The convener of the Northern Elders Forum, Abdullahi Ango, says Nigerians must go back to the drawing board as the country’s systems have failed to work.

Mr Abdullahi, a former vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said this at a book launch on Saturday.

“Looking at present reality in the country, everyone, both the leaders and the led, have failed the country,” said Mr Abdullahi.

He lamented that Nigeria, with over 200 million people, generated 4,000 megawatts 64 years after independence, adding, “Something is wrong with everybody, everyone. Everyone is guilty.”

“Today, we’ve just had power failure now; for 64 years, we are having 4,000 megawatts; what a shame. Four thousand megawatts of electricity is not enough for one big house in another country.

“For those of us who from time to time go to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage and so on. I should remind you that the Masjid al-Haram, the Makkah mosque, uses 18,000 megawatts of electricity daily,” he stated. 

Mr Abdullahi, who recalled that Nigeria practised a parliamentary system of government between 1960 and 1966, stated that the presidential system was too expensive for the country, as it required lots of resources to run.

“The time has come for us to really go back to the drawing board so that all of us can be safe,” he added.

Also, Shehu Gabam, the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), described the occasion as a forum to discuss the way forward for Nigeria.

Mr Gabam said many Nigerians had been victims of politics through court decisions, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or vote-buying.

He said Nigerians could not continue to have a nonchalant attitude to the system but be bold to take corrective measures to save the country for the present and future generations.

“At one period or the other, our judiciary was one of the best in Africa. We used to send some of our judges to African countries to train their judicial system,” he said.

(NAN)