Nigeria At 64: Harvest of Despondency, Hunger and Poverty, by Richard Odusanya

In preparation for the 64th Independence Anniversary, the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, had in September unveiled a new ‘national unity fabric’ as part of her Renewed Hope Initiative (apparently, the yin to the yang that is Renewed Hope Agenda). This fabric, we gather, will be worn across the country for the Independence Day celebrations on October 1st. According to the First Lady, the fabric is a symbol of national unity. 

While the First Lady is preoccupied with her ‘national unity fabric’, Nigerians, especially youths, are perfecting plans to take to the streets on October 1st in protest to demand good governance, an end to hunger, poverty, bad policies, corruption and insecurity in the country. Same country, different realities! This unsettling juxtaposition of realities leaves us with two vital questions: As we turn 64 as a nation on the 1st of October, what are we really celebrating? Does the First Lady, her husband, the President, and members of his government live in a different country? 

Over the years, Nigeria leaders seem to valiantly try to outdo one another when it comes to misrule and wanton inhumanity. The immediate past administration of Muhammadu Buhari and the current administration of Bola Tinubu undoubtedly have surpassed the entire pack in this vile contest. And yet every October 1st the government spend millions, if not billions of naira celebrating our independence. 

Interestingly, the First Lady has succeeded in adding a new exciting element to this year’s celebrations- a new ‘national unity fabric’. Yes! To the First Lady, what we need the most right now is some fabric that will magically unite us all. 

The signs that Nigeria is headed for the rocks have always been there, but in our characteristic fashion, we have always only prayed and wished and hoped things would get better. The deliberate effort to keep power within the circle of a select few while the rest of the polulace perish did not begin today. In fact, some argue that it is precisely the basis upon which Nigeria was built. The profound words of Alice O’Connor, better known by her nom de plume, Ayn Rand, beautifully captures the Nigerian situation: ‘When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion–when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing–when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors–when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you–when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice–you may know that your society is doomed.’ 

The above assertion seems tailor-made for Nigeria. Yet, we obstinately cling to false hope and refuse to accept that we might truly be doomed. This singular assertion defines Nigeria aptly more than all our symbols of national identity put together.

Bad leadership has always been the bane of Nigeria, but the Tinubu-led administration have raised the bar, unleashing a whole new level of hardship, pain, hunger and poverty on Nigerians. But, in a way, it was expected. Nothing positive should be expected of a man whose aspiration to lead was based solely on the inane, vindictive premise that it was his turn. And through his many anti-people and ill-conceived policies, it has become abundantly clear that Bola Tinubu meticulously planned how to grab power but did little or no planning at all on governance. Perhaps the plan was to have no plan at all or to run Nigeria like a criminal enterprise until it is completely run aground. 

And Nigerians are helpless just as they are hopeless. This administration has proven that contrary to what we all believe, power belongs to those in power and not the people. Nigerian leaders have perfected the art of forcing themselves on the people irrespective of what happens at the polls. It is against this backdrop that Chinua Achebe posited in There Was a Country that ‘The question of choice in selecting a leader in Nigeria is often an academic exercise due to the election rigging, violence and intimidation of the general public, particularly by those in power…’ Sadly, this already complex problem has taken a new twist. The courts might soon outrightly replace the electoral umpire as after each election, politicians run to the judges to help them reclaim their stolen mandate which, it should be noted they actually originally stole from the people.

Today, we live in a nation where those who try to protest or question or criticise the government are slammed with charges of treason and thrown behind bars. That is our reality. One might be tempted to ask how our leaders became so daring and reckless. Well, we lent them a helping hand by living in denial, selling our votes (and by implication, our feature) for peanuts, believing in their endless lies and ultimately adapting and surviving instead of revolting when we are dehumanized and afflicted. 

Meanwhile, we effectively told our leaders to carry go! And Bola Tinubu has proven to be the leader who comprehended the message the most. It is evident in his modus operandi and policies. Everything about Bola Tinubu’s government reek of indifference and defiance. The people and their expectations and demand for good governance count for nothing. 

Suffice it to say that, it is on record, that the present gladiators ground their way to power with the promise of renewed hope but despondency is all you see in the eyes and gait of the people on the street. The devaluation of the Naira has yielded nothing but economy wreckage just as the ill-conceived removal of fuel subsidy and inexplicably electricity hike and other forms of cut-throat taxation have plunged the economy into a nosedive. However, the president and his team of ‘experts’ insist that we are headed in the right direction. Recently, former President Olusegun Obasanjo posited that ‘If you look clinically at the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanor and criminal misconduct.’ Some might not like the messenger, but the message cannot be disputed. 

At its core, Bola Tinubu’s team of ‘experts’ have in it people that can only be referred to as unsavory characters, to say the least. It is only God in his infinite wisdom that knows how Bello Matawala, a man who stands accused of not just sponsoring terrorism but also allegedly being a terrorist himself is the Defence Minister. The president can reshuffle or scramble his ministers and team of ‘experts’ all he wants but roses will never grow on concrete. As long as the ruling party continues to be a safe haven for politicians who should be in jail, things will get even worse. 

At 64, Nigeria has come of age, and Nigerians too have also come of age. And with age comes the inevitable acceptance of truth. At this stage, we must start seeing things exactly they way they are and quit living in denial and false hope. The time has come for Nigerians to wake up and take back their Nation from men who should have no business being leaders. Sadly, taking back Nigeria via the pools is no longer viable and we are running out of peaceful options through which Nigeria can be redeemed. As Nigeria is beset by insecurity, poverty, hunger and economic hardship, what is there to celebrating on the 1st of October? The earlier we all agree that this man is running an I-Before-Others leadership style, the better for our health and peace of mind. 

In conclusion, permit me to share with you part of the lecture delivered some decades ago by Dr. Segun Osoba (as he then was). Osoba remarked thus: ‘Our nation is in the grips of a serious moral crisis and value disorientation. We live in an age when our consciences have become so blunted and de-sensitized by the greed for personal wealth and power that the suffering of millions of our compatriots do not move us.’

Osoba, continued: ‘Millions of Nigerians, even in the best of times, are undernourished, are ill without the hope of receiving healthcare of any description, live in intolerable conditions of squalor and degradation (sometimes sharing the same living room with their goats, chickens, and dogs!) while a handful of us enjoy scandalous opulence and luxury. What is even more pathetic is that our highly-remunerated, high-living, well-housed, over-fed, and over-dressed elites are so lacking in modesty and basic human decency that they flaunt their prosperity in an unblushing manner before the masses of our poor compatriots – the wretched of the earth – who, ultimately, pay the bills for our elite extravagance and criminal exhibitionism. We sublimate our moral poverty and degeneracy in consumer culture, like a psychologically-disturbed person who tries to drown his mental crisis in a sea of alcohol.’ I daresay, that, the lecture delivered many years ago is sufficiently gaining ground and profoundly philosophical!

Finally, While issues of DESPONDENCY, HUNGER and POVERTY persist, there is no true FREEDOM. In the words of Sonny Okosun, of blessed memory, a Nigerian musician, who was known as the leader of the Ozzidi band: ‘Freedom is now a medal, we got to win it or loss it forever.’ Nigeria has officially been designated POVERTY capital of the world. Families are going through excruciating pain, paying the price of cluelessness, nepotism, favouritism, plundering of resources, squandering of riches and corruption. History and posterity will not be kind to those who benefit from the rot.

Richard Odusanya

odusanyagold@gmail.com