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State of the Nation

February 20, 2009
 Americans are usually informed about their nation when the President addresses the congress via the ‘state of the union” address and this has been an annual tradition (usually occurs in January) so much so that at any point in time most Americans know how well they are fairing as a nation. This has to a large extent shaped the confidence of Americans in their leaders and nation to the extent that they are not kept in the dark on vital issues affecting or that might affect them as a nation.

In Nigeria even those in government have no qualms in revealing that they have no idea on the state of Nigeria or in which direction the nation is heading. As long as their salaries keep coming at the end of the month and they can dip their filthy hands in the coffers of the state they, believe the Nation is heading towards the right path.


Two years down(the drain) our government is like a ship lost at the high sea with no rudder and no compass with the captain telling all those who care to listen that at least he has a map(seven point agenda).As far as the people on the ship are concerned the rudder and compass are vital for direction and to enable them chart a course but the Captain could care less for in his opinion(albeit misguided)knowing where they ought to be, as stated on the map is far more important than how to get there and therein lies the dilemma of Nigeria.

We have heard so much of the seven point agenda, and so much money has been thrown into informing Nigerians of the agenda that some government officials even claim that the drawing up of the seven point agenda is one of the major achievements of the present government

The whole economy is in shambles and the government is busy playing the ostrich, pretending that the economy is been adequately managed. Most companies operating in Nigeria are considering relocating to Ghana while a couple have actually moved shop. What’s the attraction in Ghana? Obviously it’s the stable electricity power supply and relatively crime free environment. The roads in Nigeria are so bad that top government officials have abandoned their jeeps and started flying with official jets and helicopters leaving lesser mortals to gamble with their lives on death traps they called highways. The sad irony is that many of our so called leaders own personal houses in Ghana and spend their weekends there with their family.   

Daily, factories are closing shop in Nigeria owing to the harsh operating environment. These closures obviously translate to job loss for millions of Nigerians. This picture is better depicted with the fact that a couple of years back over a 100 textile factories were operating in Nigeria, as at today those still in operation are less than five. The much talked about textile factories bail out has remained a mirage despite the huge benefits to be derived from the bail out.

While nations are working out concrete measures to rescue their people and industry from the global meltdown our response is to reduce the price of kerosene and diesel. This decision going by the snail speed at which this government responds and implements decision is likely to take effect by the end of the year. Quite often the government surprises us by coming out with a policy statement that people believe will help us as a nation but in the end it’s all talk, no action.Take the much talked about declaration of state of emergency in the energy sector and bail out of textile factory, over two years we are still talking!

Now we are talking of pay cut for political office holders, pray do tell me, how many political office holders depend on their salary? It would have made more sense if the government had decided to cut back expenses on entertainment, travels, and political patronage! No, they intend to hoodwink us into believing they are sensitive to the plight of the masses with a pay cut that won’t even create a dent in their pocket. By the way does anybody know the percentage of the cut and when it’s due to take effect? Or is still part of the all talk, no action policy of the government.

It took the government two years to come up and enunciate the seven point agenda, its going to take another two to process and come up with the best method to address and tackle the agenda. By this time the four year tenure will be up and they will be “advising” us to re-elect them to enable them implement the seven point agenda.

In all spheres and sectors the nation is going down the drain. The fight against corruption is now a joke. Foreign donors have withheld their grants to the Economic and financial crime commission (EFCC) and the agency could care less as they allow corrupt government officials continue to walk away with only a slap on the wrist to go and enjoy their loot. When you are in government, crime pays, if you don’t believe this ask the EFCC.

As the people continue to suffer under a harsh economic environment, as politicians and businessmen continue to seek the hand of the President’s daughters for marriage (fastest way to secure your political and business future), as other nations with sane and proactive leadership take steps to help their people through the global melt down, we can only hope that Mr. President will take the pains to tell us what is going on and we pray that when the time comes he wont tell us that he has no idea as to the direction the Nigerian ship is sailing. As a nation are we moving forward or because of the type of leaders we have, we have reached a stage that can best be described as “threading water” a process exemplified by a lot of activity/action but no progress!

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