An Essay on Nigeria

NIGERIA

At 50 years, it is high time our government officials realised that posterity will judge them, just like Fidel Castro of Cuba said. They should live up to the promises they made when they were rendering their manifestos. The people are not fools, it is likely a revolution is underway. Today in the eyes of the world Nigeria is among the most corrupt countries in the world. My heart bleeds for this giant of Africa, in fact for the whole of Africa. Wherever we go outside this country we are viewed with suspicion. For long blames have been traded as to whether the civilian or military governments are to blame, but truth is we have a problem on our hands.some few years ago, the national orientation agency came up with the “Heart of Africa” project, aimed at redeeming the image of the nation. With time that was phased out today what do we have? “The re-branding Project: Nigeria, Great Nation, Great People. I guess it sounds familiar. Are these projects really achieving their aim or is it another sing-song party? I still believe change for the better is possible.Our government officials should put the people who voted them into office first. This is more than a prayer than a plea. As much as possible, they should, and we should do away with avarice, violence, wastage, and the likes.

                Being the ones in power, they should institute projects that will be of benefit to the common man. It hurts that youths drop out even before secondary school to get into business and or politics, all in an effort to get rich quick. Our leaders should do some soul-searching and realise they are accountable to God and the people. In summary, our government officials are our representatives, both home and abroad.

                Our judiciary system has come of age, boasting of luminaries like Sam agbakogba, a one-time president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Festus Keyamo, the late icon Gani Fawhenmi … etc. We need strong legal structures that will ensure that criminals are brought to book, assassins would be made to face the music, political killings, in fact all forms of extra-judicial killings would be a thing of the past. Our judiciary should give us a reason to trust them if jungle justice will ever be done away with. It makes no sense where accused persons await trial for long periods sometimes years. The arm of the law should be long enough to reach out to all ensure there are no sacred cows. An article I read in a certain newspaper, portrayed a stick-thin man condemned to death by hanging for stealing a chicken, while a rotund, pot-bellied politician was to spend two days in jail for stealing public funds. I must ask, where is the fairness in such a judgement, which is what we see everyday. Public officers are so bold and brazen about their thefts, smiling their way up the dock as heroes amidst the cheers of praise singers, when  arraigned before the EFCC, ICPC or whatever name they take. I choose to bring in the police here as they are the enforcers of the law a s well as responsible for our security. Hope is not lost in the police, but they need to prove that “ Police is your friend”. A lot of crime will be curbed if “roger me” or the regular collection of 20 naira at check points is stopped. I remember an incident where bus in which I was a passenger was held up for almost 30 minutes because the driver refused to pay the 20 naira. The driver, with his seat belt on, had presented all the required documents, the fire extinguisher,  …etc, yet the officer would not budge. After a lot of pressure from we the passengers, the driver paid the 20 naira and the bus was set in motion again. This trend should stop. Our new commissioner of police, should call him team to order. He should in collaboration with private partners, work out a proper re numeration scheme for the police. The police need to understand the importance of their profession, a loaded gun in the hands of an untrained fellow is a disaster waiting to happen. Is that a plausible explanation for the alarming rate of increase in extra-judicial killings, especially of innocent citizens. Either training programmes on better handling of arms are organised or better still arms control measures are put in place. The same applies to other members of the defence corps.