What Nigeria has become
Mar 27th, 2012 by admin
Many people believe that their country is the best in the world. Frankly, most are justified in believing so. In every society, the love of or love for one’s country can be very strong. That’s what patriotism is all about. And so it is that for many of us — no matter how bad or indifferent our country may be or may have been — we can’t but love her. When most people are outside of the country, they long to go back home. We cherish social gatherings where we recall the “good old days.” But, as much as you love and however many times you may have loved her, Nigeria has a way of disappointing her sons and daughters; Nigeria has a way of breaking one’s heart.
For many of us, especially the older or aging generation, we cannot but recall a time when we assumed Nigeria was on her way to greatness, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the developed/developing countries of South America, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. It might be difficult for the younger generation to imagine, but believe me: there was a time when the Nigerian landscape was awash with rabble-rousers and gadflies, intellectual giants, and world class social scientists and all manner of men and women who made the country and the world a better place. It was nice and glorious being a Nigerian.
Hyperbolism is not my intention here. And neither is it my aim to romanticise the Nigeria of my childhood. Of course, there were difficult and challenging times, i.e. the extralegal sacking of governments, violent conflicts of different stripes and the resulting political instability which made continuity and accountability difficult. Many events from that era continue to be a blot on our nation’s conscience. And so also were the mistakes of the post-war years. But the problems and challenges of those years cannot be compared to the rut and rot of the last three decades. Everywhere you looked, and with whatever lens or vantage point you look at today’s Nigeria, you cannot but wonder what befell her.
A country that was once celebrated around the world has become a monumental failure! It failed the international community. But far more than anything else, it failed the citizens (of Nigeria) to whom government should be responsible and accountable to. In today’s Nigeria, you feel the presence of government only when government is about to or is actually abusing its citizens. You feel the tentacles of government only when government is about to make mockery of the rule of law. You feel the presence of government only when government functionaries are about to misappropriate public funds. And you feel the presence of government only when government is about to commit war crimes. These and many other deranged acts are what the current and many past governments have generally excelled in (at both the local, state and national levels).
The government is really never there when you truly need her to be present and to perform her social, economic, political and constitutional functions. Of the over 140 million Nigerians, how many enjoy unfettered access to clean water, nutritious food, quality education and quality medical care, and to personal security and a clean and healthy ecology? In spite of the billions of dollars that have been allocated for the aforelisted functions and services, millions of Nigerians, on a daily basis, provide their own water, electricity, security and many other services government does not or poorly provides. In December 2010, the then Minister of Water Resources, Obadiah Ando, lamented that no fewer than 70 million people in Nigeria lacked access to safe drinking water. According to a United States State Department report, Nigeria spent US$2.1m on water supply and sanitation in 2009, yet the bulk of the people have no potable water to drink. Similarly, most of the national population have no access to adequate sanitation. Essentially, therefore, millions of Nigerians have, unwittingly, become micro-governments and or micro-nations.
A sizeable number of the homes in the big cities have boreholes and generators. Has anyone, or even the government, thought about the adverse effects of the hazardous smoke and fumes that emanate from these generators and from drinking unpurified water? In the foreseeable future, health problems, such as asthma, lung diseases and other forms of cancer may ravage the Nigerian society. How would a country without a single first-rate hospital and medical centre cope with such contagious waves? Obviously, danger looms!
If you are surrounded by poverty, you may not know how poor you are. If you are surrounded by hopelessness, you may not be aware of how dire your situation is. And in an environment where superstition, fatalism and preliterate conditions abound, not many are aware of how vastly underdeveloped Nigeria is. And many also do not know that they have the inalienable right to complain and to do something tangible about their sorry situation. Nigerians need not turn the other cheek. No! They should rise up against this or any government that consigns them to a lifetime of grief and destitution. There is just too much suffering in Nigeria. Unimaginable suffering, in some areas!
It is in times like these that I miss and remember that great African poet and prophet, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Nigeria has become those things he sang and talked about: vagabonds in power, thieves everywhere; the weakening of institutions; the abuse of state power; and a succession of governments that roam without direction and vision. People are suffering and dying everywhere you look. It doesn’t make sense. With all the resources at our disposal, it doesn’t make sense to have all these tragedies and human calamities. It simply doesn’t make sense!
Woodrow Wilson it was who said, “The State exits for the sake of Society, not Society for the sake of the State.” In Nigeria, it is the other way round. We have a country where government neither governs nor represents. Instead, it represents the interests and the aspirations of the very few. Nigerians, therefore, must be courageous enough to criticise and denounce, proffer alternative viable options and courses of action; and whenever possible, get rid of non-representative and non-governing governments. It is true that government cannot do it all – and we must not expect government to do it all. But really, what has the Nigerian government done for the people since the days of the late Sani Abacha until the present period? What?
Culled from the Punch Newspapers