Are we citizens or commoners?

In more primitive systems of government, the ordinary people are called commoners. This name connotes the lowest of the low, the dregs of society. This class of people are those to whom anything can happen. They are the victims, the worms of the earth. Ambitious people do everything to escape being in this class because inevitably, misery is an essential part of their lives. The ruling class, on the other hand, enjoy everything the world has to offer at the expense of the commoner, whose blood pays for these luxuries.

As civilization takes hold, nations are striving to dump such systems of government and adopt better ones that cater to the needs of all the people. Democracy is one system that has become very popular all over the world because of the emphasis it places on the ordinary people. In this system, the people are not called commoners. They are called citizens. They are the custodians of power and periodically give their mandate through an electoral process, to a group of leaders who will pilot their affairs for a defined period. Citizens are not treated as subjects owned by a king and who live or die according to his whims. They are treated as full human beings who have rights that must be respected for peace to reign. They have the right to question policies of government and to have their complaints investigated and appropriate action of redress taken. I believe that herein lies the acclaimed beauty of democracy.

Nigeria has joined the league of democratic nations. That is why it is puzzling to see her citizens still living like commoners. Yes, in Nigeria, to be an ordinary person is to live a miserable life. The ruling class carries on as if the ordinary people do not exist. The ordinary person is a victim of the establishment and seems helpless.

Service providers see themselves as lords over the people and do not care about satisfying the people who are still expected to pay for such anaemic services. Only commoners will keep paying for services not provided and still maintain a smiling face as we see in Nigeria. Commoners are known to show gratitude for little mercies so that the ruling class will be gracious enough to leave their heads on their shoulders.

Why would the law-enforcement agencies treat every Nigerian like a criminal? Anyone who has no ‘immunity’ against ‘ordinariness’ can be arrested over ridiculous charges and detained for months and years without trial. ‘Bail is free’ is just a slogan which the ordinary Nigerians use for comic relief from time to time. Everyone knows it is far from the reality. ‘Police is your friend’ is another such slogan that does not cut any ice with the normal Nigerian citizen. We know we are on our own and must protect ourselves, provide our own power, our own water, gas and every other thing if we want them. This is definitely not how to build a citizenry that has confidence in the ruling class.

One factor that should really agitate the mind of every well-meaning Nigerian is the unreasonable exploitation of Nigerian citizens who desire to acquire education. This mindless exploitation happens at different stages and with various degrees of impunity.

The JAMB fraud

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board came into existence to serve as admission agents – that is, to regulate and standardize the process of getting into the university. With time, we started hearing about quota system and catchment area and other official jargons which watered down and made nonsense of what JAMB stands for. Some years back, a minister for education, having noticed how low JAMB had sunk, introduced a post-UME exam which would help the universities to select only qualified candidates. While everyone can understand the reason for the post-UME exam, I don’t see why the federal government did not first of all scrap JAMB so as to empower the institutions to conduct their own entrance exams. The way it is now, the candidates go through the hassles of JAMB exams and those who know about it understand that it is no easy feat. The last JAMB exam is a case in point. Thousands of candidates who paid for the exam could not write it for no fault of theirs. Those who were subjected to the CBT process had various tales of woe as a result of JAMB’s unpreparedness for the exam. Now those who were lucky to scale through have to pay for another entrance exam called aptitude post-UTME exam. Apart from the exorbitant fees charged for this post-UTME exam, candidates still have to go through a lot of stress in order to take the exam. This is one classic case of the establishment acting as if the citizens do not matter. This duplication is needless and should stop!

The Junior WAEC mess

The original idea of 6-3-3-4 system of education was very good. That was what gave rise to the Junior WAEC. The idea was for those who were interested in technical education to acquire basic literacy and obtain a certificate to that effect and then leave school after JSS 3 to pursue their passion. This scenario has been truncated because of poor planning and implementation. All the gadgets acquired for that programme and supplied to all the schools ended up being vandalized and looted. Right now, there is absolutely no practical use for the Junior WAEC. I don’t even think there is any certificate called Junior WAEC certificate. Yet every year, parents are made to cough out serious fees to enable their children sit for a useless exam. This too should stop!

The Senior WAEC madness

WAEC is one of the most important examination bodies in this sub-region. Unfortunately, it is also the most bastardized. The rot in WAEC is such that no candidate is sure how much he or she will spend on the exam. Everything depends on how greedy and daring the WAEC officials and representatives are. WAEC supervises a process of idiotic exploitation of candidates and issuance of dubious results at the end of the sham called examination. We expect the authorities to rise to the occasion and check the excesses of this exam body but nothing is being done. Political officeholders are too busy looting public funds to even notice this cankerworm threatening to destroy the very roots of the society.

There are many other reasons to believe that the citizens of this country are treated like commoners. It is not just a feeling. It is reality. There is need for the new administration under President Buhari to devise ways of taking the feelings of Nigerians into consideration at all times. That is the only way to build a viable nation where everyone has a sense of belonging.

Nnenna Ihebom