Galatians Chapter 6 Verse 7 states and I quote: “Whatever one sows, he reaps”. The Bible is absolutely right because the evil men do even lives after them. There are different situations in the Bible that prompted Paul to write to the Galatians this way. In fact, the people Paul was addressing above were not different from Nigerians who my article is directed at. The Galatians and Nigerians share some similarities and affinities. The most obtuse of this is their penchant for revelry and vainglory. This twin-evil has rendered some of our people increasingly insensitive to their responsibility as bona-fide citizens of Nigeria.

I have never failed to ponder the air of uncertainty that has hung over our nation so menacingly. Apart from the present economic downturn, Nigeria is faced with greater social and political uncertainties. The consequence of all this is hunger and pain everywhere. Nigeria, in spite of its riches, has been reduced almost to a banana republic. And the man who was the architect of these misfortunes is busy globetrotting. If you, the reader, have been following very keenly the activities of Obasanjo of recent you will agree that he is the most insensitive human being God has ever created.

Could anybody ever believe that Obasanjo would have the temerity to engage in his usual pastime- globetrotting- the same way he did for the 8 years he occupied Aso Rock? After his recent trips to Asia and Jamaica he has departed the shores of Nigeria yet again, in company with his daughter, childhood friend and a former media aide, for Libya on the invitation of that country’s ruler, to celebrate the Id-el-Mubarak. Where else could the man have gone to if not the abodes of his co-tenure-for-life friends? I knew Obasanjo would have wished not to have left Aso Rock at the time he did. As somebody obsessed with power he would have loved to rule Nigeria, even after all of us had died.

I am sorry for the masses of this country who have docilely allowed all this rubbish. For how long will the people allow themselves to be taken for a ride? Nigeria marked 48 years of independence last Wednesday without anything to show for it. We are independent as a nation yet a majority of the people live in bondage. I read with rapt interest Tony Ndibe’s article in The Sun of Tuesday, September 30, 2008, and which he curiously entitled, A FOOL AT (ALMOST) 50. Even though he was too acerbic in his criticism, I still agree with his position substantially. Tony was short of calling all our leaders rogues. Or did he? I could feel the angst in Tony’s heart, and it was flourishingly displayed in that article.

My worry is that at 48 we have learned and forgotten nothing as a people. Instead of counting our blessings as citizens of a richly blessed nation we are counting our losses in floundering economy, insecurity, poverty, and infrastructural breakdown.

To be honest, we started well as a nation – fighting in unity to repel the greed and domineering posture of the British imperialists. I remember with nostalgia the era that Nigeria had in abundance palm oil, groundnut, coffee, rubber and cocoa. This was a little over 45 years ago. Today, we import virtually everything. Name it: vegetable oil, coffee, cocoa drinks, toothpicks, rubber slippers, peanuts, etc. Nigeria was once the world’s largest producer of palm oil. Even Malaysia, the current world leader in palm oil, imported palm nuts from Nigeria in the 60s.

We must pause and ask ourselves a question: What actually went wrong? The first step to solving any problem is to identify its cause. Each day I wake up the first thing that comes to my mind is what we can do to get ourselves out of this mess. For how long shall we remain in this non-salutary situation before a Daniel comes to judgement? The danger of our indifference to our present travail as a nation is that it may get to a time when all kinds of remedies can no longer work. Our nation presents an unfathomable capability to absorb shock. But this is only for a period. No matter how strong a nation may be there is still a limit to what it can bear. Nigeria, in my estimation, has reached the point of elasticity.

I arrived at the title of this week’s reflection after a prayerful meditation. I sat down for several hours rueing over the state of affairs in our nation. I came to the sad conclusion that Nigerians are responsible for their woes. We have knowingly or unknowingly constituted ourselves into a nation of professional praise-singers. I tend to agree with some persons who refer to Nigerians as supporters of AGIP- Any Government In Power. Any government, no matter, how corrupt and inept must have some clowns supporting it. These clowns are those who occupy positions of authority in the same government. Their stock in trade is praise-singing. They sing themselves hoarse, applauding every decision of government, no matter how unpopular.

How can we change anything if we lack the courage and wisdom to fight for change? Throughout the life of the despotic regime of Obasanjo only a few Nigerians stood up to be counted when it mattered most. Several groups were falling over one another singing the praise of Obasanjo. Where are these groups now? They have since gone into limbo. In their place are new groups with identical agenda stalking another prey. President Yar’Adua should beware of these groups and their antics. They come in diverse shades and are very cunning and mischievous. Their target is to massage your ego and goad you into booboos designed to entrap you into doing their biddings.

These praise-singers are the major problem of Nigeria. They gang up, accept gratifications to rig elections. Their sense of reasoning is beclouded by greed and avarice. They are nothing but saboteurs: sacrificing national interest for self-aggrandisement.

Why must anyone sell his vote and conscience for a pot of portage? Why can’t we spare a thought for our children and generations yet unborn and do what is right? The future of our nation is more important than the crumbs some of our compatriots pick in the name of gratification.
All the efforts aimed at constitutional and electoral reforms will come to naught unless we decide today as a people to shun any form of inducement that will make us work against our nation. There are still bountiful opportunities we can avail ourselves to right the wrongs of the past and build a progressive and egalitarian nation.

We are less than two years to another round of elections and the sycophants and hagiographers are, as usual, oiling their machinery of deceit to hoodwink the gullible and susceptible. The power-seekers themselves are also plotting, in their characteristic manner, to deceive the electorate. But I want to assure all those planning to take this nation for a ride again to get ready for the battle of their lives. It is certainly not going to be easy for anybody to rig the elections again. Whoever thinks he can have his way as was the case in the past should be ready to face the wrath of God and man.

Nigerian electorate must sit up and take their destiny in their hands. It makes no sense to sell your vote and turn round to blame the government for inefficiency. Common sense demands that we all cooperate to stop any government that is not geared towards the uplift of the Nigerian people. The past nine years had been hellish for many Nigerians. Yet, nobody is doing anything concrete to change the status quo.

It is incomprehensible that a few persons will continue to sideline the collective interest of the people in order to entrench their self-centred agenda. For how long will this infamy go on?

2011 is the last chance Nigerians have to choose a government of their choice. Anybody who attempts to thwart the will of the people should be ready to face the kind of ugly situations that obtained in Kenya and Zimbabawe. This is the only lesson despotic leaders understand.
Nigeria is too large and complex to be manipulated by a few greedy individuals. These shameless people have continued to have their way because the majority have chosen to keep silence. As I wrote in the beginning of this piece, we reap whatever we have sown. If we decide today that elections will be free and fair in Nigeria, so shall it be. Nobody would have the temerity to change the will of the people so insensitively and ignobly.
I urge the electorate to stand up, no matter the risk, to defend our young democracy. This is the only way we can have a say on how we are governed.