Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, a former United Nations Under-Secretary General has stressed the need to create and strengthen Nigerian institutions that would assist in achieving the national goals of holistic security, development and good governance.
Gambari made the call while delivering the 6th Convocation Lecture of the Kwara State University, Malete, titled: “19 Years of Democracy in Nigeria and Beyond: Challenges and Prospects”.
According to him, for a meaningful growth, good governance and democracy to thrive, there is evidently a need to develop and strengthen the institutions of democracy.
“In Nigeria, we don’t run short of ideas. A lot of ideas have been conversed on different pertinent issues and challenges that bedevilled our country.
“However, the problem we have is that of implementation, hence the need to build and strengthen our institutions”, said the former Ambassador.
He noted that the institution that needed to be strengthened include the legislature, executive, judiciary, political parties, security agencies, civil society organisations and the press.
The diplomat stressed the need to ponder and reflect on both successes and failures of the country from time to time.
“The imperative of building strong National Institutions for our Democracy and Development cannot be over-emphasized.
“One of the greatest challenges of nation-building is that of lack of strong national institution building.
“Whether nations are able to manage their political and social disputes peacefully, without lapsing into conflict, or sustain economic growth without creating huge inequalities, critically depend on the quality of the relevant national institutions”, he said.
Gambari identified three important components to institution building as setting the rules; hiring persons with the technical expertise and moral competence to interpret the rules.
He also mentioned implementing the goals of the organisations to inspire public confidence by being accountable, transparent, fair and consistent.
Gambari, who is the founder and Chairman of Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development advised the three arms of government that were set up to serve as checks and balances to one another to avoid issues that could get them enmeshed in series of controversies.
On the 2019 General elections, he urged Nigerian politicians seeking elective offices to realize the fact that there was no other civilized method of expressing preferences than utilizing the democratic process.
He stated that politician must learn to accommodate one another no matter their political inclinations.
“The political space has been greatly heated up such that we require positive actions to ward off the negative effects of incendiary pronouncements.
“We must not pretend that hate speech, hurling of insults and making dangerous statements portray danger for the coming general elections; and the whole antennae of the global community is focussed on Nigeria”, said the former UN envoy. (NAN)
