Stagnancy is anti nature; it opposes the very essence of being. That is why every static machine soon rusts. In other to avoid the rut stagnancy brings, their must be movement or change. Obviously, even though change is something very much desired in every society, it is seldom embraced, because before it can occur, there must be a realization of an undesirable point where one has been for far too long.
Nigeria as a nation needs to step up and step forward. This ultimately leads us to question ourselves: - where are we? Where are we headed? As a nation, where are we when it comes to technological advancement? Why should a nation as blessed as ours, with so much manpower, have to pay Chinese engineers to launch a Nigerian satellite that is soon lost in space? It is no longer talked about; it has been swept under the carpet by our dear intricate political machinery that is ingenious in covering evil and promoting evil. In the area of food security, where are we? Why should over 70% of our workforce be unable to feed this nation talk more of the Diaspora, whereas 10% of the German workforce involved in the agricultural sector is well able to feed their country? Is our land cursed, or are we unfortunate as a nation?
In Nigeria, the larger portion of our resources is used to enrich and make comfortable a few select minorities. It is a nation where the basic principles or tenets of human living are truncated at will by the powers that be. It is a nation where it seems foolhardy to be law abiding because ours is a lawless society, one in which the next generation is not empowered. Here, one man who thinks himself more right than his neighbors’ constitutes a majority of one, so he tries to force his will on the rest. Our education system is rubbished and made the laughing stock of the world whilst we take pride in churning out thousands of half baked graduates every year; people who from every rational judgment are not equipped to compete favorably in the global market. The nation Nigeria, is one where our elites enjoy the resources nature has bestowed on us all. More painful is the fact that it doesn’t bother their conscience; they don’t bother to ponder over the effect of their acts, that they daily bring this nation closer to anarchy and chaos with each passing day. Instead of peace, they bring us desolation and call it peace. Instead, they justify themselves and even see their deeds as moral, but nothing that erodes the rule of law can be moral.
What they seem to forget is one truism; that those who make peaceful change impossible only make violent change inevitable. Where they avid students of history, they would have read the handwritten on the wall and initiate change themselves, first in themselves, then the society at large; else change will sweep them away. It has taken place in the United States, with the oppressed citizens crying, liberty or death. It has taken place in England, France, and the countries of Eastern Europe, and it still occurs worldwide. When the basic tenets of liberty, equality, and brotherhood were denied the citizens of France, they upset the wicked balance, crying Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite! Today, they like Gaius Julius Caesar can shout Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Can our beloved nation really say we came, we saw, we conquered. In 1960, we claimed we came of age and became independent, yet our economy remains dependent on the west. That is why a cold in the US economy forces the Nigerian economy to sneeze and snooze terribly. Our leaders been patrons of so many anti people policies, just turn blind eyes to what is the obvious; that we need total socioeconomic emancipation. Our political system is manipulated by the western hegemony to the advantage of their various countries; a real proof of dependency. What conquered us in the sixties still conquers us even now. Is it rational for us to say we conquered when after forty nine years; we still can’t conduct an accurate census that has not bowed to ethno-religious pressures. Tribalism, sectionalism, and ethnic cleansing, are still the order of the day. How sad!
Years after the 1966 coup, the very ills that had plagued this nation, the very ills that the proponents of that uprising had seen and tried to nip in the bud, have continued unabated and unchecked.
Hey! Which way Nigeria, which way Nigerians? Shall we continue to bath ourselves with puddle? Should we continue in tolerance to this outrageous level of oppression and suppression? Should we continue to entertain corruption and squander mania? Why should we sacrifice merit on the altar of ethnicity? Is that not the height of mediocrity and backwardness? To what purpose is a football team of equal ethnic representation that can’t win a single match? Why should a national ideal of winning the football match and be respected among the worlds committee of nations be sacrificed, so that ethnicity may thrive? Isn’t it obvious that if people knew that merit is the only consideration, they would have no other option than to aspire to excellence? Why can’t our systems provide yardsticks for judging merit, seeing that it is not a geo-political issue; it is a virtue and therefore universally attainable? Why can’t we dismantle corruption, or at least make it unprofitable for its practitioners? Shouldn’t we at least fight for a nation, “where peace and justice shall reign”; one in which we all would be glad to say, “to serve Nigeria with all my strength”, and not, “to serve Nigeria is not by force!
