Nigeria @ 64 – Take a good look!

One of his best-known songs of legendary Jamaican musical icon Jimmy Cliff was titled “Take a look to yourself”. It started with the words, “When you look in the mirror, tell me what do you see, is it who you think you are or who you would like to be”. Later he goes on to say “When you’re feeling down and out, take a look at yourself my friend, and if you’re still in doubt take another look at yourself again”.

As Nigeria celebrates its 64 years of independence, it’s long past time for citizens to take a good look at the nation and indeed themselves! The broken dreams of our founding fathers are epitomised by today’s “japa” syndrome in which citizens proudly celebrate their “escape” from Nigeria and relocation overseas.

Sixty-four years after independence, there is no denying that things have never been as bad. Nigerians are demonstrably unhappy with the nation’s regression over the years. All the sacrifices and loss of lives occasioned by the civil war, several military coups, the 1990’s pro-democracy movement and various civil rights demonstrations have only resulted in the nationwide suffering being experienced today.

Undoubtedly, there is a need for government to revamp the economy, create jobs, guarantee security and govern constitutionally, but these are things which must be well-planned and not simply rushed as a reaction to protest. Of course, protests are beneficial to remind leaders that government is supposed to serve the interests of citizens not the other way around.

There are those who quite incomprehensively state that it’s “sacrilegious” to pick Oct 1 Independence Day for protests because in their opinion it amounts to “a desecration of our values of freedom” and an assault on all the struggles of our founding fathers. This of course is sheer bunkum! The biggest assault on the struggles of the founding fathers is the socio-economic mess the nation finds itself in today.

The main reason why the broken dreams of the founding fathers were broken is because those who have been in charge over the years really lacked the qualities of compassionate leadership and had no idea where they were taking us to! After 64 years of self-rule we are in the grip of a serious moral crisis and value disorientation. The consciences of political leaders have been blunted and desensitized through greed for personal wealth and power. Worse still those responsible for the mess are now hailed as “elder statesmen”!

Even as citizens voice their frustration over their ever-worsening plight, and gear up for another round of protests, the nation is yet to agree on the most basic matter which concerns institutionalising the most appropriate form of government.

Legislators are currently divided over a proposed bill to re-instate regional government, which should be a non-starter. In truth, if people-oriented governance was in place and functioning properly, there would be no calls for regionalism. Time and money should not be wasted contemplating any bill seeking to abolish state and local governments, establish regional electoral commissions, and grant regional governments the right to configure the local governance of their region.

Not only will any of this change the greed-oriented mindset of Nigerian politicians, but the current constitution stipulates how it should be amended. This cannot be achieved through an Executive Bill. Section 9 of the document states that amendments can only be made if they are supported by two-thirds of members of each chamber of the National Assembly, and further approved by a resolution of a least two-thirds of all the State Houses of Assembly.

Supporters of regional government believe it would enhance the economy, tackle insecurity and accelerate infrastructure development. The very idea that each region should control its economy and simply contribute to the running of the federation is selfish and founded on the mistaken belief that decentralising power would reduce corruption and encourage accountability at the local level. It seems oblivious to the fact that there is no law which effectively addresses corruption.

The most important thing in governance is transparency, equity, justice and accountability, not administrative structure. Regrettably, with history no longer being compulsory in the educational system, the majority of Nigerian youths have little knowledge of what happened in the past that caused the nation to descend into a mess after independence.

There is no reason to believe that a return to regional governance will instill the much-needed moral and ethical values absent in our political officeholders. The lack of these values is the reason why, even as the majority of Nigerians are experiencing hunger and unprecedented financial deprivations, political officeholders remain unbothered, unashamedly looting the treasury and living lives of unjustifiable luxury at public expense.

Across the country, many people sincerely believe that those occupying political office don’t know what they are doing and that things aren’t about to get better anytime soon. Another of the aforementioned Jimmy Cliff’s great songs was titled “I Can See Clearly Now”. The lyrics are “I can see clearly now that the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way, gone are the dark clouds that made me blind, it’s going to be a bright, bright sunshiny day!”

After 64 years of independence, Nigerians look forward to the day when the nation will be governed properly so they can look in the mirror and sing those words!