Tackling the Nigerian problem: Beyond the political leadership

Nigeria, the country of my dreams. How did the “giant of Africa” get to this point? Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960 amidst great pomp and hope for what the future entailed. However, 56 years later after a civil war, decades of corrupt leadership and moral decadence of citizens, our great country is in the worst state it could ever be.

It is officially in recession and the recession does not seem likely to end soon. One’s prayer is that recession does not degenerate to depression. In fact, if care is not taken, Nigeria is on its way to becoming another Venezuela. As the popular saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day.” But it should also be noted that “Rome did not fall in a day”, as well.  It is easy to blame Nigeria’s present state on decades of corrupt leadership but what role did the followers play in this whole “drama” that led the country to remaining one with great potentials for decades while other less endowed countries of the same age realise their own dreams and join the league of developed nations?

The statement made by former Attorney General of Ogun State, Wemimo Ogunde (SAN) at the Lagos Startup week 2015 struck a chord with me. He said “if you took all Nigerians to Germany and you brought all Germans to Nigeria, in 10 years Nigeria would be like Germany and Germany would be like Nigeria”.  I think he was spot on with this statement.

The average Nigerian citizen today has lost every sense of “collective responsibility” towards his fellow countrymen and women. He only cares about himself and his family.  This is why you see many rich men live in grand houses where they have constant electricity, the best food and clothes, etc. However, when one steps out a few blocks from these mansions, one sees people wallowing in extreme poverty and the rich man cares less. In fact, he is blind to the plight of the poor man next door. So long as he and his family are feeding well, he is alright. I will not quarrel if the bourgeoisie in Nigeria made their money from working hard or are making money from productive ventures which in fact contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). No. The Nigerian nouveau riche are, with few exceptions, a rent collector, a parasite on government. They are people who are privileged and have the opportunity do to be able to manipulate the system or even dip hands into government coffers. They make so much bleeding the state and divert the  collective wealth to personal use.  Interestingly, the attitude of the elite has caught on with the ordinary people as well. They do not care a hoot about maintaining public projects and facilities which are put in place for collective use.

In the summer of 2016, I was at an ATM machine in front of a bank in Abuja. A guy in front of me had just finished drinking from a bottle and he threw it straight on the floor. Meanwhile, there was a bin right in front of him, less than a metre away. Should this care-free attitude be attributed to ignorance or stupidity? You answer that. I am pretty sure if I asked the same guy “why is the country so dirty”, his reply would be “Buhari is not ruling the country well” or something similar to that. He would blame the leaders for his inability to think and do the right thing. These same people travel to places like the UK or USA and they dare not do the same thing because they will be slapped with a fine or it will just look stupid to place litter in unapproved places in these countries. To this guy, such a poor attitude to public resource is deemed “acceptable” in Nigeria.

Let me just conclude by stating that I am in no way shifting blame from the incompetent leaders Nigeria has been cursed with.  All I am saying is that the ordinary people like me and my fellow countrymen and women also have concrete roles to play if Nigeria is going to become the country we all dream of. We should all imbibe the teachings of the religions we follow that tell us to be “our brother’s keeper”. “The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain”. We should all play our roles with a positive and patriotic attitude. God willing, Nigeria will be great again. Long Live Nigeria! Long live the Nigerian people! Aluta Continua Vitória é certa.

Olaniyonu contributed this piece from Reading, United Kingdom