It is now clear to any discerning mind that Nigeria as a nation is driven by chance and good luck politically and economically. That we have survived as a nation is not because of what our political leaders have consciously done right. Indeed, there is no national value or ethos that serves as rallying point and impetus that consciously drive our leaders. We have always had tribal and ethnic leaders who have subconscious loyalty first, to their kits and kin rather than embrace every tribe and tongue to build a united prosperous nation. We have ultra nationalists who promote their regional block over and above Nigerian national interest; like the Arewa youths Congress, Oodua People’s Congress, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Egbesu etc who always threaten dismemberment of the country at every little provocation.
Our public office holders therefore see their positions as opportunity to partake in the sharing of national cake which they did not contribute any condiments to bake. It is only in Nigeria that people struggle for political power for self-aggrandizement, live in opulence and mock the rest of the citizenry. Nigeria has been run like a fiefdom where the head always see it as opportunity to advance the frontiers of his ethno-religious block.
Every government since 1985 when General Ibrahim Babangida came to power has shown regression into sectarian cocoon. President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have taken it to an intolerable level of provocation by constituting a cabinet in total disregard to national character. The APC-led government has become more divisive than any government before it and the president does not seem to care a hoot about it. Nigeria lacks visionary and philosophical leaders who would look beyond the narrow confine and perception through ethnic prism.
As citizens, rather than look for solutions to our problems, out of fear, docility, and indolence, we inundate and besiege God with supplications calling heavens down to take over the affairs of Nigeria after He has given us head and brains. God sphere is not terrestrial and He will not come down to do what he has given us abilities to do. It is therefore wishful thinking and delusion to be calling every Nigerian out to pray. Yes, prayer is good but I would rather we call out every Nigerian to protest the ravages of a self-serving and thieving political class as people in other civilized climes do.
It is true we have the problem of structural imbalance in our polity made worse by poor political leadership but no amount of restructuring can transform the nation on the path of growth with brigands at the helms of affairs. Whatever economic model we operate today, there is no noticeable evidence that it translates economic prosperity to the ordinary Nigerian. Any economic theory not married with praxis to improve the lot and well-being of the people by putting food on their table is balderdash. This government promised job and employment to the youths but since assumption of office, more people have been thrown out of work due to stifling economic policy and cluelessness.
In their economic confusion, rather than create enabling environment for people to create jobs, the government prefers to create and duplicate paramilitary agencies and parastatals with overlapping duties that would increase the wage bill of the federal government. Yet the federal government is struggling to pay salaries and the state governments owe workers arrears of salary up to 12 months and in some cases more. The implication would be that this government would end up creating more problems than it is able to solve when all the earnings of government would go into overhead and paying bloated wages.
The tough boy posture of the president has since evaporated and the cabinet it took him six months to put in place has never shown any sign of performance even on the most basic things. Since the first week of December 2017, there has been epileptic supply of fuel and the queues have remained perpetually with us without any sign of abating. We are an oil producing nation, the sixth in the world and the government cannot provide and guarantee steady supply of petrol while the president keeps the portfolio of petroleum minister to himself. Both the president and the junior minister, Ibe Kachikwu, are overwhelmed, dazed, confused, and voiceless.
The mass movement of people from one place to the other for livelihood has been put on hold as they cannot afford the shylock price of goods and services occasioned by the multiplier effect of hike in petroleum prices. As usual, to the government and members of the National Assembly in their wisdom think the only solution lies in increasing the pump price to check diversion of products. One really wonders why the government has become impotent and cannot apprehend all those saboteurs in the oil sector behind the fuel shortage preferring instead to transfer the burden to innocent Nigerians.
The level of insecurity is palpable across the country for both the rich and the poor. The worst side of the bargain is that those in government and their minions have converted the state security apparatus like the Nigeria Police and in some instances members of the military into personal guards while the rest of us are left to our fate. To those who manage to find their voice to challenge the abuse of power, the ordinary citizens and the opposition, the police and the Directorate of State Services have become goons hounding them in a new campaign of intimidation against right of free speech guaranteed by the constitution. As a nation, we should stop agonizing in docility and waiting for God when he has given us all the enablement to be a leading nation of the world.
In the 1980s and 1990s when Nigeria had vibrant mass movements made up of active student union movement, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Civil Society Organizations, the government would be shivering with cold if it is unable to restore normalcy and supply of fuel for one week. Today, you have youths and students union movements who do not know why student organizations exist. The youths and student leaders have become surrogates of politicians, serving as locomotive for thuggery, ballot snatching, and election rigging. To us, we are waiting that sometime, things would normalize and Nigeria would suddenly be on the road to recovery; that is a huge joke. No nation grows by chance and good-luck. Recently in Hong Kong, the youths in their early twenties rose up to challenge their continual apron-tie to mainland China. Let our people rise because fate and good luck has its limit for a nation.
- Kebonkwu Esq, writes from Abuja.
