The Ford Foundation has identified legacy of the colonial administrative system which was inherited by African government and which no administration has had the political will to address, as responsible for setback in the continent
The Regional Director for West Africa, Ford Foundation, Dr Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye, stated this while delivering a paper with the theme, Social Media Regulation: Insecurity and Elections Accountability in Nigeria’, at the 4th annual anniversary lecture of Penpushing Media, held in Abeokuta.
She pointed out that the colonial system was rigged against the people, adding that, everything was done to protect the colonizer and subjugate the citizens, stressing that no arm of government was created to serve the people.
‘The continued legacy of the colonial administrative system which we inherited and which no administration has had the political will to address, is mostly to blame. The colonial system was rigged against the people. Everything was done to protect the colonizer and subjugate the citizen’, she emphaised
Aniagolu-Okoye noted that many may wonder why government often seems to be on the other side of the people, and why good governance has been elusive in most of Africa.
‘No arm of government was created to serve the people. They were all created to subject the people. The coloniser never questioned itself. It only ever questioned the people’s audacity to complain or demand for rights and services’.
‘’It doesn’t matter if the administration is military or democratic, the inherited administrative system has remained the same. The government is, therefore, more inclined to suppressing the people than it is in strengthening its own systems and processes’, she added.
‘The piecemeal reforms undertaken now and again by different administrations are only cosmetic. The whole colonial administrative system will have to change for government to become responsive to citizens and for trust to be built with citizens’, she added.
Aniagolu-Okoye stated that, until that is done, social media regulation in whatever guise will continue to be resisted by the people and will be viewed with suspicion, stressing that government can only function effectively when it is trusted by the citizens
‘Until that is done, social media regulation in whatever guise will continue to be resisted by the people and will be viewed with suspicion. Government can only function effectively when it is trusted by citizens’, she said.
‘All of government’s efforts should, therefore, be geared towards building a new administrative system that engenders trust so that the results of this very crucial election and other acts of government will be accepted by majority of Nigerians’.
The Chairperson Planning Committee of the anniversary Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi earlier in her welcome address said the gathering provides opportunity to contribute to the discourse, adding that the aim of the lecture was to use unconventional means to provide a roadmap for Nigeria, assuring that the outcome of the event will be passed on to policy makers at state and national level
The Chairperson noted that social media has become a very important tool of political activism and it has recently served as diva of political debate,noting that existing data confirmed that thirty three million social media users in Nigeria as at January 2021 with cellphone access figure of over 48 percent and internet access of 36 percent
The Founder of Penpushing Media, Prince Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, in his speech, said the lecture has become an annual event aimed to address number of issues as it affects the world and proffer solution to them.
He said the platform was an idea robustly nurtured through the journalistic ideology of the need for credible sources of news,and painstakingly created and designed to add value to journalism worldwide
The Founder added that, in similar vein, penpushing positively moved forward in the area of corporate social responsibility, using the platform to address and show concern on the plight of the less privileged and special people in the society,citing examples of two beneficiaries of the platform gestures with a promise continuity in adding values to life of the less privileged at all time.
The panelists at the event include Lanre Arogundade (Founder International Press Centre), Rt Hon Kunle Oluomo(Speaker Ogun State House of Assembly), Toun Okewale-Sonaiya (Founder WFM Radio), Almajid Alli (Former Deputy Inspector General of Police), Bridget Osakwe(National Coordinator, West African Network for Peace Building) and Muyiwa Adejobi (Force Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Police).
Meanwhile, some notable dignitaries at the ceremony include: Chief(Mrs) Bola Obasanjo (wife of for President)Former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, represented by Oba Adebisi Layode, Iyalode of Yorubaland, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, Chief Niyi Adegbenro, Oba Olufemi Ogunleye (Tiwalade of Owu Kingdom), Maureen Chigbo(President Guild of Online Corporate Publishers)and Engr Diran Kayode-Adedeji among others
