We are a democracy, the most populous Black Country on earth, second biggest economy of our continent and the giant of Africa. Are these all we can be; can’t we be good citizens, patriots and nation builders? Why are we all always bias and neither always here nor there when it comes to the interest of the country and its future? Why are both the leadership and citizenry unable to prioritize and sustained confronting crime and corruption all these years?
Our double standards and sentiments reflect our country’s darkest impulses toward underdevelopment and corruption, but they also reflect the ambition of a society that tolerates greed and ignore the protection of the defenseless and innocent. Nowhere are our contradictory tendencies more evident than in our public and political affairs. We want to fight corruption yet want to vote for only the politicians who can buy our votes. We want restructuring and constitutional amendment to decentralize political authorities, yet we are arguing for the presidency for our region in another twist.
We claim to be adherents of physiocracy and industrialization, yet we are almost all uninterested in the other sources of production incomes, and with our expectations always heavily hinged on the monthly federal allocations from oil revenue, Value Added Tax (VAT), loans etc. We want reforms, but also keeping our old ways. We believe power and sovereignty of a nation belongs to the people, but we usually openly obligated them tocliques, families and their cronies.
We want uninterrupted power supply for ourselves, yet we don’t kick against the earmarking of more funds for governance, constituency projects, big government, redundancy of public servants, abandoned projects etc. Also, on daily basis, we receive unpleasant electricity service, yet we don’t take any action. On public accountability, we usually look the other way, when it is our kinsmen in the helms of affairs; we only follow the norm whenever we know we are unable to escape from it.
It is not enough for us to know the problems of our country; we must know their causes and solutions, so we can resolve them and move on. A leader is not always the panacea for a country’s woes, but someone who mobilizes the ideas of others without subterfuges, to solve the problems and for the common good of all. The leader is someone who solves problems even when it means confronting established ways; likewise the citizens, they must not only know the problems of their leadership, they must know how to solve them.
We said it is our belief that anyone can become who theywant to be; given the right leadership, environment and opportunities, yet collectively we have failed to come up with a plan or action to address these conditions for everyone to realize their full potentials. In the past 20 years since we started democratic rule we didn’t do anything in that direction and doesn’t even seem to believe so, as we all only serve our personal interests. Today, in our country, people can only become something because of who they know not what they know, can do or stand for.
Liberating our country will require just the commitments of both our people and the leaders, but what can we do when the wrong sentiments and double standards are hindering the effective governance of the nation? We must show some emotions, stop worrying about the unwarranted feelings of our kinsmen, so we can do only those things that are right, allowed, and stand up for ethical principles for the progress of our people and the society.
The time for the wrong sentiments, double standards and pretense is over; governance is about deeds, incentives and equitable distribution of both justice and welfares, which are all part of the civic responsibilities of both the leaders and the led, as such, we must resolve to do the needful for our future, country and survivors. On some of the crucial problems facing our country, such as security, corruption and internal disunity, it is now time for the president and the citizens as well to do something very drastic and convincing, otherwise as they said; we are now at the “point of no return.”
Mr Salihu can be reached at msalihu@gmail.com and @mssalihu
