Chapter 22: 21 Days to Go

I find it quite amusing that I am writing this 21 days before the end of the year 2022, and with 3 perfect weeks to go, it will be the beginning of another year. For some, December is a time for reflection, making plans, expressing gratitude, and having fun. For others, it's just another month, and they just want it to end.

Personally, I think that it’s a period of reflection and gratitude. When we look back at 2022 and how we ran the course of the year as individuals and as a country, we will realize that there are lessons for us to reflect on. It is critical to ask a few questions that will aid in determining what the coming year will look like. Questions like: "What did we set out to achieve in 2022?" and "How realistic were our goals?" "What steps did we take to achieve our goals?" "What challenges did we foresee or encounter?" "What lessons did we learn?"

To give you an idea of what has happened in the last few months, here are some highlights. In January, the bill on gender equality was once again rejected, 12 years after it was first introduced. The Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill failed to scale through the National Assembly again. The Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the United Nations on gender equality, to which Nigeria has pledged, recognizes gender equality as not only a fundamental human right but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.

In February, the President of ASUU announced the commencement of yet another strike?in a bid to get the government to honor the agreements it entered with ASUU. Russia also launched its long-threatened invasion of Ukraine, defying the world and threatening to ignite a major war involving major world powers. There was also the unfortunate and brutal murder of Bamise on a state-run bus rapid transit vehicle in Lagos.

In March, crude oil prices rose sharply following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the national transmission grid crashing for the third time this year and the sixth in the past year. with a foreboding terrorist attack Kaduna-Abuja train at Katari in Kaduna.

In April, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry restated its anxiety over mounting debt and the rise in the debt-to-GDP ratio. In May, the monkeypox virus added to Nigeria’s daunting health challenges. In June, there?was a hike in the benchmark lending rate from 11.5 percent to 13 percent. In the same vein, there was an attack at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

In July, the Kaduna State Government dismissed 2,357 teachers from the state’s teaching service over a lack of qualifications, among other reasons. In August, the Lagos State Ministry of Education announced the reintroduction of history?in secondary schools.?The energy crisis in Nigeria also kept getting worse, with the cost of subsidizing petrol climbing higher. The oil and gas segment is a tumultuous mess. In September, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, at the age of 96. Due to an insufficient supply from power generation and distribution, the manufacturing industries generated approximately 14,000 megawatts of electricity on their own.

In October, Nigeria marked its 62nd independence anniversary, despite various issues yet to be resolved. The National Oil Spill Detection and Remediation Agency also disclosed that oil and gas firms have been fined $294 million for gas flaring, hence the need to take immediate, concrete steps to stop gas flaring.

In November, there was a suggestion by the Nigerian Medical Association for mandatory physical and psychiatric evaluation of presidential, governorship, and legislative seat candidates ahead of the 2023 elections. December is still ongoing with various assumptions of what 2023 will be like. As we look forward to a new year, it is important to note that until we change not only our way of doing things but also our mindset, nothing will change. There is a need to remain resolute in our pursuit of the actualization of our goal.

In a world wracked by a record pandemic, meltdown, natural disasters, and internal and international divisions, celebrations ushering in the New Year in some countries may be phlegmatic. Despite 2022 being enveloped in uncertainty and the challenges thus far, we have weathered the storm, and we therefore need to remain confident that it can only get better from here.

Nigeria will be better and great again.