Nigeria: Ezekwesili Decries Failure of Governance, Says Nigeria Needs Rebirth

What the report says

Former Nigerian education minister and School of Politics, Policy and Governance chair Oby Ezekwesili said Nigeria’s deeper problem is not the 2027 presidential race but what she described as a failing political and governance system. In an interview on AriseTV PrimeTime, reported by This Day and distributed by AllAfrica, she argued that the country needs a broader national conversation about shared values, a common vision and a political order that can deliver development.

Ezekwesili said repeated attention to elections has not solved the structural weaknesses behind Nigeria’s political, economic and social challenges. She urged Nigerians to reject the idea that the country’s current condition is inevitable, saying in effect that the situation results from choices and systems that can be changed. She also criticized the lack of social cohesion and a strong social contract, saying ethnic and religious divisions have deepened because Nigeria has not built a unifying national project.

The former minister said Nigeria has never had the kind of consensus-building dialogue needed to anchor a new constitutional arrangement. She added that criticism of poor governance should not be mistaken for hostility to the country itself. On politics ahead of 2027, she repeated her support for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, saying her view is based on character, competence and capacity rather than party loyalty.

Ezekwesili acknowledged the obstacles facing any challenger to the ruling All Progressives Congress, including incumbency advantages and resources, but said voters could still demand change. Her remarks matter because they reflect a wider debate in Nigeria over governance reform, constitutional change and whether elections alone can address long-running institutional problems.