Still Awaiting a Messiah
by
At forty, a man is supposed to put behind him all the follies and prevarications of youth and take his destiny firmly in his own hands. At this age, any man still groping for direction is written off as a drifter and a never-do-well.Though forty years in the life of a nation may not be long enough to ascertain her full potentials, it is nonetheless long enough to sense the direction she is going. As Nigeria, African's most populous nation marks her fortieth anniversary of statehood, what has she to show for her political independence? In trying to answer this question, one cannot help but cast his mind back to 13 years ago in 1987 when India, another Third World country and follow ex-British colony, celebrated her fortieth independence anniversary.
At forty, India, a country less endowed than Nigeria and with a population about eight times larger could produce locally her motor cars, industrial plants, machineries, aeroplanes, railway coaches, chemical and computers. Her agriculture was able to feed her teeming population and provide needed raw materials for her expanding industries. Her exploits in the area of nuclear research and space technology were already giving western scientists and researchers sleepless nights. Building on this enviable legacy, India today walks tall among the comity of nations.
But what is the situation in Nigeria today? At forty despite the glut of petro-collars, many workers in both federal and state services have not been paid since July. In the states, some state governments and their trade unions are still trading punches over a so-called minimum wage which will be remembered more for the hardship and frustration it has brought to workers than the relief it was expected to bring.
But believe it or not, the salary-less workers are among the favoured few! As some of our leaders are wont to remind us, they (the workers) should thank their stars that they are working at all. At least, in spite of the 'little delay, they can still look forward to a salary even though by the time it comes, much of it would have been used to settle debts and to treat kwashiokor. Isn't this more preferable than joining the ever expanding army of the unemployed?
At forty, basic necessities of life like water, electricity, shelter, healthcare and education are denied majority of Nigerians. The economy has been ripped apart by corruption, barefaced stealing and a dubious debt profile. As usual the chief beneficiaries of the big mess we have made of our nationhood will pretend to console us by saying that the mere fact that the country has remained one and united is sufficient cause for chest-thumping. But is this the only reward for the blood, tears, sweat and imprisonment with which our nationalists, martyrs, heroes and people paid for our independence? Is independence and end in itself? In any case, which unity are we talking about with the Ijaw youths, Egbesu Boys, OPC, Arewa Peoples Congress (APC), Bakassi Boys, MASSOB and other militant ethnic group threatening to tear the country apart over all manner of grievances?
Going back to our comparison with India, it is pertinent to ask; what is it that India and other nations of the world that have made it have which we don't have? Without doubt, many Nigerians will be quick to point to the leadership question as Nigeria's greatest problem. They all seem to agree that the country's greatest misfortune stems from the calibre of men and women who have been managing or more appropriately mismanaging her affairs since independence.
While it is true that bad leadership constitute our greatest bane, it is equally true that a country's leadership don't drop from the sky. They are men and women who live among us, sit and sleep among us and share the same world view with us. If they are corrupt, greedy, insincere, selfish, inept, unpatriotic and sectional it is precisely because we share these weaknesses with them and they know that apart from a tiny few we are prepared to put up with any rubbish they throw at us.
For too long in this country we have often treated the leadership issue in isolation as if leadership exists in a vacuum. We tend to forget that the leadership only reflects the common traits of the followership that nurses and sustains it. Just as the plant derives its life and sustenance from its roots, leadership grows from the soil watered and fertilised by the followership.
The average Nigerians often wonders why his country has not been 'lucky' to have such outstanding and visionary leaders like South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, Cuba's Fidel Castro and America's Bill Clinton to pilot her affairs. The truth is that none of these great leaders could ever hope to make it in Nigeria.
But a people who are ready to sell themselves to any crook who brandishes a few naira notes before them can only get the type of leaders we have been getting since independence. Like every good thing in life, a good, purposeful and honest leadership requires courage, sincerity, sacrifice and determination on the part of the people.
If, as has often been said that the tiny ruling cabal that has continued to hold this potentially great nation to ransom for their selfish ends is not more than about 5,000 Nigerians made up mostly of retired generals, some paramount rulers, business tycoons, politicians and their cronies then, we their 120 million victims cannot be taken seriously.
If we are still waiting for God to mould a leader and neatly, package him to Abuja he (the leader) will not be able to perform any miracles except we are ready to save ourselves from ourselves. Only then will there be true independence.
Mr. Okon wrote in from Akpabuyo, Cross River State, Nigeria