The most populous country in Africa, seventh most populous country in the world and the most populous black country on earth, the country is one-third larger than Texas, situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, neighboring Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad and the lower course of it River flows south through the western part into the Gulf of Guinea while swamps and mangrove forests border the southern coast.
Over 250 ethnic groups co-exist peaceful over the last decade in what was the most peaceful diverse nation which presents a mixture of traditions, a land of remarkable opportunities and warm, friendly people. A nation of about 170m people mostly Christians, Muslims and traditional animists and have co-existed for years, many times with adherents of these three religions being members of the same family.
Its populace have their languages, histories, and religions, all rubbing shoulder to shoulder in a hectic, colourful and often volatile republic, the country is known for its abundant natural resources, a warm and healthy environment, its exotic cuisines, beautiful flowers and adventures.
A historic nation with great history of men and women, known for their wonderful cultural diversity and unique heritage, a nation blessed for it cash crops and many investment opportunities.
WELCOME TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
Nigeria as a nation was amalgamated between the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914 by the then colonial masters, and came into existence as a nation on the 1st Oct. 1960 having gained independence from British colonial rule. Since then, it gradually began moving as an independent country experiencing civil war and many crisis, but it identity as one entity continue to be partially maintained.
Nigeria from independence had experienced many forms of leadership transferring from military to Civilian rule and from civilian back to military, until when democracy was well and firmly reintroduced in 1999. Has Nigeria achieved desirable goals any democratic nation will wants to achieve? Is democracy a curse or a blessing to Nigeria?
From one of the richest and most promising 50 countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nigeria is today among the 20 countries in the world with the widest gap between the rich and the poor, it has gradually declined in fortunes, its citizens are now among the poorest in the world.
As one of the world's top 10 crude oil producers, Nigeria currently fares very poorly in all development indices. I can tell you this for free, the average annual percentage growth of GDP from 1990 -2000 was 2.4, the Gross National Income, GNI, per capita is less than US $260; under-five mortality rate per 1,000 live births is 153; average maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births is 545; and life expectancy at birth is 48 years for males and 49 years for females.
Even as a signatory to the United Nations Millennium Declaration to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity, equality and achieve peaceful democracy with environmental stability but the Nigerian context and progress still remains a real cause for concern.
Nigeria as a nation has failed in all aspect of human endeavors, being among the top exporters of Crude but failed to give it citizens the services that can improve their lives and protect their properties. The nation's economy is moving without magnitude neither direction (despite claims to be Africa's biggest economy after a rebase), an economy that has crude but import fuel, an economy that has Gas but lacks power, an economy that has abandoned fertile land but imports food, an economy that has talents but lacks innovations, an economy that has abundant resources but lacks industries, an economy that has missions but lacks visions, an economy that has aims but lacks objectives, an economy that has human capital but lacks manpower, an economy that has goals but lacks target, an economy that has everything but lacks everything. I pity the electorates for wasting their votes, time, energy and resources to stand not to be counted.
Our leaders have successfully hijacked the nation's wealth and transformed it into their personal belongings and properties, government investments have been turned into family businesses.
The amalgamated Nigeria had since divided with every group trying to dominate and marginalize the other, our dominant tribes have became enemies overnight, the two dominant religions are raging war against each other. Unity no longer exist unless within one ethnic group, tribal killings had became part of our daily routines, spiritual killings unabated.
Nigeria only exist by name but the people in it have long separated, the long nurtured brotherhood by our founding fathers has now been submerged and the two regional parts (north and South) exist as undeclared nations.
Government which is responsible for the protection of it citizenry and their property have became angel of death, ordering security forces to take away people's lives and destroy their properties all in the name of fighting terrorism, thousands unaccountable lives were killed and still counting, but the poor man's voice has never been heard.
