Nigeria is unequivocally a nation with the favorable eyes of nature. Providence has smiled on us and we are undoubtedly on the fortunate hierarchy of natural endowment, with a deposit of many mineral resources that cannot be found anywhere in the world. The nation can lucidly be tagged as the bank of natural resources, a land flowing with milk and honey, yet, there is little or nothing to show for it.
It is unimaginable that the nation has stayed so long in the rank of been an underdeveloped nation, as some people will like to put it, the only country in the third world. Nigeria, despite been blessed, lacks leadership and managerial prowess to transform her resources into meaningful results. She remains a nation without fundamental social amenities, even at the breakneck speed of technological evolution and civilization.
The current state of the nation brings so much ache to a discerning heart. Conversely to the giant progression of the rest world, Nigeria is in retrogression with the significant propensity of imminent collapse. There is evidential leadership vacuum that has eaten deep and invariably cut across almost every stratum of the nation's domain, is it private or public sector.
No one would have captured the deficiency in the leadership echelon in this country better than one of the British coloniser of Nigeria and a former Governor-General in Nigeria, Frederick John Luggard in his book "The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa", where he asserts " He (Nigerian) lacks the power of organization, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. He loves the display of power, but fails torealizee its responsibility...".
We have a nation where education - the platform that is supposed to hone and build human capacity with the intention of positioning, consolidating and reinforcing the people to bear responsibility is treated with outright disdain. Gradually, our educational system is tilting towards total annihilation with underfunding, lack of basic educational facilities, and lack of incentive that will encourage scholars in their academic pursuit.
The government has ignobly shied away from equipping future generation(s)by givingg them standard and undiluted education, which will invariably serve as an effective tool to change the nation for good and the entire world. With the palpable deliberate enactment of policies enshrined in the current political dispensation that is discouraging education in various capacities, one can painfully admit, Nigeria is a tinderbox earnestly waiting for a time to explode.
Currently, the nation is dotted with crops of unsophisticated people at the helm of affairs. We have a country where mediocrity will unanimously win excellent in the court of public opinion. People seek certification rather than competency. Sound academic, professional and experiential qualification has been substituted and sacrificed on the altar of shenanigans, knaver, and pursuit of dishonest gains.
Recently, the country was announced by Global Statistics as the most impoverished nation of the world. The fact is evidential and palpable in almost every household of the federation, even though our government denies this truth with manipulated and concocted figures that have no effect on the lives of the average Nigerian.
It is sardonic that those who work diligently and tirelessly at their sphere of endeavorss and public service domain will be compelled to go home with little or nothing or at best half salary at the end of the month. People are suffering, aching with the unimaginable fact that a hand that is working isn't getting enough to feed himself nor his immediate family, skyrocketed inflation and cost of living won't cease taking it toll either
On the other terrible side of the coins lies myriad of others - graduate and artisans alike, who despite their potentials and proficient skillscannott find employment. They are simply disadvantaged by the virtue of their country of birth. These set of people are celebrated inanother climee as they invest their physical, mental and intellectual strength to develop their nation in diverse capacities.
Contrarily, these bright brainshaves been technically downplayed, debased and subverted to a mere tool in the hands of political gladiators to achieve and perpetuate their mischievous venture.
Leveraging on the high-level of unemployment and impoverished masses, politicians had subtly weaved a soft-landing space to manipulate the helpless masses, especially the youths, by employing them for sinister purposes such as thuggery, ballot snatching, propaganda and consequently make them an easy prey for vote buying.
Another general election is fast approaching and it seems Nigeria is still where it used to be or better said, she's further deteriorating rapidly. Politicians have already closed their ranks to rape and rob the helpless and hapless masses as usual. The truth is, the divided interest of the masses havepreponderatede their will to drive in a transformation mechanism.
The politicians are daily sowing seed of discord, most especially, amidst the youth, to weaken their collective strength, so as to pavethe suant way for their selfish ambitions. Yet, the youths won't cease to amaze me by swallowing their stratagem hook and sinker. So unfortunate! A nation that sacrifices merit, capability, competence, integrit, and dignity for mediocrity, shabbines, and sleaziness will eat the fruit thereof.
Nigeria deserves to be one of the best. We deserve a round peg in the round hole. We deserve people with measurable capacity and competence with professional, academical and experiential sagacity to mount up the throne of leadership. We deserve individuals that will painstakingly identify the wants and problem of the people and shrewdly contrive an effective mechanism to proffer the panacea. We deserve a better Nigeria.
There are some things we keep denying daily. We keep excusing ourselves from it because they are ideologies we perceived to be perverted. Yet,theses things keep confronting us as often as we live. They make us look inferior and second class in the world we claim our father own. Then, we must admit something is wrong somewhere and we should look inwardly to figure it out, else, we get drown in our own inactions.
James Useghan
jayuseghan@yahoo.com
Advocate for a Just and Egalitarian Society
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