The world is a dangerous place to live, be it in the streets of Lagos, Onitsha, New York, London, Paris, or Mexico City. Natural disasters defy boundaries and it does not discriminate by race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin or religion. Earthquake, part of natural disaster can be deadly and can strike with impunity regardless of technological know-how.

However, technological know-how could be employed to contain the extent of damage in the process saving lives. There are two different types of catastrophe – man-made and nature-oriented catastrophes. Both conditions exact enormous toll on human collateral and recovery often proceeds in a snail pace. The major catastrophes that Nigeria has witnessed thus far is man-made, a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the national fiber. The depth of this disease steams from years of neglect and incompetence and incoherent policies by successive crass governments.

The man-made catastrophe epitomize all the negative effects and conditions which Nigeria has found itself since the amalgamation of the north and south into a single nation known as Nigeria. It is a well know fact that the combination of diverse ethnic nationalities into a single nation state called Nigeria without a ground work on formation of a unitary nation posed one of the daunting challenges of modern day Nigeria. Here we can attribute the man made catastrophe to the lack of foresight by the British colonizer.

Likewise, it is also a well know fact that man made catastrophes have consumed every sphere of Nigeria lives today. Such catastrophes are - looting of public funds at all levels of government, sectarianism, religious fundamentalism, soil erosions, capital flight to neighboring nations and Europe, ineptness of the ruling class, rampant military intervention and abuse of power, lack of nationalism and self sacrifice to the nation, self-centeredness, corruption, lack of self containment, and the list goes on.

Evidentially, Nigeria has the tools in all spheres of human endeavor that can be employed towards the redemption and repel of the nation’s catastrophe. What the human or man made catastrophe has done to Nigeria is to extenuate the virtue, apply the vice which enable a selected few into opulence at the expense of the vast majority.

A good example of the man made disaster could be found in the just desolated cabinet of Olusegun Obasanjo’s government. The cabinet was loaded with men of questionable characters. In May 1999, these people were repackaged and presented to the Nigerian people as reformers and ready to satisfy the yearnings of the people. It took Obasanjo two years to realize what a horrible mistake that he had made. The composition of the cabinet demonstrates the persistence by the Nigerian leaders to continue the recycling of the same faces, despite the fact that they contributed to the Nigerian malaise – a man made catastrophe.

A universal and unwritten norm assumes that the act of government is experimental. Those who govern in the developed nations borrowed their policies from ideas published by scholars and practitioners. There is no Democrat or Republican; Italian or Irish; German or African; Anglican or Catholic way or formulating government policy. Nor should there be an Igbo or Hausa; Yoruba or Tiv; Ibibio or Gwari; Ijaw or Edo way to formulate and execute public policy.

In Nigeria, those who served in the government have not shown interest or belief in advancing the anathema public administration practices that dates back to the pre-colonial era, nor have they shown an inclination to written scholarship on their experiences so that others would see where they failed, and perhaps, act on it. The extent of today’s public administration advancement can be attributed to the work of Woodrow Wilson and other great thinkers before him. They fine-tuned the modern public administration which the whole world has copied and applied in their various domain; Nigeria included but with mix success.

It is a sad situation where Nigerian leaders having spent decades at the corridor of power, exposed to the intricate workings of the Nigerian government, died and are buried with their knowledge. A knowledge that might help Nigeria to overcome some of its current adversities had they been documented and preserved.

For Nigeria to survive there must be a change, a change from the top which would trickle down to the bottom. There must be a change in Nigerian attitude and perception of the role of government in the society. Nigerians must discard their ITK " I TOO KNOW" attitude that have blinded the nation from doing what is right and employing the right people for the right job without fear of being over shadowed by the leaders who appointed them, or their own job security.

Nigeria must elect people of impeccable character, those who understand that in government, brainstorming and knowledge of governmental operations can be susceptible to a change for better. Those who are aware that the sole purpose of government is to advance humanity. Those who understand that being in government or public service are the greatest virtue to be bestowed on a citizen. A noble opportunity to sacrifice and subdue ones ego and needs for the benefit of the nation.

On May 29, 1999, the last military dictatorship handed over government to a supposed civilian government. So far, it has looked like the old shenanigan, the exchange of mantle from authoritarian government to a totalitarian government. The Nigerian president needs to be educated on the tenets of presidential system of government. For instance, in an American system of government, the president does not dissolve its cabinet. Instead, those who cannot effectively carry out the wishes of the president or incur the wrath of the public were asked to leave their positions quietly. They are not asked to leave, they know how to interpret the handwriting on the wall, when it calls for them to leave, they do so honorably. They resign without being asked to. In Nigeria, they wait until being asked to pack, or as in Obasanjo’s case, when he feel that he can replace some cabinet members with fresh new faces to continue the tradition of sharing the national cake; an exercise not so different from the previous military dictatorships. Then, of course, Obasanjo himself was a former military dictator.

On the other hand, in such countries as United Kingdom and Italy, a vote of no confidence is proceeded by desolation of cabinet and calling of a new election. If Obasanjo is persuaded by the later example of governing, he should not hide behind the Nigerian constitution where the holder of his office must serve a four-year term. He might as well resign by admitting that he fumbled the ball. By relinquishing the presidency, perhaps, a new person would take over and may make a radical change from the status quo.

As sad as it may look, there is enough evidence to conclude that the man made adversities that crippled Nigeria are primarily caused by the sorry state of Nigerian leaders’ minds – confused, blinded, selfish, unpatriotic and lackadaisical thinking.

