Nigeria's symbol of unity
Please note: First Published in September last year.
Disillusionment, frustration and hopelessness appear to be the current mood of many Nigerians as the country celebrates her 49 years of Independence.
In the Diaspora, an air of anger and disenchantment dominate the mood of many Nigerians as we gear up for our golden jubilee Independence coming in October next year.
For many, the main crux of people’s frustration is what they describe as a slow pace of action (or is it even lack of any) in attending to the mountains of problems of Nigerian populace, especially the common Nigerians who continue to live below the poverty line and still gasp for a derivable benefit of democracy.
Of more concern is the way the government has been exposing Nigeria to the outside world as a weak state with no focus and defined sense of patriotism.
Many are very disturbed with the laxity with which issues of national matters are handled.
According to an investigation by EMN news, apparent lack of action and complete stagnation of the county as it drifts back from focus and prominence to obscurity and uncertainty have begged the big question of what the future holds for the Nigeria.
Also raised with a big question is the plight of the citizens who have always been over-run, used and dumped by the ruling class, from the local level up to the pinnacle of Nigeria leadership.
There are also the issue of security and safety in the light of the current unrest and instability in Niger Delta, and then, the collapsing education system.
All the above points put together has put President Musa Yar’adua below the pass point while also putting him in the dock.
Eclipse Media Network conducted a people’s opinion polls recently contacting people by telephone and distributing questionnaire to hundreds of Nigerians to give their judgment and opinion as what they think are the hope for the future as we face our golden jubilee in year 2110.
They were also requested to suggest solutions to the mountains of problems and uncertainty currently staring Nigeria in the face as the country oscillates without definite direction.
Among those questions raised were the genuineness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s electoral commission body whose image had been terribly dented because of the overturning of its many decisions in the last election.
There is also the Niger Delta region crisis, election rigging and more the current political system which respondents claimed appears too expensive and much premature for the country to continue.
The results of our investigation were astounding; very scary and daunting as it touches on the facts about today’s Nigeria.
A respondent claimed: ‘We have drifted for so long under this democracy which has got no meaning in Nigeria except to enrich the unjust. We only operate a jungle democracy with no thorough texture. Honestly, we have to go back to basics’.
‘Nigerians continually live in perpetual penury in the midst of plenty and no any structure has been put in place to give the common man a good hope’, opined Claudette Amos, a trader who claimed to travel to Nigeria constantly to Nigeria and saw no sign of any visible progress in the live of the people. Of great concern is the insecurity Nigeria is being exposed to in recent times with the advent of satellite television and internet activities.
According to Olayiwola Magdul, Nigeria more than ever before is now porous to the out side world as we make a mockery of our political system.
Others contacted through telephone passed their judgments that international political trouble shooters may be up for their tactics as we expose the country to unprecedented ridicule Internationally.
He sited Boka Haram uprising which he claimed is a case in point that Nigeria is very porous and vulnerable for insinuation towards uprising.
‘Nigeria for long has been identified to be very venerable where religious, political and even social instability are concerned’ a source claimed.
“We are not being alarmist. There is no structure that controls the flow of information to the international community as perfected by the western world who never allows sensitive or degrading materials to penetrate outside their air base” a legal practitioner opined.
“The problems are that the dangers confronting Nigeria internationally in the event of the current state of affairs are far more than the country is facing locally. We are too loose and our leaders are just drifting. Many of them are too busy sharing money and are so carried away with their exploits to think about security and safety of the people of Nigeria,both on the state and national level.
‘It is a big shame on the integrity of our dear nation. Leaders are supposed to serve and not suck people’s blood in the form of taking their inheritance and subjecting them to social dangers’ decried Kelly Haruna Bello, a youth and social worker.
Emnnews crew had requested for simple comments and suggestions as how best they think the current situation and circumstances of the people in Nigeria could be turned around for the better in the face of lack of hope and effective leadership. Many joggled from one point to the other, from elctricity to transportation, and good roads to food and water supply.
