Our macroeconomic index is improving
#THATISALLIKNOW

What more can be added.. True reflection ..

Mscheww!
meaningless thread.

@OP and what is your contribution to the decay or betterment of Nigeria. Is your only contribution spreading frustration and fear?? Take a lesson from nigerians trying to be positive. go to www.trendycoal.com or some other positive sites and try to see the glass as half full instead of half empty. My point is that if we all try our best to contribute positively to Nigeria even at least by our attitude, we will be better off.

O ma se o ooo

Am I a Nigerian?

Exactly what is corruption? If you are a typical Nigerian, you would define it as government officials looting our treasury. In our view, everything starts and ends in government offices. Should we then be surprised that almost everybody is campaigning against corruption in Nigeria? We are all waging a war against corruption. We are all appalled. We are all agreed that corruption is dragging the nation backward. The main reason Nigeria is not making progress, we say authoritatively, is that those in government are just stealing public money.

Even—surprise! surprise!!—government itself is fighting corruption! We have the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigeria Police Force all fighting corruption. NGOs are campaigning against corruption. Youths are fighting corruption. Lawyers, journalists, doctors, engineers, bankers, pastors, imams, taxi drivers, truck pushers, all are fighting corruption. Fellow Nigerians, if we all are fighting corruption, who then are the people “doing” the corruption? Are they spirits?

Following our failure to win any medal at the 2012 Olympics, some Nigerians launched the humorous campaign that corruption should become an Olympic sport. Nigeria would sweep all the medals at stake, they joked. There is a belief that no country can beat us in the game of corruption. An author wrote: “Corruption is rare in Botswana, common in Ghana and endemic in Nigeria.” There is a feeling that corruption is in our DNA. It is believed that we are genetically corrupt. If you send a five-year-old boy to buy you a piece of cake, chances are he would inflate the price and seek to make away with your change. It is that bad.

So maybe we are wrong to focus our attention on the corruption in government alone. In recent times, the organised private sector has proved to be as corrupt as the public sector. The massive rot in the banking industry provided all the proofs we needed to understand this. But I am not about to write on the destruction of the financial sector through greed and mindless manipulation by the bankers and their accomplices. The stealing of billions of naira by government officials is not my focus either. No, I am not about to write about the multi-billion naira pensions scam. The fuel subsidy tryst, which brought the private and public sectors together in unholy matrimony, is not of interest to me today. We have written on these usual suspects a million times.

What I seek to do today is drag our attention to the unusual suspects whom we perhaps ignore from day to day as we talk about corruption—the so-called lower classes of the society. Listen to the radio, spend a few minutes at the vendors’ stand, or tarry awhile at the village square. Everybody is discussing corruption and how “our leaders” are looting us blind. It is usually a case of “we the ordinary people” against “they the government”. Somehow, it keeps escaping the attention of these “ordinary people” that they (we) are part of the system that is destroying the country and making our lives worse from day to day.

I will cite five instances to illustrate my point. One, at a construction site, a man came to market cement. He said a bag was N1750, including transport to site. But the builder said he was getting his supply cheaper, at N1700. After a brief argument, the cement seller gave out a secret of the trade which he called “repacking”. Cement sellers, he said, have a way of opening the bag, taking out a few kilos of cement and then re-sealing the bag. The kilos so stolen are re-bagged. That gives an additional income to the cement seller. From 10 or so bags, he can get an additional one bag. Is that not worth an Olympic gold for corruption? Yet, this same set of people will gather at the village square to discuss how “our leaders” are looting the treasury!

Two, rice sellers. This is a well-known secret. They have a long rod they insert into a bag to steal a few “mudus”. They then re-pack into an additional bag. That’s additional income. Three, the bread sellers. They remove a few slices from several loaves to make an additional loaf! Four, the petrol station attendant. He sells N200 fuel to a motorcyclist without “rubbing off” the meter. When a car comes along, he continues from where he stopped and pockets the additional N200. Another trick is to sell fuel of N109 to a motorist and then sigh that there is power failure. He tells you to look at the meter very well, that he had already sold N1009 (not N109) worth of petrol to you. If you don’t pay attention, he will fleece you of N900. Five, the woman selling garri to you has already tampered with the measurement by battering the can. Yet, all of them (all of us) will call the radio station to complain about “our leaders” and corruption.

