MR. PRESIDENT, NIGERIANS ARE SUFFERING Before I begin this piece, let me make a useful digression that my thoughts today should not be misconstrued as pandering to partisan politics in the run-up to the 2015 elections. A clarification such as this is necessary because in recent times, it has become difficult to criticise political leaders and their policies without one being stereotyped as a hater or a tool in the hand of the “opposition”. Even in the face of glaring facts portraying dismal economic and social realities confronting Nigerians at all levels of governance, the characteristic response has been to hurl ethnic and religious slurs at other Nigerians. Myopic response to honest criticisms often makes me ask how and when our country came to this sorry pass that citizens can no longer offer honest suggestions without us being labelled as either a hater of President Goodluck Jonathan’s ethnic background or his person. How quick have these sycophants forgotten that Jonathan became the president in 2011 through the votes and support of those being harangued as his detractors today? How can our country develop when public debate is drowned in primordial ethnic and religious sentiments? How can citizens contribute to national development when their suggestions are thought as influenced by sectional consideration? I hope our country gets back to the path of sanity soon. That is why I am addressing this piece directly to the President. To repeat one simple undeniable fact that in spite of the propaganda and deliberate distortion of facts, more Nigerians are living in poverty today than in 2011. Mr. President, forget the feel-good, chest-thumping Nigeria-is-the-largest-economy-in-Africa rhetoric; ignore the Breton Wood statistics by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Also, forget about the number of privileged Nigerians who have acquired private jets in recent years. Those statistics do not reflect the harsh living conditions of ordinary Nigerians. The fact of the matter is that Nigerians are suffering. But it should not have been this way. We have come to this situation because your administration has often disregarded honest criticisms that would have averted the present disastrous economic and social realities occasioned by massive corruption, soaring unemployment, growing insecurity, a divided nation and bleak economic outlook. How can the government expect ordinary Nigerians to bear the brunt of its profligacy when despite repeated calls it has failed to cut back on its ostentatious use of public money? We are told to tighten our belts yet officials of your administration, as well as governors and the leadership of the National Assembly are not giving up any of their wasteful paraphernalia as we battle dwindling revenues, retaining extra-large convoys and travel teams, and flying private jets and first class with public money while your government says the nation must accept cutbacks to counter the oil crisis. How can our country continue in a situation where a few officials of your government and their cronies live large while more than 100 millions Nigerians, according to the World Bank, live in poverty? Now, can your government expect Nigerians to live with the consequences of their recklessness? Since the beginning of your administration, our country has continued to experience the gradual depletion of our foreign reserves. In spite of calls by all well-meaning Nigerians that the government should cut back on its recurrent expenditure, the government keeps budgeting for frivolous projects with officials living as if there is no tomorrow. In recent years too, both local and international reports have warned of dire consequences if government does not take pragmatic decision on the economy and invest in projects that will improve on the lives of Nigerians. The government has either branded these indices as political. For example, Madam Okonjo-Iweala is living in denial of how corruption has continued to thwart her economic policy decisions. I have no doubt that the minister meant well but how she has failed to realise that corruption will always be a drain pipe beats the imagination. Meanwhile, the government keeps bandying bogus economic statistics to hoodwink Nigerians that everything is ok. Now, Nigerians have seen that for us to move beyond our predicament, government at all levels must change their wasteful disposition to governance. The power sector has not fared better. How can our country not have steady and regular power in 16 years? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo wasted the opportunity. The saga has continued in the current administration. What we get are excuses. After five years of being in the saddle, our country is still grappling with irregular power supply. What assurances do we have that power will be stable in the next four years? The power generation capacity has been greatly affected by the lack of leadership to steer the power sector reform to a productive conclusion. Sadly, the country even generates lower capacity than in 2011. Nigerians are suffering for lack of electricity. Their social and economic lives have been put on hold. The power situation affects virtually all areas of our lives. The surging unemployment rate is the direct outcome of the dismal power situation. A large population of Nigerians in the informal sector who are artisans and small business owners cannot get electricity to power their businesses. Industries are spending more on power generation. For the first time in our nation’s history, unemployment figures continue to hit record high. Certainly, Nigerians cannot continue this way. Yet, we wallow in vainglory of being the biggest economy in Africa. The Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and other security challenges in other parts of Nigeria are making life unsafe. The government seems at a loss on how to put a stop to the sect’s bloody campaign. What is even scary is that there is no road map on how to end the terror war. Nigerians are being told that terrorism is a global phenomenon. So, they should be content with being maimed and getting killed. It has become normal for schools to be attacked, for schoolboys and girls to be raped and abducted, entire villages attacked with millions of people displaced. Certainly, our country cannot continue this way. The government must realise that it exists for the majority of the people and not for a few individuals. My message to Nigerians at Christmas is that as we elect new leaders in 2015, we must ensure our votes count to end this regime of impunity, poverty, corruption and insecurity. Merry Christmas everyone. Culled from Punch Newspaper.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:12:09 +0000
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