Nigeria In Quest Of A Saviour

By

Isa Muhammad Inuwa

ismi2000ng@yahoo.com

 

In its position as the largest black African nation on earth and of course the most populous in African continent, Nigeria also ranks high among the comity of nations in terms of both human and natural resources, which, if put to maximum use and well harnessed and processed, the country would have by now, assert its rightful position among the super nations on earth.

 

Reflecting backwards from the time Nigeria gained independence from the British Colonial leaders in year 1960 to date, it is quite enough for any serious country endowed with abundant resources and opportunities to rise to the zenith of recognition. Experiments have shown that some Asian Countries and some form the Latin America had started certain aspects of economic development at the same time with Nigeria, in some cases, Nigeria was even the pioneer in such aspects in those years, however, the story is totally the reverse today, whereby those countries have gone far ahead, leaving Nigeria to linger and heavily rely on importation of sub-standard products from those countries, while its hitherto sound industrial base is decaying by the day.

 

In fact today’s generation of Nigerians is left with no any other legacy but remembrance of the old good days of  independence time and even the defunct colonial time, that contrast sharply with the present situation, in terms of general comfort, adequate and efficient supply of basic necessities of life and infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, pipe-borne water, electricity and even the commercial services and marketing conducts of those glorious days were more reliable and free of fraud and cheat.

 

Come to think of major economic sectors that were neatly and rightly put in place by our predecessors, such as the Agricultural services, the Transportation services, consisting of Railways, Airways and Waterways. Likewise other vital sectors like Education and Health. Today, all these sectors are down and what remains of them is only the name, as all the ministries are lacking the essential infrastructures and the machineries to carry out their functions properly. Rather than for the Government schools to possess better teachers and learning environment, it is the private school of a Commissioner or a Director of Education that possesses those vital things. Also, the personal farm of a Minister or a Director of Agriculture possesses the best breed of livestock and best specie of grains and the likes. We gradually find ourselves slipping away from rendering public services to rendering private services for money in turn. That is to say, we are  sub-consciously turning to individualistic and selfish lifestyle.

 

Nigeria’s difficulties seem to have arisen from lack of control and supervision, to ensure truthful delivery of services and fair distribution of resources. In a situation whereby a teacher in government school is also allowed or forced by circumstance to own and operate a private school or a Medical Doctor in a government hospital is left to, or forced by need to open his private clinic, definitely, the public schools and hospitals stand to fail in their service delivery and efficiency. I think this is the main reason why even the government officials themselves lack any confidence and trust in government services and corporations. One could ask the question why then, if they have confidence in government corporations and services, they themselves build schools and hospitals or renovate them, as it is mostly happening nowadays, but the end up enrolling their children in private schools and patronizing private Doctors and Hospitals?

 

In fact, this attitude of individualism has aggravated to that level today, an ideal household has to provide exclusive water and electricity sources for the family, as well as hire a private security outfit to guard his house, since no one seems to have any more confidence in all such services provided by the government, either because of the issue of corruption or inefficiency in service delivery.

 

To further realize how this cankerworm of selfishness has eaten deeper into our society, is to know that even those entrusted to deliver public services no longer see it as a duty upon them but they consider it as a favour done to the people, therefore demanding or openly requesting for some gratifications in return of the public services they deliver to people.

 

Worst still, some public officers connive with the people to evade or reduce taxations to the bearest minimum, while only a very small portion of money realized from payment of bills in public corporations go into the coffers of the government. But that is not just enough, as the revenue or tax collectors themselves and their superiors cart away major part of the money into their pockets, remitting only a modest sum into the official accounts. This in turn, seriously affects the smooth delivery of services. No one seems to feel obliged or responsible to the leadership or the government. Is it due to neglect and care from the leadership?

