Accidental Correction of Our National Abnormalities

Accidental Correction of Our National Abnormalities aims to assert the hopeful reemergence of a new Nigeria.

Nigeria’s socio-political space, there appears to be an accidental correction of perceived national abnormalities, and its impact will be long term.

In any socio-political space, public perception is deemed powerful, and its implication can be very far-reaching. It has brought inept individuals to power and has deprived and derailed competent political candidates while making a mockery of the revered concepts of ‘pedigree’ and ‘antecedent’.

Few people understand the importance of public perception better than politicians. They live by the public perception creed. The electoral value of a politician is directly proportional to how such a person is perceived in the public space.

From pre-election hustings to fanfare display of manifestos by candidates to `energetic and endless election campaigns, it is clear that politicians place a huge premium on how they are perceived, and the impact on their electoral values.

It is not only in the business of politicking that the influence of public perception is significant. It does, in no smaller measure, affect the psyche of a nation, and influences the direction of both the poster and functional public policies of any administration.

For instance, if a society is permissive to corruption and indiscipline, impunity would be the order of the day. This is not just in the political arena but also in every area of the polity. Such a society will be truth and justice-challenged.

However, when society perceives a genuine pushback on corruption and the culture of impunity, it will slow down the culture of ‘business as usual. That is the accidental correction of the perceived national abnormalities that I am alluding to.

The events of the past few months in Nigeria have reinforced my belief in the fact that a new nation would eventually emerge out of the ashes of the ruins of the spent, old and familiar Nigeria.

My allusion has nothing remotely close to do with the much-touted Oduduwa Republic or the Biafra Republic or the passively pushed Arewa Republic.

No, I’m talking about a new Nigeria, where corruption and indiscipline would no longer be celebrated. A new Nigeria, where corrupt individuals will no longer be celebrated and rewarded.

A new Nigeria, where individuals will wear national pride like a garment, and be willing to contribute their quotas to the development of the country. A new Nigeria, where bribery will no longer be okay.

A new Nigeria, where nepotism will be frowned at. A new Nigeria, where leadership at all levels, will no longer divert the funds at their disposal to private use while turning around to be accusing others of corruption.

A new Nigeria where institutional corruption will no longer be acceptable and agents of governments will wear their badges with pride and act with honour.

This is neither an exercise of hope in futility nor casual daydreaming of a plausible emergence of a new nation from the ruins of the old failed system but rather a pointer to what is attainable when we, all as citizens, live up to our expectations for the country, and the stars, moon and the sun continue to align in our favour, excuse my esoteric nuance.

This new look in Nigeria would have corrected the national abnormalities that have plagued us, as a country.

Be Done with Skewed Rationales

Nigerians are good at trading blames because it offers temporary relief from deserved guilt and responsibilities. Let’s look at some of the excuses that Nigerians have latched onto, over the years:

• The Intrusive Political-Wannabe Military Coupists are to be blamed for Our Socio-Economic Woes

Over the years, analysts, both professionals and amateurs, and more recently, Internet Soldiers and Social Media Opinionates have been blaming the apparent decadence within the Nigeria socio-political space on the infiltration of the various junta regimes into the leadership sphere of the Nigerian society.

While there is a significant substance to this argument because the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is no African version of the American West Point, and its curriculum is not particularly designed to marshal an economy or balance socio-cultural differences and hotbeds within a geographical space, hence the weak political quality of her products, so to speak.

However, it is important to pause and reflect on the fact that we have collectively, as Nigerian citizens, contributed to the crushing decadence in the country, over the years. More so, we need to reflect on how we got to where we are to fully understand the accidental correction of our national abnormalities currently taking place.

From the civilians administering the issuance of licenses to the fiscal maleficence of civilian workers in various State and Federal Inland Revenue Services.

How about the fiscal escapades of school bursars and school heads as well as the corrupt practices of market men and women in circumventing pricing mechanisms?

How about medical personnel in our various health system apparatus that divert state medical supplies to their private entities for their own benefit?

How about the permissive society built by us, which intrinsically and intuitively rewards social aberrations and character misnomers?

Simply put, we are all guilty, as Nigerians.

This pretty much punctures other rationales that we are going to further discuss below.

• The Fulani Cabals from Northern Nigeria are holding Nigeria to ransom and stifling development in other regions of Nigeria.

I am a strong believer in the ever-relevant concept of the Primary Diagram, which is popularly referred to as the Venn Diagram and emphasizes the finite logical relations between plausibly direct connecting sets.

