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"People
often ask me, 'Will, where you get your jokes?' I just tell 'em, 'Well,
I watch the government and report the facts, that is all I do, and I
don't even find it necessary to exaggerate." - Will Rogers
On
an average Nigeria is good, her people are a bunch of good Bananas,
only that a few rotten, gives the whole bunch a bad look and that
particular rotten smells. Nigeria, ideally is one of the best places to
live in, it is not a Police State like so-called Western
Democracies...In Nigeria you can urinate anywhere and not get fined or
arrested, you can get a ladder and climb the Power poles and effect a
change of power phases, that is if the problem is not from the nearby
power transformer which anybody can repair with dry wood.
In
Nigeria you can set traps inside your compound and catch birds and
roast them to taste and not be afraid that you are at Piccadilly Square
in UK and some stern looking cops will harass you for animal rights
violation.
For
a government that prides itself as respecting the rule of law, it is
mind boggling and baffling that a sitting President is sick and no
thinks that the populace needs to know what is wrong with the man. In
the spirit of constitutional democracy, is it not the right of the
people to know what is wrong with their President?
Why
is it that his state of health has become a joke...really because to
refer to it as rumour would be demeaning, as if that is not what it has
become?
Many
of us had seen in Yar'Adua, an opportunity for a reawakening despite
the roguery and treachery that the 2007 elections were. We as a nation
needed to restore national pride, a lot of us had lost hope in the
system, the structure, the leadership, but with each passing day, it is
becoming obvious that Nigeria may be just an empty plastic cup, to
light to hold a cup of coffee cold or hot.
I
am writing this essay about my beloved nation because lately I have
discovered that I have tried hard to write nice stuffs about my nation
but each time I try the truth hits me and I never end up, I criticize a
lot and hardly give solutions...my reason, simple...there are enough
solutions to Nigeria's multi-dimensional problems, enough to fill an
American Congressional Library, well prepared by committees, panels,
commissions and bodies of expert. Name the field or area and I will
refer you to a paper, a report that should ordinarily have solved that
problem long time ago.
For
avoidance of doubt, what happened to the Vision 2010, nothing except
that we now have a vision 2056 for constant power electricity. I
remember one committee like that with a long name that was supposed to
provide palliative measures due to the rise in petroleum prices, till
date it died a natural death. There have been reports upon reports that
if properly handled would have made Nigerian number one in most things
if not everything, because if despite all the ills of our society we
are the most happiest and religious in the world...Then there is
problem.
In
recent times I have watched us be reminded of the successes of
Malaysia, a success that was championed and achieved simply because of
purposeful leadership, leadership that had the confidence of the
governed. That leadership brought about economic prosperity, industrial
strength, intellectual pride and dynamism. Unfortunately we have a
circus, a President that we do not know his exact state of health other
than he is strong enough to steer the ship of governance.
It
was only expected that when a nation barely commits one percent of its
GDP on education, we would have a collapsed Unity school set up, a
crazy university system. We all weep at the situation but no one really
thinks how we can have national competitiveness when the level of
investment in human capital is abysmally low.
A
new Nigeria cannot unfold, with fast paced infrastructural development,
rapid push in human resource development, healthcare delivery, when of
the approximately 130,000 graduates expected out this year, only 10%
had a chance of a job, with time the remaining 90% slowly became an
unemployable bunch with redundant qualifications and there is no plan
to put a halt to this.
Today's
Nigeria, lacks education, health and development with all the wealth,
we are breeding terrorists, frustrated young men, sad mothers, senior
citizens that daily curse the nation because we have refused to give
them their dues. I ask like I always have done let us stand as a people
and resolve to fight for what rightly belongs to us like the right to
know the state of our President's health. One does not have to be a
fantastic hero to do certain things — to compete.
You
can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated, despite all,
Nigeria is a fine place worth fighting for, let us fight for the future
today so that we do not live in regret, we deserve the best, nothing
less...
Isn’t
it intriguing and excitingly Nigeria that elected State Assemblymen
would hide in a Federal Court building to evade arrest, while on the
other hand men of the EFCC would wait on them till past 1.00 am in the
morning to catch them. This is Nigeria, the rich, poor, and everybody
cries and laughs almost at the same time; the difference is the swing
of the pendulum.
Being
a Nigerian requires a tricky trait, despite the Woles, Achebes,
Anyaokwus, Maitamas, Balewas, Ziks, Awos, Sardaunas, and many too
numerous to call, there is a distinction to being a Nigerian and
wanting to be a Nigerian. The Nigerian big man makes a law, those
wanting to be Nigerian or already big men proceeds immediately to look
for a way to break the law, he explores loopholes and escape clauses,
like the Immunity clause used for stealing. Ordinary Citizens would do
it their own way, they will jump queues on no excuse, they will do
u-turns on an expressway, stop in the middle of the road to say hello
to a long lost friend without parking...correct them, and they will
abuse your dog.
Who
wants to be a Nigerian, it takes a lot, you have to be noisy, music is
not danceable if it is not loud, big is sweet and good, so the Japanese
supply us with boom boxes as big as my village masquerade just for a
radio cassette player, a Nigerian buys a 10, 20, 30 loader CD and he
lives in one room in Ajegunle.
How
can one understand the Nigerian and want to be one, when in power he
loves affluence and will do anything to stay put. In religious matters,
he will fake it; in business, his cheques will bounce. In the civil
service forget the noise of ‘servicom’, your files will miss and only
reappear at the right price. A Nigerian will ban the importation of
lace fabrics, yet his wives, concubines and mistresses will die the day
they cannot wear one.
In
Nigeria you need to understand how a complainant can suddenly become
suspect and in the end witness yet still land in Jail for a crime that
was committed against him. That is the rule of law. They say inflation
is dropping to single digits and that GDP is growing, yet pensioners
are owed in the Nigeria Railways for 25 months, workers salaries are
hijacked, cars are stolen daily, politicians, good enough are killing
themselves, business and residential places are robbed at a statistical
rate unavailable to the Police.
The
pain of this essay is that despite all the exhaustive bad traits that
we battle everyday, Nigerians abound in their millions that want to be
Nigerians for the right reasons. Those Nigerians are not easily
understood because they will not give bribes, all their actions are in
line with tradition, society's good norms and rationality. They largely
are old now and most times reside in rural areas, although a few still
stay in urban areas. They are generally good and untribalized, they
believe in the principles of live and let live. These Nigerians are
neither the bottom power women nor the moneybag men. They strive daily
to remain patriotic and committed to the Nigerian dream despite the
reality, they are disciplined and are hardworking, and they battle the
stark reality that as patient dogs they may never have any bone left.
These
set of Nigerians suffer the Nigerian experiment because of the larger
majority's inability to curb greed, inability for us to be fair and
rational towards other people's perspectives, opinions, positions and
interest. The continuous inability to make sacrifices for the common
good, an unwillingness to respect our institutions...like, the abuse of
our health and educational institutions in the name of na government
property and so its nobody's own. Our monetized society too has been of
more harm than good to us. Do you now understand Nigeria, are you a
Nigerian, do you want to be a Nigerian... Almighty Allah You are a God
of purpose...why did You create this nation?
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 21.09.2008 17:52