Having explored and revealed the state of mind of the Nigerian leaders, one may wonder what would happen if, God forbid, a natural catastrophe befell Nigeria? How can the Nigerian crass leaders respond to such devastation as has been witnessed in India, where thousands of people died? According to CNN Wolf Blitzer report of January 30, 2001, Indian Defense Minister estimated that over 100,000 people perished. Another 50,000 to 80,000 were unaccounted for, or were feared buried under the rubbles of crumbled buildings that resulted from the earthquake. Afterwards, more than 230 aftershocks with more that 7.7 magnitude shocks were recorded.

On February 13, 2001, earthquake struck San Salvador, a city in El Salvador located in South America. A nation wrecked by senseless war, a humped dumpy battle ground in the 1980s’ east and west ideological collision. More than 800 people died in the earthquake while about 1,557 were sent to the hospital (Northwest Herald, February 14, 2001. P 7). India and El Salvador were able to marshal their respective manpower to the rescue effort before the rest of the world descended to lend a helping hand.

Thousands of people were rescued and evacuated by rail and road, an effort made possible because the government and the private sector structure exist. Meanwhile, the rescue effort was made smother because the government created access to the villages or areas where the victims reside. They were able to manage the natural disaster because institutions existed for such purpose. They have professional Police Force and emergency paramedics whose job is to protect the citizens and provide services when the need arise. Should such calamity occur in Nigeria, only God knows what the outcome would look like.

One of the things we know for sure is that hundreds would perish before information filters out to the government. Telephone is one of the fastest mediums to communicate with outside world. Telephone is a rare commodity in Nigeria and very expensive to acquire. Since the remote government that controls everything can not be reached on time thus more people with high probability to survive would kick the bucket. The point is that reviews of Nigerian government response to past emergencies show a lack of planning for such incidents. In Odi and Kaduna for example, it took the government a couple of days before taking actions. In fact, the role of the government in Nigeria is ill defined. Those at the epic of the government saw their job as presiding over revenue allocation and other mini functions.

Nigerian roads are the worst in the world. They are death traps complemented with lack of legal speed limits. Even if one existed, there is no enforcement mechanism. Every day hundreds of Nigerians die prematurely while commuting by road. These unfortunate incidents occur because the government is playing politics with road construction. Road construction or repair in Nigeria has become a carrot and yardstick for reward and punishment for political support. It has always been that way. That is the reason why I have argued previously in this article that had Obasanjo stepped aside with his cabinet, the parliament would have been persuaded to enact a law that would compel his successor to deviate from the status quo and pursue a radical change that would rid the nation of its man made paralysis.

Now come Obasanjo’s request that the Nigerian parliament funds his multi million dollar presidential airplane. If approved, this piffling presidential airplane would aid his selfish and self-justified runs around the world rather than face domestic policy. Its OK, fund the airplane. Let him have it as long as the airplane is registered to the Nigerian government. It seems that he is afraid to travel by road, after all, why should he become another road accident statistic. What Obasanjo does not understand is that a simple law of physics states that what goes up, must come down. The Igbos has a more colorful way of saying the same thing. It goes like: aku fesia odalu awo. Translate an insect that flies too high would eventually become a prey to be eaten by a frog.

Before allowing Obasanjo to have his airplane and also that of his vice president, the Nigerian parliament should ascertain that he agree to the purchase on one principle which is, that whatever amount that the two airplanes would cost would equally be appropriated to road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance. This is what politics is all about. The processes of give and take - quid pro quo. If Obasanjo agrees to this outline, then he should be made to sign a formal agreement that the airplane purchase would include massive road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance bill. If he vetoes it, then all should go down the drain. It should be made clear that no road construction and rehabilitation, there would be no airplane period. It is about time that the Nigerian legislators begin to think about the good of Nigerian people first.

Nigeria, despite all its inefficiencies and defects, has been blessed. Emergency preparedness is lacking in Nigeria. Inept personnel may staff those that exist for emergency purposes, a result of nepotism in employment. If not nepotism, the nation suffers from acute mortification known as "reflection of national character." In this case, people were assigned to duties not because of competence or expertise, but rather, to have each ethnic nationality represented. When the time comes brainstorm in order to find a panacea to a national problem, they would AWOL, some times traveling in Europe canvassing for personal business. At worst, foreign expatriates would be hired at a ridiculous fee to do a job that Nigerians could have done, have they been given the opportunity in the first place.

Nigeria has not been tried as other nations that have witnessed earthquake and other major natural disaster. The only serious trial in the nations’ history was the 1967 to 1970 civil war and they have not recovered from it. If the Nigerian leaders cannot do their job, they should do an honorable thing and get out of the business of governing. It is not a must that they have to occupy their current occupation. It is not a matter of divine intervention nor is it a birthright.

Nigeria deserves our prayers and we hope that major natural disaster should not find its way into the aegis of the national boundary. The people should make a deal with Obasanjo, they should let him have his airplane and in return, he should authorize the agencies responsible for federal road maintenance to fix them. The amount of money that would be authorized for the road construction and revitalization must equal the cost of the presidential airplane plus cost of inflation over the life of such activity. There should be a competitive award of contracts throughout the nation. Those that demonstrated the know-how and at a reasonable price should be awarded the contracts. The whole process must be transparent. That would be a starting point to save lives should the Nigerian hinterland experience a major natural catastrophe – such as earthquake.

June 2001