Oluwasegun Oke

Nigeria has indeed experienced many self-inflicted and historically induced backwardness since the creation of the sovereign state. Yet top officials who are mostly villains seem not to be perturbed about their aborted manifestos as being among the underlining factors responsible for the ruins of our once boisterous economy. Regrettably, politicians have evolved overtime to assume a permanent affectionate role, as we unprecedentedly experience damnation in the twilight of economic lacuna and costly distractions, circulating around our daily existence through the everly guaranteed majority votes, cast by die hard supporters, coupled with institutionalized inherited authority. On the other side, as we fight a lost battle today against indiscriminate corruption, dwindling employment opportunities, age-long electricity shortages, police brutality, severe environmental pollution, nepotism, tribalism, misappropriation of public funds, abject poverty, widespread insecurity, lack of housing, under-funded hospitals, dilapidated roads, infectious hopelessness, over-population and deliberately incited civil tensions. With this in mind, I personally feel there is no reason to roll out drums and start celebrating yet, our international airports have commenced operations, hence unprecedented cases of corona virus may soon fill the air. And unfortunately for us, most ventilators which are critical for isolation and treatments of patients are manufactured in China -- a communist economy. Similarly, as we continue to overlook and pay lips service to well established political divisions and lingering crisis, which are scattered nationwide, then things may fall apart eventually, according to Chinua Achebe. We are all aware that Biafra Civil War was caused by alleged marginalization, maladministration and oppression of the Igbos. "No victor, no vanquish" is not enough, people perished during the war, and landslide destructions swept across the region, escalating into unnecessary war crimes, futile international mediations until 1970 and unrestrained hostility to take back the south eastern state, which was then under the firm control of the self-proclaimed regime of Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu. And according to renowned philosophers, "A man cannot do the same thing, and anticipates a different result. On this note, you are welcome to Nigeria! On the negative side, after sixty years of nationhood, only a lucky few can see a bright future for this country. In summary, I challenge them to save our souls by putting their scarce resources together, in order to topple the present government and take us forever away from this banana republic. In the same fashion, it now takes not less than two hundred million naira to achieve this feat through nationwide presidential campaigns. And presently, do we have the manpower and political will to form a united front and emerge victorious among committee of nations? And what does it take an ethnically diverse nation like Nigeria to be self-reliant? For example, leaders who can die for Nigeria are already dead, hence reaching the milestone of a country like South Korea, in terms of science and technology, within a limited time frame is extremely difficult to attain, if not impossible. And because we cannot move forward as a country, many have resorted to promoting propaganda. My last question is, what is wrong with restructuring the hierarchy of our battered political, social and economic model? We have earned close to one trillion dollars as foreign exchange from crude oil since 1960, yet more than three hundred billion dollars have been embezzled, yet nobody cares to tackle and arrest the widening channels where our scarce resources leak out rather spontaneously in defiance and illicitly finds its way into the coffers of mostly rich and powerful nations. To start with, we cannot portray a nation owing about twenty eight billion dollars in foreign debts as educated and forward thinking. A lot of people may be adamant that United States is also owing some money abroad. But unlike our country, United States thrives on monopolized competitive advantage due to its Tech-Savvy industries, and famous research institutes, fully equipped with billion of dollars and operated by award-winning scientists . Even so, it is a shame that our current leaders are so quick to call on international institutions for high interest loans, so as to cushion the effect of revenue shortages which have threatened the buoyancy of our expenditures in recent years. As time passes, we see the world bank and the likes as charitable organizations, when indeed their foundations were stringently laid for profit making and sustainability. Then again, our leaders seem not to be concerned about our collapsing economy, even though servicing of loans and other forms of financial bondage continue to drag us farther away from the promise land. Certainly, if Chief Moshood Abiola had been sworn in as the president of Nigeria, ignoring all the subsequent politically motivated misfortunes which befell him and his family. He would have never agreed to the ever-present ambush in endless seeking of loans from developed countries, even if it was the only option available to him. In reality, a good leader