My Dear Son,
I write you with great pleasure as it has become tradition for me to do at this time every year when our country commemorates the end of colonial rule. I will also respond to some of the issues you were most concerned about in your previous letter.
My Dear Son,
I write you with great pleasure as it has become tradition for me to do at this time every year when our country commemorates the end of colonial rule. I will also respond to some of the issues you were most concerned about in your previous letter.
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As you know, this is the 53rd independence anniversary. If our country were a human being, its journey would have been closer to an end than its beginning. The President says the celebrations this year would be ‘low keyed’, by that he means that the anniversary will not cost our treasury as much as previous ones. But I think this is merely the calm before the storm. I hear that the celebration would be gigantic next year when Nigeria would have been 100 years- counting from the year the colonial adventurer Lord Luggard amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates. I hear that so big are the plans that our government has ordered customized gold plated phones each worth close to a million naira! I know it is alarming given the state of our economy. But the president recently said our country is rich enough.
He debunked rumors by members of the opposition insinuating that Nigeria is broke. I confess that I am however unsettled about the manner the economy is being run. If our economy is healthy, why are we still borrowing from international creditors? Would you believe me that after the celebrated exit from the Paris Club of creditors in 2006, our country’s debt is fast accumulating again? Quite troubling indeed. They say there is no problem with these new loans since they are ‘concessionary”. What this actually means is that we would be allowed a period of up to 40 years to repay. Please tell me where this President and Minister of Finance will be in the next 40 years? I have the feeling that someday, you my son and your generation will be made to repay.
I do sincerely hope that your studies are progressing well; I saw the copy of your thesis you sent to me, your mother and I were so proud! I can’t help but feel sorry for your friend Victor, who attends a University in Nigeria. He has been at home for months now. His lecturers are on strike because the government says they cannot implement a set of demand which the freely agreed to. It is now a deadlock. University education in Nigeria has officially come to an end. Personally I think our country can afford to fix education. I believe the major hindrance has been official corruption which has assumed alarming proportions. Every position in government, from the lowest to the highest is seen as an opportunity to enrich. It has even eaten deep into our culture. If you hold a public office, the expectation is that you must do something for your ‘people’. It doesn’t matter how you get the money.
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There is this particular corruption scandal concerning sale of oil fields, this one stinks right up to the highest levels of government in Nigeria. Maybe it is safe to say that corruption is either part of our national culture, or it has become a national pastime. I know this sounds unbelievable, but do you recollect those heavy demonstrations in early January 2012 about fuel subsidy? Investigations upon investigations followed. At the end, massive fraud worth trillions of Naira was traced to the high and mighty including NNPC. As usual the furor was unbelievable. However, more than a year after, not one person has gone to jail. In fact, a member of the National Assembly tasked with chairing one such investigation committee saw it as an opportunity to accumulate bribes. He approached an oil dealer demanding settlement otherwise he would be indicted. His adventure was captured on video, as he stuffed wads of dollars into his pocket and hat! Up till now, he still sits in the National Assembly as a legislator making laws for our country.
Talking about the National Assembly my son, the situation is gory. Would you believe that our legislators are some of the highest paid in the world? True. They even earn higher than the president of the United States! It has been revealed that they allocated to themselves salaries and allowance of between 300 and 400 million naira in a month, in a country where 70 percent of the population still live on less than one dollar or 155 naira a day. The raving poverty in the country is of no concern to them. What has busied them of late is establishing that a nine year old female child is old enough to get married.
Before I forget, let me thank you for that 3 KVA generator you sent last months, that is a genuine Yamaha! I am sure it will last at least 3 more years. You know we have to plan ahead, nothing seems to be changing in the power sector, and even the highest government officials have credited the problem in the power sector to the devil. I know what you will say; ‘didn’t I say power had improved late last year’? You are right, there was better electricity supply for a while, I have only just learnt that it was as a result of flood water into the hydro dams. The government claimed it was part of their transformation agenda. When the same floods devastated parts of the country, they said it was an act of God! Unfortunately, we are back to where we started. I haven’t had power for close to a week. When it comes, the current is worse than candle light. The only thing effective about the power sector is the alacrity with which they come demanding for payment for the darkness they provide. The charge we have to pay has increased over 500 times since the ‘transformation’ in the power sector began.
Let me not bore you with this sad situation report. To some cheery news! Year mother and I have decided to fully celebrate this independence anniversary. We will paint this city green! I only wish we could go back to the city of our youth. Unfortunately, going to those parts is a death wish. An armed sect declaring education as evil, has taken over most of that region. The army seems to have no grasp of the situation, even the president recently said he has no idea if the sect’s leader is dead or alive. Severally, the armed forces have declared the guy dead only for him to return with a ferocity. In the last two years, the sect has been on killing and bombing spree. Thousands have died, and from the body language of the president and the armed forces he commands, it seems thousands more will die. There is simply no end to the bloodletting.
Since you left for studies, Nigeria has evolved into a major terrorist destination, we have declined steadily on the global corruption index, our cities have been rated as some of the worst places for human habitation on earth, life expectancy has deteriorated, poverty has increased, the naira buys less in the market, the roads have not improved, the security situation is worse and our leadership is terribly inefficient.
Dear son, our country has fared so badly that there are people who think that we were better off as colonial subjects. Though I refuse to agree, I understand their sentiments. As a country and as a people, we haven’t fared well. The cracks and divisions of ethnicity and religion are the major drivers of our politics, and have pushed the country to the brink of collapse. Even the Americans have ‘prophesied’ that this house will soon collapse.
You asked if I think you should return home at this time. As a father to a son, I will say you have two options; if you choose to return, be ready to join the growing struggle for a better country. Otherwise, I strongly advise that you remain where you are and make a life. I have made my choice; I have chosen to fight. This country will thrive!
Happy Independence Anniversary!
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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