Jonathan, Nigerians are watching you (1)

WHEN people call Nigeria the giant of Africa, I laugh as the statement is a hyperbolic expression and distortion of reality. But, the truth is Nigeria has the potentials to become the true giant of Africa given its vast human and material resources.

  After gaining political freedom in 1960, Nigeria has not realised its potentials. Nigeria and Malaysia were once at par, but the Asian country has overtaken Nigeria in many areas. Japan is not endowed with natural resources as Nigeria, yet it is a technologically advanced country that earns huge foreign revenue by exporting its products to other countries. South Africa, which emerged from the suffocation of Apartheid regime in the mid 1990s, is ahead of us, economically. Aren’t Nigerians economic exiles in South Africa, today?

  Chinua Achebe diagnosed Nigeria as having leadership problem, and not a few Nigerians agreed on the fact that corrupt and inept political leadership is at the root of our national woes. In the past, we experienced a gratuitous bloody civil war and military dictatorships that nearly dismembered our country. Thankfully, we came out of them intact as one country.

  But, Nigeria hasn’t got it right, politically. When the departing British imperialists surreptitiously installed Alhaji Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister, they laid the foundation for political god-fatherism and imposition of leaders in Nigeria. Dr. Azikiwe and Chief Awolowo fought more than the Prime Minister for the political emancipation of Nigeria.

  How Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a political dark horse, when placed alongside Dr. Azikiwe and Chief Awolowo, clinched the 1979 Presidential election baffles me. His victory can be explained by the imposition of leaders by kingmakers. In order to appease the indignant Yorubas over the June 12, 1993 annulled Presidential election, Chief Obasanjo was helped to power by Northern interests and other kingmakers to ensure and guarantee the political stability of Nigeria. And, it is a common knowledge that the departing Chief Obasanjo installed Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in power in the spirit and interest of rotational Presidency to serve the turn of the north. 

  President Yar’Adua admitted that the election that brought him to power was flawed. But, how did Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Chief Obasanjo and Yar’Adua (beneficiaries of imposition of leaders) fare while holding power? When a country is denied the leadership services of her best citizens, the country will not achieve technological and economic advancement.

  Nigerians are not unaware that luck, providential intervention and the incumbency factor played big roles in the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as our President. He served the remainder of the first term of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before winning the 2011 Presidential election. Millions of Nigerians cast their lot with the meek Dr. Goodluck Jonathan whose piteous tale of childhood suffering resonated with us. We believed him to be the messiah that would salvage our ruined country, and set it on the path of economic recovery and moral rectitude. But, with the passage of time, the true personality of President Jonathan has unfolded and unraveled, and we’ve seen the real man behind the mask.

  In January 2011, President Jonathan removed fuel subsidy, which brought untold hardship on us. However, he reversed his anti-people economic policy when Nigerians took to the street to protest against the removal of the fuel subsidy. But, for all the revenues that accrue to Nigeria through the sale of crude-oil, millions of Nigerians live below the breadline.

  Now, millions of young Nigerians are unemployed. Graduate unemployment has remained a problem in the country. Daily, unemployed Nigerians roam the streets searching for the elusive white and blue collar jobs. The federal government seems to have no clue as to how to tackle the unemployment issue.

  An adage says: “An idle mind is a devil’s workshop”. The insecurity problem threatening to tear Nigeria apart may not be unconnected with the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria. Armed robbers do storm banks in broad daylight to cart away money. Kidnappers seize wealthy people at will and will not release them until they’ve collected huge ransom payments that run into millions of naira. In the north, members of Boko Haram bomb churches, government buildings and telecommunication companies’ installations. Sadly, the federal government has failed to check these acts of lawlessness in the country. What we have is an anarchic situation, which stalls national development.

  Again, President Jonathan has failed in the area of infrastructural development. The East-West road remained in a deplorable condition as is the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. But, well-asphalted thorough-fares will open up the country for rapid industrialisation. Our health sector has collapsed. Well-heeled Nigerians seek medical treatment for minor ailments outside Nigeria. Likewise, our educational system is dysfunctional, which is the reason why many rich Nigerians send their children to schools in Ghana and Europe to acquire quality education.

  Here, power supply is erratic. So, small businesses like saloon shops and cyber cafés rely on generators to function. At night, we’re thrown into darkness, and our homes resound with deafening roar of generators which cause noise pollution. Generators are now our alternative source of power.

  President Jonathan excused his inability to speedily bring the dividends of democracy to us on his leadership style. He said that he thought through problems in order not to make mistakes or rash decisions. So, will it take him an eternity to take decisions that will affect our collective destiny and future? He has at last appointed a new minister of Power, an exceedingly crucial office that Nigerians had waited on him for several months to fill.

  The bane of Nigeria is that people who are unprepared for leadership positions are helped to occupy important positions in the executive arm of government and the bureaucracy in the country. A politician who aspires to lead Nigeria in the future should have a good grasp of Nigeria’s history and the problems confronting us as a nation. If he or she is elected the president of the country, he or she will have his or her blueprint of policies ready. A president who desires to take his country to a great height should have the political will to execute populist policies, and surround himself with technocrats and capable people whose leadership initiatives will improve our lot as Nigerians. Those put in office by accident are prone to inflicting accidents on the country.

President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians are watching you.

Okoye, is a public affairs commentator, Uruowolu-Obosi, Anambra State.