It’s now time to re-strategise for a better Nigerian nation. We don’t have to wait until we are choked with anger as a result of unfulfilled promises.
Bidwell Nsofor
The dollar is the standard unit of money used in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries of the world. In the financial markets, the value of the US Dollar is used in comparing the value of different types of money from around the world, thereby making it a powerful currency of exchange.
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Even when human memory is an enviable sieve, today, after forty years, I can still unburden myself to readers about an unforgettable experience which has not dimmed. It was during the World Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC ‘77) held in two Nigerian cities – Lagos and Kaduna, that I came for the first time, in close contact with the sum of One Hundred American Dollars. Then, the joy that welled up in my mind was indescribable as it knew no bounds. Excitedly, I concluded in my mind that I had hit gold. But, much later after changing it into Nigerian naira, that joy in me waned. Why? Then Naira was more powerful than the dollar. The issue here is that the difficulty in addressing the rising exchange rate of the dollar has now become one of the biggest economic problems of the country, which like other problems, has defied any known solution.
Based on the ephemeral happenings in the country, from one administration to the other, it won’t be out of place to whip up fervor that is geared towards seeking peaceful solutions to the country’s endemic poverty and other perennial problems.
Whether it has to do with the much touted restructuring of the country or some other issues, there is this urgent need to re-strategise. The Arab Spring and the perestroika in the USSR during late 1990s are typical examples of what could happen when people are pushed to the wall. Today, hardship has made many Nigerians to start selling their valued properties at very ridiculous prices; just to make ends meet. In life, any condition that turns a strong and healthy man into the woman of the house against his will, is demeaning, unacceptable and condemnable. The most important thing now is for our next leaders to come up with catalysts for economic recovery and prosperity that will stop this dozing giant of Africa from sliding into a precarious coma and perhaps into oblivion. The electorate on their part should not fold hands and watch things go wrong. They should work with the intention of moving Nigeria to a comfortable level of recovery with a tinge of pleasure added to it.
Agreed, one cannot predict the temper of the chick in the egg, but when provoked, can dare the devil. Come 2019, Nigerians should try very hard to avoid casting their votes to support politicians with ferocious greed for power. They should try to identify politicians who speak deceitful soothing words, whilst their motives are self aggrandizement. Today, more derelicts are seen roaming the streets aimlessly in droves.
Begging too has assumed dangerous proportions. After fifty eight years of independence, are there visible and tangible achievements to point at? Perhaps, the steel rolling mills that died almost at birth. Or the epileptic power supply that has no known solution yet? The roads are nothing to write home about. And for potable water, the reality of water being life has not yet dawned on the government and our water managers. Robbery, kidnapping, unemployment, fraud, rape cases, ritual killings and some other crimes have only enjoyed lip service by those who should say something and do something.
With all these problems staring us in the face today, how do we think foreign investors can be attracted into the country? How can good life bear meaning in our present situation? As a citizen of this oil rich African country, my humble advice to our politicians is for them to learn from their past mistakes and not continue to go round in circles. Or what use are their empires when no one can sleep in two rooms at the same time. Nigeria’s population and size should be to her advantage and not disadvantage. Some foreign countries and businessmen that have eyes for good business are taking advantage of our population and size to enrich themselves and their countries, thereby turning the country into a dumping ground for substandard goods.
Most Nigerians are now patient dogs, waiting for one messiah to bail the cat. And painfully, none has emerged. Those who disguise or self-style themselves as messiahs are always extremely sensitive to criticism, forgetting that a clear conscience fears no accusation. Constructive criticism should instead ginger a leader to pursue sustainable development goals. Nigerians should not continually be taken for granted by politicians. Or should the scales of depression continue to decorate their foreheads? No! Rather, we should avoid being dragged into further misfortune and destitution. The democracy that will yield good dividends everyone can see requires uncanny skills. But, unfortunately, good leaders who are not moneybags in Nigeria can do nothing with their wisdom and knowledge.
That the eyes of the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and all other highly distinguished past Nigerian leaders had closed upon the light of this world, should not leave Nigerians groaning and mourning forever. This is why Nigerians should go to the polls in 2019 to cast their votes wisely and possibly elect candidates who will surrender their cultured hearts and souls to invent and practice a Nigerian type of people-oriented democracy.
With God-fearing leaders in command, the downtrodden masses will not hasten to the dustbins for food or, God forbid, to their early graves. A word is enough for the wise. A dog should not be killed for barking, because something must be responsible for its barking. An old woman who falls twice during a journey should pause and count the contents of her load or luggage. In less than two months, campaign drums will be heard in different parts of the country, with politicians jostling and vying for one political office or the other. Of course, there is nothing wrong about that. But then, Nigerians should ‘shine their eyes.’ As they say, confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
It’s now time to re-strategise for a better Nigerian nation. We don’t have to wait until we are choked with anger as a result of unfulfilled promises. God bless Nigeria!
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Nsofor writes from Abuja