This short treatise wouldn’t be complete if I lay bare our inadequacies without at least proffering solutions; a way forward.
Firstly, there is a need to overhaul our political system; it isn’t efficient in delivering the goods! Our nation is in dire need of leadership that is addressed to the yearnings and aspirations of her well meaning citizens; leadership that is sensitive, compassionate, able to feel the pulse of the people of this nation.
Secondly, our economy should be diversified. Our overt dependence on petroleum and the petro-allied sector has done us more harm than good. There should be an agrarian revolution for food security is the bedrock, nay, the base for any would be technologically advanced nation. There is no use in accumulating technicians, intellectuals, and professors, if they can’t be applied to solve pressing national problems. The republic of Germany has 10.1% of its nation’s workforce feeding the whole nation while 79.1% of Nigerians in the agricultural sector can’t feed nor meet the basic necessities of this nation.
There is also the issue of transparency. For several years, the debacle of signing into law the freedom of information bill has lingered. Our politicians are not comfortable with it just because it could wash their dirty linen in public. Yet this has remained the desperate yearnings of the citizens they claim to represent. There is no accountability anywhere. Why should the law apply to some citizens and not to all? Is what is sauce for the goose no longer sauce for the gander, or is this a case of “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others”? St. Augustine said, “An unjust law is no law at all”. This means that the people of Nigeria have a right, nay, a duty to resist such laws, because it is not binding on them, with violence, civil disobedience or any measure they see fit!
Which way Nigeria? Which way Nigerians? Until we answer this question, first individually, then collectively as a nation, set our face in the right direction, and vigorously pursue true democratic ideals along this path, we would continue to deceive ourselves with nice rhyming phrases like vision 2020, 7 point agenda, whilst neglecting accountability, equality, liberty, and brotherhood, we would only continue to be static! As long as what we hold to be true in our hearts remain transient things like personal aggrandizement at any cost, we would have continued to shout aloud, “to serve Nigeria is not by force!
Nigeria as a nation needs to step up and step forward. This ultimately leads us to question ourselves: - where are we? Where are we headed? As a nation, where are we when it comes to technological advancement? Why should a nation as blessed as ours, with so much manpower, have to pay Chinese engineers to launch a Nigerian satellite that is soon lost in space? It is no longer talked about; it has been swept under the carpet by our dear intricate political machinery that is ingenious in covering evil and promoting evil. In the area of food security, where are we? Why should over 70% of our workforce be unable to feed this nation talk more of the Diaspora, whereas 10% of the German workforce involved in the agricultural sector is well able to feed their country? Is our land cursed, or are we unfortunate as a nation?
In Nigeria, the larger portion of our resources is used to enrich and make comfortable a few select minorities. It is a nation where the basic principles or tenets of human living are truncated at will by the powers that be. It is a nation where it seems foolhardy to be law abiding because ours is a lawless society, one in which the next generation is not empowered. Here, one man who thinks himself more right than his neighbors’ constitutes a majority of one, so he tries to force his will on the rest. Our education system is rubbished and made the laughing stock of the world whilst we take pride in churning out thousands of half baked graduates every year; people who from every rational judgment are not equipped to compete favorably in the global market. The nation Nigeria, is one where our elites enjoy the resources nature has bestowed on us all. More painful is the fact that it doesn’t bother their conscience; they don’t bother to ponder over the effect of their acts, that they daily bring this nation closer to anarchy and chaos with each passing day. Instead of peace, they bring us desolation and call it peace. Instead, they justify themselves and even see their deeds as moral, but nothing that erodes the rule of law can be moral.