Simply put, the Venn diagram asserts that a whole object is made up of the interconnectivity of its distinct and separate units. If this assertion is any true, then the idea that a region solely influences the dynamics and strategic direction of the entire country, without the input, cooperation and supports of other regions of the country is skewed, faulty and laughable.

It is irresponsible to permit and aid other people to usurp your socio-economic benefits from the commonwealth, and then turn around to be crying foul of the invincibility of the aided region or ethnic group.

In recent times, this has become the premium talking points for those agitating for the disintegration of the country of Nigeria, most especially from the South-Western and South-Eastern parts of the country.

While this editorial is not a direct attack on those who are freely attempting to express their rights to political independence and self-determination, it should be made clear that cymballing the unassuming stealth and invincibility of the Fulani race is politically nauseating and depressing.

This idea was first fed into the public consciousness and is still being peddled by those that have been playing tribal politics. It is high time we stopped this almost-campaign of calumny against the Fulani race, and focus inwardly to reflect on what works and what has not worked so far, and how we have contributed to our own setbacks. We should focus on how we can recover lost socio-political grounds.

The South-Westerners need to ask themselves the following:  What made Chief Obafemi Awolowo to successfully facilitate and launched the historical Free Primary Education and Free Health Care for All Children Programmes in the then Old Western Region in January 1955?

What made the same Chief Obafemi Awolowo to successfully establish the first Television Station in Africa at Ibadan, Oyo State of Nigeria, and as a matter of fact, before the French State in 1959?

Ok, for argument sake, let’s assume that the Colonial Masters have not dubiously masterminded the political elevation of the Northern Region to the disadvantages of other regions then.

However, can we, with all sincerity of heart assert that the systemic and infrastructural decadence witnessed in the South-Western Region of Nigeria, over the years, can only be laid squarely at the feet of the Northerners?

Suffice to say that the failings of non- continuation of these laudable Programmes in the present-day South Western Region could not in all conscience be directly traced to the Fulani.

About time we looked inward and embarked on a journey of introspection.

How have we, as South-Westerners contributed to the perceived marginalization?

What roles have some of our regional leaders played in sabotaging the chances of the region, over the years?

The nauseating shreds of evidence emerging from the on-going House of Representative Probe of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) further lend credence to the fact that inherently, we are all culpable. No region is exempt from the responsibility for our rut, as a nation.

Niger-Deltans in charge of the Niger Delta Infrastructural Development through the apparatus of the Niger Delta Development Commission and all we have is a track record of looting and corruption, without any meaningful development to point to.

Are we now to blame the Northerners for the looting of the Niger Delta Development Commission?

This goes to show that pointing the accusing fingers at a section of the country as being responsible for our collective woes, without acknowledging the contributions of the other regions would deprive us of the realization of the much-needed change.

The Needed Change has started

The present situation in Nigeria could best be described as a ‘storm before the calm’.Therefore, the current accidental correction of our national abnormalities is a welcome development.

The positive things emerging from this hullabaloo are the pieces of evidence emerging that would prove invaluable, both in the now and the near future, to prosecute and recover our looted commonwealth while enabling us to put it into perspective, the exact nature of our problem, which is complicated and multi-faceted.

Credit has to be given to this government for challenging the culture of impunity.

While they have not gotten every decision right, and could credibly be accused of turning blind eyes to the wrongs of some of their sympathizers, as a nation, we are beginning to form a culture where citizens are no longer comfortable with people few individuals carting away our commonwealth.

A lot still needs to be done. We need more than frowning at impunity and corruption. We need to take actions- responsible and result-oriented actions, at all levels of society. Our community leaders should stop celebrating and awarding chieftaincy and honorary titles to individuals with questionable and unverifiable wealth.

Our society needs to promote the dignity of labour and reward hardworking individuals, and not just the elites. Gone are the days when Civil Service was respected. The respect for the civil service and the middle class must be restored.

The government needs to recreate the middle class by putting in place specific fiscal measures aimed at stabilizing the middle class. We cannot just have the upper class and the lower class, as that socio-economic imbalance is just too wide. We need the middle class, now more than ever.  We need to pay attention to revitalizing our middle class.

There is a need for revamping this segment of the society, that is the middle class

as the economic redress starts from there because they are the real conduit for the commonwealth spread, within the society.

I sincerely hope that this government will continue with the accidental correction of our national abnormalities while pursuing meaningful socio-cultural changes that would benefit every Nigerian.

Long live Nigeria