never bows down to god fathers, nor dance to the tunes of their massive bigoted followers. With this in mind, Chief Moshood Abiola knew he had a strong opposition in the then power-hungry military junta, led by General Ibrahim Babangida. And I can imagine him coping with their gun-powder-threats on a few occasions, drafting his plans meticulously and shunning warnings from family members and close associates who feared for his safety. Instead of succumbing to the norms around him, he further invested his personal finance because he wanted to revolutionize Nigeria. And see how it ended for him. Even though he won a landslide election, regarded as the best Nigeria has ever had. He was convinced and optimistic that Nigerians would soon leave the sugar plantations of modern slavery for a new beginning and economic empowerment, through the brainchildren of his people-oriented political dispensation. At this instant, I would have outlined in details, some of the infrastructural developments which have been installed since 1960, as a developing nation that has had its fair share of military head of states and democratically elected presidents who created order and national pride, using biometric tools and facilitating various interluding schemes to address some of the inequalities met on ground. Of course, many ethnically inclined Nigerians want to hear about their clan in public offices. But in contrast to this, I pay tributes to the dead. An example being General Murtala Mohammed, who was assassinated because he wanted a simple country where only sincerity of purpose and accountability thrive and are genuinely defended as enshrined in the country's constitution. As we appear to have found sanity through immoral scramblings for the "national cake", I will further highlight and illustrate what I have found rather unfathomable about the multi-ethnic Nigerian society from time immemorial. We have a country where a section of the population see themselves as being superior to others, irrespective of whether their adversaries share the same culture and language with them. Just like the monotonous ill feeling which led to what is today known as "Rwanda Genocide", when the country was plunged into war because of the perennial power tussle between two homogeneous ethnic representations. Indeed, the quest for power is intoxicating, and may lead one to believing that a country belongs to a particular ethnic majority, because of vote counts. It is so rampant nowadays that, even intelligent and vastly educated Nigerians in highly regarded academic institutions of this world, despise political competitions of any form. Sooner or latter, we will resort to prayers and fasting non-stop, for the fear of another spontaneous bloodshed and political violence whenever election periods are forthcoming. The most annoying part of it, is that, we know how to create a functional state, where everyone is treated with courtesy and dignity no matter their religion, ethnic orientation and political affiliation. A country where leaders and followers adhere strictly to the rule of law, in peace and harmony, above their natural political aspirations, social status and wounded self-aggrandizements. A country where we forebear one another because tolerance has been inculcated into our psyche and exemplified at all levels of our society, from the bottom to the top. Instead of this, our present government officials would rather strengthen the rule of law to further spotlight and legitimize the role of the poor masses as mere loyal slaves and handymen. Certainly, they have oppressed us psychologically, so much so that we believe our natural resources only exist in newspapers, yet they can afford bulletproof cars and expensive private jets, while the next generation of the common man inherits a broken spirit amidst unprecedented food insecurity, ravaging the Sub-Saharan state. On balance, the reason we cannot fight widespread corruption at the top is mainly because of our nauseating ethnic bigotry. You often hear people saying, " As long as my clan is up there in power, billions must be stolen to honor them". Furthermore, it is a bitter norm, I still recall many times I had rained down curses on the elites because they often impose austerity measures, come rain come shine, no matter how well the oil market is booming. My poor mother often counter me by saying, " stop abusing them my child, you can also become a politician!". Then I thought about it, our problem in Africa is that there are too many people who live their whole life -- from childhood to adulthood, thinking of how charismatic life would become when they start amassing wealth through bribery and corruption, upon being appointed or voted into power. In fact, I have also come to a disturbing conclusion that, Democracy is not for Africans. Let us scrap anything pertaining to Democracy and adopt a model which will represent the interest of the downtrodden minority. Ultimately to embrace a future which only recognizes kings as the main symbol of traditional authority in all the geo-political zones, as it was before the colonial masters invaded our land. And the duty of overseeing the affairs of the sub-region in all ramifications would be assigned to appointed university lecturers, whose occasional