THE circus drama in the Senate over Ibrahim Magu’s confirmation as EFCC boss, compelling the NCS boss, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), to appear before the Senate in Customs uniform, Senator Dino Melaye’s certificate controversy, sundry scandals, suspension of Senator Ali Ndume, staying action on confirmation of 27 Resident Electoral Commissioner-nominees and two ministerial nominees while some Nigerians have see suicide as an escape route from their bondage and human misery occasioned by inept leadership, should worry all patriotic Nigerians.
The needless drama in the Senate demonstrates clearly that the relationship between the senate and the executive is everything but cordial. Such frosty relationship, though not unexpected, can, if not well managed, make the senate appear unserious. The Senate should not be playing games while the country is burning. It should not be engaged in unnecessary drama while Fulani herdsmen are killing other Nigerians.
While the honourble lawmakers are busy in Abuja entertaining us with the drama of absurd, some Nigerians are jumping into the lagoons in Lagos and other parts of the country because things have indeed fallen apart in the country of their birth. Their centre of existence can no longer hold together hence, they resort to taking their precious lives, an act generally perceived as cowardice. Like the tragic hero, Okonkwo, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, some Nigerians are taking their lives because their centre of gravity had caved in. They can no longer make meaning out of their miserable existence.
Some Nigerians are killing themselves because the country is not working, yet our politicians are behaving as if all is well. All is not well in Nigeria. The unemployment time bomb will soon explode. And the consequences will be disastrous. We are in a very big trouble. While the dramatic episodes in Abuja can elicit laughter, the ones in Lagos and other undisclosed places generate painful wailings and lamentations over human tragedy.
All the same, both are manifestations of our own peculiar drama of painful existence. Does it worry the lawmakers that those they represent are daily taking their lives due to harsh economic conditions in the country? Have they discussed why some Nigerians, including a medical doctor, could commit suicide? Does it worry them that those they represent don’t have food to eat and water to drink? Does it also worry them that those they represent do not have access to electricity?
Does it worry them that most Nigerian graduates are not employed? Do they know that many Nigerians are homeless? These are things that should also worry our lawmakers. They should make laws that will ensure that all Nigerians enjoy the wealth of the country. They should make laws that ensure that Nigerians have access to education, health, house, water and food. Surprisingly, Nigeria is full of paradoxes. We are a wealthy nation, yet many of our country men and women live a wretched existence.
We have many hungry people in the country. We are among the leading oil-producing nations, yet we experience scarcity of petroleum products. We buy petrol, gas and kerosene at outrageous prices that do not befit an oil exporting country. Our roads are among the worst in the sub-region and the continent. We have one of the highest rates of road accidents in the continent. Majority of Nigerians lack access to steady electricity.
We have one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world at 53 years for men and 56 years for women. We live in a country where a minority few, politicians and their cronies, are having the best of life while majority of the people, up to 70 percent, are wallowing in abject poverty, want and deprivation, and live at below one US dollar per day. We have one of the highest unemployment figures in Africa and the world. Some civil servants are owed arrears of salary and other benefits. Yet our federal lawmakers are among the highest paid in the world. What an irony?
Pensioners are owed several months of pensions. Contractors are also owed huge amounts of money. The inflation rate in the country at 18 percent is high. The exchange rate between the Naira and the US dollar has for months hovered between N400 and N450. We have enough arable land for agriculture yet we import most of our foods, especially rice, wheat, sugar, fish and poultry.
Our politicians have huge security votes yet there is general insecurity in the land. Our politicians should start addressing the problems in the country very quickly before things get out of control. They should stop playing the ostrich. Corruption is not the only problem we have. We have hungry and angry people. And if they vent their anger on the polity, great will be the fury.
That is why some disgruntled elements have turned the country into a killing range as if there is no law against such dastardly acts. The primary duty of government is the welfare of the people. This includes security of lives and property. Our governments are failing in all these. They should wake up to their responsibilities. Let our politicians stop being overtly preoccupied with the next election instead of governance. It is absurd and indeed worrisome that our politicians are busy thinking of 2019 instead of making sure they deliver their 2015 election promises. Do they think that Nigerians are deaf and dumb people?
Nigeria’s major problem is still poor leadership as Achebe said some years ago. Coupled with non-visionary leadership is corruption and poor education system. To correct our ills, government must take the education of the people very seriously. Without functional education, we are doomed forever. We must revamp our education to catch up with the rest of the world. There is no way the world can wait for us.
We must strive, through education, to remake our decrepit situation. What should save Nigeria from dying is education. With pragmatic education, we can toe the paths of South Korea, Singapore and other Asian Tigers to technological and scientific development. The current drama at Abuja will not take us anywhere near development. It is a consumerist drama that is full of sound and fury yet signifying nothing. Our politics should be tailored towards national development and welfare of all Nigerians.
Our patriotism should go beyond reciting the national anthem and pledge. The Senate screening of political appointees should be rigorous. There should be a departure from the routine ‘take a bow’ and recite the national anthem or pledge currently in vogue. We should enhance our national vote for education. Allocating 20 percent of our national budget to education will be a good starting point.
No doubt, a functional education system will positively impact on other sectors and stimulate economic and technological development. At 57 years of age, Nigeria ought to have manufactured its first car and other tools of development. We must, through education, change our destiny and do away with the toga of a crawling giant.