The locally assembled French Peugeot 504 car that was given out to young university graduates as loan in the mid 70s was just a little over N17, 000 the same car is now over N3, 000,000. This same car might be well over N500M in 20 years time.

If we then want to be realistic owing to the fact that things have never improved economically in Nigeria in the last 30 years I might as well be spot-on with the prediction that things will not get better but worse and that the next 20 years a bottle of coca cola and 7UP will be well over N5000, a pack of ST Louis sugar will be about N3000 and flight ticket from Lagos to Abuja could probably be over N150000. International airlines are already taking advantage of our acquisitiveness; flight duration from London to New Delhi is well over 9 hours yet the ticket is under £600 while the 6 hours flight from London to Abuja is well over £750. 

The cost of renting a duplex in VGC, Lekki, Asokoro, Maitama, Rayfield etc are already higher than what is obtainable in the capital city of developed countries like the UK, America, and Australia. The new thing now is that landlords don’t advertise vacancies in daily newspaper in Naira any more but in the US dollar.

My country Nigeria is a time bomb, people take to the street on killing spree at the slightest non religious provocation as if human life is not worth more than that of a chicken. I will not equate human life in Nigeria to that of a dog as even the westerners cherish the life of their pet dogs than we cherish our own lives. The recent riot in Nigeria was initially a political malaise but things took a different dimension in Jos. In the name of religion and in this modern age students, NYSC participants and women were slaughtered like goats.

If an auto dealer like Alhaji Haruna Pam who despite knowing and calling the commissioner of police in the heat of the crisis could not salvage his 200 cars worth over a billion Naira from the Jos rioters and if Bola Ige the then justice minister can die under a mysterious circumstance who then can be safe in our Nigeria?

Nigeria, our Nigeria is the only country where the stark illiterate and the highly educated find the undisputable common ground. What is the different between an erudite and well informed leader who plundered the treasury and an illiterate follower who killed another fellow Nigerian because he’s a Muslim or Christian? It is therefore easy to conclude that the followership is as bad as the leadership in my country. The corrupt leaders loot to leave their people to weather through excruciating economic conditions,  the people kill one another in the name of religion, the Nigerian police officers kill for N20 note, and armed robbers operates without police intervention for hours unend – where then is our pride as a country?

The perpetual suffering under these corrupt leaders is already distorting the sanity of our people; it is no more a surprise for relatives to arrange hired assassins to kill their ‘loved’ ones returning from Europe or America because of money.

If poverty and deprivation can make people to loose their sanity one then should not look further for the reason why Nigerians prefer to suck, kill, and exploit the poor individual instead of standing up against corrupt leaders like the Thais did against their prime minister at the Bangkok airports. It’s sickening to know that we know our problems, we know the sources, and the causes yet we avoid the ameliorable solutions like plague.

I even get livid with rage as we keep calling God over every self inflicted calamity as if He is a magician …..I repeat here again that until we stand up to demand that our thieving politicians be accountable to us Nigeria will never get better but unfortunately we keep deceiving ourselves that things will get better, since 1964 when my dad left primary school things have retrogressively gone bad, he obviously can not remember when things ever improved. Now over 40 years yet no sign of improvement …… and my people are still saying “ Nigeria go better” Na Lie! We Nigerians would rather run away from the truth and postpone the evil days than confront it now in order to secure a better tomorrow for our children. If we do not honestly judge ourselves now posterity will. Unfortunately, sacrifice is one word we do not understand, we deceive ourselves, plunder our heritage, and allow rogues called political leaders who have emptied our coffers to walk free on the streets.

A friend said church is the solution to Nigeria’s problem; Church creation has risen astronomically in Nigeria; to say churches are springing up geometrically in Nigeria is an understatement. Nigeria holds the record of the country with the highest number of churches in the world yet we are in the league of the 10 poorest countries in the world. Does that speak volume? Some churches are defrauding and killing their people – have you watched the channel 4/BBC documentary lately where a church leader in the name of God swindled his followers by collecting N500, 000 to cure every child of witchcraft, did you see the girl that had a six inch nail driven into her tender skull because she was suspected of being a witch? And did you see the 8 years old girl that was thrown out of the house because her parents think she was possessed?

If it will take a Briton to bring together the children branded witches and stage a protest at the Akwa Ibom state house before the state governor could intervene where then is our pride as a people?

Please leave church out of this, the heart of men the bible says are desperately wicked, but the hearts of we Nigerians are stony. Nigeria kills her innocent young boys and girls while the real witches like corrupt police officers and the politicians suck the life out of the crumpling country and drive the Nigerian people mad.

