The Nigerian situation is highly terrifying. The citizens are confused! It seems Nigeria is floating on the ocean of confusion and being tossed about by the fierce ocean wind! The security personnel that are supposed to protect Nigerians are now being attacked even in their strongholds. These days there seems to be a suspected alliance between the Army and Boko Haram through state pardon and reintegration. Is there any sector in Nigeria now without any ill? The judiciary which is supposed to be the last hope of the common man seems to have caught the virus with shocking judgments and questionable precedents. No political office holder can be at rest after being voted by the people. Anomalies are becoming norms these days. We are in an age of absurdity. Someone can come out from nowhere and unseat a government. There is no more ethics in what we do.
We have lost world credibility. In any sane society, truth prevails. In Nigeria, it is another thing. All these do affect our businesses, contacts, education etc. Our children are in the dark. We are living in a world where there are no more merits. Money is the essence of everything. Once you have money there is no problem for you. How long can we live in this bizarre situation and not correct it? There are educated minds making statements on the pages of Newspapers suggesting how Nigeria can be redirected. They are never given the opportunity to put them into practice. The young people have their wonderful ideas of creativity that could bring huge lumps of money to Nigeria. They are not given enough support to harness their ideas. Many find their ways outside and never plan to return.
We saw how medical Doctors trooped out recently for job offers in Saudi Arabia and the free fall of our dear Naira! If the government can overcome the idea of seeing everyone with an opposing idea as a terrorist it would be better. A Terrorist is now defined by the power as any person who comes with a different view of life or development. We need to reflect enough to discover what has happened to Nigeria. Many of our leaders spend time amassing wealth instead of solving our problems. They have discovered that money is not everything. They are rusticating in their ill-gotten wealth. They hardly speak out on issues of concerns. They waste so much time before coming out to speak. The military leaders are all from the North and they ruled for many years without democratic rules.
They created states without viability. Some yearned for states but they were not given. People are now speaking out their minds in anger with the way things are going. Some are agitating for restructuring. The government at the centre does not want to share power. The governors’ hands are tied. They must carry their files to the man at the centre before anything can work. The states cannot grow faster than the Federal government at the center because they can be considered as a threat to the centre. People are now realizing that the centre cannot hold or solve the problems of Nigeria. Each region is itching to solve their security problems. Our leaders have been acquiring wealth at the expense of Nigerians. Now nobody can speak and we hold him high because we are living in a normalization of life. Truth is no longer a vehicle for integrity. Integrity is considered an old fashioned virtue in Nigeria.
What we see now is what we follow. If it works for me it would work for you too. Truth is now relative. That is why we do not know whom to follow and this is not good for the ruled. In Nigeria, money has taken over everything. Now the young people put more premiums on money because that is the Nigerian ethos and way of life. When the young people see the rich politicians they aspire to be like them. Their aspirations are not to serve but to reach the economic paradise. Their aim of entering into politics is to be like those who have made it in politics not leading the downtrodden, the marginalized, those who have lost hopes. Reaching there with their bizarre concepts further destroys their hopes. When things are so bad in Nigeria, they invite western journalists to create cautious optimism in the people as we saw some time ago on CNN where Richard Quest interviewed some Nigerians to ascertain the country with the largest economy in Africa.
He mentioned Nigeria. Nigeria defends herself as being a giant of Africa; a giant that is not moving out to enrich her people. If Nigeria truly reaches out to her people and shows concerns, you would not be seeing many beggars and girls on the streets. Many young boys would not be entering into fraud and doing all kinds of things that would tarnish their images and future. Nigerian currency has declined so much that it is almost competing with the Zimbabwean dollars! It is unfortunate that there are many killings in Nigeria today and many Christians are targets. Do they want to suffocate and kill religion in Nigeria? Religious heads are seen as Avant-gardes of Justice and peace in a Society. Why this new trend? It is unbecoming that we are killing our prophets, destroying justice. What legacies are we leaving behind? The fundamental truth should not be destroyed otherwise we will have nothing to leave for the future generation.
The security apparatus in Nigeria is in disarray with squabbles among security agencies’ heads. There is no synergy among the various security outfits to fight insurgencies. Terrorists are now baptized as bandits. The captured deadly Boko Haram members are released in their thousands every day after a claimed rehabilitation and are integrated into the Nigerian Army. How do we expect the war against insurgency to succeed? The worst of it all was a proposal from a Nigerian Senator; a former governor of a state to establish a National agency for education and rehabilitation of Boko Haram insurgents. The bill had already passed the first reading and we are yet to know the status! Even America cannot embark on this bogus and fictitious project that might enrich unseen pockets and further worsen situations because their integration into the society is dangerous.
This does not share a common view even in the outside world. It is a13th century view! Many would want to compare the amnesty given to Niger Delta Militants to the proposed amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents without understanding the fact that the militants never spilled the blood of innocent Christians and Muslims but agitated for resource control while Boko Haram has no specific cause they are pursuing aside from total Islamization through Jihad. We are rattled by the recent activities of the unknown gun men in the east. Many are accusing IPOB while others are saying they are hired agents used to destabilize the south East and discredit IPOB to weaken their struggles for self-actualization. Now the news of identified sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria has shocked many Nigerians.
Many of the alleged sponsors are at the corridors of power and we are struggling to eradicate terrorism? This is quite laughable! In good governance, one is pleased to leave legacies that would be remembered when one leaves office. That is what every good leader should do when in office as Biden is doing in America to lift the middle class. This is what Nigeria needs, not a polarized Nigeria that is divisive. Can the present crop of politicians give us the leaders we need? We need leaders who have undergone a rebirth of knowledge and truth to repair the damages caused by politics of greed and money. How this would be formed is not yet known. Except Nigerians have decided to change, interested patriotic Nigerians can now enter into politics to deliver their country from post-colonial era politics.
What is the federal government doing to get the anger from the people? Many countries of the world sought for change and they found it. This would be a way of leading Nigeria into another era of good harvest and governance. Nigeria can’t afford to toe the pathway of Ghana during the reign of Rawlings to change their political equation but can go through the enlightened way to political success. Nigerians should develop a critical facility to confront what brings them down and not allow half-baked leaders to pollute the nation with bad policies.
• Very Rev. Monsignor Livinus Ukah is a Catholic Priest, Author of many books and a crusader of Peace and Social Justice.
