SOLVING THE NIGERIAN QUESTION

Nigeria: God's Own Country

We have been introduced to the issue of problem solving right from our earliest days at elementary school. Mathematics is all about finding solution to a problem and even where there is a solution already, some esoteric professors demand you postulate a problem fitting with the solution on ground. School is so designed for men to find solutions to the myriads of problems mankind is likely to face. However, the beauty of modern times is that humanity, having come through centuries upon centuries of existence, have found answers to the most common problems that mankind is likely to face. Thus, rather than working from first principles, what most people do is to simply apply already made solutions to any problem that man is likely to face. The tragedy of the Nigerian story is that our problems seem to defy every known solution that man has conceived over time. This article attempts to provide a solution to the leading problem of the Nigerian nation.

The great but late Nigerian literary icon, Chinua Achebe, wrote in his book “The Problem with Nigeria”, published in 1981, that the leading problem in Nigeria is the leadership problem. How can Nigerians find solution to the perennial problem of bad leaders that we seems to be forever bugged down with? The answer is with the Nigerian people: Nigerians must take their destiny in their hands and see to it that this nation does not fail as we choose the leaders that will govern us in coming elections. Sometimes I feel that God is a Nigerian. And in all reality there is a sense in it that He is, because greater nations than us have faced lesser problems than we are facing and are history today. Even the worst atheist will agree that it could only have taken a divine hand to deliver this nation when Abacha held this country at the jugular in the mid-90’s. Then God saw us through the crisis that followed MKO Abiola’s death. Today this country has transitioned from civilian to civilian rule twice, a fit that seemed impossible some years before.  The military boys seem to have found their rightful place in the barracks and the idea of sacking democratically elected leaders is almost old fashioned. All of these can be attributed to the gracious hands of God and the dogged spirit of the Nigerian people that were committed to making the nation work.

Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation

In spite of these, the leadership problem remained unsolved. President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight year tenure in government had its positive sides, but the negatives enveloped virtually all of the gains recorded under his administration. Some are of the view that no other president in Nigeria’s history had the kind of opportunities Obasanjo had to revamp this country: with the unprecedented earnings this nation garnered from the sales of crude oil, the enthusiasm the Nigerian people brought into the democratic experiment that had eluded us for years, and the unrivalled support we got from the international community that was shifting gaze to Africa following the 9/11 violence that had ruptured the relationship between the west and the middle east. But Obasanjo sacrificed all these opportunities because of sheer stubbornness, vindictiveness and pride. Nonetheless, this country survived Obasanjo and we were placed on the laps of a sick president. Following Umaru Musa Yar’Adua performance as Governor for eight years in Katsina State, one could say he would have done well as President but he was continually hampered by ill health and finally gave up the ghost on May 5^th2010. The efforts he made via the Amnesty Programme for militants in the Niger Delta remains a positive testimony in his memory and today the nation is enjoying some reprieve in the Niger Delta.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan succeded Yar’Adua as president, riding on the waves of great public sympathy that followed his being sidelined by a cabal during Yar’Adua’s illness. His statement that he would “hit the ground running” in those early days of his administration portrayed him as a leader that will be different. However, after six months in office, it was obvious to the discerning that Jonathan was not going to be doing anything different from his predecessors. The challenge of leadership that this nation has been battling with since independence was not about to go away. Jonathan had the opportunity to make himself a statesman by simply completing the tenure of the late Yar’Adua, implement the electoral reform made by the Uwais Panel and then organize a free and fair election. Regardless of whoever won the 2011 elections, Jonathan would have gone down in the history of this nation as one of the greatest leaders we ever had, following in the likes of Muritala Mohammed and Abubarkar Abdulsalami if he had not contested the 2011 elections. Though one may not blame him too much in this regard, seeing that this nation has really never had a tradition of great leaders. Jonathan came into an office with very little leadership examples to imitate. So, it is obvious that if we do not have leaders that will solve our national problems, Nigerians had better take up the challenge of finding solutions to these problems themselves; for we do not have any other country that we can call our own.

Occupy Nigeria, January 2012 - A Successful Civil Disobedience

If there is a free and prosperous nation today, it is because the people of that nation decided to make it so. The question of revolution is no longer enviable these days as we behold the records of human causalities reeling out of Syria and the state of anarchy in Egypt. Nevertheless there are still lawful ways in which a people can find answers to the challenge of leadership in their country: Nigerians can ensure a change of government through a lawful and constitutional democratic process, especially now as we face the 2015 elections. To solve these perennial problems of leadership in Nigeria, we must refuse to be sold a lie. Every Nigerian old enough to vote must become knowledgeable of the political situation in the nation and begin to learn to read in between the lines. We must know every one of the politicians for who they are. We must take note of the performance of people in office now, who wish to run for a second term in office and use it to predict how they are likely to perform when they are voted in again. Nigerians must refuse to be sold the ethnic and religious lies: if we are not yet convinced by now that religion and ethnicity is not a proof that a person will perform well in office, we are likely to make the mistake again in 2015. We must take stock of the performance of political parties since the coming of this present democratic experiment in 1999 and use it as a yard stick for choosing our leaders in 2015. At the risk of sounding partisan, I think Nigerians must give new and emerging political parties the benefit of a doubt. Not simply because they are new but based on the precedence of the individuals in those parties. As a nation we cannot continue to do the same things and expect different results.

Corruption in Every Sphere of our National Life

The All Progressive Congress (APC) has the opportunity to win the hearts of Nigerians if she will take advantage of the in fighting going on in People’s Democratic Party (PDP) right now. They cannot allow flimsy matters of the choice of officers into their leadership to jettison the opportunity to wrest power from the PDP. I use this medium to lend a word of plea to General Mohammadu Buhari not to run for presidency in 2015. Not because he is not an able candidate for this office but simply because of his age. Buhari has attained a clout and age today that he should be seen more as a king-maker than a king. I look forward to Buhari backing a certain young and credible person, just like himself, in 2015, and he can be sure that such would have my vote. Also, I call Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to run for political office in 2015. Just like Buhari, he should be seen more in the background, backing young and credible men and women to political office in the coming political dispensation. These two leaders must sheath any personal ambition they may have and endeavor to agree on the choice of men to run for political office under the APC. If they do not do this, the APC will crash and Nigerians will be left at the mercy of the ignominious PDP.

Despite my positive word on APC, Nigerians must transcend even party bias to make a choice of who their leaders will be. We must remember that apart from the presidency, there are the sits of governors, local government chairs, counselors, senators, and house representatives. We must endeavor to know the candidates for these positions and choose right. Our destiny is in our hands: if Nigeria fails today, our children shall blame us in the future.