A beleaguered Nigeria is preparing for one of the most historical presidential elections in the annals of her history.
If extant quandaries from fuel scarcity, and maddening quagmires from currency swap crisis unleashed on us by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, don’t railroad the plan; the election will hold next week.
This election is expected to chart a new path to greatness for the country.
This, however, will depend on the crop of leaders we are able to fashion out through this democratic process. Truth is that quite often, I am unsure if I should keep up hope about a great Nigeria anytime soon, or wave a white flag of surrender as a result of unfurling ugly, despicable, and frustrating events all around the nation. My heart really wants to hope for better days ahead; but it is daily becoming a heavy lift. The belief that all shall be well is too deep a well to draw from. To serve Nigeria with all our strength is becoming an impossible anthem to recite by many Nigerians who love their country. We all hear all manner of sloganeering of hope all the time.
Those self-comforting but self-deceiving words are nothing but ignis fatuus that deals no bludgeoning blows to the giants in our land. The titanic is troubled and tempted. Nigeria will not flip into becoming like America because Nigerians merely wish. Change will not come without Nigerians looking at their household enemies straight in the face to say “enough is enough.”
A few garroting human giants are stealing the people’s patrimonies. Yet, my people loudly sing the praises of plunderers. A few mean men are turning justice inside and out and handing out injustice. Yet, the same oppressed people campaign for their oppressors to grab the staff of high political office. The nation has become a notable spot where a thief becomes a chief with a crown on his head and a sceptre in his hand. Many Nigerians should feel ashamed that they are aiders and abettors of wickedness against humanity.
Over 90 per cent of the fellas running for political offices today should be behind bars for their tracked wickedness and crimes against society.
Over the same percentile of elected lawmakers sit in the National Assembly making laws while records of gross misconduct hang around their thieving necks.
Can the lawless make fair laws? Will they not create loopholes in new and existing laws to become more lawless? Criminals run for office with ease in Nigeria while my people, at the splurge of a few cash, scream their names in adoration. Bad hombres don’t bring good omen. Evil people don’t do a nation good. Can good things happen to a good nation with bad people in charge of a nation?
This sad story came to mind as I was prepping up to pen this article. In September 2016, President Buhari engineered an algebraic financial formula to dispatch urgent help to douse the tension and loosen the leash around the necks of state governments and governors engaged in protracting duels with their workers over non-payment of salaries.
The three-pronged relief package announced by the presidency includes the sharing of about $2.1b (N413.7bn) in fresh allocation between the states and the Federal Government. A CBN-packaged special intervention fund ranging from between N250B and N300B was a soft loan available to states to access for the purposes of paying a backlog of salaries.
Seven years later, state governors have ratchetted up more loans and yet are still unable to pay workers’ salaries. The bail-out effort was nothing more than bailing out bandits in government houses across the country. Corruption is at an all-time high everywhere because depraved minds are in charge of our governments. Every sector is enmeshed in disgraceful mud as the nation gradually degenerates into a discombobulation.
Education, which is the bedrock of a nation’s success, is an eyesore. In Nigeria today, about 80 million people do not have basic literacy skills; and 20 million children are out-of-school. Thirty three of persons aged 15 years and above cannot read or write in any language. The primary school completion rate at the national level is dismal. Only 47 per cent of children have access to secondary school (69.3%, urban and 37.5%, rural); and as many as 85 per cent express dissatisfaction with their secondary education. By 2030, Nigeria is estimated to be one of the few countries in the world that will likely have a bountiful supply of young workers.
Out of a current projected population of 200 million Nigerians, young people under 30 account for over 49 per cent of the population. What this means is that young people in the country are close to 100 million. Our youths could be Nigeria’s asset or liability in decades to come. This ugly statistic will always stand for as long as miscreants who have no true love for the people are in power. Oh, ye people, take back your country!
From fuel scarcity to the dearth or unavailability of cash in circulation, our afflictions are many. It’s only in Nigeria that a central bank will scamper to change the face of a nation’s currency, launch it out as a matter of life-and-death, give poor Nigerians a chokehold ultimatum to have old notes exchanged for new ones that don’t exist, and then expect magic in compliance and peace on the streets. Wisdom will never be found in fools. That is the price Nigerians now pay for crowning ineptitude in government.
When avoidable pain rolls down like mighty waters of affliction, a man’s strength becomes shriveled. Nigeria is too complicated and intricate. Wrong rules the land. Right is in serfdom. Injustice, inequity, and unfairness aren’t in the lexicon. There’s raging agony in Nigeria at this time. The distemperature is brought about by human giants in the land.
If Nigerians do not confront the human giants of backwardness who have occupied vital spaces in the spine of the nation, status quo confusion will continue to reign in the fabrics of a good country. Nigerians must rise up and hold their leaders accountable. They should also thoroughly vet those who want to be office holders. If we fail to do that this time round, plunderers will continue to plunder, and oppressors will not cease to oppress. Oh ye people, You ARE THE GOVERNMENT. It is time to muster the boldness to confront these human giants that torment you. A turnaround in all spheres of Nigeria’s national life can happen in less than 10 years if these tormenting giants are challenged. But if they continue to enjoy free and dominating reign, in 10 years, there may not be a country. In 10 days, take back your country.
Credit: Fola Ojo