Sir: The tears by Nigerians have refused to go away because their hopes for a healthy economy have been dashed, promises made by this government at the centre recanted and chances of building a more united Nigeria waned and expectations of all now hangs in the balance. What is more, there is less hope for the future. 

The frustrations resulting from these failings, failures and disappointments gaze Nigerians on their faces, and presently manifests in challenges such as; irredeemable insecurity in the country, absence of water, no petrol, skyrocketed price of diesel, perennial electricity crisis, outrageous number of out-of-school which currently stands at an all time high of over 10.2 million with girls leading in number, and unemployment rate, going by the NBS report stands at outrageous 33 per cent. The pain of these tragedies is deepened by the fact that they were avoidable.

While no nation best typifies a country in dire need of peace and social cohesion among her various sociopolitical groups than Nigeria as myriads of sociopolitical contradictions have conspired directly and indirectly to give the unenviable tag of a country in constant search of social harmony, justice, equity, equality, and peace, many believe that our country Nigeria is awash with captivating development visions, policies and plans, but impoverished leadership and corruption-induced failure of implementation of development projects on the part of the political leaders is responsible for the under-development in the country.

To the rest, President Muhammadu Buhari’s below average performance has set the nation on its way to Golgotha.
 
Golgotha as we know is the common name of the spot, a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified; it is a place of suffering, a place of burial. The evangelists interpret it as meaning “the place of a skull” (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17).

Nigerians stand crucified emotionally each time ‘we stand and watch the sufferings of our dear ones, the poverty of our people, their tattered clothes, malnutrition, no water, and no electricity’. Nigeria is ranked among the poorest countries in the world. Sadly, the running of our country’s economy continues to go against the provisions of our constitution, which stipulates forcefully that the commanding heights of the economy must not be concentrated in the hands of few people. The attempt to disengage governance from public sector control of the economy has only played into the hands of private profiteers of goods and services to the detriment of the Nigerian people.

On social issues, Life in Nigeria, quoting Thomas Hobbs, has become nasty, brutish, and short. But the privileged political class continues to flourish in obscene splendour as they pillage and ravage the resources of our country at will.

Leadership holds the key to unlocking the transformation question in Nigeria, but to sustain this drive, leaders must carry certain genes and attributes that are representative of this order. It is only a sincere and selfless leader and a politically and economically restructured polity brought about by national consensus that can ensure the total transformation of the country and propel her to true greatness.

Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos.