Is it the cankerworm of corruption which has eaten deep into the fine fabric of almost every sector in the country? Is it insecurity? Tyranny? Lack of infrastructures? poor governance? Or religious and ethnic classes? All and more are handy work of we,the common people, and the leaders. We are our self- enemies and destroyers country.
The messengers of doom have besieged Nigeria. And they have started manifesting their catastrophic missions and operations in the country. Day in day out, they wreak havoc on Nigeria’s territory without caution. The hapless and powerless Nigerians are, on a daily basis, weeping, suffering, toiling and dying from the waged war back and forth. Even, the stability of the sovereignty of the country is at stake and in a state of jeopardy.
Mind you, the guerillas who have been responsible for this pandemonium, mayhem and chaos bewildering the country have been well-known invincible agents of evil. Collectively and individually, we have nurtured them from infancy till they become tormentors threatening the progress of our dear nation. These forces of damnation: the like of corruption, insecurity, injustice, ethnic and religious jingoism and many other vices have not come in short thwarting and frustrating our systems of governance. As a matter of concerned, they have declared unending war, and we, the people; the masses, the middle class and the government must reciprocate, in the same tone, the rhetoric of war. And the battle should start now!
While many may be indifferent whenever Nigeria is described as a failed State; yet, not many may disagree that the country is suffering from the chronic and contagious fragility virus. In short, Nigeria, undoubtedly, is a “fragile state”, the reports of Oxford University and The London School of Economics, affirm that. The rationale behind the consistent downgrading state of our Nation – State has been a power force of corruption, nepotism, ethnic prejudice, insecurity, injustice which all give birth to their Kingpin, poor governance. Sixty-one years of Independence from colonial rule, thirty-three years of military rule and twenty-two, so far, of democratic system. Yet, it is still evident that various succeeding leadership of the country have yet to get the governance right and workable in the best interest of the masses. Though, these problems and issues burning in the national discourse did not start today neither during the tenure of present administration. But, it is disheartening that each time different governments take over power,even in the face of their rigorous promises during campaigns, these prevailing problems still persist and continue escalating.
Sadly, it is even now widely assumed that only divine intervention from above could bring almighty resolutions to our man-made and human – motivated challenges confounding our country. However, while I will not buy into the notion of the foregoing, even though I believe very much in the utmost omni-potency of God, I still regard it as fallacy because the problems are generated by both the people and the government who are the sole stakeholders and partakers in our social, political and economic vices.
Is it the cankerworm of corruption which has eaten deep into the fine fabric of almost every sector in the country? Is it insecurity? Tyranny? Lack of infrastructures? poor governance? Or religious and ethnic classes? All and more are handy work of we,the common people, and the leaders. We are our self- enemies and destroyers country.
But, one thing is presumed to be certain in the continuous of this ugliness. It is either our past and current political elite lack the political competence to tackle these obvious forces of doom, OR that they, the leaders, are just too callous to take radical measures to save the dignity of our country from the horrible shambles of fragility, because of their self-interest and selfish and voracious desire to our common wealth. Either of the two or both could be true without iota of doubt.
Nevertheless, we can still triumph over the anomalies of leadership deficit, poor governance, corruption economy turndown, insecurity and among others only if we, the people and the government, start doing the absolute right things. Simple put, we must declare war against these forces at all levels and fight them severely by words and action. Not with guns, rifles, arms or ammunition. But with change of attitude and patriotism!
I do not agree that the Constitution is the root of our problems. Neither will I concur that our socio-political and economic systems are totally faulty as some persons claim. The nexus of the rotten systems are the human beings. So, before we clamour for any revolution, how do we plan to sanitise the minds of humans who will also take charge when the country is revolutionalised? If you talk about restructuring, how do you and I strongly determine to reform our nonchalant character and attitude! Nigeria is not a bad country; but the people within the territory are. It is not always good enough to blame the country for its misfortunes when we know that the country cannot operate itself.
To wrap up this piece, to achieve a peaceful and conducive country, it a collective task of everybody. If we truly want good and patriot leaders, we must first be reserved against crooked politicians who do not mean well for the country but for themselves and their immediate relatives. Also, we must be compatriots who will never compromise the political and economic stability with these agents of doom who have nearly hijacked our territory. We need to act now; delay is very dangerous!
Damilare Adeleye
