Nigeria is the most populous West African country and a one time giant of Africa. Nigeria is a country naturally blessed with various mineral resources, talented individuals, a good and serene climatic environment. There is rarely a natural disaster in Nigeria but often experience man-made disasters like building collapse and blocked flood channels.
It is a country which Britain, the colonial master, cherished and was devoted to. Few years after Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the military struck and took over governance. Reading Nigeria’s political history from independence till date terrorizes the mind and can traumatize innocent, delicate minds.
Most African countries were underdeveloped through the military take over of governance because they were never trained to rule. Nigerian economy boomed in the years of military regime. The increase and multiplication that astounded every sector of the economy turned the government to squander mania as they claimed ignorance of what to do with the overflow.
Nigeria is a country richly endowed with natural, material and human blessings but the political leaders had impoverished both the nation and the people.
Moreso, the government in the days of the military was tribalistic, ethnocentric and full of religious bigots. The system of governance was dictatorial and autocratic. We could hear things like Igbo coup, Kano riots, conflicts and ethnic cleansings. It is not verifiable to say that there was hatred for a particular tribe in Nigeria but the Igbos were the most enterprising and independent minded.
The Igbo people of Nigeria did not feel the impact of the central government especially after the Nigerian-Biafran war. They travelled to several parts of world and encouraged each other with the saying; ‘what you cannot do for yourself, nobody will do it for you’. And so, they struggled throughout the country without government assistance.
Sadly, when democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999, it was the same military men in civilian uniform that took over governance. It was an issue of life and death that took the military out of politics in Nigeria. The circle created by the former military heads of state was still controlling politics and elections in the country. Nigerian presidents who were not former military head of state were too scared to step on toes or even generate a new template for democracy other than the ones used by the military.
Interestingly, a lot of politicians in Nigeria are said to be richer than the country. The political class turned Nigeria upside down in terms of immorality, bribery, corruption, impunity and wickedness. If you want to be rich in Nigeria, the best advice you can get is to join politics, become an internet fraudster, open a church and better still take a political appointment.
The worst thing that had happened to Nigeria was when a former military head of state, 1983-1985, came back to be a civilian president in 2015. The former military head of state that ruled Nigeria from 2015-2023 made Nigeria a shadow of itself. Nigerians are good people. Nigerians are hardworking people but the inefficiency of government and the selfish interest of the political class has turned millions of Nigerians poor.
This is antithetical to the glamour and flamboyancy of the political leaders. The tribal sentiments and the so-called Fulani hegemony which characterized the present administration in Nigeria had many Nigerians pushed into abject poverty. What every concerned elite thinks about these days is how to bring Nigerians out of poverty.
Nigeria has in the past few years adopted one step forward and two steps backward in terms of politics, democracy, economy and security of lives and property.
Unbecomingly, the one-time African giant is now a dwarf of Africa. Nigerians are seen emigrating to different African countries with stable economy, well-regulated currency and higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than Nigeria.
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The president himself has told Nigerians that after his tenure in government he will travel to Niger Republic for comfort and relaxation. Evidently, so many hardworking Nigerians in diaspora have Nigeria as their fatherland. They do not have another homeland.
They do their monthly remittances to Nigeria and they are ashamed by the rhetoric of politicians in the name of governance. There is an institutional decay in Nigeria because the competent, capable, tested individuals do not man the institutions or agencies of government. It is notable to remark that politicians in Nigeria cannot eat their cake and have it at same time checking the current status of Nigeria in the global performance rate of nations.
Finally, cleaning up the mess in Nigeria will require a lot of capacity, dexterity, resilience and doggedness. Unfortunately, many rich politicians who were made fat by sharing the largesse are determined to continue the old order.
Democracy, governance and politics in Nigeria has been made a laughing stock and a by-word proverb. As Nigerians watch helplessly to the tune of political structure in Nigeria, they pray every day for divine intervention, diplomatic intervention and a total overhaul from the structure that has ruined their lives. Making a rich country a debtor and turning her citizens to beggars is the fancy of a leader who claimed he has done his best for the country.
This is sad, ridiculous, devilish and cruel. The world in which we live is governed by two forces: force of good, force of evil or force of light and force of darkness. Faith and prayer are the two wings that bear us to heights beyond human reach. Nigerians are hopeful. Nigerians have great expectations.
Nigerians still believe in the actualization of a total rebirth and the arrival of a new Nigeria. This is possible because Nigerians want to take back their country. This is possible because Nigerians need restoration. Nigerians believe that human instruments could be used to renew the face of their country.
