My Krossroads

Nigeria is celebrating ten years of civil rule. Are we talking about a decade of civil rule or civil unrest? Should Nigeria be celebrating? It’s almost two years since President Umaru Musa Yar,Adua took over the mantle of leadership in Nigeria. So far, we have seen a continued decline in governance, security, general welfare of the people, Gross misuse of public funds, the unprecedented level of want in the midst of plenty, collapsed infrastructure and monumental corruption. While the level of lawlessness is increasing, the “law enforcement” officers on the other hand continually harass innocent Nigerians on flimsy excuses. 

Ten years ago, Nigerians were optimistic to the birth of a new dawn, today, it is the opposite. The average Nigerian cannot boast of enjoying basic amenities such as light and water. The man on the streets knows things are getting worse. First, he cannot afford to provide three square meals a day for his family, transportation has become expensive such that he has to resort to trekking either to work or to his destination. In any case if he had a car, there probably would be no fuel. Again, he is thankful he has a job because most of his colleagues are unemployed. Deciding to travel outside state to see relatives is near impossible because of the terrible condition of the roads

 Life has suddenly become difficult and the sad reality is he knows it will continue to Deteriorate

The Conference of Nigeria ten Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday said that there is nothing for Nigeria to celebrate as it marks years of civil rule, just as the Action Congress (AC) urged the Federal Government to see the proposed visit of United States President, Barack Obama, to Ghana as a wake-up reminder to do things right.
According to a statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, Osita Okechukwu, the coalition of opposition political parties in Nigeria said, “using best practices, known indices, core ingredients of democracy and the primary purpose of government- security and welfare of the people, clearly enunciated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and came to the inevitable conclusion that democracy is vanishing in our clime, dangerously sliding into one party state and that the ten years can be classified as 10 locust years.”
CNPP further said, “It is our considered view that indeed Nigerians cannot in all honesty claim to be practicing democracy, when the people’s votes do not count, nor do we have government by the people and for the people; that at best we can claim that we are under civil rule.”

The message is clear; Nigeria is a failed state and is heading for trouble. Ten years of democracy should be a wake call to Nigerian leaders to reassess and reevaluate the importance of purposeful leadership