Wike disagreed with Ozekhome as he noted that Nigeria has made some progress in 25 years of democracy.
By Jeffrey Agbo
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, on Thursday knocked lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), for claiming that Nigeria has been stagnant since the return of democracy to the country 25 years ago.
The minister’s comments came after Ozekhome gave a lecture in Abuja at the second edition of This Nigeria’s lecture and award event themed “25 Years of Unbroken Democracy: Challenges, Prospects, and Possibilities.”
Ozekhome, in his lecture, was critical of Nigeria’s democracy and system of government.
According to him, votes are not allowed to count in the country. “It is when these happen that you can say the people have elected or selected their leaders. The people become the dog, and those elected become the tail. The tail cannot wag the dog,” he said.
Ozekhome lamented the current situation of things under President Bola Tinubu.
He noted that, “Nigerians are suffering. Nobody should deceive the president. There is mass poverty, degradation, and anger in the land. Don’t let your minders tell you otherwise. Disguise yourself one night, go out, and see the anger and hunger in the land. People are angry because fuel jumped from N192 per litre to between N650 and N800. Small-scale industries, usually the hub of a country, are virtually dead. Who can buy fuel to power a small generator to do barbing?
“The government must look at this, block all loopholes, and cut the large size of government, which is too large and wasteful. We must do away with long convoys. Our convoys are too long. There is a way to empathise with people. We shouldn’t go about buying more aircraft and more vehicles in a country already bleeding economically.”
However, Wike disagreed with Ozekhome as he noted that Nigeria has made some progress in 25 years of democracy.
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He said, “The lecturer, Professor Ozekhome, my friend, has made some points, but it will be wrong to sit here without correcting some impressions. First of all, we are talking about 25 years of democracy; we know we have challenges. I expected the lecturer to say, ‘Yes, we have made some progress.’ But throughout his lecture, not one progress was mentioned. It was just criticism, criticism, and criticism. Are you telling me that for 25 years, we have not made any progress? If we have, then we can say yes, we have made this progress, but there is still room for us to move forward. Just like Shehu Sani said about how they were locked up, can he say that under this democracy, that Nigerians have found themselves in the same situation and that there is no progress?
“Advancements such as improvements in infrastructure in the FCT and proactive efforts in the current administration to restore hope among citizens.
“Mr. President knows there is a problem; that is why he launched the Renewed Hope Agenda because he knows we have lost hope, but he must work hard to bring back hope for Nigerians. It is not like Mr. President just sits down, and people deceive him. Who does not know that Nigerians are suffering? That is no longer a story, and we should know the difference between theory and practice.”
In conclusion, Wike turned to Ozekhome and said, “About rigging elections, as an activist, how many times have you rejected briefs? You have always defended those who have rigged the elections.”
Also reacting to assertions by Senator Shehu Sani, a discussant at the lecture, Wike said, “The mere fact that you people were activists does not mean you will do well. Activists have always failed. When you were in the Senate, how did we perform as senators?”
Sani had highlighted the importance of perseverance and collaboration in striving for democratic ideals.