THOUGHTS ON NATION-BUILDING: If the disposable income of every Nigerian averages N150,000 monthly, people will think less of who becomes the President of the country, the Governor of their State or who becomes a Senator, House of Representative member or even a Local Government Chairman. Poverty is at the base of the reason why political offices are attractive. Corruption is also the brain-child of poverty. The highest paid Civil Servant in Nigeria cannot afford to build a decent house with his income legitimately except he indulges in corrupt acts. After working for 35 years, most people are scared that they would have nothing to show for it, so with government money under their control, they help themselves. In other organized nations, mortgage facilities are in place for the ordinary citizen to own a house and to repay the mortgage in say 25 to 30 years. With such a motivation, who would want to steal? And for what reason do you want to steal? People are stealing in Nigeria because nobody cares about their welfare. They rush for political positions because that is the avenue where the biggest loot is available. Two major issues confront us as we approach 2015... the unbridled desire to grab power and use it to personal gain and the inability of the opposition to convince Nigerians that they have a better growth plan. The first one is the reason why there is a huge clamor for power to move around each zone as if the zone that produces the leader eventually enjoys anything special. It is the antics of the politicians to make the led sentimental and get what they want. They harp on ignorance and poverty to make that happen. The second factor for 2015 is: what is the policy for the Nigerian people do the parties have to offer? This should influence voters to use their votes wisely. The wise use of votes is another factor which is influenced by poverty as some votes may be up for sale! A hungry man does not care about integrity. A man whose kids are starving thinks little about honesty because his primary purpose is to feed the kids which is also a legitimate activity. Those in authority now should do a serious balancing act and come up with a full proof system for voting and Nigerians should know henceforth that the leader who must lead aright shouldnt be consigned to a geo-political zone or ethnic group. If we are economically empowered, who cares where the President comes from?
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 08:13:07 +0000