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The world is mired in crisis, not just one particular crisis but crises of multiple dimensions.
No nation is totally immune from the global crises rocking much of the world. Let me address these crises in the singular as simply crisis.
This crisis appears in the shape of climate change, corruption, war, terrorism, criminality, food shortage, rising cost of living, bad leadership and poverty.
Some of these problems are the consequences of some other deeper problems. Climate change, for instance, has led to flooding, drought, crop failures, famine, high cost of living and poverty. Terrorism has also created the displacement of large populations in local communities. It has spawned banditry and kidnapping in the northern part Nigeria, while in nations like Somalia, Afghanistan and Yemen ISIL-backed terror groups have disrupted normal governance. Therefore, the global crisis is a product of intricate, inter-related local, and regional problems that have snowballed into aspects of the current international crisis.
From the news media, we regularly see the outbreak of riots in different countries in all the continents over rising cost of living.
Developed countries with a long history of economic stability are now experiencing street protests against fuel price increases, high inflation and declining living standards. These used to be the consequences of the economic problems identified with poverty-stricken Third World countries. Not anymore.
What the present global crisis has shown is that the post-COVID economic instability and slow recovery from the global pandemic pose a problem for all nations.
What separates the nations is the competence of the leaders and the strength of the economy over which they preside.
In Britain, which is still struggling with post-Brexit issues and imminent change of government, the price of petrol has gone up, as it has in Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.
Mismanagement alone is not the cause of these problems in all the nations.
While the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC federal government has a lot of explanations to give as to why Nigeria is the only petroleum exporting-country that imports refined petrol, Boris Johnson’s government cannot be accused of incompetence or corruption and ineptitude, which are largely responsible for Nigeria’s needles economic adversity.
The impact of the global economic crisis that we are facing is a test of the integrity and competence of leaders.
Around the world, especially in the developed countries of Europe and America, we have seen how they respond to the heatwave, massive drought, flooding, bush fires and other climate change-related disasters. They deploy their social services personnel who are normally equipped with advanced technology to deal with these problems.
Here in Nigeria, the Buhari administration deserves kudos for the gallant and efficient manner the COVID-19 pandemic was handled.
One then begins to wonder why such efficient crisis management machinery has not been replicated to deal with several areas of our national life where government intervention is urgently required.
The successful COVID-19 intervention shows clearly that we can do it if we really want to.
Nigerians are good enough to manage the most challenging environmental problems, if we really want to. We can use the COVID-19 intervention as a template for crisis management to deal with power outage, infrastructure deficit in education, health care, security, food supply and numerous other areas begging for attention.
How did the Ministry of Sports under Sunday Dare midwife the spectacular successes of our athletes in the global track and field contests displayed recently? We should ask him to tell us the secrets.
We can apply the same techniques that successful management teams used in other areas like sports, COVID-19 intervention, and the running of near flawless elections in Edo, Osun, Ekiti and Anambra states to get Nigeria out of the present quagmire.
Even our poorly funded medical personnel have managed to tame regional outbreaks of cholera and other local mass killers. This they often do with shoestring budgets and under very bad working conditions.
Nigerians are not bad managers across the board. This is true, as the same compatriots of ours do perform well in challenging conditions all over the country when the chips are down.
Therefore, the Buhari administration should wake up and harness the resources at its disposal to deal with all the existential issues facing the nation.
We cannot accept the argument that what his predecessors created are so devastating that they render him powerless.
The President was elected to bring change because what we had was too bad and had to be changed. The world is in crisis because of a combination of corruption, mismanagement of resources by government officials, wars, fallout of climate change, crime, etc. We demand that leaders stand up to these challenges with the fierce urgency of now, and not be overwhelmed by them.
I am bothered that Buhari and his officials are clearly perplexed under the present situation. They seem not to know the way out of the myriad of complex problems we are facing. They are in the habit of throwing money at problems, which creates the opportunity for corrupt elements in government to steal, and mismanage resources.
Our share of the global crisis will have to be solved our own way, by our own people, not foreigners.
•Ayodeji, author, pastor and life coach, can be reached on 09059243004 (SMS, WhatsApp and email: [email protected] only)
