According to the recently departed, literary icon, Prof Chinua Achebe (1982), “The problem with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.”To the renowned Nobel laureate, Professor Akinwande Wole Soyinka, the problem is that Nigeria is “like a quilt-work of allegiances (and) alliances.” To the eminent former Secretary to the Federal Government, Alhaji Shehu Musa, the problem is that “We need to improve on our resource management to be able to achieve eradication or even reduction of poverty level.” In my estimation, what is wrong with Nigeria is that poor leadership by past leaders which led to the problem of corruption. Corruption ranges from stealing to inflation of contracts. Corruption occurs when leadership fails in the management of resources and lacks the ability and courage to plug loopholes in the economy. Our country has been drowning in a sea of corruption and we urgently need men of goodwill, like you, to salvage our situation.
It is corruption when leaders take decisions on the basis of tribal sentiments, rather than common sense. It is corruption when projects are sited near the homes of those in authority and not in proximity to raw materials. It is corruption when a NAFDAC official tests a drug and certifies it as good because he has been financially compromised. The drug would, thereafter, become a menace to society and lead to the death of innocent citizens. It is corruption when a Custom official allows dangerous weapons to be smuggled into this country and such weapons are used to kill people. It is corruption when a contractor or government inflates a contract and forgets that whatever money government has it holds in trust for the citizenry. If we must achieve good governance, we must collectively fight and stop corruption.
Men and women in positions of influence in bodies such as anti-corruption and law-enforcement agencies should not use their positions to settle personal scores.
The man who banks Government money and denies the people the fruits of democracy (like it was done in a particular state) and ends up leaving billions in the bank is guilty of denying the people the dividends of democracy. Such a man would breed discontent and cause social problems like Boko Haram.
The world is revolving, the human race is thirsty for a change and Nigeria as a country is not an exception. Our great country is going through a phase of lack of faith in our future, its bedridden because of corruption. The effect of bad governance is affecting both the old and the young and would affect generations yet unborn if nothing is done about it. Security challenges have disrupted the economy of the country, oil theft and looting of national treasures is the killer of our country today! Hardship is still the song of the masses all because of bad governance.
Governance determines the wellbeing of a country; governance means the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of decision-making or leadership processes. In modern nation-states, these processes and systems are typically administered by a government. According to John Locke’s Social Contract Theory, it stipulates that governance is a social contract between the government and its citizen, It is therefore an important part of the social contract between the government and the citizenry.
Past and present governments in Nigeria are reluctant towards improving the situation of Nigerians because they know Nigerians will only complain and it ends there. I think is time for action.
The actions of past leaders and political strongholds and the new political thugs we have as leaders are beginning to bear fruits; the river state crisis, kidnapping, oil theft and most threatening Boko haram are all consequences of bad governance. All these political aftermath are beginning to scare everyone even the political oracle. But I believe in Nigeria! That one day these things we cry about would change.
Now the bells of revolution is ringing and is resounding strongly so youths of our great country wake up from your slumber and silence come and take up the mace of good governance and Nigeria would be a better place for us all. As youth you can start your role by deciding to campaign and vote for credible candidates into various political positions in the next coming election in 2015. Like any other group in Nigeria, our youth suffers not just from human condition in general but from very specific social arrangements and government policies. Implied from the foregoing is the incontrovertible truth that the situation of Nigerian youth is one that calls for political activity on the part of the victims – the youths.
For once let’s blame the youth for self inflicted apathy, cultivated timidity, paranoid fear, and criminal complacency for their situation. Today’s Nigerian youth are known for their almost traditional despair.
For them to create a better life, they must shake off the restrained spirit of compromise and conformity. They should shred the garment of stealth and silence. It is within the capacity of Nigerian youth to alter the political arrangements and government policies that work against them. Nigerian youth have become less politicized. They are not ready to commit themselves to political action either out of compassion or solidarity with their suffering. They seek to avoid the infliction of pain. They are painstakingly miserly in calculating the human costs of their political engagement with their oppressors.
These costs – real or imagined – are afflicted by overpowering anguish of cowardice, timidity, and shame. Nigerian youth should be reminded that they have the right to end their suffering by confronting the government. They must be prepared to accept the price of suffering that will have to be paid in overthrowing the status quo. They must be resolved to unleash the raw energy of youth in organizing not agonizing, in demanding what is legitimately due to them, in challenging and fighting the oppressive political system that is ruining their lives.
We complain that funds are unavailable and we second that claim with the imperfection of our financial market and financial system. So everyone folds his arms, waiting for the government to create jobs. Poverty consequently increased with unemployment. Now with all the resources at our disposal, we are the 28th poorest country in the world. To get out of this, we the youths should learn to take responsibilities. We should deliberately plan to make our economy self-sustaining. It has relied on foreign aid for too long. Nigerian youth should become committed to developing the various sectors of our economy according to our expertise or interest.
For those of us who are informed or inclined to commerce and industry, we should make good use of the credit facilities available for the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises to start some businesses. We should identify some need in our various environments and fill those needs by the establishment of small businesses. This is a good way out of the problem posed by the grossly imperfect financial or banking system we face. We should understand also that some big multinational companies respected all over the world now either once started as single-unit small scale firms or recovered from a major setback that nearly put them out of the market. And even if our established business ventures do not become multinational, they would have helped to reduce unemployment.
Still on the economy, another lucrative sector Nigerian youth may as well give consideration is the agricultural sector. Though it is seen to be a reserved field for the aged and rural dwellers, agriculture is best handled by the youths who have technical skills on production of various crops, and who can efficiently adopt mechanized techniques that will on the one hand reduce unemployment and on the other hand increase food production and also provide raw materials for our industries and create an avenue for expansion. As we speak, Nigeria spends a very good part of our national income on food importation and this constitutes a burden on our balance of payment status. Increase in agricultural output will help improve our balance of trade and help maintain price stability of agricultural products at the national level.
If I may leave Nigerian youths with a final piece of advice: We have always heard people call us leaders of tomorrow. But we can’t just fold our hands today doing nothing and expect to be leaders when tomorrow comes. If our attitude and culture is not that which always wants to make things better than we met them, if we will not always want to be responsible for our actions, if all we do is to sit idly and blame others over why things are not working on others, if we keep destroying our own world and holding the government responsible, I am afraid a day will come when the government will go and the future will come; those who are called the leaders of tomorrow will become the worst of subservient followers. But if we do our best, if we contribute all we can to the development of this great country, if we make the economy grow with our democracy and we selflessly serve our country with love, strength and faith, the day will come when we will not only be the leaders of tomorrow, but we will be leaders of a leading country of the world. And all that will be left to be said of poverty and hunger, illiteracy, unemployment and diseases in our country is that they once existed.
Written by Barrister Alero Eyetsemitan
