The former Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba, Ondo State, Professor Olufemi Mimiko, has opined that for Nigeria to overcome its challenges, the political class has to restructure the political system, adopt a Capitalist Developmental State (CDS) model, and establish stronger frameworks for policy execution.
He emphasized that these changes are critical for Nigeria to reach its potential and offer its people a better quality of life.
Mimiko made this known on Monday, November 4, 2024, while delivering the First public lecture of Kola Daisi University (KDU) in commemoration of the institution’s fourth convocation ceremony.
From Right, Vice Chancellor, Professor Adeniyi Olatunbosun, Professor Olajumoke Abimbola Morenikeji and Regisrar, Haruna Olawale Adetu
His lecture was titled, “Why Should Regular Nation-Building Challenges Continue to Undercut Nigeria’s Development Possibilities? Lessons from Elsewhere,”
Before drawing his conclusion, Mimiko offered a candid assessment of Nigeria’s situation, citing the country’s vast potential in natural resources, youth demographics, and educated elite, which he argued could drive sustainable development.
Despite these advantages, Mimiko highlighted how deep-rooted issues continue to thwart progress, pointing to alarming poverty rates, infrastructure gaps, and a staggering unemployment rate.
“A country with 63 per cent of its population—approximately 130 million people—living in multidimensional poverty, and an unemployment figure of 33.6 per cent cannot claim to be maximising its potential,” Mimiko stated.
The lecturer outlined a cycle of economic crises worsened by poor policy decisions and structural flaws.
A history of ineffective policies—ranging from import substitution to various phases of neoliberal reform—has, according to Mimiko, fostered a landscape of rent-seeking and mismanagement.
These practices, he argued, have constrained Nigeria’s economic potential, leaving many of the population in a poverty trap.
He pointed out that the current fiscal policies under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, including fuel subsidy removal and currency flotation, have led to unprecedented inflation, making life increasingly challenging for Nigerians.
Speaking on insecurity, Mimiko provided a sobering perspective on the country’s deteriorating security landscape.
He outlined the multiple facets of Nigeria’s security issues, including insurgency by Boko Haram, banditry, kidnappings, and cybercrime.
He noted that “with two of the world’s deadliest terrorist organisations operating within Nigeria’s borders, insecurity has reached a critical level.” This situation, he explained, undermines the state’s legitimacy and further strains national unity.
“The unknown gunmen nomenclature has most recently been added, to account for the incessant armed attacks unleashed on security officials across the Southeast. Banditry, also recently added, is a phenomenon allegedly driven by the illegal mining of precious stones in the Northwest of the country. Many of the governors have elevated negotiations with, and payment of ransom to bandits to the status of state policy; without regard to the conventional thought that this is a veritable basis for entrenching a basically and social culture. That humungous amounts of money continue to be exacted as ransom from their victims, by bandits and kidnappers, many through the banking system without being napped, underscores a demonstrable lack of will on the part of government to stem the tide of these criminalities. Some of these terrorists have instituted some form of governance, collecting taxes and administering justice. These are a window to the capacity and legitimacy quotient of the Nigerian state”, he explained.
Mimiko also tackled the complex issue of national unity, describing it as being “at its weakest”, adding, that the country’s many ethnic groups remain divided by deep-seated distrust, fueled by historical and systemic exclusion from political and economic opportunities.
This exclusion, he noted, manifests as a “Japa” trend among youth, and among ethnic groups, as calls for increased self-determination or even secession stressing that Nigeria’s diversity, if properly managed, could be a powerful source of strength, rather than a weakness.
Addressing Nigeria’s leadership challenges, Mimiko emphasised that structural deficiencies in the political system hinder the emergence of transformative leaders.
He argued that the political system in place often produces leaders compromised by vested interests, limiting their capacity to unify the nation or implement significant reform.
