30th September, 2010
Nigeria is a country in West Africa. It shares boundaries in the west with Republic of Benin, Chad and Cameroun in the East and Niger in the North. Its coast lies on the gulf of Guinea in the South and it borders Lake Chad to the northeast. The total area of Nigeria is 923,768km2 out of it, 910,768km2 is land while water occupies up to 13,000km2.
Nigeria, the world’s most populated black nation, derived its name from Niger area and came into being in 1914 through the amalgamation of northern and southern protectorates by the late Sir Lord Lugard.
Nigeria, itself, is 96 years old since the amalgamation. She gained her political independence from the British Colonialists on Saturday 1 October, 1960 which brought in indigenous political leadership.
Ever since then, there have been governments both military and civilian which have not to date, justified the exit of the British colonialists or brought to the people the political and economic gains of independence. The colonialists and our own early nationalists created milestones which remain lustrous and prominent like mountain ridges along the landscape of history.
What is instructive is the knowledge that it is the coalescence of such positive and negative forces of individuals which has helped to make us what we are, and helped to affirm our people’s faith in a still enduring, humane ethos which has remained, to date, a distinct feature of our identity. The past is certainly important as a backdrop to show us where we are coming from and hence, furnish us with a firm footing to confront the world.
It is even more important as a mirror, to show us who we are in the present and to bring us as well as reflection of who we are going to be in the future.
Nigeria is a country with favourable atmospheric condition that makes her terrain and vegetation blessed with abundant natural resources. Nigeria is rich in culture and wealth, prosperous in natural and human resources, endowed with mineral resources that have become a source of envy to many other nations.
She also prides herself ‘The giant of Africa.’ Where have all these taken us to? After 50 years when we stopped paying obeisance to the Queen, we, the giant of Africa, are still moving at a snail pace.
When the excavation and extraction of these mineral resources started, especially petroleum, my dear country was financially buoyant enough to implement her development plans to the fullest. Then we began to see a country with a promising future, but immediately we became a sovereign nation, things began to turn upside down. We began to experience quagmire in development.
Regrettably, however, Nigeria, as a country, has witnessed a lot of political and economic crises from her independence to date, some of which are the wetie political uprising of 1965, the military coup of 1966, the civil war of 1967-70, the religious riots of 1981, 1988, 2002 and 2010 in the northern, the annulment of 1993 presidential election and so forth.
The greatest crisis rocking Nigeria from her inception as an independent nation are the monstrous twin brothers of bribery and corruption in both government and private places. The police, the customs, the civil servants are all collecting bribes as a way of life and looting the state treasury as well.
They are joined in this shameful acts by the political office holders, other armed forces members and many other Nigerians. The shameful acts have rubbished the positive orientation of Nigerians resulting in national infrastructure failure and inhuman treatment of Nigerians who are derided as criminals all over the world.
Today, nothing seems to be working in Nigeria as education is already bastardised, electricity supply is epileptic, road network across the country has become death traps, civil service delivery is laughable, drug peddling activities of Nigerians have reached an alarming rate, the airports are no longer safe for aircraft to land, mass unemployment visible everywhere as qualified able-bodied adults are largely unengaged, poor living standard as most Nigerians cannot afford 3 square meals per day, increasing wave of armed robbery, kidnapping, assassination, unsafe environments and so forth.
The leadership is not right. This winner takes all syndrome is bad, the average Nigerian politician is selfish. Once he gets there, he takes everything, leaving nothing for those coming behind. We cannot run an economy like that. Now the rich cannot sleep because the poor man is awake. If a man has billions of dollars now he will find it difficult to drive his Rolls Royce on our roads at night, whereas people still drive Rolls Royce on the streets of London at 1 a.m.
You can’t find an English man having billions of dollars in his account without being judiciously utilised. But when you have people here who suddenly amass billions, I call that primitive stealing. Stealing what you don’t need. Some Nigerian politicians are behaving like monkeys because when a monkey gets into any farm, it does not eat more than four combs of corn but it makes sure that it destroys everything.
Therefore, as an independence message to our incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, I enjoin him to start demonstrating a clear departure from the materialistic tendencies of his predecessors. His ideology should be tailored towards bequeathing good and enduring legacy to Nigeria. Wealth without good name amounts to nothing.
Mostly responsible for all the aforementioned problems is the misappropriation of available resources by our leaders. Nigerians’ hope of seeing their country joining the developed world has been a mirage. This hope can only be realised if we have dedicated leaders that wish the country well.