My father-in-law, a doctor, once told me a heart-breaking story. In the 1990s when he was working at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), an eight-year-old boy died. As he took the body to the mortuary, the attendant told him: “Doctor, you have to find us something o!” That means he had to give him a tip. A morbid tip! If you bury the dead at some cemeteries in Lagos, you need to “find something” for the cemetery workers. If not, as soon as you turn your back, they will unearth the casket, steal any valuables they can find, dump the corpse in the grave and sell the casket for peanuts. Yet, all of them (all of us) will gather at the vendors’ stand the following morning to complain about how corruption is killing Nigeria! Doesn’t this also deserve an Olympic gold medal?

Let’s look at it this way. If the person who steals and re-bags a few kilos of cement gets into government, is he not likely to steal pensioners’ money? If the market woman becomes a bank MD, would depositors’ money be safe in her care? We seem to think that people suddenly become corrupt when they join government. No. We are groomed for corruption. For a plumber, for instance, it is part of his training that if he needs 20 pipes, he should quote for 40. He will buy 20 and pocket the balance. Cheating and short-changing customers are part and parcel of the training of artisans here. They are actually trained to tell lies without batting an eyelid.

Since this sleazy system produces our leaders, maybe we deserve the leadership we always get then…

Too long, cant read it

let everybody bear in papa name this union is not working .A country with no local language for all, i beg

great

This is not a pot hole, but a mine shaft ooo

i don pieces nobi broken

My people cannot sleep at night and cannot relax by day. They cannot use ATM machines, nor use cheques. My children sleep through the staccato of AK 47's, see through the mist of tear gas, while we all inhale Carbon Monoxide, poisonous CO-2 from popular 'I better pass my neighbour' (portable generators) and 'Okada' (motorbike taxis) The leaders have looted everything on ground and below. They walk the land with haughty strides and fly the skies with private jets (28 of which were bought in the last 12 months). They have stolen the future of generations yet unborn and have money they cannot spend in several lifetimes, but their brothers die of hunger. I want justice, please re-build me.

~Bluetooth:


Are those cows Nigerians too ? sorry,i mean northeners.

hw hav u helpd d situatn..i mean ur atitude

This is very touching. Am already looking inwards at my own contributions to this rot. Truth is that 99% of Nigerians contribute to Nigeria's problems. The song by Michael Jackson, Man in the mirror" comes to my mind.

We can do little things, I mean everyone of us to make this change.

I personally will try to cancel summer trip next year and use the funds the start the little poultry I 've been planning. Perhaps that can create some employment for some folks.

Come back please *sobing*

Why wont Nigeria b in d mess dat it is 2day wen all who av ruled dis country are so ugly dat u can't look any of them twice and tell dem d truth? American til 2day has handsome men in d presidency. Obasanjo, Buhari, Yar Adua are all looking disgusting! JONATHAN on his own looks lik an instrument dat a Town Cryer in my village normally used in beating to draw villagers' attentn wen they want 2 giv announcement in d village. Obasanjo look lik a masquerade face called ABON. Why wont Nigeria fail?

OP, can I use this write up? Very touching.

The leaders have looted everything on ground and below. They walk the land with haughty strides and fly the skies with private jets (28 of which were bought in the last 12 months). They have stolen the future of generations yet unborn and have money they cannot spend in several lifetimes, but their brothers die of hunger. I want justice, please re-build me.







[img]http://1.bp..com/_uxeoYKG5-bU/S8qgQK8wwwI/AAAAAAAAA74/TXNvhnzYVyw/s1600/Babangida+IBB.jpg[/img]

Oil Minister's Private Jet





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DON'T GIVE BRIBE AND DON'T TAKE BRIBE. This I believe is a good place to start

@modicum, you are absolutely right.
@topic, restructuring Nigeria still remains the most viable option to salvage the future of the people of Nigeria. Peace to the progressives.

