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Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries on earth. I recall how my father of blessed memory enjoyed talking about the type of our sweet crude oil compared to other lead-infested crude oil of other nations. It’s no longer news that Africa map looks like a revolver and Nigeria looks like the trigger. Nelson Mandela was clear that “the world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence.” Of course, just as no revolver can shoot without its trigger, Africa cannot move confidently around the world without the leadership of Nigeria. Mandela was right.
The expectation of Africans on Nigeria is not peculiar to Africans. The colonial master, Britain, saw the great potential of Nigeria, and declared on the independence ground, that Nigeria is a potential superpower nation. Nigeria’s total land area is approximately 923,768 square kilometres (356,668 square miles), with most of them very arable. This makes it the 14th largest country in Africa in land area. Most of the other countries with larger land areas are predominantly desert lands. The country’s coastline along the Gulf of Guinea is about 774 kilometres (480 miles) long. This length of coastline can turn any country to a blue economy giant when properly harnessed. We have more than 200 million people in our country. The populace is educated enough to supply all the needed manpower requirements for any indigenous and expatriate companies. We have so many doctors and nurses that our products are poached by other countries in the medical field.
Our armed forces used to be the most potent fighting force in Africa, and one of the best around the world. We brought peace, through the auspices of the United Nations, African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to beleaguered nations like the Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone etc. Our police are commended internationally for their remarkable feats across the world whenever called to perform any function. Our athletes are glorious to behold. From being Olympic Champions to being regional champions in all spheres of sports. Our entertainers have become global sensations. From originating a local movie industry called Nollywood with its originality in African stories, songs, costumes, etc. From earning Oscar global awards to being regional award winners, it’s from one glorious story to the other. Every Nigerian should be proud to be a Nigerian.
Unfortunately, this giant of Africa has gradually degenerated into a ghost of its old self. The police and armed forces can no longer guarantee the lives and property of their citizens. The men and officers of the police and armed forces are so ill treated that the retired ones embark on protests to press for sustainable retirement emoluments. The current serving officers are in dire straits. Their income has been rubbished by the incompetent devaluation of their currency by the current Tinubu administration. They now have to exchange about N1,600.00 of their poor salary with $1 to perform any transaction. They can no longer afford transportation to go back home to see their families whenever they are granted leave, with some of them preferring to remain in the forest to spend the leave. Their promotions are stymied at times as a result of this regime’s policy of marginalisation of other civil servants of other regions in favour of his loyalists from his own tribe. Tinubu will prefer to extend the tenure of a retired officer from his tribe, as he did in the Customs, to frustrate the appointment of a replacement from another tribe, rather than appointing a competent officer from another tribe to head the agency.
This unfortunate situation has dampened the morale of these men and officers with the results showing on ground. In Benue State, more than 500 people were killed and burnt to ashes within one week, without a single arrest made. The Benue Governor wept, “Benue is bleeding.” It took the President to visit Benue to expose the fact that no arrests have been made, after the gruesome murder of more than 500 persons. Same massacre is going on in Plateau State. More people have died in Niger State from much expected and predicted flood overflow in Niger State. This state has three dams which overflow regularly during rainy season. Experts warned before hand on this year’s expected flood until it came on unprepared state. More than 600 persons have been killed from flood-related causes since this year in Niger State. The state is not also spared the incursions of armed robbers and terrorists who hijack some local government areas and disrupt their administration from time to time.
These three States of Benue, Plateau, and Niger constitute the axis of Nigeria food basket because of their fertile land, and the industry of their people. Any purported attempts by Tinubu’s government to declare any state of emergency on food security without tackling the problem of insecurity in these three states is a mere smokescreen. Niger State alone, with its land area of more than 76,000 square kilometres can feed the whole country if properly harnessed. It’s very terrible that the states which ought to be flowing with milk and honey in Nigeria are the ones flowing with tears and blood. What bad leadership can do is equivalent to only what the devil himself can do.
When Tinubu’s government came in, it removed oil subsidy from day one without any plans whatsoever to cushion the impacts of the fuel subsidy removal on the people. The promise was that when oil subsidy was removed, the government would have more money to provide the infrastructure needed by the people. President Goodluck Jonathan partially removed subsidy and established Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) which utilised the extra oil price increase to provide needed infrastructure for the people. Even Gen Sani Abacha partially removed subsidy and established the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) to provide needed medical supplies and infrastructures for the people.
Tinubu, on the other hand, removed the entire oil subsidy, but established no programme to help the people. He rather embarked on increasing all the taxes and tariffs that are meant to make the lives of the people better. He increased the electricity tariffs in leaps and bounds and even removed electricity availability to certain categories of poor Nigerians in a despicable division of the polity into Band A, Band B, etc for the provision of electricity. The people in Band A are made to pay exorbitant electricity tariffs when available, while the Band B and the rest are not entitled to have light regularly. The resultant effect of this wicked policy is that Nigeria today doesn’t have electricity despite the exorbitant prices Nigeria is paying for it.
None of those regimes borrowed Nigeria into slavery. On the other hand, in addition to removing all the oil subsidy, this government has borrowed more money than any other in the history of Nigeria. A borrower is a servant, if not a slave, to the lender. Tinubu’s government has made us become slaves to Bretton Woods institutions which will continue to recommend harsh economic policies that would work against the people’s welfare provided the policies satisfy their desire to recover their borrowed monies and subject our economy to the superiority of the economies of the main majority western owners of the Bretton Woods institutions.
Senator Ali Ndume, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, confirmed that there’s no visible infrastructure on the ground to justify such unnecessary humongous borrowing. Of course, most of the borrowed funds were used to satisfy the profligate appetite of the Tinubu Government. On inception, the government purchased an imported private jet worth more than N155b for itself, Cadillac Beasts worth more than 2 billion naira to drive on the ground. In order to bribe the members of the National Assembly, this government gave them 469 imported SUVs to use on the bad roads unleashed on Nigerians by this government as stated by one of them. Twenty one billion naira was used to renovate the Vice-President’s house, and other white elephant projects that bear no impact on the welfare of Nigerians.
Our currency has so much been bastardaised that this regime that met our currency at the rate of about N460.00 to $1 is now giving it to Nigeria at the rate of about N1,600 to $1. There’s no magic to a strong currency as strong currency is predicated on strong economy, which presupposes an industrial productive base and a steady export market. A country that doesn’t have strong electricity supplies, macroeconomic stability, security, etc, cannot have a strong industrial base and as such can not have a strong currency.
Nigeria will continue to have weak currency until Tinubu’s regime is over. Nigerians will continue to suffer hunger and hardship throughout Tinubu’s regime. There are more malnourished children in Nigeria today than in war-torn Sudan. Out of school children is on the rise. Bad leadership is the problem of Nigeria. Tinubu seems to have become the champion of bad leadership and this means that his regime may be the worst in history. If N22b is used to install CCTV in Rivers State House in the budget submitted by Tinubu to the National Assembly for approval, on behalf of the Sole Administrator appointed by him, it’s only God who will save us from corruption under Tinubu’s government.
