The state of the nation in the past couple of months can be rather said to be very interesting and disturbing. Interesting in the sense that Nigerian citizens have masterminded the art of going around doing their daily duties to survive and not interfering in the dramatic charades of those in power. This is disturbing because everything from the decisions of the executives to the silence of the citizens is a sign of nonchalance on the rule of law from the executives and more nonchalance from the citizens who suffer worse fate due to the decisions of these monsters in power and yet go around daily and act like all is well.
A fellow wrote on twitter a couple of weeks back and I quote “a lot has changed, yet nothing has changed”. Some may wonder how this is possible, well it’s true, a lot has changed since the completion and exit of the Obasanjo administration. While Baba was in power, we criticized him and made him look like the devil. Obasanjo made an effort to ensure that every elected politician under him respected the rule of law and maintained law and order; he also made an effort to woo back couple of successful Nigerians in Diaspora. The Obasanjo administration carried out a lot of reforms, stepped on toes, and made sure the country was at peace till the completion of its tenure in 2007. The administration had its flaws alright but judging from the past and now, it pretty obvious Baba Iyabo did a better job than those in power now.
The most spectacular reforms I vividly remember are;
· El Rufai- FCT minister who maintained the standard of the FCT master plan and kept the capital city meticulous and traffic free.
· Soludo – Governor Central Bank of Nigeria who reformed the banking sector by setting a target for them to meet up with to avoid foreclosure crises.
· Ribadu- Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Chairman who made sure major corruption and money laundering cases during this administration were dealt with irrespective of class or political positions held by various people in power.
· The introduction of mobile cell phones in and around the country and this development offered self employment to a good percentage of unemployed Nigerians.
After handing over to Late Yar Adua in 2007, Nigerians had higher expectations from the humble man who left the four corners of the classroom to rule his people. Before his unfortunate demise, he didn’t have much impact as the people expected him to, rather, his wife was all over the media marrying off her daughters to men in power and enjoying the media eye in and out of the country.
After the demise of Late Yar Adua, the mantle of power was handed over to his lucky vice, Goodluck Jonathan. The nation mourned and yet rejoiced that a younger man and at least one from the south- south who was ‘learned’, was going to take over and free Nigerians from the stagnation and mediocre state of affairs that the late president left the nation in.
Sadly, even after electing Goodluck Jonathan in as the new president of the country, the state of the nation gets worse daily. There’s been drastic rise in road accidents due to the terrible condition of these death traps we call roads today. Poor security round the nation due to incessant bomb strikes which is almost a daily occurrence now, citizens go round scared to their bones and praying to go earn a living and return home safely without been bombed victims. Education is now an option to most youths who feel they can pay their lectures and party away all through school years instead of reading to acquire knowledge like other students round the world do. Higher institutions are now a haven for young girls to become sex toys for these miserable men in power who send their kids to the best schools overseas and wreck the lives of the kids of the common man. The health system in the country is not even recommendable at all, as the doctors and even nurses lack necessary equipments and expertise to deal with health cases daily. The high and mighty gets all the treatments they need overseas and leave the poor to the unfortunate fate of the miserable and unequipped health facilities round the nation.
Too much ill fate has befallen the nation since the demise of Late Yar Adua and it gets worse daily. The present president ‘Goodluck’ whom Nigerians blindly believed would bring them luck is silent and one wonders if there is even a head figure in power, there is no sign of anything good to come from this administration so far. The most amazing thing is buying the trust of a man who promises fresh air instead of positive developments and reformations in the society. We don’t need luck to fix our roads, to return values to our young women, to equip our hospitals, to provide necessary facilities for our emergency response agencies, to prosecute and provide justice to law offenders, to make sure the nation is at peace and citizens around their daily lives with assurance of safety. Luck and fresh air won’t provide all these. It’s high time Lucky Jo picked his guts and grabbed his balls to face these critical issues like his predecessor Baba, we don’t need luck, we need action and strategies, and if he can’t do his job, he should get the hell out of the presidential seat and go get some fresh air for himself and his dame and allow real men do the job.
