By Gbemiga Olakunle
GOD has blessed Nigeria with natural and human resources that can support and promote the level of life expectancy in Nigeria. Nigeria has good arable land that can support all kinds of food and cash crops on a commercial level. We have abundant water and mineral resources that can project the nation to be one of the leading economies in the whole world, if well-managed. Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora are also doing well in every area of human endeavour.
Nigeria can also boast of good weather and in fact one of the best in the Tropics. The country also has good climate and adequate rainfall that make both animals and plants to thrive. All over the world, Nigerians occupy strategic positions that are key to the smooth running of such societies.
But, within the last 10 years or so, life expectancy in Nigeria has dropped sharply to as low as below 50 years!
What factors are responsible for this?
The answers are not for-fetched: Bad leadership/Bad Governance and Corruption are the major contributory factors. The two are the problems plaguing the Nigerian society.
To buttress this point, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo recently disclosed to an elite gathering in Ibadan, Oyo State, that about $15 billion was allegedly spent by the last administration on security –related matters and procurement at a time when Boko-Haram insurgents almost over-ran the Presidential Villa. Such a huge sum must have found its way into the private accounts of some privileged public officials who served in the said administration.
Because there was virtually nothing on ground to show for such outrageous security procurement except for non-functional Close –Circuit camera poles (CCTV) that litter the streets of Abuja Municipal and some obsolete military helicopters that reportedly dropped like mango fruits at the peak of the military onslaught against the Boko-Haram insurgents during the last administration.
As a result of bad leadership, coupled with corruption, the nation was drawn into a series of needless socio-religious crises that have displaced millions of Nigerians to neighbouring countries like Cameron, Chad and Niger. Some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) Camps are yet to wind up. Thousands of lives have been sent to their untimely graves. Nevertheless, we need to appreciate the efforts of the new administration of President Muhammed Buhari for rising up to meet the challenge even though the Fulani herdsmen menace is threatening to replace the dying flames of Boko-Haram.
Other factors that are cutting lives short in Nigeria include abject poverty, lack of access to medical care, armed – robbery, kidnapping, cultism and carnage on our high ways due to bad state of the roads and reckless driving on the part of some road users. Poor lifestyle is another major factor. The same goes for those who engage themselves in unrestricted sexual exploits. And of course, domestic violence is another contributory factor leading to the untimely death of some Nigerians who may found themselves in bad marriages or relationships.
In a related development, kudos should been given to the Nigerian Senate for enacting a Bill that stipulates death sentence as penalty for convicted kidnappers.
If this new administration can eradicate some of these enumerated factors that are preventing Nigerians from attaining at least 70 years, Nigeria will obviously be able to fulfill God’s purpose.
Should this high expectation constitute a tall order for this administration, there is no need to entertain any fear. The present government should rely on God for divine assistance and do whatever it can in the best interest of the general populace and for the common good. But the leadership should not return us to Egypt.
In other words, the government should avoid the temptation of doing business as usual and avoid the pitfalls that have characterised the ways of the previous administrations. Instead, it should provide the necessary leadership that will usher the nation into her own Canaan land – a land that is flowing with milk and honey, metaphorically speaking.
•Olakunle, General Secretary, National Prayer Movement, writes via [email protected]