Olu Oguibe, a Nigerian-born scholar in the United States, has said Nigerian politicians like Kayode Fayemi lack the requisite upbringing and intellectual ability to improve Nigeria, saying they’ve long been condemned to do things the wrong way. He made the remarks in the online interview programme 90Minutes Africa hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo on Sunday.
Mr Oguibe, an award-winning artist and professor, said that, unlike the late Chinua Achebe, he does not belong to the school of thought that believes Nigeria’s problem is entirely about leadership. He argued that the character of Nigerian politicians is shaped by the environment they were brought up in, and thus, they are the product of the malaise of Nigerian society.
“The present crop of Nigerian leaders are from the generation that fought the military,” Mr Oguibe, a leading pro-democratic fighter in the 1990s London, said. “One would therefore think that for a generation that waged the pro-democracy struggle and saw for…
