The conscience of the nation is deeply in tattered, heart bleeds and eyes flowing tears across the divides as we take a look and reflection of the situation our beloved country is subjected to as a result of our own makings. Our fortunes are daily dwindling, our proud status of a giant in the continent vanishing and the populace languish in poverty beyond the level of survival. The institutions of governance and leadership are crumbling below digression, helms of affairs lacking the right antidote to deliverance and corruption has epitomized and ridiculed the sanctity of our leadership legitimacy and the society.
The conscience of the nation is deeply in tattered, heart bleeds and eyes flowing tears across the divides as we take a look and reflection of the situation our beloved country is subjected to as a result of our own makings. Our fortunes are daily dwindling, our proud status of a giant in the continent vanishing and the populace languish in poverty beyond the level of survival. The institutions of governance and leadership are crumbling below digression, helms of affairs lacking the right antidote to deliverance and corruption has epitomized and ridiculed the sanctity of our leadership legitimacy and the society.
We should not because of the postulation of a few in our midst deny our conscience the truth on the state of affairs in our beloved country. We should equally refuse to let the perception of a few nonentities and their parasites within the corridors of power cajole us of hypothesizing the untruth. If anything we can render back to a nation that have given us identity is to say the truth no matter whose ox is gored. A look at the nation’s physical infrastructural development, one can attest to the fact that in the past three decades, Nigeria has not done well compared to some other nations of the world with similar natural and human resources at its disposal, what we have incurred is lack of visionary and selfless leadership that is committed to the welfare of the people and growth of the nation.
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If we are to attain the desired greatness as a nation, the time has come for all to do away with emotional and sentimental deflections that have robbed us of true nationhood and we should not allow the sense of right and wrong perceptions battle with our conscience in desiring for a great nation. No matter what will be or anyone can do, let us give our conscience right to guide and postulate that there can’t be a substitute to a revolutionized Nigeria, were the way and manner we conduct our affairs is redefined. The time is now, when Nigerians should refuse to be deceived on the basis of religion, ethnicity, north or south dichotomies. It is time for us to change from the state of failure to triumphant greatness, we should do away with the bogus class mere political pronouncements of unseen growth that have continued to push us backwards and that which has remained a problem to the nation.
Nigerians should rise and challenge the status quo and the structures that create impediments to electoral legitimacies at all level as we move towards redesigning a new Nigeria. It is a fact that all might not be well with our nation but a well conscience mind has the right to reject the status quo and embrace change, believing otherwise when something is wrong means you are part of the problem, no matter how you try to justify it. While we cannot all agree on a common platform in achieving our goals as a nation, we should not relent in seeking to re-shape our acts. If the teeming unemployed youths we saw days back at the NIS recruitment at the venues of the failed exercise is anything to stand on, then one make bold to say that these same youths can re-shape the nation’s political leadership equation by voting wholly for the right candidates, and doing away with the thoughts, fear or history of political chauvinism that have characterised our polity and which makes no difference to our lives.
The National Conference is desirable and a necessity for our nation that is crumbling, the conference can at best serve as a talk shop for the divergent to discuss, disagree and possibly agree on their different views provided they are truthful, sincere and without any political or ulterior motives. The delegates can come up with ideas and recommendations for a truthful federation guided by the rule of law. But taking a broad analysis of the much pessimism attached to the conference, one cannot overlook the doubts on the pretext that the outcome of the conference will be like any others held before on the ground of two main factors, one the integrity of some of the delegates and the other precedents.
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Integrity not of the conference itself but some visible actors that actively participated in messing the nation when they held their ways as policy makers or public servants, and whom refused to serve the public and the nation patriotically. Previous experiments like this since independence have not been able to deliver the nation the right antidote, with many of the delegates presently selected being participants of many of the previous conferences. Many are of the view that this gathering may just end-up as another elite’s jamboree and a platform to continue misplacing priorities and misappropriating the scarce economic resources just like the others.
Nigeria as a nation is an edifice but its structures are weak due to the vulnerability of many of the institutions that should solidify its foundation, the arms are weak from the system of governance to its operations and operators. The executive, the legislative and judiciary is so ineptly selective and the same leprous drifters kept being recycled, the feelings of hopelessness can visibly be seen on the faces of our populace. And these audacious experiences highlight a dangerous state of affairs to nation building, it is a factor that have ridiculed development and has made the nation to go through this unprecedented period of suspicion, insurgencies, suppression of fundamental civil rights and a severe stifling of the opposition and freedom in numerous manners at all levels.
