Nigeria: Whom do we blame?

By

Isaac Samuel Akpan

isaacakpan44@yahoo.com

 

Nigeria, since its inception in 1960, to the separatist movement that caused the Biafra war in 1967 and even now is still in the process of bringing stability to its political system. The country, from the beginning, has been about leaders protecting their personal interests and is the reason it's regressing so much. As a Nigerian, however, appraise the following facts:

1.    As of 2010, 114 years after power was first generated in the country, 48% of Nigerians were left without a source of power. Where does this figure stand now? It currently stands at 48.5% and keeps increasing.

 

2.    In a recent survey, it has been discovered that nearly half of primary six graduates cannot read after they graduate, and the government has adopted a passive strategy regarding the matter.

 

3.    An analysis conducted recently has shown that in matters of security, the country is not prepared to face any national security crisis that may occur in future or any other form of threat the nation may face thereof.

 

4.    As the foremost economy in Africa, questions such as these have been left unanswered: Do our transport systems, and our health facilities reflect where we claim to be? How much attention has been given to our youths and our women that while our youths suffer from lack of qualitative education and lack of employment on one hand, our women are being abused and maltreated everyday on the other--from cases too awful to even mention?

Undoubtedly, Nigeria is a country that has what it takes to do better. There's no novelty in simply addressing matters pertaining to oil while matters elsewhere are left to sour. What sort of government turns a blind eye on human right abuses and mass killings taking place here and there? It's too appalling to mention that our women are being brutalised and sexually tortured on a daily basis, and the government through their poorly paid police officers will say they should simply endure. Violence such as these (sexual, physical, and domestic) shouldn't go untreated. It's not only flagitious, but it's impossible to achieve development under these circumstances; however, this will not be a medium through which I criticize nor blame the current situation of this dear beloved country on any one person, but a medium through which I blame it on two categories of people: the people and the leaders of the people.

THE PEOPLE

The first opportunity the people of this country had to prevent a prospective domestic retrogression came as far back as the 1880s when the chance of establishing a knowledge economy--the use of noetic concepts to contribute to the country's development--was given to them. Regrettably, they failed to make the most use of it. Here is how: The earliest ships in the country were in use as at the time at the then Old Calabar City--Akwa Akpa. It eventually established the city as a major centre of slave trade. Most of these ships were English. Therefore, over 80% of our slaves went to Britain. Akwa Akpa gained its riches through slave trade and later switched over to other forms of trade--exporting palm kernel and palm oil. Thereafter, the city became the headquarters of the Niger coast protectorate from 1884 until 1906 before Lagos and the current Abuja. The slaves gained literacy and were exposed to a refined way of living (civilization), but for some reason when most of them earned their freedom, not many were willing to return to their land of birth to share their knowledge and help form a prosperous territory that would later be nationalized. That was our first fail in gaining a well-heeled nation.

After that time, came a period when each cardinal point in the country played a decisive role that would later prevent us from becoming a golden nation.  Western education and modern governance commenced from the south and was going to be the saving grace of the country, but only few southerners were disposed to being at the forefront of governance. Consequently, the north,  following independence, bottled up power through the Nigerian People's Congress (NPC)  and were unwilling to let go. The southerners realizing what had slipped from their hands could only do one thing: throw their hands up in despair, but despite anything to the contrary, corruption trumped up in the west and broadened under Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his subordinate Akintola's regime. The East, in reaction to the tumult, decided to take laws into their hands. That became a series of actions that later produced the decentralization of power in Nigeria, a good idea; nonetheless, the country had to become a Republic four times before the military understood their place and gave up aimless attempts to take over power.

Conceivably, if the north wasn't so taken up in trying to keep power and the south wasn't so frail with it, Nigeria would have been better.  Whether or not it's true is a matter that's next to meaningless, but whenever one wishes to hold someone responsible for today's Nigeria, their ancestors shouldn't be left out, because for me, these are the truths Nigerians are bent on ignoring. It is very sad that what we'd rather pay attention to are facts and statistics that will ever keep changing. Perhaps, instead of gaining our independence, it would have been better if we remained a British protectorate because it would seem we're having a hard time deciding who we ought to be as the giant of Africa. We, the people, have no business being confused about "who we are" and "where we are". The pleasures, that come from being a country with such a fine people, cannot be ignored for the reason of feeling  inferior to the league of ethnocentric communities. The beauty that lies in the eyes of an average Nigerian is splendour longing for a chance to be itself, beauty longing to be free from the feeling of inferiority. We must give this beauty a chance because we the people are a beauty. Let's give the brilliance within us a chance to reveal itself. The change, we seek, isn't outside us of course!

 

 

THE LEADERS OF THE PEOPLE

If a debate were to be carried out about who should receive the more blame for our countries flat-line, the people or its leaders, our leaders would be more culpable; however, let's not forget the truth: one can only lead based on what leads them. Nothing leads a person but their knowledge. Within a person's knowledge, are amongst other things a sense of direction and a plan. As it is, not many of our leaders have these things. For a country that has seen regression in economic stability and advances towards development, we do need leaders that are knowledgeable enough to be at the fore of governance as I do believe more than anyone else that we have them in this country; however, many of them face the difficulty of getting into government due to the kakistocracy that we practice. Therefore, what this country needs, are mechanisms to sieve "aristocrats" from "kakistocrats".  We need such devices that can enable us measure the substance in our leaders before ushering them into non-befitting seats on a red carpet; a lack of this has caused us to be where we are today.

