As Nigeria continues searching for the
right processes and methods for the attainment of the Sustainable Development
Goals by 2030, Professor Ayobami Ojebode has hinted that that the country needs
to prioritise bottom-up approach to planning and executing development
projects. “This means they have to
define it; plan it; excuse it; and evaluate it. Also, live with the
consequences of mismanaging it, if they do so.”
The professor of Development
Communication further notes that Nigerian government and civil society
organisations should nudge communities to realise the enormous resources they
have and get organised.
“We talk of “putting the people in the
driver’s seat”. But these people stopped driving over 450 years ago; how can they jump
onto the seat and drive properly? Three hundred years of slavery, a hundred
years of colonialism and half a century of mostly bad leadership by fellow
Nigerians have robbed many communities of their organisational ability and
community-ness.”
Professor Ojebode, who has over 70
publications and produced 10 PhD graduates, stresses the need for the
individuals and institutions to embrace the culture of decent debate and
disagreement. According to him, “finding muted voices and unmuting them should
be our concern because it concerns the present and the future of all of us.
When a voice is silenced, we are all the worse for it.”
To ensure that the voice of every
citizen and institution is heard, Professor Ojebode points out that “the
language arts, with the emphasis on speaking skills must be taught in Nigerian
secondary schools in a more emancipatory and systematic way than is the case
now.”
Professor Ojebode gave the templates to
Nigerians and concerned stakeholders, yesterday during his inaugural lecture titled
“In Search of Muted Voices for the Mirage Named Development” held at the
University of Ibadan, with a clear admonition that communities must have their
media of communication to serve as a rallying point for community organising,
and for horizontal and vertical accountability.
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