This is a Must Read : saharareporters/article/arise-o-cowards-nigerias-call-obey-nwike-s-ojukwu Some paragraphs from the article: The same Nigerian who pushed and pulled to get on the airplane at Lagos or Abuja or any other airport in Nigeria knows orderly conduct when he or she arrives in New York, London, or Amsterdam. The same Nigerian, whose luggage would not be subjected to a search in our airports because he or she is “Oga or Oga’s wife”, would humbly submit the same luggage for a search outside the country. The same Nigerian who would employ the services of touts rather than stand in a queue with “bloody citizens” because of his or her perceived status would form a queue outside our shores to receive services. You wonder if there is something wrong with our soil or the air we breathe in this part of the world. My theory is that there is nothing wrong with us except that our system conditioned the way we react. Therefore, you find a Nigerian behaving differently as soon as he arrives in the country because our system does not accommodate civility. I have taken several written tests in the United States without sweat. When I walk into a test venue, the proctors have already placed my information on my desk against my number. All I do is sit down quietly, take my test, and walk away without stress. We can replicate the same thing in Nigeria if we are serious. It does not take rocket science to do something right, and a candidate does not have go through unnecessary hoops to take a test. . But, if we continue to be hoodwinked into believing in an unreasonable nexus between hardship and benefit, we will never make progress. At the Nigerian law school (NLS), it dawned on me that Nigerians could perform their duties with pride and excellence. From the time you arrived for registration to when the lectures start, you would almost pinch your skin in incredulity at the effectiveness of the staff at NLS. My experience there informed my conviction that human beings are the same the world over because it demonstrated that Nigerians could actually make a difference in their jobs. The quality of services and the dedication of their staff are unrivalled with anything that I have experienced anywhere in Nigeria and you wondered if you were in Nigeria or in some other country. During registration for instance, you were sure that the staff would not leave until the last person on the queue was served. Anyone that has been to the NLS will accede to my experience. As we mourn this national tragedy, let us pause to reflect on our relationship with our government and understand that we are expendable. Let us acknowledge that our current situation as citizens of Nigeria leaves much to be desired. We must come to the realization that our future is in our hands to create-- to find ways and means to take back what belongs to us. Minister Moro and his staff may have bungled this exercise, but their mistake has exposed a fundamental crack in our structure and we would be doing ourselves a disservice by dwelling on their condemnation and miss the opportunity that the time presents. The unemployment situation in the country is a matter of life and death. If you are in possession of a college certificate without a job, you are a walking corpse, a useless channel, and a tintinnabulation. If you have not been put to work, no one can assess your worth. The children of the connected and well-heeled do not take these tests in a sports stadium, neither are they exposed to such a humiliation....... That said; let us quit condemning the immigration service (NIS). Our problem is systemic. What we saw on that fateful day is the encapsulation of several things gone wrong, a failure of governance. In Nigeria, the government is the primary employer of labor. This ought not to be so. The private sector is the hub that runs the economy of a country. In our case however, the private sector is comatose and we are paying dearly for it. The private sector could explode by the provision of an enabling environment by legislative acts--making laws that guarantee stability and predictability in the market place. This calls for a transparent civil service, access to capital, free press, responsible law enforcement, and an independent judiciary. This may sound like a tall order, but that is what it will take to create such an environment. This essay is not about unemployment in Nigeria, but a challenge to Nigerian youths to take their destiny in their own hands and quit being cowards. The number of youths that thronged the different centers for the immigration screening is enough to send shock waves down the spine of any government if they took to the streets to demand for better treatment. Government is effective to the extent that it commands the respect of the people. A government collapses when the people can say no to certain actions of government. The job of rebuilding Nigeria requires the effort of all Nigerians, the church, mosques, lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, bricklayers, painters, hawkers, unions, etc. Indeed Antonio Gramsci’s civil society that could bring about a social change could be ignited in Nigeria.... Human life becomes meaningful and fulfilling when it is tied to a cause. The Sani Abacha’s government killed Ken Saro Wiwa because he dared to challenge the environmental degradation of his homeland by the multinational oil companies. Nevertheless, his spirit resurrected at the U.S Supreme Court in the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co decided in April 2013 under the Alien Torts Statute (ATS). Indeed his spirit is alive within the international environmental rights community as well as the indigenous peoples. It is better to live a life documented in the main text of a book than to be a footnote on the fringes. Death is an inevitable end. If we must die, let it not be on the queues for job screenings or to receive government’s handouts. Let us be felled in our efforts to create a better life for our children, to build a nation that we never had. If we desire a society that guarantees opportunity for all, we must be ready to pay the ultimate price. Until then, we will continue to be objects at the disposal of the predators because we are cowards who have refused to challenge our stations in life.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:04:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015