Debt Forgiveness: The Nigerian Situation

By

Francis Kizito Obeya

fkizito1@yahoo.com

 

I was overjoyed a few days ago when the group of eight most industrialized nations (G-8) excluded the name of Nigeria from the list of countries that deserved debt relief. Had I been in the vicinity where that great decision was made ,nothing short of the stern-looking security guards that are employed for such occasions would have prevented me from using my anatomy as red carpet for those world leaders to strut on in triumph. Here are my reasons:

 

I love Naija. God knows that to know that great African country is to love her; the people ,the land, the wealth even the wasted opportunities. If not in Nigeria, where else can one find a leader foolish enough to declare that his country  had money but did not have enough commodities to spend it on. Naija is a revelation of how things would have turned out in biblical Egypt if Pharaoh had refused to listen to wise Joseph and instead squandered his country’s seven years of plenty. Nigeria is Lazarus sitting at the gate waiting to pick up scraps that fell from the rich man’s table yet wanting to be a member of the man’s security council. He wants to be the rich man’s strong arm and yet has little or no strength to fight o ff the dogs that licked his wounds. What a pathetic fellow!

 

Since becoming a member of OPEC in 1971, Nigeria has enjoyed countless oil windfall that if properly managed , would have made that country one of the wealthiest in the world. It is estimated that over $400 billion has passed through our hands since independence but Nigeria does not look it. It is hard to imagine what world of good such a sum could have done to a country that has selfless leaders, honest administrators and a hard working population. Our power sector is in shambles, held hostage by NEPA and the petroleum companies; there exists no transport system as the railways become relics of a long gone age. The roads are mere promises that politicians make on campaign trails to the few who still dared to believe in fairy tales. Public servants are more for se rving themselves and stealing the establishment blind than putting in an honest day’s work for a phantom monthly wage or even worse a mirage of a pension. It is lamentable to see how successful the private ventures of these individuals are run when compared to how the country is governed.

 

It is easy to understand why the world has given up on Nigeria. We are like an old man who still wants to be back-nestled, breastfed and tucked in bed at bed time. When will this country begin to take actual steps one wonders? We have offered all sorts of excuses for our failure to grow and ascend to our position among the family of nations; the politician have blames the soldier, the soldier the politician; the young blames the old, the old the young. We are more interested in resting on the causes than in moving on to the cure and so we continue to move in a circle. It is difficult to recognize that this was the country whose children once stood up to the colonial master and demanded the right to govern themselves, a country that was supposed to be the jewel south of the Sahara which all black people everywhere would look up to as the mecca of black power, black industry, black intelligence and black productivity.  This is a country that has the potential for producing the best athlete, the brightest scientist, the wealthiest entrepreneur even the wisest leader but the opposite is the case. We are standing at the world’s door with all our oil, all our fertile lands, all our potential begging for debt forgiveness. I do not blame the world for scorning us because a lion that forgets who he is will be reminded by a hyena.

 

Now that we know where we stand on the debt forgiveness race  ,question that should be asked is : “What is the way forward?” Do we still persist in meaningless lobbying for pardon or do we return to the drawing board and map out strategies for taking care of these debts through hard and honest labor? Do we continue to run our government through the good old ways of   “ chop-I-chop,” chwa –chwa and egunje while putting on appearances of fighting corruption? If we can only succeed in taking corruption out of the equation , the outcome will surprise even the most pessimistic of us all.  Furthermore, a sense of national spirit among the citizenry won’t be out of place if naija is to settle her debts and move on to rebuil d her economy. It is indeed a very trying time to be a Nigerian what with the north-south-east-west pulling at all corners. It is tough being a Nigerian when everyone else distrusts you, when advance-fee fraudsters make every Nigerian a target for hatred, when one can’t even come to terms with himself in the face of unemployment, armed robberies, riots, strikes and every other ill that tries to cripple the nation. It is important that 2007 ushers in a leader who has the initiatives and can restore to Nigerians their moral values and also the right to be Nigerians again.

 

In conclusion, it would be wrong to accuse the G-8 of any wrongdoing whatsoever. The message they are sending to the nation is a message of self reliance. They are saying to us “get up and walk for we know that you can.” Nigeria cannot always continue to be weaned on milk all the time and if she needs this shock treatment to come to her senses so be it. A word is sufficient for the wise.

 

                                                          FRANCIS KIZITO OBEYA

                                                             USA.



"Dreams must surely come true else God will not inspire us to have them." --- Rabindranath Tagore.