In Nigeria of today, no institutional sector is working. For instance, the education system in Nigeria is nothing to write home about. From primary to tertiary level, there is one problem or the other, ranging from non-conducive environment for learning, lack of educational materials and teaching aids in our schools, frequent industrial action by the teachers and other non-academic staff.
Also, in the health sector, the facilities available are either outdated or in decay. This is manifest in the very rampant seeking of medical attention abroad by our leaders and ther elites even for the simplest health issue.
Talking of power sector in Nigeria is out of it. Nigerians have been experiencing epileptic and erratic power supply since independence. This has adversely affected our economy. Infrastructure and social amenities are virtually nonexistent. No potable water, our roads have turned death traps. No affordable housing accommodation for the mass of our people. Nothing is on ground to assure Nigerians of a worthy living. As a result, the life of an average Nigerian has become miserable. Our everyday life is in abject poverty. We survive on whatever we stumble upon. Our desire is no more available while the available has become desirable.
Election is here again, I urge all the eligible citizens of this country to cast their vote wisely in order to elect credible people into our public offices. Do not collect bribe before you vote because if you do, you have indirectly sold your right and mortgaged your future.
It is unsavoury to hear that an unrepentant tyrant like General Ibrahim Babangida is planning to rule us again. His eight dark years of misrule saw the institutionalisation of corruption and total destruction of our economy. IBB must be stopped at all costs.
However, in spite of these problems confronting the country today, I still hope to have a Nigeria of my dream where the following will be obtained:
The Nigeria of my dream is the one where all sectors will be working as expected be it health, education, power, economy among others. I want to see Nigeria’s education system competing with those of the developed nations like United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan, Germany, Spain, etc. In the nearest future, I want to see Nigerians enjoy uninterrupted and stable power supply at affordable tariff. I long for Nigeria’s health sector equipped with adequate modern facilities. I see a Nigeria having socio-economic amenities such as functioning potable water, good road network, affordable housing for all and sundry; zero inflation economy and security of life and property. All these we should all work earnestly for. And for these to be feasible, there must emerge selfless leadership – patriotic leaders who will curb the worrisome stealing of public funds meant for provision of basic amenities for the common benefit of all. Unemployment must also be tackled headlong.
Nigeria of my dream must guarantee job availability to all able-bodied citizens especially university and polytechnic graduates.
My dream country must inculcate good value system that de-emphasises materialism and money worshipping.
I have a dream of a safe Nigeria. A country where there will be no armed robbers, where one can safely walk around in the night, a great and corrupt-free Nigeria. A Nigeria where the leaders are approachable and humble, leaders who will not terrorise citizens with sirens.
I dream of a nation where the honest and just would be celebrated rather than being persecuted; a society where leaders will listen to good advice and rid their domain of sycophants.
I dream of a Nigeria where universities are not closed for months and where children of the rich go to the same schools the children of the poor attend. A country where children of the rich will not have to go to schools abroad because of lack of school facilities and teachers.
I dream of a Nigeria where our economic standard will compete with that of other nations, where people will have access to housing and even the poor could own their own houses.
I dream of one-Nigeria where people from different ethnic groups will peacefully and harmoniously cohabit.
The Nigeria of my dream will stand out and receive ovations from other nations of the world. There shall emerge a country with premium human resources development. A country with democratic value, where elections will be free and fair. A country where every citizen has equal right, where every citizen can aspire to any position without fear or molestation.
A country that is self sufficient, that can cater for its teeming population through comprehensive agricultural development. A country with articulated youth development programmes.
And for these dreams to be achievable, we need servant leaders who are ready to truly serve the country selflessly with untiring patriotic zeal and who will be courageous enough to stamp out corruption in governance and in our day to day businesses.
We have enough resources to develop as a nation but bad governance and corrupt leadership have been our bane, and if these anomalies are corrected, Nigeria of my dream would not be a pipe dream.
Above all, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, should ensure the conduct of a free and fair 2011 election. This is the greatest 50th birthday gift the Jonathan administration in conjunction with INEC can give to Nigeria and Nigerians as only this will make us truly independent, free from internal colonialism of a monstrous cabal.
I am proud to be a Nigerian. What about you?
Happy celebration!
•Abdulkareem Sulaimon is from Owode-Egba, Abeokuta, Ogun State.