NIGERIA: THE ENDLESS SEARCH FOR LEADERSHIP - Part 1

1st of Nov. 2021, a 21 story building at Gerard road, Ikoyi, Lagos came tumbling down. Investigation is still ongoing to ascertain the actual cause of the mishap in which several lives were lost.

In the absence of a definite cause of the mishap, many have continued to express their opinions as to what the actual cause of this sad event might be. If most of the assertions going around is anything to go by, we’re simply compelled to see how this is a very familiar story: It is the story of Nigeria. A country where proactivity is a rarity, bad behaviors and horrible omen festers until a full blown disaster occurs.

The Nigerian story is one of disaster after disaster. Fact is Nigerians are fast becoming numb to the recurring nature of pain, frustrations, poverty and death! Do I imply that other countries around the world are immune from national challenges? By no means. Rather what we see here in Nigeria is an endemic failure of systems and establishments. So yes, problems in Nigeria are largely man made. Indeed, there is a very long list in this regard: Mind boggling institutionalized corruption, lack of access to basic health care, absence of power, massive unemployment, dearth of good roads, insecurity, cholera epidemic. You name it!

As it is, many Nigerians agree that the country is in its worst shape yet since the civil war. It is however shocking to observe a blatant denial of this fact by the current leadership. Sadly, self-preservation seem to be the most important item on its agenda. Pray, how do you solve problems you do not even believe exists?!

The other day, Prof. Pat Utomi in a television interview made reference to how a certain foreign institution offered to support education in one of the states in the country, he was however taken aback when he observed that the project never kicked off. Further enquiries unveiled that the offer had been taken off the table as the government officials insisted on receiving bribes before the contributors could do anything! Yes, in Nigeria personal aggrandizement supersedes the good of an already impoverished population! And yet humongous tax payers’ money was expended in electing these political office holders. So yes, if you're still looking for one of the reasons why Nigeria has been christened the poverty capital of the world - there you have it.

Foreign investors are all too familiar with Nigerian government officials being more interested in bribes than in the thousands of jobs associated investments could generate within the country. Many of such investments could literally result in chopping off a huge chunk of the 33.3% unemployment rate, reducing the pervasive frustration of the poor turned bandits cum kidnappers and reducing the massive penchant for drugs by hopeless youths. However, for some ‘inexplicable reason’, enforcing policies and consequences around foreign investor harassments has never been a priority for successive Nigerian governments. The result? Investors patronize other African countries with most avoiding Nigeria like a plague. They can’t deal! What a way to produce jobs and reduce poverty!

For years, state governments have turned a blind eye to thousands of civil servants who live off the sweat of innocent citizens seeking approval to secure or build their own properties. I personally have wondered if this is perhaps connected to the government feeling that they lack the moral justification to put a stop to the 'stealings' since they do the exact same thing - only at a higher level? I recently heard over the radio where someone said that as far as some of these ministries are concerned, citizens who insist on towing the right path in obtaining proper documentation are often meted the most torture and pain by the civil servants. On the flip side however, they readily create a completely hassle free experience for those who agree to ‘play ball’ early on. Successive governments cannot deny that this is the norm. This normalizing of stealing by civil servants and the inflicting of pain on the citizenry is indeed despicable just to put it mildly.?

It is easy to conclude that these are just behaviors of devious civil servants. With closer observation however, it becomes clear that these are largely direct and spontaneous responses to a system that inspires no hope in her citizenry. With a pension system that is largely nonexistent especially in the public sector, everyone is in a rush to secure a future with a semblance of certainty.

Unable to generate true wealth for their states beyond taxes, successive state governments rely on allocation from the center. Surely, this job of simply sharing allocated resources isn’t one that is particularly specialized – or is it? Pray, does the country make all those bogus allocations for elections every four years only to elect people that simply ‘divide the spoils?’ ?[The 2019, elections cost the country a whooping N254Billion!]

Besides a dearth of resourcefulness in many elected political office holders, it is popular knowledge that Nigeria does not invest in building systems to curb wastages and looting. It appears that her priority rather, is largely in enabling these heinous crimes after which they then go in pursuit of the offenders. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] was set up for that purpose. By the way, I wonder how many Nigerians know that the current EFCC head office in Abuja was erected at a whopping N24billion in 2018. When the ex-chief of the agency Ibrahim Magu came under fire for such wastage, he reportedly said he deserved commendation for the conservative figure expended on the project, insisting that the actual cost should have been a N100billion! Unfortunately, the problem with this ‘conservative posture’ is that Nigeria as country cannot boast of any medical facility that’s worth that much. For example, when the COVID-19 hit, the then Chief of staff to the President Abba Kyari was flown all the way from Abuja to some private hospital in Lagos to obtain treatment.

In more recent news, we learn that a N21billion allocation has been earmarked for a brand new 14 bed VIP clinic at the seat of power – a move which incidentally is happening right on the heels of a just aborted 64-day old strike by resident doctors in the country. It is also common knowledge also that some N6.4Billion was spent on the existing Aso rock clinic over a 6-year period.

With respect to wanton lootings, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission [ICPC] recently announced the seizure of 301 properties allegedly owned by just 2 civil servants. Up until this article, the names of the civil servants are unknown talk less of any conversation around their possible prosecution. In Nigeria, it is norm to hear of crimes being perpetuated but there's hardly any repercussion for such crimes. Meaning there isn't any deterrent for bad behavior.

Also very fresh in the news is the story of the ransacking of the residence of one of the Justices of the Supreme court – Justice Mary Odili. While the incident has been widely criticized, what has remained a wonder is the inability to determine the identities of the persons who conducted the invasion. it is yet to be seen if the perpetuators will be identified much less prosecuted.?

Continued in 'Part 2'