Is Nigeria a Cruel Society

Is Nigeria a Cruel Society?

By

Victor E. Dike

The good of a nation, as it were, demands that the citizens should not ignore any significant issues and questions of the day. Perhaps, you may have been prompted before to reflect on the problems facing Nigeria and have tried to put a bright face to it despite the hardship in the society. Recently, a lady clerk at a Western Union office engaged this writer with some probing questions about Nigeria when he visited there to wire some money home. After his accent had identified him, the lady who was attending to him quickly, though politely, inquired, “Are you a Nigerian? I have heard many stories about Nigeria. My ex- was a Nigerian. What about it that people do not like? Is living in Nigeria stressful? Is Nigeria a cruel society? And she asked other questions not too good to be printed.

The last question captured this writer’s attention, but he tried to conceal his frustration about the problems bedeviling Nigeria (his mood at that time fortified his position). However, struggling to avoid the inquiry getting out of hand, he paused and said, ‘you can find problems everywhere in any country (and here in the US) when you start looking.’ She said, “hmmm, you’re right!” However, from her facial expression it appeared she did not hear all she had expected when this writer was leaving the store. Nevertheless, everyone knows that it is not easy to discount the constant grumbling and hardship facing those citizens who are not connected with the gods in power. Any person who walks around the villages will get a glimpse of the hardship the people endure.

However, is Nigeria really a cruel society? This question, which has since been resonating, prompted this writer to reflect again on the cruel acts of the political leaders. As a nation, Nigeria is not a cruel society, but the cruel behavior of the leaders and their insensitivity to the plights of the citizens, makes the society appear to be so. Their corrupt activities and leadership ineptitude that are the root causes of Nigeria’s socioeconomic predicaments have, in one way or another, affected most families. As Achebe clearly stated in The Trouble with Nigeria “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else.”

With good leadership Nigeria could become as good as any other good country on earth. However, it is dangerously stressful and thus unhealthy to live in a society without any type of social and economic relief systems for the citizens. Comparatively, workers in Nigeria are generally poorly compensated, and many of them go for months without getting paid their wages and salaries. Yet, former IG Tafa Balogun (and others like him) could steal more than enough from public treasury and to give out the excess as gifts to his equally corrupt friends and traditional rulers. It is no longer news that the schools (elementary, secondary and tertiary institutions) are under funded and that youth unemployment is rising unabated. Is it not stressful to live in a nation where corruption has dashed the peoples’ hope for a better future? Only ‘a very rich few’ have too much money to play around with, while the majority is struggling for survival without any form of assistance from the state. However, humane societies are known to have social programs for the poor and the needy and solutions to socioeconomic problems are democratically found.

Each time this writer reflects on the magnitude of corruption and the not-very-serious attempts to control the scourge, he feels like passing out. In particular, the figure (16 billion Naira?) stolen by the greedy Tafa Balogun was simply shocking and outrageous. It is indeed upsetting! What would he do with such amount of money in a country where the police officers he was managing often go for months without getting their basic salaries? The “big crook” (and others like him) is making the “great” society to appear cruel! However, it is really a cruel society where social infrastructures are allowed to rot away and NEPA epileptic. It is a cruel society where hospitals are closed for weeks because the doctors, nurses, pharmacists (and other staff) went on strike for non-payment of salaries, and where fake drugs and pharmaceutical products are imported and marketed as genuine drugs and citizens’ die of minor ailments. It is a cruel society where schools are not well funded and university graduates remain perpetually unemployed many years after graduation and workers are not paid when due. It is definitely a cruel society where armed robbers are allowed to terrorize the people while the police (because they are outgunned) are helpless. It is a cruel society where the judicial system perverts justice and human rights are violated with impunity. It is indeed a cruel society where “democracy” has assumed a ‘proto-fascist’ tendency and the government ignores court orders and consciously deceives the public with a “dummy constitution.” It is a cruel society where the leaders do not take responsibility for their actions. But taking responsibility for things we do wrong as well as the things we do right is the way to reverse the ugly trend and move the society forward. The masses are yet to benefit from the civil rule after more than six years of its existence. Therefore, those who agree that corruption is injurious to the society and yet are not taking any serious steps to fight it are themselves cruel!

Nothing works in Nigeria, as they should, and there are no interventions focused on the problems facing the society. Those in elective (and appointed) positions plunder the public treasury and stash the money abroad. Of what values are this group to the society? Nigeria needs men and women of great character as leaders to move forward. As William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) had noted "the great distinction of a country …is that it produces superior men [and women]" to administer its affairs. Therefore, there is no hope for Nigerian renaissance with the present crop of selfish, greedy, corrupt, and visionless political leaders, because "the great hope of society is individual character" (Ibid.). If each one of them could be courageous enough to search their conscience and reflect on the pertinent issues, they would create a society that is truly beneficial to everyone. Therefore, they should design youth engagement programs and initiatives on issues of social justice, health, crime and the environment. The system appears dysfunctional, but unfortunately, the President and the National Assembly are glossing over the problems facing the nation.

However, the many unproductive (and with due respect) the aged political leaders that have been in government since the colonial era have continued in their ‘sit tight’ attitude while the youths remain unemployed. And many of them are only good at ‘self-preservation’ and unlawfully accumulating wealth and engaging in anarchical political power struggle at the detriment of the people they should serve and protect. They have cast ethics and professionalism to the wind while the youths are denied productive role in the society. But how can the society give leadership opportunities to the youths when many of them remain unemployed for years after graduation from school?

When shall the people get some relief? Poverty and its attendant pain and suffering are multiplying by the day. And hardship, which is gradually reducing the people’s life span and frustration, is driving some of the good individuals to corrupt and evil deeds to make ends meet. Nearly everyone is complaining, but the gods are not worried! Some people have thrown up their hands in frustration and disillusionment! It is only in a cruel society that such absurdity would occur. However, some of them remain optimistic about the future -optimism in the face of the storm - a ‘positive psychology’ but it is not certain how long the people can continue to gird their loins! It appears nothing seems to be changing! Bu with good leadership Nigeria could resolve most of its problems (corruption, unemployment, crime, social injustice, etc.).

There are ways to break this pattern. The leaders, therefore, should restructure the entire system and begin to perceive the youths as valuable resources that should be developed and come up with creative solutions to the myriad challenges facing the nation. They should focus on the policy areas that will improve the living standards of the people and desist from their old cruel habits of destroying the public resources they were supposed to fructify. The nation needs caring and democratic leaders with the vision and expertise to lead the society through these challenging times. It is a cruel society where the citizens are allowed to suffer in the midst of plenty! Those in the corridors of power should rethink their selfish, greedy, corrupt, cruel and habits and adopt the slogan that says, “Don’t be greedy, feed the needy.” With this the world may no longer perceive Nigeria as a cruel society!

Victor E. Dike, CEO, Center for Social Justice and Human Development (CSJHD), in Sacramento, California, is the author of Fraud or Democracy? The Presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, 2003-2007 [Forthcoming, 2007].