We have been on this for the past two weeks running. We have said great countries that would later grow to nation states don’t just happen, they are outcomes of discussions, disagreements, consensus and finally agreement. Where this process is bypassed, instability and lack of progress are inevitable.
Current generation may live through with the omission but it will get to a point in future, where the new generation would definitely rise to question the system and to ask in a more stringent manner,”why are things the way they are? Nigerian leaders afraid of their shadows. Having taken various measures against the journey to true nationhood at a time banned the teaching of history in our schools. It was such was a core subject, but they forgot a vital truth which is that truth buried would sprout again like a plant.
Truth is like a seed, once it touches the ground, it gains new life. Killings in the country is of such magnitude by now we ought to be querying our sense of humanity. We should be asking ourselves if truly we are humans or another creature sharing the human features. Crocodile and lizard share features but we know they aren’t same. It is difficult to say what the statistics have on their records, but everyday in this country human lives are being snuffed out like we do to cows and goats. The amazing thing is the trend is becoming the new normal.
Like late journalism icon, Dele Giwa, wrote in one of his columns,”Nigerians have become unshockable.” Nothing moves anybody again. This is a terrible state in the history of any people. This happens this way because the edifice our forebears put together Is nothing but a contraption which required further hard work to put into finer shape, a task we have abdicated till today. The omission is the chief source of our disorganization.
Some who gained advantage from the chaos that resulted from the omission believe they can drive a car without fuel. Just as we have seen, the truth remains that the car has refused to move. It won’t move until the required fuel is brought and not only that but poured into the tank.
We come to the crux of today’s outing which would serve as the conclusion for the series, supposing one was to agree with pushing Nigeria the way it is, the truth is the outcome won’t be any different, it will remain a continuous journey round the mountain every year. Albert Einstein made us understand the reason when he said, “Problems are not solved at the level they were created.”
To solve problems, especially those of countries, one would need to go a little higher. Our leaders have thought of this, let alone bringing it to bear on the way we do things. Before independence we did very well; the Civil Service had the best brains giving their best, welfare of the people was high, hunger was minimal, and that was because agriculture was the mainstay before the advent of crude oil.
We didn’t beg foreign investors to come like we do today; they saw a fertile ground and an emerging strong economy. They rushed on their own to be a part of it. Suddenly, the bubble burst. Again no vision. We have been told where there is no vision the people perish. That is our experience. To have development, we ought to have known there are issues many consider of little significance but they matter a lot. As mentioned earlier, vision matters; where there is no vision everywhere looks like it.
We have been spending on road infrastructure. Which of the roads is in good state across the country? Which of them was built to standard? We became so wayward few years ago we decided to go build roads and railway into a neighbouring country, Niger Republic to be specific. Example of profligacy of the highest order. Departing colonialists showed us the importance of railway in developing a country. With huge funds coming from sales of crude oil, what did we make of our system? It is still in its very rudimentary stage.
A task as simple as electricity supply, we have turned to a very difficult if not near insurmountable task. Electricity should be at the root of our economic take off and buoyancy. Yet, we can’t get it off the ground.
Countries that want progress create a country and go ahead to create the citizens and imbue them with the philosophy to run on. An Indian told a Nigerian,”I will go to jail in my country anytime I set foot there if after doing business in Nigeria I don’t have evidence that I repatriated my gains back to India, we don’t use cars made outside.”
The kind of education we have in place is literary against the productive kind. Our minds have not been geared towards agriculture, chained to value addition and from there into industrialisation. We have not seen the need to give priority place to science, technology, research and production. Why? Or we don’t know the importance?
The rest of the world has left us since, many wonder if a time will come when we will level up. Just imagine China, between 2012-2021 her research and development spending increased from one trillion Yuans to two point eight ( about $137.4 billion). Doesn’t this show in the world system there would be slave countries where life would remain low and the master nations?
Since our leaders hardly comprehend anything, it means our lives would remain terrible while our new generation want to escape to where they perceive life is great and beautiful. THe Mediterranean Sea will remain a grave yard for our youths until it touches our hearts on the need to do a reordering of our priorities and national affairs to usher in a new era.
• Series concluded.