“We’ve become timid before power” — Ndoma-Egba decries Nigeria’s weak institutions

Former Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, has expressed concern over what he described as a drastic shift in Nigeria’s political culture, from the era of selfless public service exemplified by the nation’s founding fathers to today’s obsession with wealth and display of power.

Speaking on The Exchange podcast hosted by Femi Soneye and monitored by Very Nigerian, the former lawmaker and senior advocate drew a vivid comparison between the modest lifestyle of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, who lived in a mud house, and the extravagant lifestyles of contemporary public officers.

He lamented that Nigeria has lost the “environment” that once defined responsible governance.

Ndoma-Egba, who turns 70 in five months, reflected on Nigeria’s political journey from independence through the civil war and military regimes, recalling a time when the economy was among the fastest growing globally.

According to him, “the problem then was not money, but how to spend it,” unlike today’s economic struggles.

He attributed Nigeria’s weak institutions to a cultural habit of excessive reverence for authority, noting that citizens have become “timid about holding leaders accountable,” a development that allows impunity to thrive.

Recounting his early years in public service, Ndoma-Egba said he became a commissioner at 26, during a period when a state cabinet had only seven to nine members.

While acknowledging debates on reducing governance costs, he warned that extreme austerity could affect efficiency, recalling that he once managed responsibilities equivalent to over a dozen modern ministries.

Discussing his tenure as Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), he criticized the system for abandoning a comprehensive, stakeholder-driven master plan “almost immediately” after its creation.

He said political convenience turned the NDDC into a platform for sharing the “national cake,” instead of driving regional development.

He further described the Commission’s bureaucracy as stifling, revealing that payments required 62 approval steps, a process he said naturally encouraged corruption.

“Corruption is an opportunistic situation; it thrives in dysfunctional systems,” he explained.

Ndoma-Egba also defended the National Assembly’s integrity, referencing the “furniture allowance saga,” where lawmakers were accused of excess, even though they had rejected a proposed N12 million per member in favor of N3 million.

He said such misinterpretations reflect the public’s impatience with the legislature.

Expressing hope for the future, the former senator said he longs for a “secure and prosperous Nigeria” where his grandchildren can live without fear, reminiscing about a time when Nigerians could travel safely at night and when industrial cities like Kano housed over 50 textile factories.

Speaking on his home state, Cross River, Ndoma-Egba described the post-Donald Duke period as “an era of experimentation” that has largely failed.

He urged the current administration to return to “traditional forms of governance.”

Read Also: Senate, House Committees endorse creation of new South-East State

On a personal note, he revealed that if he hadn’t gone into law and politics, he might have become a Catholic priest or a journalist, and amusingly added that he eats pounded yam every day whenever he is in Nigeria.

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