” a fool at forty is a fool forever, so goes the saying, but Nigeria has shot over foolishness in nine-fold as we celebrate 49 years of Independence with nodefinite achievement despite our numerous resources ‘ claimed respondent.
The response was astounding with Nigerians unreservedly decrying the disgrace and degradation with which the current regime in Nigeria is handling security matters within the country. ’Imagine our President leaving his own student subjects currently in crisis to attend another countries commission of a University? It is a clear evidence that he is not in tune with the plight of Nigeria and Nigerians. We are not being unfair to him but this is the reality’, he continued.
“We are being made to be too porous security –wise and this may not be very good for the future of our dear nation. We are being too exposed as a weak country and this is why the world makes a mockery of our people and even our former Head of state’, decried Reuben Benjamin, a former security with a multinational company in Nigeria adding that this may create another avenue for Nigeria’s invisible enemies to exploit the situation.
‘The danger is that countries like South Africa in her continuous effort to portray Nigeria as her underdog may explore the current situation and exploit it to deride or override Nigeria in security matters as it happened recently when she showed absolute disregard to Nigeria potraying her people as criminals and cannibals. Just imagine that.’
‘Many countries may no more rely on spy satellite stations to work out the weakness of Nigeria. Many out -flowing information may be sufficed to give them the lead that they want about Nigeria’, He continued.
Many are of the opinion that Nigeria problem are artificially created claiming that those who arrogate ownership of Nigeria to themselves as their inheritance had created an almost irreversible structure which in turn continues to derail all intentions and goals aimed at lifting the country up.
“No doubt, Nigeria remains by nature one of the most powerful and prominent by her destiny, indeed a great and enviable nation blessed with so many assets” claimed a positive and hopeful Faderera Yisau, a graduate of economics.
She continued: ’We are hardcore survivors, a trait that our leadership has taken for granted for long. The resultant complacency by our leadership has given impetus to a current reassessment by the populace and the result end of which may not be very palatable for our future leadership’.
According to Faderera: ’Nigerians are now more exposed than ever before. A drifting government now does so at its own peril and that is why I am very sceptical about the immediate future of this country’
‘A government that fails to alleviate the plight of the citizens definitely looks for the right cause of nemesis which by nature is irreversible’.
“For long , we have been subjected to untold hardship, human degradation and psychological dehumanization and bastardization of many dimensions as our leadership has taken us for granted’.
It is very unfortunate” said Chris Nwogu, a resource officer from Eastern Nigeria who claim to have been in the United Kingdom since 1987.
Speaking further, he claimed :’When the pace of the current regime under Peoples Democratic Party was set about nine years ago under the last President Olusegun Obasanjo, the conception then was that a brighter light had emerged at the end of the tunnel”.
“We were sent a deep message that for Nigerians, hope was on the horizon after many years of misrule, especially with the progress made at the peak of the regime. We all thought this was the beginning of the end for bad governance in Nigeria’.
“The PDP under the leadership of President Obasanjo setting a precedence of accountability, probity and transparency as it seemed then restored the confidence of the people. The handwriting then was very clear that a new political pace was being set.”, moaned a legal practitioner who claimed to have arrived from Nigeria recently and regretted that the state of affairs especially with the unfortunate citizens appear more deplorable now than ever before. No good roads and no electricity supply and water, it is depressing’, concluded Nwogu.
According to Steve Orija, unless there is a change of tune by the current regime, insurrection is inevitable as the common man has now learnt from many other nations with similar approach to the plight of the people.
He claimed to be seeing an era when Nigerians will take laws into their own hands by stoning those who embezzle public money and subject the people to untold hardship.
On this year’s Independence celebration, the consensus of those who responded is that Nigeria has turned out to be a huge failure speaking in general terms, but we are happy that the country remains united and that is the only distinction point that the nation can boast of as we celebrate.
‘Those celebrating the Independence are those that has duped the conscience of Nigeria and not those who have suffered to uphold the country with hard labour and patriotic sense of commitment. For that later sect of Nigerians, tears are still dropping” concluded Chris Nwogu.