By Emmanuel Obe, Onitsha

A former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Prof. Miriam Ikejiani-Clark, has said Nigeria is a failed state.

Clark said in a paper she delivered in Onitsha on Thursday that the country had failed to live up to the expectations of a modern state, having been crippled by corruption, politics of patronage and collapse of basic infrastructure.

The occasion was the second edition of The Perspective, an annual lecture series of the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture held in Onitsha.

The theme of this year's edition is, "Critical Development Challenges in Anambra State."

Ikejiani-Clark, who made a reference to a recent statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that he was not elected to build roads and provide power, said the Economic and Financial crimes Commission ought to immediately arrest and investigate the former president.

She said the former president and his former Minister of Works, Chief Tony Anenih, should be held to account for the billions of naira that they collected for the provision of infrastructure, which they did not build in their years in office.

"We have a classical case of a non-functional state. Nigeria cannot even refine its oil. Nigeria is not functioning," she said, as she described the rerun election in Ekiti State as a shame of a nation.

The professor of Political Science said any talk about making Nigeria functional must start from the people constituting the country discussing their staying together.

On Anambra State, Ikejiani-Clark commended the Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, for articulating a programme for the development of the state.

But she said the Anambra Integrated Development Strategy failed to meet the daunting development needs of the state.

She said so much still needed to be done to improve the standard of life, sanitation, infrastructure and resource utilisation.

She blamed the decrepit state of Anambra State on the politics of looting that had characterised the state since its inception, and said the government must do something to harness the resources and goodwill of the Anambra people all over the world.

Anyone who thinks Nigeria is not a fail state doesn't know what a nation is or should be. Every Nigerian coming back home is getting robbed, kidnappers everywhere, corrupt government, leaders who ignores the constitution to get what they want. I'm sorry but it's over. Nigeria can now break up sef. I'm still a proud Nigerian though.