Ouite Inspiring from my able Barr, Emeka Ugwuonye . MY MESSAGE ON NIGERIA ON ITS 54TH INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION By Emeke Ugwuonye Naturally, my message is addressed to the youth of Nigeria, anybody under 54. I chose that cut-off number because I am directing my message to people born after Nigeria’s Independence. If you were a Nigerian today or even a friend of Nigeria, you would have in your heart some mixed and conflicting feelings toward the country. On the one hand, you would realize that you belong to a country so well endowed and so richly blessed. On the other hand, you will feel disappointed and even aghast at the present sorry state of the country. As a market, Nigeria is the most potent and most dynamic on the entire African continent. It constitutes 25% of Africa sub-Sahara, and can achieve the effect of 50%, when properly leveraged. It is more than one half of ECOWAS. Yes, Nigeria alone is bigger than the other fourteen countries in West Africa put together. As a people, Nigeria is one of the most diverse and dynamic countries in the world. In terms of natural resources, it is one of the most potent in the world: with huge and yet-to-be exploited gas reserves, reasonably extensive coastline, vast mineral deposits, etc. To add to the blessings, Nigeria has been spared from natural disasters that have ravaged other countries such as earthquakes, massive floods, hurricanes, etc. Nigeria’s list of natural blessings is immensely extensive, if not virtually infinite. Culturally, Nigeria is equally super blessed, with more than 450 ethnic groups with unique cultural practices, foods, music and arts, dresses, etc. When you think about all this, you should feel proud of being a citizen of one of the greatest nations on earth. However, I am disturbed by the fact that despite all the above indicia of greatness, Nigeria is actually a poor miserable and increasingly dangerous place to live in or to be part of. As of this date, Nigeria is at war; war against an amorphous insurgency, and from several indications, that war is being badly fought or managed with increasing threat of further devastations. The list of the negatives is quite long. Nigerians are saddled with a highly corrupt and corrupted leadership, where every person who could is robbing the country blind. We see the effect of this corruption everywhere. We saw it in the closure of our universities for seven months, which set the youths of this country back for years actually. We see it on the roads across the country, which has made traveling a highly risky undertaking. We saw it in the deaths and scare about Ebola virus, as we lacked basic level preparedness for health emergencies in this country. We see corruption in the poor handling of the war against Boko Haram, where the government has chosen to exploit the war to the personal advantages of our leaders rather than defeating the enemy. We see corruption in the fact that our own leaders would seek basic medical treatment overseas, rather than strengthen and modernize the Nigerian healthcare system. We see corruption in the fact that our hospitals are places to avoid, even for a healthy person, how much more for a sick person. The beauty of our country has been taken away by those we put in office to lead and guide us. They have focused on insane and criminal accumulations of personal wealth rather than on the welfare of the people. They have chosen to find safety inside their armored vehicles rather than to work for open and safe streets where all could be a happy community once again. Our leaders have chosen to divide the people – Christians against Muslims, men against women, community against community, ethnicity against ethnicity, all in a bid to perpetuate themselves in power. There is poverty everywhere. Despite the evident wealth, most Nigerians are poor. They are unemployed. They cannot afford modern healthcare when sick. They cannot afford to send their children to good schools, as only the politicians and their friends could send their children overseas, I mean to Ghana, Togo, Republic of Benin, etc., the nearest places where there is any meaningful education system. Our graduates were poorly trained and ill-equipped for the modern world, just because our leaders have embezzled the money set aside for public education. Our engineering graduates are unemployed even while our streets are flooded each time there is a slight rain. Violent crimes occur everyday in alarming numbers. Our police force is about the most corrupt in the world and the least equipped or trained for policing. Our justice system is in total crisis, where cases, however basic the controversy, are left to linger for years while the poor suspects are left to rot away in jails awaiting trials that have long been abandoned by the system. I have asked and I dare to challenge the Nigerian youth on this: Why do we have such a bad condition and contradiction of the blessings that ought to await us? Why did we end up with such a nasty outcome? You will not go far before you realize that our leaders are the problem. We have across the nation highly irresponsible people as leaders. Those we call leaders do not seem to believe that this country has any future. They amass wealth, buy bulletproof vehicles and have their private jets on the ready for quick escape if the Armageddon they created were to arrive a day earlier than they expected. While we blame the leaders, we must be ready and willing to take responsibility for having these types of leaders. We actually placed them where they are, and when we did not place them there, we at least tolerated them for as long as they have tortured us with their presence. We must take responsibility now and face up to it. We must be bold enough to take back the power we surrendered to the false leaders we have today. We must assume responsibility for our own destiny, and we start by asking questions. Every Nigerian youth must search his mind and soul today and ask: is this all there is for us? Is this all we get from our country: this death, this pain and suffering, this fear of the unknown, this poverty and unemployment, this abuse of power and deprivation? Is this all we get? By the way, I know that there are those in our midst who believe that Nigerian leadership is the best there could be and who shower praises each day on the leaders. They do this either because they have been hired to do so or because they simply do not know any better and could not relate to any other condition apart from what they have faced in this country. For such people, there is nothing you can do to convince them. Many of them actually live in places without electricity. Even today of all days, many are without electricity in their houses. In other words, even the leaders you praise have denied you the opportunity to praise them well by foisting on you a state of powerlessness and darkness. I insist that Nigerians deserve much better, but they must be prepared to fight for their rights and to reclaim their dignity. They must demand accountability from their leaders, and be prepared to change leadership where it has failed to perform. God bless you as you take your destiny into your hand, from today, the 54th anniversary of this nation. Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 11:40:15 +0000
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