assemblies and consequent remunerations will be on a part-time basis. In addition, non performance of the aforementioned lecturers would attract a sharp decline in wages, and any confirmed cases of bribery and corruption would be prosecuted accordingly, additionally, offenders' certificates would be rendered useless by law. Adopting this model of mine would make assembly hours to be sustainable, meaningful, effective without jargons and the impoverished grassroots would be better for it. To cement my model, I further recommend that allocation of resources should be based on how every state has contributed to the commonwealth of the country. By doing this, the groundnut pyramids will return to the north, the palm oil era will re-surface in the east and the cocoa plantation will once again regain its place in the south west. Similarly, rubber plantations in Edo, Ogun, Anambra, Delta, Akwa ibom, Cross River et cetera, varieties of household crops in Benue state as well as other cash crops which used to form the bulk of our Gross Domestic Product during the early sixties to the mid eighties will regain their rightful place once again. But sadly, we have used the term "Democracy" to connote giving what rightfully belongs to a part of the country to others who have now become the proverbial Oliver Twist. Consequently, as the level of commercial activity is very low in their domains, they migrate from their villages in search of greener pastures in prosperous states across Nigeria, because it supports the popular mentality of the government and justifies the ambiguous revenue sharing formula, which has attracted spates of condemnations and outcries from political advocates of south east origin, in the past. In fact, it is my humble suggestion that white collar-job-seeking Nigerians, who are lost in major cities of Nigeria, should be lured back to their home towns by offering them some tempting financial packages, and later giving soft loans accordingly to start mechanized agriculture. They should also be registered with an established regulatory body to facilitate transportation of farm inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides, quality seeds and locally made equipment, so as to promote certified agricultural practices and eliminate incessant food insecurity, which has become one of our trade marks in Africa. As shown above, we have failed to reach our potential as a nation at its sixtieth independence anniversary. Only a short-sighted or a wicked Nigerian would say that our government officials are trying, and that things are getting better. For this reason, I will prove it that there are many internationally recognized united nations tenets that we do not follow nor adopt correctly in our present conservative society, and it is overwhelmingly true that "Democracy" is one of it. To put it another way, an imperfect democracy is not only dangerous, but cancerous. If Nigeria were a university student who has taken series of examinations upon being admitted, he would have been forced by the school authority to drop out due to poor performance. Whereas during the last Presidential debate in America, Joe Biden told the President of America, who was representing the republican party to shut up. This can never happen in Nigeria, because having freedom of speech enshrined in the constitution cannot save anyone who dare face our president with such an insult, it is a taboo here in Nigeria. You can only mock our president indirectly by saying, " long live the giant republic!" , or " Sai baba!", no matter how rootless and corrupt he may appear to be. Meanwhile, there are large pit falls that the meagre resources allocated to the grassroots have created, which includes youths' restiveness, banditry, internet fraud, armed robbery, terrorism, kidnapping, cultism, and spontaneous ritual killings. Till date, one of the ten thousand wonders presently challenging our collective growth and meaningful co-existence, is that, no democratically elected government in Nigeria has ever addressed the impunity that PHCN enjoys, thus I like to believe that some highly ranked ex-military billionaires are its lucky stakeholders, because PHCN is one of the most notoriously corrupt, and openly gay institutions in Nigeria. And no government will ever stop its arbitrary metering and age-long monopoly, because they are cowards. Unlike God who was so worthy of his supreme position that he created light for the good of mankind. Our previous to the present grave-digging leaders made it lawful for us to continue paying for darkness. Oil was discovered in 1956, but before this, it used to be tin, columbite and coal that the British colonial masters made use of to create an egalitarian society that was functional, self-reliant, defiant, purposeful but all together controlled under the supreme rulership of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Then it is not out of place if I say that God has forsaken us in this country, people are afraid of those grossly incompetent ladder-carrying PHCN staff, while our national electric power capacity fluctuates incessantly between three to four thousand megawatts every year. Ironically, even South Africa who got her independence from its apartheid era in 1994, have a total domestic