May the future be with us

By 

Kole Omotoso

There is no way that the future of the world would not be compromised without the presence of Nigeria. Yet, everything that one sees and touches informs one that the future is not with Nigeria, that the future would have to get along as best it can without Nigeria. This feeling comes as a result of the fact that there is no plan to ensure change for the better in the country. Twice now, I have come across statements made by the President of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo which could be read as descriptions of the present situation in the country or else the introductory part of a pamphlet entitled "Why We Failed." 

The first comment had to do with the problem of fuel supply to Nigerians, not just because countries without oil production lucks, provide their countries with adequate supply of their needs. Rather that it does not make sense for ordinary things to be beyond the capability of a Nigerian government. The President said as far as he was concerned the Nigerian situation was jinxed. After I had commented on this statement, a friend reminded me that when the then Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo came back from being part of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Missions to South Africa told Nigerian journalists that only the deployment of juju and the enrolment of babalawo would save the South Africans from the claws of apartheid. 

Fortunately, I do not think that the African National Congress were taking their advice from Gen. Obasanjo. Instead, the then liberation movement continued what it had been doing, sabotage against military targets within the country, cultivation of international supporters who continued to campaign against South Africa in financial areas, in sports areas and in membership of international organisations. At home the trade unions continued their activities of protesting against businesses which were supporting the apartheid state. Finally, F.W. de Klerk had no choice but to give way to the various pressures piled on him and his apartheid government. Perhaps behind the headlines, in locked up chambers that we cannot see, there were malams prostrate on animal skins reciting the relevant passages from the Holy Koran and babalawos in groves in the deepest forests slaughtering the necessary animals to the ancestors to placate the ancestors and get them to get de Klerk to do what he finally did on February 10, 1990. If this was the case, none of the people involved in the South African situation stopped doing what they were doing to get where they wanted to get to. I have footage of long lines of cars waiting for petrol in the late 1970s. Along with this are also long queues of containers for water and containers for kerosene. Almost three decades later, almost 30 years on, nothing has changed.

What is said about petrol can be said about the provision of electricity, about the provision of water, about the provision of communications. There has been no improvement in the provision of these important and fundamental needs of human beings. Should we now put out advertisements for babalawos, sangomas, shamans, wandering priests to come over to Nigeria to help to purify our environment with incantations and incenses? Perhaps it was all a joke that would not be forgotten in a hurry. 

As if this was not enough, this week's The Economist June 9-15 carries a comment made by the President on Lagos. The subject is tourism and virtually everyone I know has a tourism joke from Nigeria! There is the case of the U.S. citizen who walked groaning under the weight of cameras to an emigration officer who asked him what he wanted. The U.S. citizen said he was a tourist. The Immigration officer says yes I know but what do you want in Nigeria? Here is how the President is reported in The Economics weekly news magazine: "Its own bluff President, Olusegun Obasanjo told an international conference recently that Lagos, Nigeria's commercial centre, was so disturbing and violent that no sane person could choose to live in it." Which cannot but remind those who know about the comments of Mrs. Baby Doc on Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti, when she was asked why she spent so much money for air-conditioning in the palace. She said it was impossible to live in Port au Prince without air-conditioning. The interviewer responded by simply saying that millions of people live in Port au Prince without air-conditioning.

Unlike the President, The Economist goes on to make the following remarks: "But Nigeria is home to the greatest range of languages, art and culture on the continent. It has given birth to some of Africa's greatest writers and musicians, though years of debilitating military rule have stripped writing and music of their vibrancy.

What are we supposed to read from these negative comments? Is this a sign of weariness for a long distance runner coming to the end of his strength? Are other members of his government making the same types of comments to international conferences? If this is the case, would this not mean that there is an unwillingness among our political leaders to do something about our malignant social and infrastructural problems? If we are under the evil eye of some people and only lunatics live in Lagos what is the use of improving the environment in which people live in Lagos and ensuring that essential commodities are made available to all and sundry?

What one would wish to hear from the President and his ministers is a listing of what they are doing to achieve the difference between their promises, and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo did promise to solve the problem of petrol queues and the peripathetic nature of electricity supply in the country, and the fulfilment of people's ordinary expectations for a decent everyday existence. Obviously, some things are being done to deal with these problems. Why do we not hear about the outcomes of these efforts? Why do we not have pictures of the streets which have been cleaned in the newspapers, news magazines and on the internet? Many Nigerians must be wondering if there is anything particularly patriotic in enduring the absence of these basic necessities.