Jan. 2, 2104
NewsRescue
There is nothing wrong in Nigeria that cannot be corrected with
something right in Nigeria
This article is not to add my voice as a complaining Nigerian but
rather to outline the rationale behind our slow pace in development
and also pop out solutions to the menace. to some Nigerians, the
country is a failed state, a place where corruption has become a
tradition, a place where we have selfish leaders, While to some others
Nigeria is a great Nation at her age. For a better analysis on this
two contending views and to arrive at a perfect end point, recourse
should be made to history.
The lingering crisis in Nigeria today such as tribalism, corruption
etc all have their roots from history, thus the scenario where our
colonial masters exploited and extorted our raw materials which ought
to have been used to develop the country was instead used for their
own personal gains was an act of corruption, today they call Nigeria a
corrupt state, the question is, who taught us?
Furthermore, the 1914 almagamation of Nigeria is also responsible for
the tribal crisis rocking our Nation, it was the mistake of lord
lugard who portrayed the almagamation as a marriage between the
Northern and Southern part of Nigeria, whereby the North was placed in
the position of the groom and the South as the bride. This impression
has made the North think they are lords or superior over the South and
also causing harm to our political system. The present crisis hitting
our political system is as a result of this almagamation where our
Northern brothers deem it a birthright for them to always be at the
helm of affairs in our Nation.
It was a thing of joy when Nigeria gain her independence in 1960 and
became a republic 3 years later but however in july 6th 1967, there
began a civil war which lasted until january 15th 1970. The basis of
this war was for the disintegration of the South Eastern part of
Nigeria known as Biafra from Nigeria. This caused a lot of
infrastructural decay in the nation and also have resulted to high
level of tribalism, It was recorded also that so many military
personnel and civilians died during this war and also lots of
properties were destroyed.
It is also pertinent to note that Nigeria also had a lot of military
juntas in 1966-1979 and 1983-1998. Little applauds must be given to
our military regimes because it brought about some level of
infrastructural development like building of the vast majority of
public universities, stadiums and also created as many states as
possible. But faulted as regard human rights and also responsible for
d demise of some well meaning Nigerians who if alive would have
donated their own quota to nation building.
Another issue is that of population, multi ethnicity to mention but a
few, it is no news that Nigeria is the most populated nation in
Africa, getting enough resources to cater for the needs of the
populace has become a problem. More also Nigeria is filled with
diverse ethnic groups which has led to our inability to attain
Nationhood. Due to the multiplicity of ethnic groups with different
languages and customs the constitutional provision of equality has
been dented, whereby the majority ethnic groups tend to override on
the minority ethnic groups
Amidst all this numerous troubles looming the country from history
till date, Nigeria has remained a unified state, though the Nation is
not yet able to provide all basic amenities for her populace, but
still not the most under developed. When coal, the then backbone of
our economy failed us, crude oil came to our rescue, this is to show
how blessed the nation is. We cannot be America because we shall be
greater than America, for it is little by little a bird builds its
nest
An advice to every Nigerian, let’s give less attention to complaining
much but rather think a way on how to prosper Nigeria. To our leaders,
example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only
thing, lead right for us to follow right and also learn not to give
excuses for any act of failure, for excuses makes one cheap. To other
politicians especially opposition parties, your role is to serve as
watch dogs, correct, assist and most importantly proffer solutions
within your capacity to any problem on ground which the ruling
government has not been able to solve, this will help upgrade public
living rather than spending time antagonising the ruling government
without any justification because of power tussle, note that one
finger cannot remove lice from the head, a politician thinks about the
next election while a statesman thinks about the next generation. To
our union leaders especially ASUU who held the education sector to
ransom, I urge you to think of tomorrow or better still consult an ex
president of NLC who is now a governor of a state in Nigeria, he did
likewise but today he is faced with workers going on strike in his
state. To non politicians who criticise politicians and government
officials, I also urge you all to come out from your self righteous
shells to run for elective positions in Nigeria, for it is said that
“the people rejoice when the righteous rule” you cannot criticise what
you don’t understand. To religious leaders, always endeavour to preach
peace, love and unity and also be agents of social engineering. To the
general public, Nigeria can only be built by Nigerians in oneness, we
all should think of what we can do for Nigeria and not what Nigeria
can do for us, for it is by the strength of their number that the ants
in the field are able to carry their prey to the nest. Finally to
other Africa nations who continue to look down on us because we are in
our trying moment should always remember that Africa remains the
centre piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy and we shall always support
in peace keeping to mention but a few. To the world at large, Nigeria
is a country with intelligent, talented people, with natural and human
resources and devoid of natural disaster, this is a true revelation of
a blessed Nation. Our Glory days shall come.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
