Nigeria and a better living condition: Deserved or Disservice?

Economy shapes cities. It’s dwelling pattern, transit arrangement, but for Nigeria; spending spree of our politicians and quenching the reviving spirits of our economy has deterred the trend.

Living for survival in Nigeria is troublesome Inside Nigeria; apart from sitting politicians the rest cannot afford a standard meal a day. How can the nation outgrow its economy? Maneuver for luxury or thirst for bare minimum of life does not cross limits imposed by the politicians who control this economy. This stands opposite to sustainable development.

A better living condition is dreamed by all Nigerians. But it is enjoyed by an extreme-few. The rest suffers. Contradictions get a colony, and illogic illustrates throughout social setting. Prevailing facts of life grind lives of millions Nigerians to meaningless miniscule. This produces uncared living places devoid of condition for life’s survival. But the people live there, survive there till death spreads shroud of silence over their, unsung and unmentioned if not die in large number, dead bodies. They pay taxes. They toil most. They produce tangible. But they occupy least. Time does not allow them to enjoy fresh air in parks.

They ceaselessly create surplus value as that is their only path to keep alive dream for a decent life. But their share to accesses of life and living are negligible. Illogic thus dominates. The reality of hardship is not only for the poor Nigerians. The near-poor, the lower- and middle-middle class, swell the rank of sufferers. This is not a lifetime hardship. It is a generations-long hardship. Then, politicians they voted into power bring them nearer to death by subjecting them to unfavourable living condition. Out of prejudice, malice and grudges of people who voted him and who did not. Is it right for a politician to demarcate justice? No!

Roads are not safer for them. Narrow alleys that connect their homes are often narrow enough that does not allow carry dead bodies or sick easily. Many of those have not seen clean water for many years. Transit to and from work place is costly for them. Their transit system is deplorable. Their workplace is not comfortable. The amount they pay for water and energy is higher than the amount paid by the well off. Accidents and callous living condition take their lives most. Everyone knows these facts. But none cares for them till they turn to sheer numbers: dead and wounded.

Nigerians history books largely ignore these hunger, bloodshed and chaos inflicted on the Nigerian people by their own leaders, while highlighting nature’s unfriendliness and exaggerating the contemporary threat of own-made mistakes and divine providence and destinies. Lacking any ideological justification for its power now that it relies on politicians to decide how they do their businesses, live their lives and coordinate their privacies; the Nigerian’s leaders seem to have turned to simplistic nationalism to reinforce its legitimacy on people’s detriment.

To what lows would Nigerian politicians stoop to protect their already tarnished image and save face? Over 3-months now, we’ve seen a lot of knee-jerk reactions out of the 2011 election preparation when it comes to projecting their ill-gotten accumulation’s ego and fake political prowess — the snappy-way of swerving public money out of public-sight, the mass roundup of hungry-law practitioners, who are supposed to prosecute them but are dying just because they do not understand their job very well, the cover-plating of “Anti-Graft” Law and shrill reactions to trust of public fund into the hand of one-person — a governor and or a council-boss but Wednesday’s nigeria4betterrule sitting is a twist of fate in the looter-politician’s end-game.

It becomes obvious politicians in Nigeria, at least more than a few, get people betrayed. They cheated their electorates, loveless to their country. They symbolically unmasked the dynamics of decadence, decay in many spheres and layers. The trust those electorates needed to market their economy was breached by the bowed down, tilted, and cracked selfish and greedy inactions, proud instinct of efficient public management. Were only the electorates cheated by exposed reality, that would have sound better, but the unborn generation could be inclusive.

Has not public loot, if any, been exposed? Shall the dead, the sufferers carry-out these actions on similar questions? A lumping-reality, a reality incapable to comprehend even own interest, best knows the answers. Or, the reality, it may happen, is incapable of providing the response. Or, the reality does not care to answer questions concerning how public money is spent?

But reality revolves. Breach of trust transcendences to base, and turns things bad for trustees. Seemingly silent state of mind surges to sound and fury. Breached trust fuels that fury. That is what the people of Nigeria are gearing towards, to Tunisialize Nigeria, but worst still Egyptialize Nigeria and or Ghadaffi Nigeria will be a dangerous development.

Reality, on occasions, cheats cheat, swindles swindler, unmasks masks. Those are clumsy moments of the military rule not now that democracy has come of age inside Nigeria. Breach of trust put Dieprieye Alamieyesiagha into trouble. Slam a down into a London superstore, bought stuff worth thousands of pounds sterling, and paid cash. An action which left the shop-attendant wondering. The metropolitan police was invited immediately. A money-laundery case started!
Bowed and cracked trust may initiate the process, a process almost impossible to understand by the involved, a limitation imposed on them by their very acts, the acts considered betrayal.

Is this illogic? Or, is this illogic has its own logic, logic of exposing indifference to Nigerian citizen needs, to decadence? Behold, all the sufferers in Nigeria are not poor. An important portion of apprehending-to-be-sufferers are well-to-do, just that their opportunities were sat-on-top by people who feel they have political powers. A reason you observe high unemployment rate.

At least not all dwell in ramshackle homes. Their parents were pillars but for death or misfortunes. They, the new occupants of high-rise buildings, by money affiliation and cultural affinity, are not all on God-side, they are product of circumstances. They are far away from the slum dwellers. A sense of breach of trust in this group provides no logic to interests involved in high-rise structures. It may be a crack in class alliance.

From historical point of view, Nigeria governments had in the hands of those who only care for themselves, putting aside the yearnings of the entire populace. Gone are the days when merit, ability, honesty and transparency, as I understand, has meaning in Nigeria government, and this was then actually helping the country to move up. The likes of Pa Awolowo, Dr. Azikwe, General Murtala Muhammed, Tunde Idiagbon (all of blessed memory) would never be forgotten in the history of Nigeria for being leaders with proven records of achievement. After these great people, what we have are the hungry politicians, I-care-for-myself leaders, who are actually opportune to beat the helms of affairs. The type of politicians in Nigeria political arena are bounce of criminals, crooks who have in one way or the others, indulged in mischievous activities.

Challenges underprivileged Nigerians are facing, they should understand that poverty reproduces violence, where there is severe poverty, criminal gangs thrive there. Particularly given the fact that two-thirds politicians in Nigeria, have often failed to behave democratically, when it comes to accommodating dissenting views of the opposition parties on the one hand and the critical media on the other. We only hope that the PDP will take lessons from history and contribute to the establishment of a sound parliamentary system of governance in the country.