How often do we hear a friend tell us how "this country has failed us", "nothing works in this country, I will leave with the slightest opportunity I get".
Please permit me to ask: Did Nigeria really fail us or are we failing our nation?
It is commonplace to hear our comrades grief about how nothing works in Nigeria, police brutality, illegal extortion, crime and electoral violence, mass emigration – illegal and legal has increasingly become a tradition. I dare to say that migrating to other countries for search of a greener pasture by any means possible, which is common among young people, has become the dream of most young people in Nigeria today.
However, not everything is rosy even for the successful emigrants. In recent times, Nigerians in diaspora are not exempted from unprecedented hostility meted out on African migrants in other host countries. Think about Libya, the gross racism in the United States of America, the local prejudice and hatred existing even among Africans as we saw in the xenophobic display in South Africa towards Nigerians and other African Migrants. Nigerians are evicted from their supposed comforts and businesses as we see in Ghana today.
So, exactly where and when did our problem start? Just over 60 years ago, Nigeria was the dream and envy of most African countries. We were touted as the giants of Africa and we lived up to the hype by playing critical roles in the African freedom struggle and development of the continent.
Fast forward 60 years, Nigerian businesses are being closed down in Ghana, youth unemployment is skyrocket and crime is commonplace, crime perpetuated, even, by the people who are tasked to keep us safe from crime and maintain national integrity.
So who is to blame for our massive fall from grace?
A. The country?
B. The system?
C. The people?
D. The western colonisers?
My argument: The People
1. The country is not to blame
Nigeria is home to over 200 million locals according to world bank at the time of this writing. It is also home to Africa’s largest oil and natural gas reserves with the abundance of other natural resources such as tin, iron core and coal. The northern part of Nigeria has always been a reliable source for agricultural products with a supporting cast from all the other regions in the country.
With that mind, we can safely dismiss the notion that out country is to blame for our own failings. One can even argue that the country has given us all we needed to succeed and we failed her and they would be right.
And definitely not western colonisers, we have long past the stage of blaming all our problems on western exploiters.
2. Not the system
Nigerian in its soon-to-be 60 years of self-governance has dabbled in all sort of system of governance. We started with the British parliament system and decided along the way, to try our hands on fascism on at least two occasions. Throw in a brutal civil war in the middle and we have a nation rich in diversity and immense history.
Since 1999, Nigeria operates in what looks like a democratic system copied directly from the US playbook. Whether the system is copied correctly is left for the observer to decide. However, one thing is clear: We have a system of government for the people, ruled by the people. That is an undeniable fact no matter how you try to spin it.
Do we elect bad leaders? Do we have corrupt officials in governance? Are there electoral frauds? Who are the perpetrators and vendors of these frauds?
We can check each of the question marks above but look carefully, at the end of each critical consideration, everything points back to the decision by the PEOPLE. I can already see you making a face over this and whining about how the system is unfair, rigged and how your vote doesn't count. THE ELECTION RESULT HAS ALREADY BEING DECIDED! This is your favorite sentence, you have repeated this sentence and heard it repeated by others so often that you now believe it to be the truth.
It's worth asking yourself, though, can election outcome be rigged without the collective efforts of the people? Think about it, how many underage people do you know voting in the last election? How many people do you know actively seeking to sell their voting rights to the highest bidder? They most likely share the same believe and doubts about our system as you do; their vote doesn't count, best to sell to the highest bidder and reap their benefit now while they can.
But why will any politician bother to buy your vote if it doesn't count? Think about that for a minute. Politicians spend millions of Naira during elections for campaign alone. Why go through this stress and financial hassle if they can simply rig their way to political prominence? A skeptical observer like myself can even argue that politicians has successfully convince most Nigerians to sell their votes for cheap by having them believe in the myth that their vote doesn't count.
Do I think our elections are free and fair? Absolutely not! However, it will be ignorant of us not to acknowledge our own roles in ensuring that the rigging continues.
4. We have failed the system
We have a system of governance that allows us to actively hold our leaders accountable. This is the mandate and responsibility of every Nigerian at a voting age. However, our lackadaisical attitude towards this mandate has allowed a few individuals to highjack our system and act with impunity. In this regards, we have failed both our country and our democratic system.
Indigenous businesses has preferred to take their businesses elsewhere rather than fighting for their rights in Nigeria. This has contributed immensely to youth unemployment.
5. The path to redemption
Nigeria by all standard is still a very young country. Nigerians on the other hand, are hard working people, intellectuals, entrepreneurs and leading in various workforce in the world. But we have failed to inject the same passion in our political growth and overall national interest. Perhaps, our brief spells in fascism have earned distrust towards our system for so many Nigerians. Or maybe we have allowed the political interest of a select few to hinder us from seeing past our ethnic and religious divide.
Whatever the reason is, the only path to redemption is for everyone to take responsibility. We have to understand the power of our voice and the value of our vote. We can't stop there, we need to educate our peers on these values. People need to start believing that their votes counts and we need to ensure that it does.
Entrepreneurs should seek to establish their business in Nigeria and push for sustainable business models rather than moving abroad. Leaving Nigeria to start your business elsewhere without addressing the limiting business factors is abandoning your national responsibility as a citizen.
This movement starts from you, it start from here. ThinkNG and let us put our ideas together to see a better Nigeria. If you agree with my arguments, leave your contribution and make sure others read this post as well by using the share button. If you don't agree with me, I will appreciate an alternate argument.
