By Andrew Erakhrumen
It will be a hasty generalisation to conclude that Nigeria does not have people (among politicians) with genuine positive intentions for the country, but they are in the minority, powerless and suppressed. The subsisting tragic experience is that those in criminal entrepreneurship are increasingly forcing their way to power!
We welcome those who disagree with us to give clear indices demonstrating that this country, through the activities of these stationary bandits (and their followers), has made sincere efforts towards moving forward in the last 20years; this is to simply limit their analyses to that brief period. All we are hearing of, and seeing, are shameful ludicrousness giving good reasons to people in other countries to scoff at Nigeria that has tolerated, and is now used to, mediocrity and inferior materials!
Many Nigerians appear to not
know, and/or unable to discern, what high quality humans and products look
like. Have they ever known any? Inferior people have taken over their living
and running of their lives! There has been so much cascading, intense
deliberate (collective) normalisation, and rewarding, of inferior and mediocre
performances!
Nigerians should, by now, have
freed themselves from the once-valid but now-expired lamentation that their
beloved country was always taking a step forward and two backwards; today,
Nigeria has successfully ‘upgraded’ to taking almost ALL its steps backwards!
It has been hijacked by, and for, a few! Listening to the abundant low quality
Nigerian political office holders will madden a sane person; Nigerians have
been so much taken for granted that they are talked down to, as slaves,
anytime!
Recently, a Nigerian senator in
the current 10th National Assembly – as typical of many of his colleagues – in
a self-centred manner, on a national television station, tried to glibly
justify the attempted, and/or actual, purchase of sports utility vehicles at
N160 million each for the 469 members of the assembly. This kind of scandalous
appropriation is not new concerning the executive and legislative arms of
Nigerian governments, at least, since May 29, 1999.
Here, we are not talking about
their tear-inducing “legitimate” entitlements/privileges! Additional annoyance
to sanity is the shameless recklessness with which these unbothered public
office holders explain these broad daylight robberies away in the midst of
festering gnawing poverty in the land! Did any of the assembly members
belonging to the “different” political parties reject the vehicle? No! Why? As
we have been saying, they are the same people!
These insensitive people want us
to believe that the economy is distressed but for them, it is all about
grabbing everything from the public coffers. The simple meaning of their
shamelessness is: while they are relaxing their belts, poor Nigerians should
tighten theirs! As this piece is being written, a news report has it that the
Federal Government has begun to automatically deduct 40% from federal
universities’ internally generated funds when these institutions’ academic
departments are finding it difficult to buy ordinary printing papers! Is
Nigeria not unique?
It is where most
lecturers/researchers in public universities improve on their cognitive
wherewithal, conduct researches and publish their outcomes, using their poor
salaries! Soon(if it is not already happening), professors will have to bring
chairs/tables, from wherever, to their decrepit offices in a manner similar to
certain occurrences during academic programmes’ accreditation exercises when
humans and equipment are “borrowed” for display!
If the last statement sounds
unbelievable, hear this preposterousness: we know of public universities where
lecturers have to either pay for, or personally do, the cleaning of their
offices that are really not offices! The foregoing should be expected from a
captured state! Surely, we are not unaware of some self-inflicted funding
challenges in these institutions leading to gradually normalised anomalies. It
still seems that Nigerians – especially in Nigeria – do not appreciate the
problem they are in with the kind of leadership cadre they have knowingly or
unknowingly allowed to hold them to ransom all these years!
The followers may be part of the problem but, as we always say,
leadership is the problem! This crisis is confronted with plausible solutions
when a society is able to get it right recruiting quality leadership. The
unfortunate reality is that the strategies for enslaving many Nigerians have
not changed. The propaganda has also not significantly changed – year in, year
out. In collaboration with some myopic followers who blindly and slavishly
defend the indefensible, Nigerians are scammed by these misleaders. They insult
the collective intelligence of the discerning with ridiculous visuals and
narratives.
Honestly, we do not, and will
not, hate those dunderheads because they are in bondage! They need help! We
will not be tired of referring to senselessness, in the past, with the hope
that this will help in waking Nigerians up, going forward. For instance, we
were insulted by Harlequin characters with annoying theatrics such as the Rice
Farmers Association of Nigeria paddy pyramids in Abuja, in January 2022! There
are others! This is just an example! Yes, a country should make serious efforts
toward being self-sufficient in locally-produced food for its inhabitants and
possibly for export. This is a way to go.
Nonetheless, what is being
questioned here is the rationale behind the showmanship of erecting a pyramid
of rice paddy that was not intended for bringing down the price of the final
commodity in the market! Or how much is a 50kg bag of “local” rice in the
market today? So, for eight years, Nigerians were just being fooled around by
unserious people in government! We must quickly add, here, that this ‘skill’ of
such theatrical presentations is not unique to the immediate past central
administration!
It has always been with their
predecessors – at all levels! It was inherited and must be bequeathed to their
successors! This might be – in politicians’ understanding – that these
theatrical presentations are what members of the public like seeing! Nigerians
that are not inflicted by collective amnesia will, definitely, not wait for
long to hear same repackaged old stories!
We have asked severally: when
will ordinary Nigerians stop being taken for a ride by these misleading crooks?
Can we safely say that: unfortunately, for these politicians, the public is
increasingly and smartly being aware of these tricks? We may not be able to
give straight answers to the last two questions, for now! By the way, did
Nigerians keep a close watch on the blindingly obvious barefaced display of
brigandage and criminalities in the recent off-season 2023 gubernatorial
elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states? These collaborating criminals have
earlier tested the waters in February, 2023. Consequently, their “success”
emboldened them to do more; outmanoeuvring themselves through violence and
rigging. It is clear that 2027 general elections may be worse and Nigerians
will be the losers.
*Erakhrumen
teaches at the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management,
University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
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