‘A NEW NIGERIA’ - Abhorring wrong & visiting the foundations

The cankerworms gnawing upon us are stronger in number, bigger in shape and greater in size, than the principal icon with seemingly laid-back strategic, progressive and calculative decisions.

Although, the focus has majorly been on the number one person, it would be a great slip-up not to ensure ‘a comprehensive sweep of the entire classroom’.

A pertinent point to admit is that these forces are everywhere, even at the grassroots. And they ravenously guzzle our resources in the best ways they can. Some even claiming to have the right backings for a number of their ballgames. We, ‘the common man’, are already caught in a web, and to avoid getting more entangled, we must be practical, tactical and apperceive in our actions.

When there are only a few good heads in government, the effect is that, they keep “trying to make common sense”, but they never do! It is time to flood the political space with people of sincere and genuine interests, especially at heart and not by mouth. This is not just in electing the young, as some young ones might walk in the paths of their ‘outgoing’ fathers. The onus is on us to ensure a complete blockage of all the major loop holes wherein these pirates thrive and get away with their loots.
Remove many immunities and "make the price for doing wrong higher than the cost of doing things right". At the moment, it is virtually the exact opposite in Nigeria.

Moreover, we must begin to compare the present with the future - the big picture we hope to achieve. If it does not seem to align, then, we must immediately re-strategize. Not wait another four precious years! Sometimes, we make the past a standard for the present. We then begin to rejoice if we have a little breathe of fresh air. When in actual fact, we should not even be choking. This mind set only makes us complacent and literally, retrogressive. We would continue to get it wrong if the yardstick is comparing the present ‘saint’ with the previous ‘crooks’, even though the present saint does not have a motor to move us forward. The focus should be on who can march us ahead and not make us stagnant, pull us back or continue to play the blame game.

Our ability to understand that we cannot keep on gambling with our future, especially with those who would not actively suffer the consequences with us, is also very crucial. A quick reference to the words of the English economist, Tim Harford, which says, “Any project is most likely to be successful if the people who benefit from its success are the same people who make it possible”. Therefore, do not count on our so-called leaders to bother about projects like:
Education - their children rarely attend local schools
Health Care - they can always go abroad
Good Roads – there are private jets and sophisticated vehicles available for them or
Electricity - they do not understand what power failure means anymore.

Leaders, young and old, who would unflinchingly gulp huge sums of money monthly, as allowances, from the reportedly insufficient funds; who would rather watch us wallow in debts, than make sacrifices for the citizens they swore to serve; who wish we do not understand how much they are preying on us, but that we continue to see them as demigods. Leaders whose eyes and ears neither see our pains, nor hear our cries. How can they understand the wails of an average man?

An average tax payer, he spends in traffic, a half of his productive hours, but is never paid for it. He writhes in distress, knowing how much of his monthly salary goes into taxes, which should supposedly make his life better. Rather, he is rewarded with poor medical care, power outage and a cause to worry about the future. He generates his own electricity, water, security and pays his medical bills. That man deserves some accolades. He is a unique nation.
The above scenarios of the leader and the average tax payer, are not in sync. Two different people running different races. They do not have the same worries and their interests are completely parallel. The gap will never be bridged, not under the current circumstances, unless consciously cambered and these two characters begin to put feet in similar shoes.

Whilst we might be interested in trading an era of reactivity for that of proactivity, suffice to say, it would take more than mere words or airing thoughts on the internet. Yes, it would take having a PVC (permanent voter’s card) and voting, but much more. Of what impact are the votes when the foundations upon which we stand are shallow? There is no assurance that even with a young man, there would be a huge success. He might only end up giving us tales of how much he is handicapped or limited. As seen in the case of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing. It indeed must feel like ‘carrying the weight of the world upon his shoulders’.

In conclusion, ‘A New Nigeria’ requires examining the structure on which we are currently governed. Whether with an old or young, man or woman. We need leaders who would put in place a structure that strangles wrong deeds, flushes filth and hates injustice. A new Nigeria requires a thorough review of the constitution and other standards or general principles on which we run, thereafter blotting out all of the inhibiting factors. Having said all, let us vote and stand only for people who are ready to be held accountable and can take on the tasks of restructuring, when they get into government. People who would be willing to give up power when the going gets tougher and they seem not tough enough to get going. 

God Bless Nigeria!