We Can Do Better

For over five decades, the Nigerian nation has been in existence. A heterogeneous, multi plural society that is blessed by God, we are peace loving and enterprising. Nigerians never ask for too much from the government that manages all the resources of the state on behalf of the entire population; we don’t even care how they spend our commonwealth.

Unfortunately for us, we’ve never gotten value from leadership; it’s always been from one maladministrative policy to another.

Cutting back from 1999, when democracy was restored back to the nation, all hopes were high. Although we’ve made some progress, we’ve made some improvements here and there but it’s not commensurate with the resources available.

Across the three tiers of government, we’ve not had satisfactory value from the input, hope and faith that we have consistently placed on our leaders across the spectrum.

The March 2015 general elections catapulted Gen. Buhari into the saddle of leadership as the President of our dear nation, as usual with high level hope and promises. His candidacy was sold to us as a middle class citizen who had to take a loan to pick the presidential nomination form.

Over two years down the line, the story of our country has not changed; in fact it’s worse.

By now, I believe it’s obvious that corruption is not our major challenge rather its leadership. Corruption is just one of our myriads of problems. The major challenge we face is leadership. We need the right people at the right places.

The average Nigerian citizen is hardworking, patriotic, peace loving and honest, his interest is in food, clothing, shelter, good education for the kids and a peaceful society to earn a living.

The nation has however not been able to provide the necessary, basic infrastructural facilities that will aid the citizen’s developmental strides despite the huge resources available at the nation’s disposal.

Except we’re fooling ourselves, it will take some time to totally stamp out corruption in Nigeria. People are poor, poverty isn’t just lack of money it’s also a thing of the mind. When a few political office holders steal our commonwealth to satisfy their inordinate appetite for wealth, they should face that law, no matter how highly placed they might be. When we have things like effective mortgage systems, adequate security, good education at all levels and good jobs it will reduce the inordinate desire to cut ones share from the national cake by all means.

Lagos is one of the most corrupt states in Nigeria but we can all attest to the fact that the state government spends only a portion of its resources on infrastructural growth & development. The average Lagos resident doesn’t care about the level of stolen wealth going on at the corridors of power but is satisfied with the fact that some amenities that make life easier are being provided.

The F.G. under President Buhari has been fighting corruption without headway in the last two years. He contested in 2003, 2007 and 2011 before finally gaining power in 2015. Despite the fact that he’s an experienced contestant, it took him eight months to appoint cabinet and another fourteen months to finally unveil the economic strategy.

It’s been over two years now and nothing has happened, all hopes dashed. His government is simply not different from the rudderless administration that was voted out. His campaign promises were centred on improving security, tackling corruption and economic reform. He has failed on all sides.

We have two more years to tolerate another administration that has dashed our hope. Moving forward, we must endeavour to understand the person we’ll be electing into government in the years ahead at all levels of government. Mere cajoling us with a talakawa orientation shouldn’t take us away from the big picture.
What is the precedence of those calling for our votes? Not just what they promised but what have they personally achieved? Which individual or communal problem have they solved?

The future of our country is bright, we have an entrepreneurial nature that knows no bound, we have good weather that nourishes our skin but we need a new kind of leadership at all tiers of government that can galvanize our human and natural resources for the common good of all and sundry.
Nigeria shall become the most desirable country to live in by 2025.

God bless you.
God bless Nigeria.