Each time I dream about Nigeria it's always a good dream. Why?

@poster, u really capture everything. I weep for this nation

Nigeria is a forced marriage, no matter what we do, it will only get worse till we go back to the basics. Almost all of our founding fathers, from tafawa bellawa, ahmed bello,awolowo and ojukwu all said that there is no bases for unity. So i wonder how we can progress with out unity. If u tackle obasanjo for corruption, d yorubas cry foul, if u tackle Gej, igbos and south south cry foul etc. So corruption continues

Beautiful writeup. Indeed, excellent .

Still the happiest people in the world?
Nigeria! O Nigeria!
The country that defies all eartly and spiritual solutions!
Like Fela go tok. . . .ANIMALS IN HUMAN SKIN!
I gave up on YOU, Nigeria as long as I can remember.
The only way I can function since suicide is not an option!

What a spiritual albatross!

@op thanks for this write up this is what we need to move forward but too bad some fools here are busy fighting which tribe is better than the other, with that type of myopic mindset from our youths our country have no future because de same youths are going to be the leaders of tomorrow we shall bear in mind that our present leaders was once youths and were addressed as leaders of tomorrow but today we all know the situation of this country

@ poster almost every problem with Nigeria was captured in that piece. The solutions to the issues captured in the write up could be used as a template to make Nigeria a really great nation. haven said that I have been observing your posts and topics and I must say you are beginning to make me see General Buhari in a positive manner. If your ideologies are a true reflection of his character then that means the man really means well for the country and might actually make a positive change if given the chance. I am not holding brief for him but to be honest I fall into the category of Nigerians who were too young to know what was happening in the country when he was head of state (most a lot of nairalanders were not even born then) so any negative information I hear about him is simply based on hear say because I am unable to judge for myself (apart from the PTF issue). Just a thought though, but i am still skeptical and a bit cynical. Kudos to the OP for a brilliant literary piece of art.

I think there should be a convocation where solutions to our problems would be proferred. This country was once beautiful, during colonial rule. Maybe we should contract governance to an OYIBO person and pay them salary, by that they would be unbiased, they will do their job without any prejudice, we will judge them by their results, from the federal to the states we should give them free hands to chose who they want to work with them, even if their Ministers, Commisioners and other executives are OYIBO'S, so be it. Since we have tried several forms of government without success, maybe this will serve us better.

tampa1871: I think there should be a convocation where solutions to our problems would be proferred. This country was once beautiful, during colonial rule. Maybe we should contract governance to an OYIBO person and pay them salary, by that they would be unbiased, they will do their job without any prejudice, we will judge them by their results, from the federal to the states we should give them free hands to chose who they want to work with them, even if their Ministers, Commisioners and other executives are OYIBO'S, so be it. Since we have tried several forms of government without success, maybe this will serve us better.

I know you are being sarcastic but nawa for you sha. what a thing to say!

chreld_b:

I know you are being sarcastic but nawa for you sha. what a thing to say!

This is a serious issue that bleeds my heart. Far from sarcasm. I am extreemly serious with my suggestions and I believe things should not continue like this. Even Ghana solution would not be enogh to solve Nigeria's problems.

Smooyis: If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and call on me...........so says the Lord. If only we can get rid of pride and seek for God's intervention. Take it or leave it Nigeria and nigerians need deliverance! From evil forces dat are bent on frustrating all efforts towards growth. Not until we recognise our God sent saviour. Until then, songs of lamentation can continue.........

Guy, you blame these on evil forces, but the problems are man made. If we continue with this kinda attitude, things ain't gonna change in this Shyt hole of a country.

tampa1871:

This is a serious issue that bleeds my heart. Far from sarcasm. I am extreemly serious with my suggestions and I believe things should not continue like this. Even Ghana solution would not be enogh to solve Nigeria's problems.

I share your pain but vehemently disagree with your suggestion. So if you are given the chance to make a change in your own capacity through the mantle of leadership, you will contract the job to an OYIBO man? SMH