What they seem to forget is one truism; that those who make peaceful change impossible only make violent change inevitable. Where they avid students of history, they would have read the handwritten on the wall and initiate change themselves, first in themselves, then the society at large; else change will sweep them away. It has taken place in the United States, with the oppressed citizens crying, liberty or death. It has taken place in England, France, and the countries of Eastern Europe, and it still occurs worldwide. When the basic tenets of liberty, equality, and brotherhood were denied the citizens of France, they upset the wicked balance, crying Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite! Today, they like Gaius Julius Caesar can shout Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Can our beloved nation really say we came, we saw, we conquered. In 1960, we claimed we came of age and became independent, yet our economy remains dependent on the west. That is why a cold in the US economy forces the Nigerian economy to sneeze and snooze terribly. Our leaders been patrons of so many anti people policies, just turn blind eyes to what is the obvious; that we need total socioeconomic emancipation. Our political system is manipulated by the western hegemony to the advantage of their various countries; a real proof of dependency. What conquered us in the sixties still conquers us even now. Is it rational for us to say we conquered when after forty nine years; we still can’t conduct an accurate census that has not bowed to ethno-religious pressures. Tribalism, sectionalism, and ethnic cleansing, are still the order of the day. How sad!
Years after the 1966 coup, the very ills that had plagued this nation, the very ills that the proponents of that uprising had seen and tried to nip in the bud, have continued unabated and unchecked.
Hey! Which way Nigeria, which way Nigerians? Shall we continue to bath ourselves with puddle? Should we continue in tolerance to this outrageous level of oppression and suppression? Should we continue to entertain corruption and squander mania? Why should we sacrifice merit on the altar of ethnicity? Is that not the height of mediocrity and backwardness? To what purpose is a football team of equal ethnic representation that can’t win a single match? Why should a national ideal of winning the football match and be respected among the worlds committee of nations be sacrificed, so that ethnicity may thrive? Isn’t it obvious that if people knew that merit is the only consideration, they would have no other option than to aspire to excellence? Why can’t our systems provide yardsticks for judging merit, seeing that it is not a geo-political issue; it is a virtue and therefore universally attainable? Why can’t we dismantle corruption, or at least make it unprofitable for its practitioners? Shouldn’t we at least fight for a nation, “where peace and justice shall reign”; one in which we all would be glad to say, “to serve Nigeria with all my strength”, and not, “to serve Nigeria is not by force!
This short treatise wouldn’t be complete if I lay bare our inadequacies without at least proffering solutions; a way forward.
Firstly, there is a need to overhaul our political system; it isn’t efficient in delivering the goods! Our nation is in dire need of leadership that is addressed to the yearnings and aspirations of her well meaning citizens; leadership that is sensitive, compassionate, able to feel the pulse of the people of this nation.
Secondly, our economy should be diversified. Our overt dependence on petroleum and the petro-allied sector has done us more harm than good. There should be an agrarian revolution for food security is the bedrock, nay, the base for any would be technologically advanced nation. There is no use in accumulating technicians, intellectuals, and professors, if they can’t be applied to solve pressing national problems. The republic of Germany has 10.1% of its nation’s workforce feeding the whole nation while 79.1% of Nigerians in the agricultural sector can’t feed nor meet the basic necessities of this nation.
There is also the issue of transparency. For several years, the debacle of signing into law the freedom of information bill has lingered. Our politicians are not comfortable with it just because it could wash their dirty linen in public. Yet this has remained the desperate yearnings of the citizens they claim to represent. There is no accountability anywhere. Why should the law apply to some citizens and not to all? Is what is sauce for the goose no longer sauce for the gander, or is this a case of “all animals are equal but some are more equal than others”? St. Augustine said, “An unjust law is no law at all”. This means that the people of Nigeria have a right, nay, a duty to resist such laws, because it is not binding on them, with violence, civil disobedience or any measure they see fit!
Which way Nigeria? Which way Nigerians? Until we answer this question, first individually, then collectively as a nation, set our face in the right direction, and vigorously pursue true democratic ideals along this path, we would continue to deceive ourselves with nice rhyming phrases like vision 2020, 7 point agenda, whilst neglecting accountability, equality, liberty, and brotherhood, we would only continue to be static! As long as what we hold to be true in our hearts remain transient things like personal aggrandizement at any cost, we would have continued to shout aloud, “to serve Nigeria is not by force!
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