The Tragedy Of The Nigerian Story

I remember during my secondary school days, there was a drama competition at the National theatre in 2014 to celebrate Nigeria at 100. The theme was, “A hundred years of existence: the story so far”. In that production, there was a revealing of the problems that plagued the Nigerian society ranging from electricity to security to government embezzling all the funds, somehow it has only gotten worse. Looking back at that story and being aware of where we are now, I have decided to do a piece to discuss the situation of things right now.

Source: Twitter

Taking a step back, let me introduce Nigeria. 

In 1914, under the authority of  Lord Frederick Lugard, the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and the Northern Nigeria Protectorate was amalgamated to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. By the late 1950s, there was a call for Independence which was granted on the First of October 1960 to form the Federation of Nigeria under the rule of Queen Elizabeth II with Nnamdi Azikiwe as the Governor-General. Three years later, the Constitution was amended and the country became the Federal Republic of Nigeria with President Nnamdi Azikiwe. 

Not to bore you with the details, in the course of the last 60 years; The Federal Republic of Nigeria has gone through four republics with three different periods of military rule giving us a total of 15 leaders. There was also a notable Civil war “The Nigerian- Biafra War '', that span over three years ended with the surrender of Biafra and subsequent reintegration into Nigeria. 

I did not refer to the people before 1914, making mention of what happened to them after they were named Nigeria because our ancestors had an identity before one was given to them. 

With the very important history lesson out of the way, what is the Nigerian story?

My father tells stories of the good old days. Stories of free education and a government that tried to care about its people, how he used 4ooo Naira to complete his university education, travelling from the North to Ibadan with the railways and how Nigerians never bothered to run away from their country because all they needed was right here. He spoke of the oil boom and the stories he heard from his father and ends his story with the present day.

Nigeria; a nation with leaders constantly enriching themselves at the expense of the common man, a country with no regards for the fundamental human right of its people and makes no effort to protect them. Simply put, the Nigerian story it is the sum of all the experience of an average Nigerian, a collection of all his struggles and hope, dreams and aspiration and if he is fortunate enough, a rise into a different class and possibly a means of escape from the country. This is the tragedy of the Nigerian story.

Source: bbc.com

60 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE PROBLEMS WE ARE FACING:

    The theme for this year's celebration was 60 years together and Channels tv dubbed it “Diamond in the rough”. But for 60 years, what we have achieved and what can we boast of includes; foreign debts, dysfunctional national system, greedy leaders, struggling people, a failed nation and abundance of prejudice creating a distorted national unity. I am going to share a bit of these problems.

COVID 19: Exposure of a failed health sector.

    When the pandemic reached Nigeria and the story went around for the need for ventilators, it became apparent that our health sector is underfunded and underdeveloped. Doctors came out to announce either the lack of personal protective equipment, the horrible amount paid as hazard allowance, facilities not made available and the strikes the Resident doctors had to go on. It is so glaring that with the focus on Nigeria, we can see how much needs to be done concerning our health sector. 

Insecurity and Police brutality: The devastated state of National Security.

    Talk about the ridiculous bill that was signed last month that officially allowed the excesses of the SARS operatives in Nigeria, the issue concerning the Southern Kaduna Killings, Boko Haram terrorists that are ravaging the north and the government releasing them back into the society because they are repentant. What of the kidnapping and robbery, One Million Boys that disturbed the peace of Lagos during the lockdown, citizens coming out at night to be their security, stories of people travelling arrested and harassed by security officials.

This is the sad reality of every day living in Nigeria.

ASUU Strike and Failed Online Classes: Education or Not?

    When the lockdown started, Privates Universities continued their lectures online. We have been home for seven months now and resumption is still a rumour. ASUU has been strike since March and there is still no news that their demands have been met. ASUU released a message saying that they would not conduct online classes because the requirements for such have not been put in place. This begs the question, what is going on with our educational system and how do they plan on making sure that Nigeria students can compete on the international stage?

Naira to Dollar Exchange: The sorry state of the Economy.

    What is the exchange rate from Naira to a dollar, I think it is well above 400 Naira. The mainstay of our economy is Crude oil and with the way, the price of Crude oil is this year, there is not much revenue. What about our foreign reserve, the state of our national debts, and how our leaders just keep on taking and spending without curbing their expenses?  At this rate, we might need to start learning Chinese. 

COVID 19 Palliative: The display of greed and corruption.

    Let’s start with the supposed palliative that was delivered to people, the supposed difficulty in reaching the masses but it is very possible to deliver electricity bills every month. When pressure was mounted on the government to give account on how money was spent, the Office of the Accountant General got burnt and public records were lost. This showed how greedy our leaders are and how quick they are to play the blame game but are not ready to held accountable. 

The aftermath of the Civil War: You guessed right, there is no national Unity.

    If in the year 2020, we are still going to profile people based on their state of origin, if the nation is still torn apart as a result of what happened all the years back and we have refused to reach an agreement where all affected party can air their grievances and reach a solution, if I am made to feel less of a Nigerian and cannot step into any region in Nigeria without feeling like an outsider, then there is no National Unity. 

The State of Rulership: We call for Restructuring.

    One clear word in the state of affairs of this country has to be tribalism. People who feel they are entitled to rule the country and the people who would only put their tribesman in place of authority. If as a country, we have people that are marginalized and segregated, if we still choose to allow the structure the British left to control the affairs of this country, then we are going nowhere. If we would pick someone with the same ethnicity or religion with us over competence, then we have a big problem.

The brain drain: All roads must end in Japa-ing.

    The in-thing with young professionals (especially in the health sector) is relocating out of the country in search of greener pastures and social security. What do you expect from people that are fed up with injustice, people that are scared of losing all they got, in search of better education for their children? Until our country becomes a better place, we would keep on losing the people we already have to those that know their worth and are ready to support them.

As we celebrate Nigeria at 60, here is a reminder that our country is a mess and chaos is everywhere. We are facing a rise in Electricity tariff, increase in the cost of petrol, there is still job scarcity and lack of job security, we have undeserved taxes and bills that are snuffing the life of SMEs, even the Social Media bill that has raised so much discussion and controversies. While we choose to celebrate or ignore the anniversary of our independence, we should reflect on this, raise our voice to demand a change and difference in the system, speak out against wrong even from the littlest areas around us and finally be more involved in the affairs of this country even if you plan to Japa. 

God bless you and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Estherian