progress, 55 years after independence, in spite of the nation’s ethnic and socio-cultural diversities.
Nigeria at 55
I think we have made some level of progress but within these 55 years, we have not enjoyed free democratic movement as we have had to make compromises here and there. In a country like Nigeria with all its diversities, it is not easy to get everybody to come on board and participate in everything that is going on.
It is not easy to rule a country with such diversities. But in spite of this, what is more important is that we have made progress and we pray that as we continue, we will make substantial progress. We need to be together and be united and we ought to turn our diversities into our strength.
A man at 55 years is supposed have become mature and grown-up person but Nigeria at 55 appears to be facing many problems. When you talk about a man at 55, he is a single individual but when you talk about Nigeria with people, men and women of different diversities and a population of well over 100 million people, so to settle and agree on those things that will make growth, we have tried.
We have tried really to be together and I pray that we do more and in another 50 years it should be one of the best countries you have in the world. Already we have shown signs by overcoming most obstacles on our part of growth. So, I am very optimistic that we will do better as we progress.
Human growth itself does not happen in one day. As people move along, they make progress and improve on the way they do things.
For instance, take yourself, yesterday, when I say yesterday, I mean figuratively. Yesterday, you were doing certain things, today you look at the way you handled problems, you say to yourself no, I would have done it better this way or you were totally into a problem and now you say I don’t want to know about that problem. But today you say, I think I should look at it again carefully, I think there is an answer for it. So, life must be subject to changes, changes must come around.
Change does not come easy.
My message
For Nigeria at 55, let us look at other countries that are older than 55 and see whether they are so perfect because as long as there are human beings there, there will be no perfection. We learn to do things better by experience. If something happened this way last time, I should not repeat the mistakes of yesterday.
For instance, if a 55 years old person makes a mistake, we choose to compare it with say, when he was 35 years old or 25 years, and you say when he was much younger, he did have enough experience. Nigeria is making some progress and I think that there is no question about that. The question is, are we making progress that will satisfy everybody? So, as long as we have the patience, to make amends, by the time Nigeria will be about 150 years, it will be a different country, one of the best in the world.
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