Nigeria has failed to execute the essential post-independence transition from a mere geographical territory into a cohesive, functional nation, former Education Minister Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili declared during a live broadcast on Arise TV’s Prime Time.
​Speaking on the program, the Chairperson of the School of Politics, Policy, and Governance (SPPG) argued that the country’s defining tragedy is a severe structural deficit rather than a simple failure of political leadership. According to Ezekwesili, successive governing elites have systematically avoided the inclusive national dialogue required to forge a binding social contract, build social capital, and establish shared values across diverse ethnic and religious lines.
​”The political class has failed to facilitate the fundamental conversation required to move Nigeria from being merely a geographical entity to a cohesive nation,” Ezekwesili stated. “The greatest tragedy of the country is this resignation that this is our destiny. I say no. This is by design; it is not our destiny.”
​The former World Bank Vice President warned citizens against treating the upcoming 2027 general elections as a primary solution to the nation’s compounding crises. Conducting repeated voting cycles under an over-centralized, defective constitutional framework, she asserted, only protects elite interests while deepening citizen alienation and accelerating economic hardship.
​Drawing parallels to nations like Kenya and Indonesia that confronted their foundational political structures, Ezekwesili urged Nigerians to reject seasonal political rhetoric and organize a unified civic movement capable of forcing a complete constitutional rebirth.
