A member of Afenifere and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Olusegun R. Babalola, has said the “Achieving Chapter II” agenda championed by SDP presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, can rescue Nigeria from economic hardship, weak institutions and poor governance.
Babalola stated this in a policy essay titled “Section 21; Key Stone to Achieving Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution,” where he argued that Nigeria has failed to harness its cultural and constitutional heritage for national development.
He said Adebayo’s focus on Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution has revived discussions around people-oriented governance, accountability and national self-reliance.
According to him, Section 21 of the Constitution, which deals with the protection and promotion of Nigerian culture, has been wrongly reduced to festivals, dances and exhibitions instead of being used as a tool for governance and economic growth.
Babalola argued that countries like China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea achieved rapid development by combining their traditional cultural systems with modern state institutions.
“The rise of these nations is the rise of what scholars now term civilizational states, where regimes present the nation not merely as a political community but as the inheritor and protector of an ancient civilization,” he said.
The Afenifere chieftain lamented that Nigeria’s traditional institutions and indigenous governance structures had been pushed aside, leaving the country with weak accountability systems and fragile institutions.
He described the situation as one that has made Nigeria “constitutionally incapable” of achieving meaningful development through what he called the fusion of ancient constitutional values with modern economic systems.
Babalola also criticised successive governments for turning Nigerian culture into what he described as “museum culture,” focused mainly on ceremonies and exhibitions without linking it to governance and development.
He traced the challenge to the post-colonial era and the legacy of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, saying Nigeria failed to convert its rich cultural identity into a working governance structure after the festival.
According to him, Adebayo’s Chapter II agenda presents an opportunity for Nigeria to embrace social democratic policies rooted in accountability, local governance and economic self-reliance.
“The good news is that Prince Adewole Adebayo has made ‘Achieving Chapter II’ the cornerstone of his manifesto. This would give Nigeria a fresh start towards joining the ‘Rise of the Rest,’” he stated.
He urged the country to move beyond symbolic cultural celebrations and adopt policies that integrate indigenous governance principles and local accountability into modern governance structures.
“The Rise of the Rest is ultimately the rise of those who understood their culture not as a memory to be displayed, but as a living constitution to be lived,” Babalola added.
