By Rotimi Oketade Esq.
The political, economic and social woes bedevilling Nigeria didn’t start today. A sedulous exploration of Nigeria’s trajectory has shown that the foundation for these cesspool was laid decades back through fostering of dim witted human beings in the position of leadership coupled with promotion of mediocrity laced with idiocy.
This occasioned gradual social disruptions, political distractions and economic dislocations, within the system, thus, repeatedly, Nigeria was unfortunate to have visionless political bandits at the echelon of the power pyramid. These muscularly vacant beings raped the country and are still doing so rapaciously and callously, thereby perforating her from all sides.
The loss of pure communal brotherhood and religious solidarity was direct consequence of political brigandage and profligacy that started in the 70s till now. Deliberately, Nigeria was programmed to fail from all flanks by the political parasites and economic leech club.
Since mid 70s till date, it has been the narratives of humongous waste, stealing, corruption, woes and disasters. From being the leading light within the comity of Nations to claiming an unenviable pariah status politically, economically and socially.
This groping in the darkness had birthed an erosion of our cherished cultural, religious and traditional value systems; erosion of decent politics and political ideologies; erosion of the clinical and scientific economic blueprints and policies; erosion of cohesion as a people; erosion of coercive power of state and erosion of humanity in us.
The callous combination of the aforementioned has caused a huge disruption which in turn pushed many to drug abuse, agitations, alcoholism, and suicide thereby setting the stage for vicious generational circle that recently became our collective albatross of tribal hatred and hegemony, political pogrom, religious bigotory, dubious economic templates, social upheavals and failure of security architecture.
Each successive government in Nigeria had produced nebulous billionaires without industries, religious leaders without conscience, political leaders without vision and wisdom and corporate scoundrels and wastrels that feed fat on insiders dealings and other corporate abbreviations.
These social, economic and political gaps have morphed the Nigerian landscape with fear and anger: fear of recklessness of government’s use of coercive power of state and its institutions; fear of the survival of the nation in the face of multi-faceted religious and social upheavals besetting her; fear of non commitment and infidelity of those holding the levers of power at all levels; fear of lack of equality before the law; fear of unequal opportunities; and ultimately, the fear of a failing and falling nation amongst her regional and global peers because of the ineptitude, inefficiency, crass opportunisms, and psychologically flawed leadership that are politically unevolved and uneventful above all leadership with stunted emotional intelligence.
The cavalier attitudes and duplicitous handling of political appointments for economic benefits and social opportunities by various past governments and particularly the present, birthed anger from all sections of country. However, it is apposite to state that the fears and angers amongst Nigerians, particularly now, is as a result of the clandestine cahoots between the political, religious and business leaders of the country who collectively have foisted deep poverty, entrenched hardship, and chronic insecurity on the people.
These evil machinations are plots of few people who had/have password to the Aladdin’s Cave called Nigeria. Their tenacious hold on the government vaults at all levels occasions absence of basic infrastructures and developments from the North to the South and the East to the West.
Our case is that of population growth without corresponding developments. The recent World Bank reports on Nigeria validate this. We need concerted efforts to press the red buttons from all sides and sections of the country to demand for equitable and balance political structures that will birth greater good for greater number of people. Enough of social, economic and political filibustering. Enough of economic shenanigans, enough of deception, enough of religious manipulations, and enough of exploitation of our fault lines for the benefits of the few.
We must let them know that it is because of their political wickedness and economic strangulation that we are groaning. Groaning with massive killings, abductions, arson, terrorism, banditry, raping, stealing and industrial scale corruption etc.
The political leaders must urgently sow seeds of fairness, justice, equality before the law, good conscience and comprehensive social system that will eventually culminate into an egalitarian society. Consequently, they will harvest hashtag end poverty, end killings, end disequilibrium in the system, and finally end division of our people.
These are the only rational answers to our self induced, self affliction and avoidable bedlam. The leadership have to do these with the fierce urgency of Now.
