Nigeria is blessed with everything a country needs to survive and rub shoulders with the best in the world. Yet the country is contesting for the unenviable position of the capital of the poorest nation in the world.
The country is blessed with men and women with enormous capacity to make the place an Eldorado. But those in position will rather drag the nation down the abyss. All of us, the 250 million people in the country have roles to play in the mess that we are all in. The Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Falani, Kanuri, Igala and Nupe, all have hands in the sorry state of Nigeria. We have failed to unite and lift the country up.
Only one man with a great vision championed the revival of Jerusalem. Nehemiah used his position and closeness to Kings around him to rebuild Jerusalem. How many Nehemiahs do we have in Nigeria? At least a million! Unfortunately, our own Nehemiahs are the ones excreting 93 raps of cocaine at the airports, our own Nehemiahs are cyber kingpins, armed robbers, pen or computer robbers.
In view of popular demand for the another series on Reasons why our national flag is not flying at the right altitude amongst the comity of nations I need to highlight yet more reasons for green-white-green symbol of global honour and identity of Nigeria began to fly at the low altitude amongst the comity of nations.
In the first series, we have been able to spotlight about 25 reasons why our country is not the problem of Nigerians but Nigerians are the problems of Nigeria. Enjoy:
- Those who use public office to sabotage the best of public policy at the detriment of the citizens so as to continue to keep the citizens perpetually underdeveloped are the ones behind the low altitude of our national flag amongst the comity of nations.
- Those who feel the only way to survive in Nigeria is by doing illegal businesses, rather than embarking on legitimate trade to survive, are part of our problems..
28 Our elders who are supposed to lead by examples but are the ones overheating the polity as partisans are the ones ,preventing the national flag from gaining the right altitude.
29..Some of our technicians who are found of collecting money for spare parts and maintenance jobs but end up not doing the job satisfactorily are part of the nation’s failure.
30..Some of our businessmen and women, who are fond of using their position and influence to sabotage the country policy, in the name of businesses, are behind the low altitude of our national flag amongst the comity of nations
- Some of the business owners who travel abroad, produce products of lesser quality and ship into this country for the consumption of Nigerians, such as drugs, food, textiles, tyres, and other consumables, are the enemies of Nigeria.
- You have some elected and appointed people into public offices but what they do is use the platforms to oppress the citizens, rather than serving the interests of the public in line with the demand of their offices. They are quilty as charged.
- There are some Nigerians who are saddled with the responsibilities of implementing government policies to enable us achieve good governance. But, these people will sabotage the best of government policies by first diverting the public fund meant to power the public policies abroad. They have a hand in Nigeria’s messy status.
33.. We have some Nigerians who attended public schools to become who they are today. But regrettably, they are in charge of the management of public policy on education, but rather than employing teachers in public schools so that the children of the poor can go to school like they enjoyed similar opportunities in the past, they are busy with their families and friends building private schools everywhere, at the detriment of public schools so that they can get richer and the children of the poor will not have opportunity to go to school and continue to hawk wares around. These sets of people are everywhere.
- We have some Nigerians who are in positions of authorities to dispense funds for the purposes of achieving good governance. What they do is contract racketeers, thereby sabotaging the best of government policies and preventing the national flag from gaining the required altitude amongst the comity of nations.
- In Nigeria, some civil servants see themselves as the owners of Nigeria and they constitute insignificant parts of the population. They adopt all manners of tactics, including altering their ages to continue to remain in public office, thereby preventing the younger ones from gaining access. They are the cabal destroying Nigeria.
36.. What about the immigration officers who are found to collect bribes before Nigerians can get their passports.This act is barbaric and unpatriotic. It retards Nigeria’s growth.
36.. What about some of our customs officers who are found aiding and abetting smuggling of contraband goods into country, thereby destroying and sabotaging the national economy. These categories of people are the ones preventing the national flag from gaining the required altitude amongst the comity of nations.
37.. Some Nigerians who are in public places suddenly see themselves as super human and more intelligent than every other Nigerian, whereas they are bereft of ideas. They spend quality time explaining and explaining their failures. Public offices and institutions are meant to dispense services for the people. They are not platforms for excuses. Therefore, it can’t suffice as experimental centre. These categories of people are enemies of progress.
- Some Nigerians who are in a position of authority but are found to use their positions to undermine the constitution of the country, just because they want to settle scores with an individual or want to achieve personal goals, are the ones sabotaging the country.
- There are some Nigerians who are drawing salaries and allowances from Federal Government , state government and Local Government whereas pensioners and retirees are dying on queues regularly for their biometric evaluations. These categories of beneficiaries are criminal, sabotaging national economy to meet their avaricious needs .
40.. The manufacturers and producers, who are always crying wolves and fond of increasing the price of their products at ease even when they reduce the content of their products in sizes and volumes have a hand in our quagmire.
- Some Nigerians who are briefcase billionaires and fond of using their influences and fake documents to obtain loans from our financial institutions and not willing to pay back. Once they obtain loans, they run to buy properties in Dubai, US, Canada, South Africa, UK, and even Ghana. In the end, the banks fold up and job losses will set in, and Nigeria suffers. These categories of people are the ones sabotaging this country,.
42.. Some Nigerian traders run to the banks for forex regularly to import imaginary products. When they are able to access the forex, they end up uploading at the Bureau de Change at Broad Street, Lagos These categories of people are the ones sabotaging the economy of Nigeria.
- A public officer from a section of the country who was saddled with the responsibility of recruiting over 800 workers on behalf of one of the federal government agencies and ended up recruiting 800 workers from one state is an economic saboteur.
45 Some Nigerians who feel Lagos should always be the centre where they can show their anger and vexatious against any unfriendly government policy when Abuja is the federal capital territory are mere anarchists destroying Nigeria.
In conclusion, looking at all the perspectives we have thrown up in the public space, without doubt, one can conclude that Nigeria is not the problem, but Nigerians are.
.Otunba Sola Olatunji, Chairman, Ikale Heritage Development Association, IHDA, writes from Lagos.