A leader should be in overall accountable for those he/she leads and nothing less, but if that's the case, do our leaders reflect who we are? Are we incapable of pursuing progress, or is progress too fast and we too slow that we can't catch up? The answer is no, because amongst us are rational actors: those that can see the entire picture and draw fine conclusions, quick thinkers, firm minds that cannot be dribbled; those ready to pursue altruistic ends, which is what this country needs--those capable of showing the creative powers to drive progress and enforce change, leaders that can turn challenges into a competitive if not an absolute advantage. It shouldn't be a cinch to be a leader. It never has been;  however, in this country, being a leader is all about answering the name.

Our  leaders in no way feel responsible for their offices; they see it as just an appointment. They don't seem to realize that it's a calling to guide and not head over the people or more specifically, as it would seem, lord over them. Many a time, they would stand out and say, "we should put on the clothes of our leaders". Why should we put on their clothes when they are dressed in immorality, and why should we follow them when they do not know where they are heading to? The guilty need no accusers, but where the guilty are ignorant of their guilt, there must be accusers. Where everyone is guilty we could do either of two things: we could stare helplessly into the ground for the rest of eternity, or we could atone for our mistakes by not repeating them. It's high time we use our God-given eyes to see through men of injustice before telling them to come and lead us. A leader under considerable circumstance should be a blessing of which all could learn from, but so far, we've had very few teachers.

Carry out this survey if you must perceive things for yourself. Out of the number of leaders we have presently, ask yourself, how many of them are ready to face dilemmas that require critical thinking, strategizing and planning? Or better still, how many are prepared to resolve the challenges this country is currently facing and the upsurges depleting our nations security? You'll realize that there are hardly any.

The leaders we have assured us of democracy, but what kind of democracy have they provided? A democracy that has given us better foreign relations with neighbouring countries but has left internal affairs at sixes and sevens. Is that the democracy we need? For all I know, a government isn't that democratic if it doesn't offer its people the type of government they need. If a government like that exists, it wouldn't be for the people, and I sometimes wonder who the fabulist is: a government that feels it has deceived its people with its claims of democracy, or the people who act like they believe in the democracy of their government? It beats me each time.

THE WAY FORWARD

In a country where military rule has failed, civilian rule under the shades of democracy ought not condone too many lies, nepotism, and a lot of unjust characters. We just might have to turn to theocracy for a striking change because even the Baron de Montesquieu's theory of power separation that we practice has been a political failure. It is supposed to allow for a balance of governmental power but corruption that is at its upper limit in the country has prevented it from being practiced effectively. Hence, it's not the system of our government that's the problem; it's the method of practise. 

 It is evident that the inability to fully rebuild our petroleum-based economy, and the devastating results of being an under-developed nation has caught up with us. So what do we do? Whom do we blame? Our internal security has been left in shambles, and even at that, one could argue that internal insecurity is a problem that's faced by even the most developed countries in the world. The truth is not at the level where there are no countermeasures, rather the fact that our military personnel are poorly trained and ill-equipped. That's the first fail for a country even before adopting a counter-measure to a security problem. Dolefully, Our leaders--our depressors, who feel safe with the few security personnel that have been assigned to them from their various political appointments are in nowhere concerned about how porous the state's security is. They don't care about us. They cast us off and say to us "take care of yourselves".

However, if we rise up to fight this injustice, nothing can stop us from bringing justice to this country. Our leaders must be reminded of their duties to their people. They should lead us and stop ruling us. They should feel more responsible for the various seats they occupy in government. We can't rely on the constitution to do this for us because our depressors don't care about our constitutional right. Our constitutional law has been made to be too broad--covering every type of law including statutory law, a gimmick by our depressors to have their way with the constitution anytime it has them cornered. They have set out to keep us confused in the name of upholding the supreme law of the nation. 

The reason several amendments have been adopted in recent years is still because of this reason: the extremely detailed nature of the constitution. It's just too detailed, and even so  no one honours it. Our rulers don't realize we have a constitution. The only time they do, is when it's about to work in their favour. To them we are nothing but pawns in their plan to achieve self-approbation. Therefore, it's time to wake up. Only our hands can save us now and we must put them to good use. Our sufferings do not rest on these finely written constitutions (the past and the present); they rest on the passive strategy we have adopted to solving our problems, but the season for change has arrived. It's due season we rise as a country to quell ethnic tension and fight for change. Verily, we can only do little as a tribal society but as a nation, we can do a lot. The time, to be lost, is over. This is the time to invest everything we've got in this country. It's time to attract foreign direct  investments and stop pulling our resources to other countries for their own benefit. That "investing abroad will contribute to our country's GNP" is not enough reason for us to preferably invest overseas. Our GDP needs as much attention as our GNP. It shouldn't be left to decline.

We must fight to regain our pride, and establish a legacy that even posterity can benefit from. It's a good time to do away with traditional beliefs and allow gender equality to flourish in Nigeria. The women of this country deserve to be accorded the same treatment as the men. Our youth shouldn't be left out either. They deserve better treatment. If the government can't provide them with good jobs, it falls upon all our youth to acquire skills that can lead them to becoming well entrenched and in the process assist others.

We the people must cure the disease of being wrongly informed by electing leaders that can reform our educational sector. We must raise our voices so that culprits can be held accountable for their actions. Seminars must be arranged and flyers printed about the dangers of corruption in this country. Information is power, and we must empower ourselves and empower others. Let's see if after all this, our leaders will fail to do the right thing when a stream of 174 million people, robust and proactive, call them to order or have someone else capable of doing the right thing lead them. Lastly, If we must pray for God to change our situation, we shouldn't fold our hands and expect it to happen as if by magic. In lieu of this, let's ambidextrously work towards those prayers and allow God to lead the way. This is our country.