Adieu the year of our lord 2009 and welcome to 2010 the beginning of a new decade. Fellow Nigerians it is that time of the year again when we are saddled with the responsibility of performing the yearly ritual of making new year resolutions and building our expectations of what the new year should have in stock for us individually first and as a nation. But what appears to be the mind of a lot Nigerians now in my opinion, should be why bother to have any expectations or make new year resolutions?
; The answer is not far fetched, simply put it is because the only thing that has remained certain in Nigeria in the last couple of
years is Uncertainty in every sphere of our lives.
As God in his infinite mercies has not bestowed any mortal with the power to suspend or put on hold the dawn of a new day or a new year, in the spirit of the joy, peace and love that comes with this yuletide season of the year, we wait with open arms to usher in the new year and all its promises; the imperfections of 2009 notwithstanding.
A cursory look at the year 2009 shows it started on a good note with promises of righting the wrongs of the previous years. Ironically, the hallmark of year 2009 are broken promises, protracted strikes and closure of our higher institutions of learning, high rates of inflation, massive retrenchment exercise in the banking sector, a fallout of the tsunami that hit the nation’s financial sector; long fuel queues emanating from governments resuscitation of the clichéd argument about removal of subsidy on petroleum products and the planned deregulation of the downstream oil sector, religious unrests that claimed hundreds of lives in Borno and most recently Bauchi. Massive infrastructural decay like our poor road network nationwide that has turned our roads into death trap, a booming generator industry, Political violence, to mention but a few.
The above scenario has necessitated the need to take a holistic look at what can be aptly termed our past; how did we get to this state as a nation, the present; how do we manage this unpleasant realities around us, and the future; how do we nip these in the bud and make a clean break from these uncertainties so that the future years will deliver on their promises.
The following will illustrate what can lead to a recovery, which will then affect the object of our collective aspiration as a people. This story is about a student who is eager to understand the inner (subjective) workings of life as it affects his outer (objective) life. After much pain, he finally found the teacher:
Student: How can I be a better person in all I do?
Teacher: By being the best you can in whatever you do.
Student: I have always done that.
Teacher: Your surroundings and everything around you say the opposite.
Student: Please sir, break it down to my level.
Teacher: What you are within reflect in the outside.
Student: You mean all this confusion and lawless behavior is a reflection who I am?
Teacher: It’s your Consciousness my son.
Student: What do I do then?
Teacher: Break all the laws, never break the one you have made for yourself.
Student: You are supporting anarchy, you a 419 teacher and must be arrested.
Teacher: Think my son, gold is never given to a swine.
Student: How dare you call me swine! Do you know who I am?
Teacher: Your ego is your problem.
Student: You have lost your sanity. I will make sure you are admitted at psychiatric hospital in Rumuigbo.
Teacher: This brazen attitude is what has brought you where you are, you only listen to yourself and lack the discipline to act.
Student: Listen to you demon! Get out of my sight!
Teacher: Time will tell who really the demon is.
Student: No-- time will speak, you are an anarchist. You recommend I disrespect our laws.
Teacher: You will grow, learn and understand.
Student: I learn nothing.
Teacher: Laws are laws. If you keep your own law you can never break your country laws. It’s as simple as that boy.
Student: You call me boy! I don suffer.
Teacher: You think like a boy despite the fact that you are fifty years old that makes you a boy.
Student: OK! Since you no longer support anarchy I will listen.
Teacher: You don’t give what you don’t have.
Student: Please talk more.
Teacher: That is all for now. Act from within, your life will change.
The message in the above piece is that for us to have the desired change come 2010 there must be a paradigm shift in all aspect of our lives as citizens and as a polity. W must be willing and ready to embrace positive attitudinal changes in our day to day existence. The need for respect of our laws by both the ruling class and those being governed cannot be over-emphasised. And discipline for individuals and for public offices by public office holders must be seen as part of our core value in the new dispensation.
Transparency and accountability must be the watchword for our political class, who should purge themselves of the age long tradition of using public fund for personal aggrandisement Most importantly the ruling class must make a commitment to develop our infrastructures , so that never again will our leaders spend money travelling abroad for routine medical checkups and most importantly for us to have institutions of learning where the ruling class will feel comfortable enough to send their children, rather than sending them to school faraway from home at very critical stages their lives without parental guidance and check, leaving them vulnerable.
The history of our country shows that the turn of a decade has always held a promise. In 1960 (independence) 1970 (end of civil war) 1980(Civil rule) 1990(Oil revenue increase) 2000 (another spike in crude prices). However, the promise of better and prosperous new year/decade depends on the various actors on our stage and the role they choose to play. However, the failure of past decades to deliver on their promises and all the opportunities we missed were as a result of not knowing who we truly are as a people and our inability to find strength in our diversity. Rather, we projected the weakness; greed, tribal sentiments, religious intolerance, corruption, indiscipline and all the vices that have marred us as a nation.
Despite the bleak outlook of the moment, hope is not lost of a better tomorrow. The dawn of a new era where there will be social justice , where the masses and the voting class can demand accountability from the ruling class without rancour, where political parties will shun selection for election, where the dividends of democracy will tickle down to the poor masses and were education will no longer be the exclusive preserve of the children of the rich , where every Nigerian live will be sacrosanct, where we will have not to be judge by the language we speak, or the geographical location of our birth, but by our ability to deliver on our promises, will be a ticket be in Public office. It will definitely come
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A PROSPEROUS DECADE
Regards
PETER ESELE,
President, Trade Union Congress.
Former President Pengassan
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