Renowned economist Pat Utomi said the National Assembly was the worst thing to happen to the country.
Utomi lamented that the country is failing because the political class and elites, especially the legal elite, lack alternative thinking to turn things around.
They claimed that the National Assembly, which should have been a forum for robust debate to improve the country’s fortunes, had been occupied.
Utomi expressed his dissatisfaction in an interview with Punch.
He said it is puzzling that Nigeria’s political class does not realize that the country is currently at war and that a war cabinet of almost all members is needed to solve the country’s problems.
he said: “Nigeria is a failure so far. Democracy is not working. We all know that. Those who don’t know that are fooling themselves. There is no alternative way of thinking in this country because it is captured by the law.
“For me, the worst thing that has happened to this country is Parliament, where we should be having debates that lead to options, but we can’t do that because the entire hall is occupied.
“They are just hustlers trying to get everything they can out of the system without asking what makes the country work.
“When faced with such problems, you get to the point where James Robinson said the classic example is Nigeria, where we know what to do but we can’t seem to do it. Times like these require a certain kind of mindset.
“A local example is Olusegun Obasanjo in 1976-1977 when the oil crisis started to ease. He decided that we should move to a low profile mode. His car as head of state was a Peugeot 504. He canceled the trip.
“No one who observes how those in power use public resources can take seriously the statement that now is the time for sacrifice. So the problem starts with them. Strong political commitment is not there.”
The economist added: “You can’t save the economy when political actors are binge drinking, and it’s not going to have the same impact on the economy as it does today.”
“It will take a very political process to rebuild the economy. The political class in Nigeria needs to realize that we are in a state of moral equivalents of war. Sometimes we stand together.Nigerian politicians still think they are on a binge.
“So they’re all going in different directions, and there’s no one sitting down to form a national consensus on how to solve this problem. It’s the moral equivalent of war. What we need to do now is set up a war room and a war cabinet and bring everyone together to discuss how to solve these problems.”