electricity generation of over fifty thousand megawatts. It is disheartening that we have become the biblical Egyptians who were oblivious to the blood of the lamb, when Pharaoh declared war against God. More punishments will be televised, as locusts continue to infest our rich plantations and darkness remains commonplace at the detriment of the common man. To complete their rhetoric, Politicians now talk about economic diversification wherever they go, but Nigerians prefer abroad. Unlike in the seventies when graduates were given Peugeot cars upon employment, university graduates today have become a waste of space. Their academic curriculum is obsolete, inconsequential and too weak to compete internationally. Abandoned and disorientated, they now roam our major streets in search of manual labor jobs. Certainly, our democracy has suffered multiple dislocations, and must be admitted into an Indian specialist hospital. Any body who is proud of our present shambolic representation, is indeed sectional, if not a bigot. Furthermore, it has come to my realization that we only imbibe about fifty percent of anything the white man has made universal. The truth is bitter, study people who favor sectional movements, you will notice that they thrive on fifty per cent forgetfulness. The remaining fifty per cent that they often deliberately remember, is whenever they want to perpetrate evil, they execute it eventually, even if it means keeping it in their memories for forty years, for them to harm or destroy their fellow human being. If you confront them that other tribes also have rights, their reply would be that it is none of their concern, or they would exude non-participatory silence. The population of ethnic predators keeps increasing rapidly, this is why power transition remains a major issue in Africa. Ask a politician why the roads are bad even though there are overwhelming reports that a substantial amount had been released previously for that purpose, he may coil back in his chair momentarily, before proceeding to offer recycled excuses. Our lack of regard for the future is alarming. By all means, we pray more than any other country in the world, yet we refuse to do the right thing. We have Pharaohs in power, and when the wrath of God comes down on them, the long and thunderous prayers of their pastors and imams will not be enough. Disturbingly , I am very close to someone who have worked for a very popular politician before, he said he got the personal assistant job by mere coincidence. And that the politician once said, " This country is sick". To corroborate this assertion, I still remember vividly, when I cast my vote for Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who was contesting for the presidential election in 2003, he was a dogged fighter and disciplinarian with no god father, nor fear of the military, but majority did not bow to his impressive antecedents and virtues. They prefer maintaining the status quo, because to do otherwise will amount to historical sacrilege. Nevertheless, we need to remember a lot of things, and give it proper and adequate attention, before we can announce it to the world that we are practicing and relishing the dividends of democracy. All in all, the world has become a global village, and our abandoned youths have found their tools in computers and internet-related activities. I was recently drawn to a graduate who had built a mansion by indulging in romance scams. It made me wonder, if indeed the future is bright for this country. Everybody concurs that Nigeria resources belong to its elites, it is not complicated, but rather a celestial curse. In fifty years from now, our population would have surpassed 270 million. Without encouraging the growth of domestic manpower, as the panacea for opening the way to at least, eighty per cent of local manufacturing, through science and technology, the chaos in our society will only get worse. By that time, politicians would have become more callous, self-serving, charismatic and care-free about their statutory obligations. Just to take you back a little bit, in a country where the president justified the further increase in the price of fuel per litre by mentioning some countries, including Saudi Arabia and Uganda whose yardsticks he adopted. The first country in particular enjoys relatively stable and cheaper electricity compared to Nigeria. And if Saudi Arabia's government announce today that a litre of fuel is now ten naira, it would quickly be overlooked by the present government without a second thought. Furthermore, if continual suffering of the masses is an integral part of democracy, let us scrap it and adopt a refined concept that promotes compassion and unwavering solidarity, no matter the state of the economy. Usually, they know we can still take in more punishments before the next anniversary. But the following is my unaffected submission: Every man should work hard to pave his way and remove any confidence reposed in our executives, legislators, judiciaries and other minor public office holders. The only thing we have learnt so far is their systematic stealing. And for the poor masses who are proud of this heritage, let them celebrate the independence day in hysteria and later wallow in unprohibited harsh realities.