From Boko Haram in the North to oil bunkering and sea piracy in the Niger Delta, from kidnapping and baby factories in the East to armed robbery and spiritual killings in the West, not forgetting the tribal killings in the middle. From unemployment among talented youths to illiteracy and force labour among children, from poverty among citizens to malnutrition among infants.
The old are deprived off their pension, the dead are denied their benefits, the innocents are wasting in jail without trial, the sick are left without care, the weak are abandoned without motivation and the needy left without help.
Billions Dollars oil funds missing, billions pension money still missing, billions subsidy funds still missing, billions got lost daily and nothing serious has ever been done to retrieve it back because the looters are the detectives investigating the looted funds.
Corruption in economy, insecurity in polity, chaos in politics, immorality in society, frustration in art and lack of creativity in literature.
Our collective efforts must be put on desk to salvage our dear country from the devilish alcoholics suffering from "Kain-Kain selective induced anemia." There's no safe place for the common man to feel protected than sit calmly and wait for his killers to come knocking. Our so-called leaders turned deaf ears, cruising in bulletproof vehicles not minding what their electorates are going through.
Electricity is present in many parts of the country only in structures. Power which brings about development and services for the livelihood of any nation is becoming extinct in Nigeria. A nation blessed with abundant gas, sunlight and dams but still clueless in generating power, making Nigeria the highest user of power generating sets in the world. Our industries are endangered with less operation due to shortage of power and many have become warehouses for smugglers. Nigeria and it failed government officials are looting huge sum of money all in the name of providing power. A nation where it national power company rely on power generators as an alternative source of energy. What a failure?
Education is giving less or no priority as public schools are left vacant for only the poor man's child while those in government have their children schooling in the most expensive schools overseas. The talented Nigerian child is left wasting in the hands of the so-called leaders that know nobody but their sons and daughters.
The poor Nigerian youths have turned criminals at a blink just to raise some token for food and their social demands. Our girls turned prostitutes giving out sex for money to cater for their well-being, the unlucky child to be born in Nigeria will surely loose hope for a prosperous future immediately after birth. The high rate of maternal and child mortality is becoming uncontrollable with government not really so serious about saving the lives of our children.
Our healthcare system has since lost accreditation resulting into massive death with no medical care or facilities, our hospitals will soon be commission as museums to preserve the ancients medical structures and equipments build during the first republic. The health of a common Nigerian who could not afford medical treatment abroad or in private hospitals will always be at risk.
With an Infant Mortality Rate at 86/1000, Nigeria is ranked lower than war-ravaged countries like Iraq and Congo fifty four years after independence, exhibitions of poor development, consistent backdrops, especially at the Primary Healthcare level, with inadequate functional surveillance systems in tandem with the modern era are just a few of several flaws that punctuate fortunes of healthcare in Nigeria today.
In today's Nigeria, one of the Major Problems of Food Production is Poverty and lack of good leadership. On the other hand, one of the Simplest and a doubtless truth that you can easily know about Nigeria is the fact that over 75% of her rural dwellers are full-time Farmers.
A very Great Variety of Delicious Species of Organic Foods, Fruits, Vegetables and Cash-crops abound in the Country. In fact, the Nation is so Highly Blessed, and there are very large Acres of Fertile Agricultural Lands all around the Country. One of the Most Serious of all the Major Problems of Food and Agriculture in Nigeria is Lack of Leadership, Mismanagements, Corruption and Embezzlements of Public Funds which are very common within Nigeria's Government Officials.
And as you may all know, Patriotism; Trust, Honesty; Organization and Careful Management has often Led to the Success and Prosperity of Modern Man. But here in Nigeria, all you can easily see or notice is the Plain Fact that the Nation has “ No Leaders ". What a tragedy?