If Nigerians have not seen better days since over 40 years what is the logic behind the reasoning that the same country will suddenly turn around and things will begin to change for good? A friend recently told me that he left the Nigerian armed forces after rising to the ‘esteemed’ position of a senior naval officer because he joined the force in the first place to become a military governor and since he did not see the dream materialising in the present political dispensation he pulled out to go into private practise. Such is the mindset of an average army cadet in the Nigeria Defence Academy.

Every day the Britons watch televised parliamentary proceedings where the British ruling and the opposition parties argue over policies. I can not forget the energy with which former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and now Gordon Brown marshalled their points convincingly against opposition leader David Cameron. Does President Musa Yar adua have such energy? Does an opposition party exist in Nigeria?

The people loose their birth right each time they refuse to stand up against bad policies and bad government. The Zimbabweans are suffering now not because they refuse to stand up against Mugabe now but because they folded their arms hoping that things will improve many years a go.

Our parents may have failed us by not standing up against oppression and injustice that sent us away to foreign lands, should we then fold our arms and deliberately fail the future generations? It will be an inconceivable catastrophe if our children run around the world for refuge because their fathers land is not habitable. We excel as individual Nigerians in our various fields home and abroad but fail woefully as a group, silence is golden they say but not in the face of tyranny and anarchy.

The truth is that not many of us believe in the geographical entity called Nigeria; not many can proudly sacrifice for the country, and not even many are proud to be called Nigerians.

Robot  # 1 | 17.12.2008 07:55

Dele Oluwole In the mid 70s I remember buying the very popular ‘gudi’ ‘gudii’ and Tom Tom for just 1 kobo each; I can also not forget travelling on the popular Kwara express bus from Ilorin to Lagos after every school long vacation for just N12 in the 80s. The cabin biscuit was going for N1.80 and blue band margarine was a little over 80 kobo. The prices of these essentials now have gone up by over 5000%. Yet inflation in the UK and America for many years has been under 5%. If you ask me the reason for the 4995% difference I will say unequivocally that it is the ‘greed’ in us. The locally assembled French Peugeot 504 car that was given out to young university graduates as loan in the mid 70s was just a little over N17, 000 the same car is now over N3, 000,000. This same car might be well over N500M in 20 years time. If we then want to be realistic owing to the fact that things have never improved...Read the full article.

NinjaT  # 2 | 17.12.2008 09:02

Bros, Nice article. But can I ask you a question....Do you believe in the entity called NIGERIA? If yes, what are you doing to change it? It's easy to stand aloof and cast aspersion on those that are running the country down. Until we all put our money where our mouth is, our generation we still be living outside Naija as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't take rocket science to cause a change. I do tell my friends that we all need to go back home, start doing something instead of writing articles on NVS all the time. WORDS WITHOUT ACTION STILL AMOUNT TO NO EFFORT!!!

Anioma777  # 3 | 17.12.2008 15:07

NinjaT well said my brother. Me I start my semi-relocation in April 2009. I get tired of reading most Nigerians talk,talk,talk and they do nothing unless they are personally infected. Evem most of them resident back home are so oblivious and ignorant of so many issues past and present that at times they look at me as a madman:D I believe in Nigeria staying as one. I think our best time to have split up was just before the civil war and again after the civil war in TRUE RECONCILIATION and not playing to the gallery words with no action of General Yakubu Gowon's now INFAMOUS "NO VANQUISHED NO VICTOR" post war speech. A kind of revolution....hmmmm....lets wait and see:cry2:

isola  # 4 | 17.12.2008 22:55

It's late. I don't feel good at all reading these verities. Yet , to despair about Nigeria is not the answer. I know it sounds trite, but people who truly want a change out of our present predicament must come together to right these wrongs. I spent three months in Nigeria summer this year. Relocating? Fine. Pls make sure you have put all the 'infrastructure' in place first and you have decided that no matter what, you are going to stick it out. It will be very sad to pack everything up, only to turn around. How is it that for most people things are getting worse, with decent people begging for money? I know that only Nigerians can save our land. The people in government are just there, 'to eat'. Really, really sad

Anioma777  # 5 | 18.12.2008 09:46

@Isola I hear you my brother. Thta is why I used the word semi-relocating. I want to get a real feel of Nigeria which with hindsight over the last few decades I was doing mumu when ever I visit and not really getting to understand how things are done there. I do not plan to leave Nigeria once the move is 100% complete. I have one or two things on the ground there. Nigeria is the final frontier for me. I believe it will get better oneday. I try to look at the few positives and not dwell too much on the negatives.

Abijawara  # 6 | 18.12.2008 15:21

Bobo, There is little some of us can really do,are you aware that Rilwan Lukman has being appointed petroleum minister! 16yrs after he left the same position,all those old fella are still around to repackeage themselves for available political opportunity at every given time. As for people writing on NVS,this na stress medicine way every naija need.