By Boniface Chizea
Our dear country Nigeria is now 60 years since its flag independence on October 1, 1960 and it is time for sober introspection as a nation. Diamonds are forever; for those who were ardent readers of the James Bond novels and followers of his movies that title resonates. After 60 years, could we honestly look ourselves in the mirror to beat our chests with smile on our face, joy in our hearts and with high spirits to claim that we are happy with the lot of the country today?
I would suppose that all honest and concerned compatriots are at one with the feeling of regrets for a catalogue of missed opportunities for greatness which could hav been the lot of the country. In fact, there is this pun making the rounds in the social media which claims that 60 is the year for retirement from active service asking rhetorically whether we should now retire Nigeria for another country! I hope not for this is the only country most of us can claim as their own.
We should be thankful for small mercies that the ravaging pandemic has made it unnecessary for us to want to roll out the drums. For Nigeria it has been a case of unrealized potentials. In fact, making that observation is kind as if anything the country has witnessed undisputable case of decline and retrogression in almost all aspects of life.
And for a country that has been so blessed by providence with abundant natural resources not to talk of bold, intelligent and resourceful human capital, this situation is unfortunate as it is as well lamentable and the reason for this unflattering situation is not farfetched. As that iconic, international award winning, world celebrated novelist Chinua Achebe observed in his epic pamphlet ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’; the problem of Nigeria has been traced to a failure of leadership.
Therefore, one of the dilemmas of our time is how to explain and rationalize this situation for a country so widely acknowledged to be endowed in human resources. The problem is traceable to a failure in leadership selection. There is a consensus that except for our independent leaders who each were regional champions; that after then we have not been blessed with any truly patriotic leader imbued with vision for the growth and development of the country; with the determination to impact the environment positively, leave it better than he met it, leave a legacy to be rewarded with his name written in gold in the annals of history. Almost all the leaders to varying degrees have been those who suffered from unbridled sense of entitlement and the pursuit of self-aggrandizement; ethnic champions with distorted vision, tainted with sectional and religious interests to the detriment of a generality of the population.
There is therefore the need to continue to acknowledge that progress which the recent Edo State elections represents, where the will of the people was respected and the harvest of peace that followed the result and to urge the Independent National Electoral Commission to allow itself to be imbued with the passion to improve on its performance as it has promised with the up-coming Ondo State election and we are truly very expectant.
Once impunity is taken out of our political process whereby there were no consequences for non-performance; we must have taken a definite turn for the better. But the challenge is to be on the lookout for back sliding. All efforts must be made at this point in time to commence the demonetization of the electoral process with the consequent dethronement of the syndrome of god-fatherism in our political process which has accounted for the deluge of money bags who know next to nothing dominating our political environment.
We must also continue to wage relentless war against corruption which has subverted the values we bring to the table. There are institutions which have been put in place at various times to enable us shape up in this respect. But they have all to no exception come short of the expectations we had of them through politicization of their operations as most became veritable attack dogs to hunt political opponents who have stepped on the toes of the powers that be. And we undermine the impact of corrupt practices to our chagrin as the extent of corruption has been mind boggling enough to dethrone any development aspirations we have for the country.
What is direly required now is a President that is prepared to lead from the front in this regard. We have instances where our political leadership even as they paid lip service to the war against corruption have not even mustered the courage to declare their assets publicly as some times promised. The day we find a leader that is ready to lead from the front in this respect as Murtala Mohammed attempted to do but was tragically cut short by his regrettable and untimely assassination, that day will the war against corruption be truly waged.
The Judiciary would have to reclaim its independence for positive results to be achieved as we attempt to upend the prevalent values in the country. It is clear to all and sundry that the judiciary today is there to serve the whims and caprice of political overlords. The situation today is as well shameful and embarrassing whereby politicians go from one court to another to procure desired judgment.
The National Judicial Commission must rise up to the challenges of the times to exercise its independence to reclaim the battered image of the judiciary. But the most effective way to achieve the desired change is to evolve a strategy to reduce political interference through the way and manner the appointment of the Chief Justice of the Federation is made. There is the need to ensure that the only acceptable criterion for selection is merit and nothing else not even quota.
There is the need to optimize at all times the efficiency of the market to allocate scarce resources. But we must be careful in this regard to ensure that there is a market in the first place whose prized characteristics are well advertised; free entry and exit, no information asymmetry, multiple participants with therefore no monopoly or oligopolistic situation. The Monetary Authorities must be allowed to exercise independent professional judgement on how best to determine the exchange rates of the Naira and be allowed to live with its consequences as their performance is judged by the results on hand.
The insurrection in the land is no longer acceptable and therefore the elimination of banditry, kidnapping for ransom must be prioritized even if necessary, including the declaration of a state of emergency in some troublesome areas. A situation whereby in the North East the convoy of the State Governor is routinely attacked with the harvest of loss of lives of our troops in his entourage is no longer acceptable and must be dealt a heavy blow to achieve a termination. The State must not allow itself to look so impotent before rag tag bandits.
We will be playing the ostrich if we do not come quickly to the acceptance that we postpone the clamour for restructuring of the federation to our collective detriment. There is the urgent need for steps to be taken to drastically remove the contestation for dwindling resources at the center with the prevalent dangerous winner takes all mentality.
This call is urgent now to unleash the development potentials of all sections of our country so that our compatriots will all benefit from the potential possibility of shared prosperity. The rising level of unemployment in the land; the consequent fall out of negative social vices are too dangerous for our collective peaceful existence. This is a wake-up call not to be ignored.
As a man of faith, we go in collective thanksgiving to God for his graciousness as he has enabled us to have made the modest progress so far and to go down on our knees in supplication that he sends us leaders after his own heart to lead Nigerian citizens to the promised land. Amen.
Dr. Chizea, an economist, former banker, public affairs analyst, wrote in from Lagos