Our braved men and women have became cowards overnight, jobless Rate in Nigeria increased to 23.90 percent in 2011 from 21.10 percent in 2010. Unemployment Rate in Nigeria is reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. Historically, from 2006 until 2011, Nigeria Unemployment Rate averaged 14.6 Percent reaching an all time high of 23.9 Percent in December of 2011 and a record low of 5.3 Percent in December of 2006, unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. There is some evidence to suggest that the lack of economic opportunities for young people has created enough discontent to start wars that tear nations apart, Sierra Leone provides a possible example. Nigerian youths in the diaspora excel in all aspect of life, demonstrating how gifted the poor nigerian youths are. What a lost?
The all-embracing phenomenon called transportation is a measure of relationship between places, it performs the role of linking supply and demand, and as a means of conveying people, goods and information through places, the provision of transport facilities and services is very crucial to the economic, political, social and cultural life of any seriously minded country or nation. Decaying infrastructure in transportation is one of the deficiencies that Nigeria’s government need to address because score of lives are lost everyday as a result of inadequacy of our nation's transport system. Nigeria is the only living nation operating without a transport policy or a transport master plan.
If Nigeria was truly a democratic nation, it will have since revolt against it leaders. The only credit to Nigerian government is the wonderful development our Capital Territory Abuja has attained, which is now being rank top among the fastest developing cities in the world. Kudos to the efforts of the men of yesterday.
Nigerian youths have made an alarming signal to the government to get on it toes or faces an uprising to regain their nation's lost values and history. One of the warning signal was the Occupy Nigeria protest ( a socio-political protest movement that began in Nigeria on Monday, 2 January 2012 in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government of President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday, 1 January 2012), protests have taken place across the country, including the cities of Kano, Ojota, Abuja, and at the Nigerian Embassy in London, at least 16 people have been killed in Nigeria, all shot dead by the Nigeria Police Force during the protest. The protests have been characterised by civil disobedience, civil resistance, strike actions, demonstrations and online activism, the use of social medias such as Twitter and Facebook has been a prominent feature.
As of today, Occupy Nigeria had continued to engage in organized meetings, events and actions. We are never relax to reclaimed our lost values. It's a privilege to be involved in the organizing team of occupy Nigeria protest.
It still is a mystery how the cost of subsidy shot up to 1.3 trillion naira in just one year of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, especially since ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration spent 300 billion Naira per year. When the Obasanjo government left power in 2007, the country was no longer in debt and the 30 billion dollar foreign debt that Obasanjo met when he came to power in 1999 was fully paid off. Today, under the administration of Jonathan, the country owes debt to the tune of more than $30bn and is still borrowing.
What baffles me was in the midst of these, the leadership had mischievously gone ahead to share some huge funds in the name of Excess Crude revenue when it should have stored it up for the Foreign reserves that have been depleted from $80bn during the Obasanjo administration to less than $33bn under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
It was reported that when the Obasanjo left power in 2007, $23bn was left in the Excess Crude Account after he built it up from nothing in 1999; by January 2012 the account was empty because the money has been squandered and the account scrapped. Is this the transformation Nigerians were promised?
Permit me to conclude with quotations from Yusuf Maitama's statement, an elder statesman and a former minister during the first republic, "What we want is a leader, a true leader with all the qualities of leadership. A true leader who will lead by example, a leader whose leadership will transform the lives of all irrespective of tribes or religions. A leader who will lead with the philosophies of a herdsmen, the herdsmen who sacrifices his life, his health and his comfort for his cattle. A political leader that will came into politics to serve but not to be served, to give but not to take. A leader whose philosophies could solve all the problems of Nigeria being political, economic and social. A leader whose leadership values will cut across tribal and religious boundaries. A leader who believed in the vision of responsibility. A leader who stated the problems of his own people and wants to solve those problems. A leader who will united all the tribes in Nigeria. We need leadership where all Nigerians will not call their selves by their tribes but Nigerians."
FAREWELL FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
Usama A. Dandare.
Nat. Coordinator,
Social Movement For Change (SMC).
osadaby@yahoo.com
@osadaby
www.smchange.blogspot.com
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