By
Rahman Owokoniran
Nigerians, where are we? How did we find ourselves in the hands of these heartless, incompetent and greedy leaders?
What a shame that the so-called leaders continue to move in vicious cycles, deliberately destroying lives and property for profit! They also ignore the reality that the people are all suffering due to mismanagement of governance and lack of transparency. They are reckless with utter disregard and lack of respect for law and order.
The extent to which they have borrowed money and resources from foreign countries is beyond comprehension to the extent that they are now paying more than 90% of their revenue to service the loans incurred.
They have no idea about the agony of the ordinary people, who are suffering from the deterioration of their lives. People can no longer afford one meal per day because of the very high cost of living, transportation costs and lack of access to basic healthcare services. The cost of inflation has such a disastrous consequence for our economy that the average Nigerian citizen has no money left in his pocket. Yet the extravagant lifestyle of government officials continues to tell a different story. It doesn’t reflect that of a nation in crisis.
To top it all, the President’s address to the nation demonstrates a stark example of the threat to our democracy whereby the rulers are completely disconnected from the public. It was a chilled, cold response to the burning anger that propelled Nigerians into the street of protests nationwide.
If the President was listening to the people’s concerns and agitation, he was not hearing them. His message to Nigerians was clearly obnoxious and he had no intention whatsoever to give any concessions. It was clear that he does not take responsibility for his actions and he therefore owes no apologies whatsoever for the damage done to these aggrieved citizens. No concessions were made by him, rather he stood on his own terms, not blinking for a moment.
That speech showed Tinubu’s Arrogant confidence in his own ability and other sources of support, which is why he refused to yield to any request. The reason for such stubbornness is unknown to the nation but best known to him.
Could there have been a contractual obligation to some unknown entities for some reasons? The exploitation by our imperial masters might have been a bit of a stretch on one hand, what about the government policies without a human heart? Public office-holders are supposed to be patriotic and dedicated to the service of the people, but these current ones have refused to fulfil their part of the social contract. Rather than earn their pay by delivering their services to the people, they continue to exploit every opportunity to rob the people of their earnings and wellbeing by increasing the price of oil and gas, while they also devalue the currency of the country, making the economy more vulnerable and dependent upon foreign investments. As if this were not enough, the tariff on electricity, amongst the utilities and commodities, continues to rise. The plight of Nigerians has been worsened by the second, yet the President’s political rhetoric and policy choices have led us all into this horrible hole.
Even if he insisted that he has the right policies in place, we completely disagree with him and his administration.
When last did Mr. President visit the market to buy foodstuff in the last 25 years? You probably think that you need not go to the market to know what is going on there, but you are so wrong, Sir.
The Naira’s free fall against foreign currencies is not helpful either. But you insisted that increasing the dollar reserve from the sales of crude oil and other commodities would be beneficial to our economy. Again, this one-way pursuit of the economy of supply and demand is not in our nation’s best interest. These economic principles are archaic because of a lack of understanding of the fundamentals of the market mechanism.
Mr. President, the choices you made were yours and yours only; so stop blaming others for your failures. You had enough time to invite and dialogue with these protesters, but you refused. Why? You felt that you had the answers and the wherewithal to deal with the situation. Can you look back and see what you could have averted? Is it the lost lives or the sick economy that is being destroyed by your actions and inactions?
Rather than blame the opposition why not squarely focus more on the real issues and apply the correct antidote to the current economic pandemic ravaging the country. You are now in charge of this administration and you promised that you are ready for this job. Your being on Nigeria’s driving seat today is akin to taking over an airplane that has an engine problem from a drunken, inexperienced pilot. What should you do? Immediately you take over from the incompetent pilot, you must land the aircraft safely on the runway. There is no luxury of time to enter the cockpit and begin to throw blame around! Mr. New Captain, take over the joystick and fly this plane. Stop casting aspersions on those before or next to you after you took charge. You will be congratulated after your safe landing. All the excuses of 60 years problems inherited and difficulty in solving them are meaningless excuses for your failures and inadequacies. You need to explain your present location and let the people know where you are and when your promises will be fulfilled and why over one year has been filled with turbulence and weeping over your policies.
In conclusion, we will not get out of this quagmire, given the defective structure of our democratic system, especially the enormity of responsibility assigned to the Federal Government. No wonder we do not have the benefit of the President’s listening ears. He is under the control of interest groups and quack technocrats.
Reality check indicates that time has come to reduce the size of government at the Federal level and make room for expansion at the states’.
States deserve more money to continue to develop Infrastructure and provide needed housing schemes for the people of all classes.
Except at the Federal capital, the Federal Government should allow the states to wield the exclusive right of providing housing to the people. Housing and infrastructural development should be the primary business of the state government, while the Federal Government can guarantee such needed loans if required for interstate roads, bridges and highways. This way, projects like the Lagos/Calabar Coastal Highway will be the business of the four or more connecting states and not the Federal Government’s headache.
This kind of economic enhancement projects will not only be connecting the economic growth of the union of states, it will quickly enhance the unifying of peoples and cultures, while creating new opportunities in human capital, social order and economic growth.
Mr. President, if it takes a whole village to raise a child, what do you think it takes to raise a whole nation, especially one with over 200 million people? Let the people’s opinions count and stop listening to yourself by accepting only what your crowd is dishing to you. Sir, 95% of them are echoing you because they believe that is what you want to hear.
The truth is that Nigerians living in this nation are no longer merely suffering, they are dying from hunger and starvation. Do something urgently. Palliatives are not what they need. Give them back their lives and dignity.
RAHMAN OWOKONIRAN LIVES IN AND WRITES FROM LAGOS