 

Is it as a result of lack of orientation and enlightenment of the duties and responsibilities of the common citizen to the government and vice versa? It is pertinent here, to think of a general overhaul and re-orientation of the conscience of Nigerian people. In a country where a Primary School pupil’s answer to a question about the end goal and purpose of his seeking education would always center on fulfilling and satisfying personal, not communal needs and interest, definitely, the people seem to have lost a sense of direction about their national goals. In contrast, such school children in developed nations like America or any country with a national focus, such children’s answers would always be on achieving common good or a national goal, in addition to personal gains. By implication, this simply shows the need to review our educational curriculum, right from the elementary level, to embrace elements of patriotism, selflessness and communal  focus for a common purpose and a common good.

 

Another area that needs a savior in the Nigerian context is lack on consistency of purpose and focus as well as lack of sustainability of programmes and projects, which the country has witnessed and consequently suffered, all through its developmental journey, from independence time to date. With the frequent changes of governments from military to civilian and later back to the military and so on, different sets of leaders with divergent visions, dreams, focus and of course policies happened to govern the country. Along the way, a lot of variegated national development policies and agricultural cum industrial programmes came up. Unfortunately, most those national projects were not sustained to the point of their full maturity of actualization, as the constant power shift always interrupts with the projects. In order to justify its strength of focus to gain popularity and recognition, to gain monetary benefits in form of kick-back or to give reason  for its coming on board, any new administration would holistically condemn and discard or demolish projects started by its predecessors. As a result, huge amount of resources, time and energy are just wasted.

 

However, foremost among all other goals to be charted for Nigeria’s future good and survival, is of course the need for a viable political and administrative policy which needs to be entrenched as the fore ground and the bottom line for all successive political regimes and administrations to follow tactfully and dedicatedly, to work upon the policy, for a common and a lasting good of Nigerian community. With the issue of electoral reform which was already at hand, though not devoid of controversy and need for rectifications, it would make a very nice starting point, if the manner and ways our elections conducts are corrected and put on the right track, to at least nearest to free and fair elections, for the undisputable fact about legitimacy and credibility, that tend to, in many ways, affect the end result or performance of any political leadership.

 

So long as a nation like Nigeria chooses to use Democracy as its system of political leadership, hence the need to sanitize its ways of ascending to positions of power through legitimate and free voting system is inevitable, for such a Democracy to produce any good for the people. In a situation where only the reverse case is realizable, then the end result of such a Democratic set up would always yield negative and unpalatable results for the good of the common man in the society. The idea that Nigeria’s is on course towards coming of age, particularly in the 10 consecutive years, (uninterrupted by military interregnum), is something to celebrate, but that is not only it, as the need for a more sustainable, permanent and balanced Democracy is most paramount. In addition to electoral reform, there is also need for sanity and liberty in both the Legislative and Judicial arms of the Government. It should be said that still cases relating to electoral  malpractices and rigging are not given fair hearing and ruling the tribunals of courts of law, as the most influential political parties are always bound to win back or retain their seats, upon which court actions were taken. More has to be done in this instance, to ensure further balance in the aforementioned sectors.

 

Nigeria’s problems are indeed complex and multifaceted and that constitute the major stumbling-block on the path of the country’s progress in many ways and sectors of development. As a result of these cumulative problems over the years, the country has become very difficult to rule or control, as many people have for long indulged in un patriotic habits, on which they are addicted as their ways of earning a living, at the expense on million others. In the same vein, as the country wallow along its growing problems over the years, it is also left lagging behind other nations that were hitherto either trailing Nigeria from behind or at the same par with it economically or otherwise. This is our present condition, which warrants the intervention of a savior in the scene. Such a savior can be in a metaphorical form of either the entrenchment of a viable socio-political system which is also being dedicatedly practiced or the emergence of a set of  responsible and responsive leaders and leadership that would deliver the country to the proverbial promised land of advancement and glory. This cannot just happen in a dream, but it would have to be worked out through a communal effort of action and willing by plan and design, not just by accident.

 

 

ISA MUHAMMAD INUWA, is a Journalist based in Kano, Nigeria