Nigeria is 61 years old as a nation today. Even at this ripe age, the country is still at a crossroads. That it has remained one nation despite serious challenges calls for some form of celebration. But as we celebrate, there is need for sober reflection on the current state of the nation.
Today’s anniversary is punctuated by the lockdown in the South East region. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ordered a sit-at-home protest to draw attention to the plight of the region in Nigeria. As one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo feel seriously marginalised in the scheme of things since the end of the 1967-1970 Nigerian civil war. Over 50 years after the war, the South East is still treated as if the nation is still at war. That is what has engendered the emergence of such groups as IPOB and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
The Yoruba nation is also protesting. People like Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, and the President of Yoruba World Congress, Professor Banji Akintoye, are leading the agitation for self-determination of the Yoruba nation. In the North, the twin problem of insecurity and insurgency has made life unbearable for the people. In the North East in particular, Boko Haram terrorist group is still a potent force. In its murderous campaign in the region, it has killed over 100,000 people and rendered over two million others homeless.
In Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and some other parts of the country, banditry has taken over ungoverned spaces. Hundreds of school children have been kidnapped for ransom. Some came back alive. Some died in the process. Ironically, security is one of the three major agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari. However, from every indication, he has failed on this score. Apart from bandits and kidnappers, criminal herdsmen have increased their attacks on farmers and other citizens who disagree with their open grazing activities. The situation is such that Nigeria has been adjudged the third most terrorised country in the world.
In the area of the economy, successive governments have also failed. One of the major indicators of this failure is the high rate of unemployment and poverty in the country. In 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the poverty capital of the world with an estimated 86.9 million people living in extreme poverty. At present, the figure has increased because every minute, almost six people fall into the poverty trap. Experts estimate that 15 to 20 million more Nigerians would join the poverty rank by 2022.
Nigeria’s debt profile is also not salutary. Ordinarily, borrowing is not a bad idea so long as the borrowed fund is adequately utilised. We have, however, borrowed so much that the future of our children appears mortgaged. We borrowed N21.725 trillion in 2017. This increased to N24.95 trillion in March 2019. In 2020, the debt profile rose to N33 trillion and there is apparently no end in sight for the borrowing binge. Inflation and exchange rates are also high. A hitherto strong naira has so weakened that one dollar now exchanges for over N500. This has led to high cost of goods and services. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Nigerian economy so hard that it experienced its worst recession since the 1980s and the second in five years.
Although we have higher number of universities now, compared to 1960, we also have the highest number of out-of-school children globally, currently put at over 13 million. The academic calendar of our universities is frequently disrupted by industrial action by varsity workers. In most of the universities, the infrastructure is inadequate and the maintenance culture is poor. Library and laboratory facilities are outdated. Lecture halls are inadequate and overcrowded. Some of the hostel facilities are not fit for human habitation.
Since August this year, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has been on strike over welfare and some other issues. Last year, the resident doctors were also on strike three times. It is the poor masses who bear the brunt of the strike while the politicians and the affluent embark on medical tourism. To worsen matters, Nigerian doctors have been migrating in droves to United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United States and some other advanced countries where their services are valued. The country’s current doctor-patient ratio of about 1:5,000 is against the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 1:600.
Unfortunately, corruption is so deep that hardly does one access basic facilities without offering bribes. Extortion is rife among the security agencies, especially the police. That is why Transparency International has consistently scored Nigeria low in corruption perception index.
However, everything about Nigeria is not gloom. One major achievement of the country is that we have had 22 years of unbroken democracy. Prior to 1999, the military had always interrupted our transition from one civilian administration to another. Though our elections are often characterised by massive rigging and violence, democracy is still better than military dictatorship.
There is also need for the government to listen to the advocates of restructuring. Let us restructure our political and electoral systems in such a way that will enable the emergence of credible leadership. Above all, we should discuss how we can remain together as one nation.