Things aren’t changing. Flashback response to Chido Nwakanma

Dear Chido,

You have articulated one of the greatest problems of the people living in the geographic area called Nigeria. Every day we read all kinds of write ups from different people on the issue of the problems of the geographic area called Nigeria and the inhabitants of this place but why your article is different and generated a response from someone like me is that you gave your opinion as to a solution to the problem you identified. Most writers on the problems of the geographic area called Nigeria never offer any solutions to their identified problem(s).

You called on the inhabitants of Nigeria to rise up and take back the country from the political elite vultures that have been feeding fat on the resources of the people. Chido, your proffered solution is based on the premise that Nigeria is a nation inhabited by Nigerians who lay legitimate claims as nationals of a country and are fully entitled to the resources of the nation. But unfortunately that is not the current situation. Nigerians were dispossessed of their country and their rights to the resources of the geographic entity soon after the English colonial owners of the country left the shores by the native politicians whether in military uniforms or civilian clothing. There has not been a Nation State of Nigeria since the ’70s. No citizens of a Nation State can loot the resources of the state and cart them to foreign countries for their own personal use while the masses wallow in poverty.

This raping of the geographic entity called Nigeria by the politicians has been going on for so long that it has been normalized as a way of living. Almost any inhabitant of Nigeria sees the looting of the resources by politicians as a norm and most of the people strive to enter into the political class. That is why politicians are hailed as successful people and not seen as looters of the treasury. My brother, you are in a minority group in Nigeria and as each year passes people in your group are abandoning ship and crossing over to the political class! The people have been stripped of any sense of belonging to the country and do not feel they have any stake worth fighting for. That is why your solution can not work.

The second reason why your proffered solution will not work is that the political class, even though in the minority, have mastered the strategy of holding on to the levers of power of the country through any means available to them. Since they have more to lose than the masses, they are very committed to holding on to power so they devote more time, energy and resources to their cause. The living conditions of the people have become so miserable and the thought of restoring the country back to a Nation State so hopeless that Nigerians are looking for a messiah either in Heaven or  a Strongman leader to extract power from the politicians. Of course, this is a dream that could never come true as such events do not happen in this century!

Chido, you might then ask what is the way out of this mess in Nigeria. There are two historical antecedents that could correct the problem. One is that a major reset in the world economic and financial situation could drastically reduce the revenue accruing to Nigeria thereby triggering a chain reaction in the country. There will be no funds to appropriate by the political class, by extension there will be no handouts dropping to the people, which will awaken their senses that it is all over as they cannot now climb up to the political class, which will then lead to mass unrest and a purge of the decadent behaviours of the people, and finally, a call to build a Nation State from the ashes of the ruins. The second example is that infighting amongst the political class will result in a conflagration, after which a new political class will spring up that will create a Nation State that would function to protect the interest of the citizenry through rule of law, accountability, meritocracy, opportunities for all, and love of country. Nation States are not given out or happen by wishful thinking. Nation States are fought for and if successfully achieved is revered and protected jealously by the people. Nigerians did not fight for the geographic entity as currently constituted thereby there’s no appreciation or patriotism by anyone living in the country.

From recorded history other people that were in the same situation that Nigerians are now, and emerged to become a Nation State, underwent one of the two examples.

Unfortunately, the country is still a long way from any of these two events taking place. But one will definitely happen. In the meantime people in Nigeria are busy either praying for divine intervention or struggling to cross over and become part of the political class.

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