Just as the issue of corruption cannot go under the carpet so is the destructive panache of our political, economic and socio-cultural leadership style. Even the struggle for political independence did not come with the kind of prize the present herculean dis-unity is bringing; Nigerians are today suffering from the lack of progressive and rational leadership to the inconsistencies of socio-political direction and economic reconstruction. One may be keen to give a candid opinion that our leaders can excuse themselves of being incapable and retrogressive, as they have completely eroded the courageous psych of our people as they are unable to protect lives and properties within our sovereign territory. We see them as culpable of the social and mental degradation the citizenry go through every day while the exploitation of nation’s dwindling resources continues as more Nigerians ravaged in poverty and reduced into paupers.
It is unthinkable for anyone to cover up the country’s mess or underestimate the multiplier effect of under-development. What we saw during the failed and un-organized NIS recruitment exercise is a dangerous dimension for the country, and a sign of explosion as the nation can best be described as sitting on keg of gun-powder. Imagine the thousands upon thousands of unemployed energetic Nigerian youths that came out in search of job that will earn them a better living and these keeps me wondering where the 1.5million jobs that were said to have been created in the last 4 years as pronounced by the country’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. This is unthinkable and in essence a beginning of a struggle that will climax the “African Spring” starting with the erstwhile Africa’s giant.
The struggle will be for the restoration of true democracy, basic civil liberties, good governance and the rule of law. It will be a struggle between the majority of those who believe in freedom, good governance as basic values for our society and were rudimentary human dignity is respected, and on the other hand of the few that sanctions impunity and fear freedom. One can see a climax of change; we are about seeing the beginning of a battle against a renewed and resurfaced authoritarian oligarchy that is systematically resurrecting with its repressive past within our polity.
From the perspective of a political analyst, the Arab Spring is all about the right to good living, education, infrastructure development, economic empowerment and good governance. And it is no different with what every Nigerian desire, therefore a nation in search of greatness like Nigeria must be able to have conscience minds and vibrant populace that can almost simultaneously subjects themselves to an unparalleled revolution that crave for that extraordinary events that will constitute a major turning point for the nation. Peace and security have eluded our nation state, and these are prerequisite tools for development which we all as human beings desire and deserved to have and prosper.
A nation where majority of the people can’t aspire good living and qualitative life due to the ignorance of a few its populace must be willing to re-defines its status if any good should come. Inept and bad leadership is no antidote to poverty and indignity, let us seriously take a look at our nationhood in the last three decades, with all our vast opportunities and potentials to rise to greatness internal peace and security has been a subject of concern, it has eluded us. At one point or the other state oppression by dictatorial rulers held its way, especially during the military era, the continuous political anarchy has also precipitated a prevalent culture of fear and silence even in democracy which ironically gave birth to a semblance of peace; it is unreal and deceptive, we can all now see the dangers manifesting with the numerous security upheavals.
Our nation is faced with so much of un-warranted hardship; the populace outcry over gross killings and violent attacks are becoming daily routines. Militia and terrorist activities have found solace in our land, with innocent and poor peasant families lives shattered by the acts of civil disturbances, banditry and the inglorious terror of the Boko Haram insurgencies that is ravaging almost the entire northern part of the country especially the North-East Region and it has continued to escalates uncontrollable under different nomenclatures. For how long can we continue to shed tears for our beloved country in search of destiny?
It is a fact that most oppressive governments are always portrayed as benevolent and progressive by their benefactors and legatees, and they go on projecting falsely how secure, peaceful and prosperous the country is even as to the contrary. Constructive and dissenting views of citizens are treated with fallacy and silenced, while instruments of power are deployed just as we have seen in Rivers State were the nation’s policing system almost becoming an extension of a political structure. Believe me it or not the “African Spring” will come sooner than expected and it will usher for us a platform to counter the forces of under-development and dis-unity not only in Nigeria but all around the African continent and its success will justify the tolerance of political and economic oppression, impunity and violation of the rights of citizens who dissented over many years in the past.
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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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