By Egwuchukwu Hilary
Ejikeme
This
country as it is presently organised does not hold any future, whatsoever, for
our children. Never in the history of mankind has so much been owed so many by
so few. Even though we were ignorant of it, the battle-line was drawn, ab initio, between the only two
quasi-political parties I could distinguish in Nigeria: The very rich versus the
poor masses, the leadership as against the people, the Bourgeoisie lined up
against the Proletariat.
 |
| *President Buhari |
Whether as
members of the Armed Forces or the business moguls or the politicians,
leadership at once becomes a melting pot of sorts. At the very top, there is no
tribe, no religion, no profession, and no division. The rest of us: Police,
Army, Air Force, Navy, all other Nigerian workers – public/civil servants,
artisans, drivers, petty traders and what not, must rise from our slumber and
seek to change and redirect the course of governance for the benefit of our
children.
What successive
governments have done in Nigeria,
including the present Muhammadu Buhari leadership, is to celebrate, rather than
fight corruption. The issue of corruption in Nigeria is more fundamental than
just inundating the pages of our national dailies and plaguing the air waves
with individual cases of brazen misappropriation or looting of public funds.
The leadership is only playing to the gallery.
Corruption
has become like an alternative source of energy in Nigeria. My friend used to complain
a lot about the noise pollution and the attendant fumes of his neighbour’s
generating set, but that was until he was able to buy his own generator. Today,
my friend’s generator is on, almost right round the clock, regardless of what
his neighbours are passing through. That is the case of leadership and
corruption in Nigeria.
Now former President Olusegun Obasanjo doubled as the President and the
Minister of Petroleum: There was then no Nigerian, good or trustworthy enough,
to fit into that position. Probably because this continued throughout his eight
years in office, our own Buhari, the darling and toast of The Fourth Estate of
The Realm, has unwittingly stepped into the same unwieldy shoes. But can two
wrongs ever make a right?
Corruption is
corruption: Any time or anywhere. When we sacrifice competence and meritocracy
at the altar of mediocrity and/or federal character/quota system, it is
corruption: Pure and simple. Nigeria
is basically designed to fail, from the beginning. No team can ever win a match
if it refuses to field its best players.
