RESOLVING THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL EQUATION AND BUILDING A DYNAMIC AND SUSTAINABLE NATION (1).

By Nnabugwu Chizoba

Events as they unfold today, in Nigeria, points to the fact that the country is at the cross road. A section of the Nigerian public, may prefer the word limbo, to which I have no qualms with.

The worry of many Nigerians is that, rather than dwell on issues that have the capacity to bring about lasting change, improvement, and sustainable development, the leadership, prefers to hang on the dictates of some fickle minded delinquents, traducers, vendetta driven, ego-seeking, self-serving, and if you like, docile supporters, whose stock in trade is deception. No wonder the nation have maintained a steady slide into delusion and self-imposed economic recession.

Using this piece, I wish to draw attention to some things I consider critical, indeed matters of urgent national importance.

First is the fact that many people are broke and many more are going broke. Another, is that the country is being polarized by sentiment, due to loss of visionary leadership.

What is happening in Nigeria today, is very unfortunate, unbecoming and as a matter of fact totally unacceptable.

All Professional Bodies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and every other well-meaning Nigerian, must either rise up, speak and act in favour of a new, formidable and safe country or stay put, close their mouth, and watch the nation grope in the dark.

The persistent fall and dwindling national economy, with solidarity, from both the state and local governments, in terms of economic decline, call for a decisive, well thought out strategic economic blueprint, characterized by diverse innovations and very creative survival schemes targeted at improving both national and regional economies. Pruning down scale of wastages and optimal resource deployment are essential in revamping the Nigerian economy.

Nigerians of the present era must come to terms with the fact that there is urgent need to redefine their vision of nationhood, mission and basic objectives. This is a necessary build-up in the process of re-building the nation and making her economy stable, buoyant and self-sustaining. It is also key, in making Nigeria’s economy economically distinctive in the common wealth of nations. This proposal, to me, is a national call that must be executed as a national duty.

The above will determine how successful the next move, which is to liberate the country from the stooges of ethno-centrism, myopia of the mind, congenital prejudice, hatred, ethnic militia and increasing levels of poverty, insecurity and anarchy will be.

It is also necessary to emphasize that the attitude of our leaders is so worrisome, demoralizing and nauseating. It is systematically blended and ladled in hypocrisy, religious and ethnic biases, which are the major constraints to any meaningful development.

The political class have neglected the dreams of the founding fathers and consequently are lost in their self-made wilderness of deceit, polarized abhorrence to moral ethics and values. History, which is essential to all men seems not to matter anymore in this contemporary age. Selfish leaders seem to have made the people prefer obscurity to enlightenment, austerity to posterity and demonism to the civilized practice of the modern age.

I am in tune with the on-going macabre dance (with due respect), being displayed and watched by Nigerians, in the name of “fight against corruption”. It is disheartening that the ruling class is very active in their game of deceit, leading to their lopsided meaning and interpretation of corruption. The dancing pattern, has revealed at some point unarticulated and sometimes very shameful rhythms, weak dance steps and very identical poor body movements.

One is at a loss to observe that the ruling class, is struggling day in day out to define corruption or rather understand who the corrupt is. That is the only reason the leadership/ruling class of today, can look at Nigerians in the face, after repeatedly passing comments that the previous government looted the country dry, insinuating that the immediate past ruling party, the PDP, did not do anything, yet have the audacity to parade members of that party, who were not only active but ruled for the 16years of looting, but who are now founding members and pillars of the ruling party as free, notwithstanding the hues and cries of the Nigerian masses, an indication that corruption, is what an enemy does. I find it difficult to understand why a party that came into power on the mantra of change, would celebrate members of the PDP, who have defected to the ruling APC, with these persons allegedly as key actors in the looting saga.  

There lies my worry, which first and foremost stems from the identified strong and evil mind of the Nigerian leaders, which shows glaringly of unwillingness to change or retract obnoxious ways. Notwithstanding their shout of wolf, something is certain, glaring and playing out, that: decency, fairness and patriotic zeal have been eclipsed. As people entrusted with the affairs of the state and the estate, they are not keen in building a formidable nation rather are fanning the embers of disunity, destruction and balkanization of the entire socio political landscapes. Some of them (the Nigerian leaders) have become vultures and cannibals.