Nigeria, a multi-ethnic country, is a nation of nations, with more than 250 ethnic and linguistic groups making up the geographical space and colonial contraption, called Nigeria. A populous nation-state, Nigeria has not become an organic whole. The sad fact is that our past successive political leaders have failed to engender true peace and unity in Nigeria. So the centrifugal forces of ethnicity and religion are tearing Nigeria apart.
Again, our past national leaders, both politicians and military rulers, could not harness our abundant natural resources such as limestone, tin-ore, bauxite, crude oil, and others, to leapfrog Nigeria to the acme of economic and technological advancement. Instead, Nigeria is trapped in the morass of national under-development. And countries, which are less endowed than Nigeria in human and material resources, have outpaced Nigeria in the areas of economic and technological development. Think about Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan.
It is undeniable that Nigeria has not yet reached its full potential. Despite gaining political independence in 1960, the country faces significant challenges in various areas. While progress has been made in certain sectors, much work remains to be done to achieve the prosperity and stability envisioned by its citizens.
Our country’s pitiable and unacceptable state is partly caused by the economic depredation it suffered during military regimes in Nigeria. Since the dawn of the fourth republic in 1999, successive national leaders have squandered opportunities to remake Nigeria. Our flawed democratic system has ensured that political leadership is often passed to inept individuals, hindering our progress.
Can a national leader, who is destitute of leadership qualities, moral probity, political ideologies, and vision, remake Nigeria and put her on the path of irreversible national development? The answer to this question is categorical, no. No President of Nigeria can take Nigeria above his or her own vision and dreams about Nigeria. It takes a great, competent, and visionary political leader to transform a country, positively.
Today, Nigeria manifests all the indices of an underdeveloped country. While the educational system is dysfunctional, the health sector is in a state of disarray, resulting in the mass exodus of well-trained health professionals to Europe and America. The infrastructural rot in our country further underscores our low level of national development.
In today’s Nigeria, tertiary institutions are proliferating rapidly, but their quality is declining. These poorly-equipped institutions are no longer bastions of academic research and scientific knowledge. As a result, they churn out graduates who lack the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in the workforce.
Consequently, most graduates who search for white-collar jobs are unemployable. They lack both character and essential skills in numeracy and literacy. These unemployed graduates form a pool from which Boko Haram and other separatist groups recruit their members.
Now, Nigeria is battling severe security challenges. The Boko Haram insurgency, which continues to menace and ravage the north, has not been eradicated. In the southeast, the weekly Monday sit-at-home order remains in effect. This suggests that the people of the southeast are experiencing a state of stagnation and lack of progress. Additionally, the middle belt saw violent clashes recently, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people.
More so, Nigeria’s economic crisis is worsening; millions of Nigerians have become multidimensionally poor. The number of poor Nigerians has increased dramatically. Desperate Nigerians resort to scavenging in refuse dumps for scraps of food, including bread and cakes.
The pitiable state of Nigeria can be traced back to the corrupt and incompetent political leaders who led our country in the recent past. They caused both the ruination of our economy and the stagnation of our technological growth. Over the years, our deeply flawed political system has fostered the rise of unscrupulous and dishonest individuals in leadership roles.
Those politicians lack leadership qualities, political ideologies, empathy, and forbearance. They used their financial muscle and deep knowledge of our political culture to manipulate the system and achieve their political ends.
Sadly, the judicial arm of government, which should be the cornerstone of our democracy, is failing us. The image of our judiciary has been tarnished by controversial and conflicting judgments delivered by judges at various levels. These judgments, particularly those related to elections, have destroyed the public’s trust in the courts.
Read also: Investors play a crucial role in unlocking Nigeria’s tech potential
For example, some judges in the High Courts and Appeal Courts issued erroneous and controversial judgments on electoral matters. These judgments were based on technicalities rather than on fundamental legal principles. Perceived misdeeds by these judges have raised questions about their neutrality and impartiality.
The Supreme Court judgement affirming the election of President Bola Tinubu has further divided the nation. It has also ignited renewed calls for the reformation of our judiciary. A robust and independent judiciary is crucial to deepening the values and principles of our democracy and strengthening state institutions such as the legislature and the executive.
It is my belief that the positive evolution of our democratic culture will curb the incidents of electoral malpractices, during periodic and off-cycle elections in Nigeria. And when elections are free and fair, political leaders who have moral scruples, leadership qualities, political ideologies, and vision will emerge in Nigeria.
Only such leaders can cure our country of the many ills, which have afflicted it, and only such leaders can put it on the path of sustainable economic growth and the evolution of its own technological culture.
Chiedu Uche Okoye; Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State; a poet whose poems have been published in many national anthologies.
