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By Maduka Nweke
Different happenings in Nigeria in recent times seem to mean that children are glaringly watching while their fathers die gradually. Nigeria as a nation has suffered tremendously in the hands of those that ought to rescue it. Nigeria has become a dumping ground for all fake, adulterated and second hand goods of any sort. Those who are supposed to bequeath to the younger generation good character and discipline are now introducing evil behaviours to the young generations. Those who can use their ingenuity to invent technological goods are not only discouraged, they are forced to move abroad in droves where they are free to use their talents. Nigerians who were of sensible age before independence, who enjoyed the benefits of good governance, real democratic leadership and are still managing one ministry or the other now and not sitting back as advisers are most inconsiderable in the sense that they groomed no new generations to take over from them.
The problems we are having in the country could be traced to being a consuming nation rather than a productive one. Those who were handed the custody of Nigeria as a nation after Nigeria became a Republic are the ones bastardizing it.
How can one advice burying or destroying of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) of selected set of people just because, perhaps they may be used in favour of his opponent(s) and possibly not in his favour? By doing that, he would be destroying the wealth of the nation and incurring double expenses intentionally for the nation. The implication of such toxic action is better imagined than beheld because the kind of tensions it will generate could drag the nation’s development more decades backward.
People now deny other people the opportunity of getting PVC because they suspect that they may be used against them or their principal. This action is equal to suspending a dialysis on a patient who the doctors are trying to revive. Peter Obi is the Doctor coming to revive the patient called Nigeria but those who do not want the future of the nation to be sustained are putting spanner to drag the process backward. That action is not only wicked but murder of a promising youth.
Nigeria has become a laughingstock among the comity of nations as parochialism and nepotism seem to have taken front seat in all national matters. Patriotism which we sing every day when we recite the Nigeria National Anthem is no longer with our mind. They are sung now just to fulfill the mere promise that cannot be justified. All the icons that hold the country together are now eroded with reckless abandon, the culprits trotting the cities freer than the patriots.
Those in Government see these happenings as normal things. The young generation that are the future of the nation are busy scheming to leave the country of their fatherland where they have freedom to other countries where they will be subjected to second class citizens, yet scheme it with pride. Our national currency has become worthless papers just as the plastics picked on the streets that you can dispose with little change. What have we done to ourselves? Those that caused these, are walking the streets freely with no one questioning them as if we are no longer interested in keeping our country’s virtues?
The worst of it is that we are not interested in supporting those who can help remedy the situation but still aligning with the same people that destroyed the growth fabrics. Many a time, it may not be lack of experts, it is just that the system does not support the right situations hence, what trails is always the opposite because we have a country called Nigeria, but don’t have Nigerians.
Recently, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party,(LP), Mr Peter Obi, in one of his media interviews decried the brazen use of foreign currency particularly the dollar by politicians and government officials. Officials of the Federal Government fail to understand that every country’s economy is measured by the strength of its currency and described as a deviation from international standard, when government officials and politicians brazenly spend (Dollar) foreign currency without shame at the mockery of national heritage (Naira). The rejection of Naira for Dollar in a sovereign country like ours, some don’t know is a complete denouncement of the country’s sovereignty. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who knows the implications on the country, just on a follow-up announced that the apex bank was monitoring forex and warned politicians mopping up dollars to fund their 2023 election to note its illegality. The statement is as flat as without weight because, ordinarily there ought to be punishment for patriots who denigrate the local currency. Government officials who are handed the monitoring, management, supervision of the affairs of the country to oversee, did not see the consequences such practices will have on the country’s economy. None, but Peter Obi of the Presidential hopefuls understood that, hence some economic watchers who welcomed the CBN move to have an eye on the clock with respect to penchant on spending foreign currency as a good development, has the LP party Presidential Candidate to thank for crying out and drawing attention to such illicit act that is affecting the economy badly.
The former Governor of Anambra State noted that most Nigerian youths have lost hope in the country and that was why they are in droves moving out of the country seeking greener pastures. He opined that the only way to reverse the trend is by creating lucrative jobs such that when one weighs the consequences of going abroad to make cheap money under a second class citizen status, he will consider staying back with dignity and freedom. He said that his team want to recreate Nigerians and the only way to do that is by making people to have hope in Nigeria. He said Nigeria is a great country and that God created the country and gave it everything to make it great.
“The only thing lacking is directional leadership. That is what Datti and I intend to provide.’’ he said. He explained how they plan to harness regional potentials for national economic development. “When I say we are not a producing country but a consuming one, it is true. For instance, Borno is a state situated on 70.9 square kilometres of land and today we are talking about Sambisa Forest. It is an asset for Nigeria. This is because Sambisa Forest is twice the size of Israel and it is an agricultural land that can give us food. If you go all over the northern part of Nigeria you will see that Nigeria is blessed with land that can give us food. We are waiting to share money from oil. How much do we generate from oil? Our total export as a country is 30 billion dollars including oil, yet we live in a country of over 923,000 square meter, almost one million square kilometers,’’ he said.
Obi said that Nigeria when compared with Vietnam that lives on 331square kilometres of land and has a population of 100 million is lagging behind. This, he said, was because Vietnam’s export is 312 billion dollars yet Nigeria could not do 10 per cent of Vietnam’s exports with a vast land and a population of over 200 million people. He added that Niger is two-and-half the size of The Netherlands, yet the state could not feed itself or the country whereas The Netherlands’ agricultural export for 2021 was 120 billion dollars. “We cannot continue to live like this; our position is simple, all Datti and I want to do is to move this country from consumption to production,’’ he stressed. In his remarks, the vice-presidential candidate of the party Mr Yusuf Datti said the duo and the party were not looking for money in government, but looking to run a government in money. Datti noted that Nigeria has a lot of money and potentials and that all it needed was credible leaders to harness them. “I am following a business leader who knows how to create wealth and we are going to create it legitimately. Datti said that he would serve with integrity having proved it earlier as a senator and was one of the senators who did not buy a house at the Apo Legislative Quarters when they were sold. He stressed that the Labour Party would drive Nigeria into prosperity and integrity.
