Many a time we keep saying that the problem with our country lies within our leaders. I totally don't believe it. I believe that the problem lies within us.Before you criticize me, let me say my reasons for making such a statement.
I believe there is no different between a leader who is trying to steal the country's money and a student who is trying to bribe a lecturer/teacher in order to have a higher score. The student bribed because he/she thinks that having a good score is what is important at that moment. There is also no different between a person trying to jump a queue when there is about 10-100 etc, on that queue. If such a person is to become a president tomorrow, believe it or not, he/she must definitely do the same thing.
My second reason is this; when a student(the so called future leader) enter into a university and start looking for protection,he/she he will join one cult or the other thinking that it will give him maximum protection.What do you expect of that person if he/she happens to be the leader of the society tomorrow.
My third reason is this; almost 90% of Nigerians believe that you cannot progress in Nigeria without the help of godfathers or bribing your way through. When we stop believing in God and start putting our hope in godfathers, how do you think our future will look like. Even in the universities, most lecturers have formed the habit of not giving an intelligent student his/her real score. Most lecturer believe that "A" is for lecturer and "B, C, D, etc"  are for student. When there is no encouragement in the academic field, what is the hope of the future? The funny part is that even the lecturer open up his mouth to call the government a bad name. A POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK. My fellow citizens, I have a question for you; IF YOU WAKE TOMORROW AND DISCOVER THAT YOU ARE THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA, HOW WOULD YOU LEAD US? TELL ME THE AREAS OF LAW YOU WILL AMEND?

U be rookie for 'ere?

Let me categorically statehere that the leaders are the problem of Nigeria. How did Nigeria come to the rot of corruption? It is through the leaders. The leaders convert money meant for the provision of infrastructure for the nation or their constituency into their private use, thereby living a flambouyant life style, while nothing works. Everybody seeing the life style of the leaders aspire to be in such positions by using any available means to eliminate opponents. Having used illegal ways to get there, they continue in corruption. In the first place, a man that wants to serve his people does not get to position of leadership by hook or crook. The student seeing that to get to the top, you must use any means to get there bribe their way. By the way, where does the student get the money for bribery from? From the parent who is a leader of the student. Now, the lecturer is a leader in his own right who believes that those in government appointment are not better upstairs feel cheated and wants to get their own reward on earth. You talked of people looking for godfathers to make progress in Nigeria. Is it not the same corrupt leaders that have tasted how sweet it is to get awwuuff money that sponsor people to take over the mantle of corruption from them. I bet you, if the leaders rely on their official salary and benefits only, they will not have much to waste in the namre of showing -off. In 2008, you will recall how the national budget suffered set backs because lawmakers wanted some aspect favourable to them to be upheld while the executive cried fowl for such bogus and wasteful inclusion . Was the budget not delayed untill the executive compromised before the budget was passed? This affected utilisation of the budget for provisiobn of necesities for the common man. Some of them are trying to refund unspend budget money now. They are returning peanuts to government coffers. So you see that those in posiom of leadership have failed us by exhibiting gross corruption which has spread to every aspect of our lives, religious leaders inclusive. Nigeria will be better if leaders get to their positions by merit. They will do the right thing just to continue to win the hearts of the massess that put them there. This will affect every other facet of our lives as honesty will be restored. Finally, the masses too need to wake up by electing only the right persons for the right job.

Let me categorically state here that leaders are NOT the problem of Nigeria. Leaders do not fall out of the sky. They were born and grow up among us. And they imbibe our culture. What our leaders are doing is what most Nigerians, given the opportunity would do too. Greed, indiscipline, "big-man"ism, reaping where you did not sow - these are all cancers that you dont need to go to Aso Rock to observe among Nigerians.

U are so RIGHT. I've been saying it. NIGERIAN LEADERS ARE PRODUCTS OF THEIR OWN SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT. IF WE WANT GOOD LEADERSHIP WE WILL HAVE IT WHEN WE CHANGE OUR WAYS.

udezue:

U are so RIGHT. I've been saying it. NIGERIAN LEADERS ARE PRODUCTS OF THEIR OWN SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT. IF WE WANT GOOD LEADERSHIP WE WILL HAVE IT WHEN WE CHANGE OUR WAYS.

Lol look who is talkin about changin ways,
Maybe if u stuffed ur pro biafrian rhetoric in a duffle bag,
We could discuss about how to improve the country? Ehn ehn ehn??

U are so RIGHT. I've been saying it. NIGERIAN LEADERS ARE PRODUCTS OF THEIR OWN SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT. IF WE WANT GOOD LEADERSHIP WE WILL HAVE IT WHEN WE CHANGE OUR WAYS.

How will the change come when the men entrusted with the power to make laws, execute the laws and punish the lawbreakers are breakin g every law made with reckless abandon? You are invariably saying that if given the opportunity to lead Nigeria in any capacity, you will sell all of us. Am I right, bros?

power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
if you want to be less bias about the topic, consult your dictionary on the word - LEADER.
if u don't believe that the problem of nigeria is our leaders then reffer me to any country of the world where the leaders are good and their fellowers are bad or reffer me to any country where their leaders and bad and the fellowers are good.
the level of corruption of any country is determined by its officials and not necessarily the citizens.
what the world thinks about any country of this world is based on the leaders.
i would want to take u back to the usa under clinton - good leader good country.
look at zimbabwe under mugabe - bad leader bad country.
what do u do on a clean up day when idiagbon and top govt officials were busy working on a clean up day? what do u do when drivers were forced to eat naira they gave as bribe to officers at check point. tell me what a student will do if N1000 will save him from been in the university for additional 2 years. what will u do if giving N200 will make u go about ur normal business instead of wasting the whole day at the police station while the police claim they re on investigation.
how will a normal person respond to a confirmed fact that every politician is rich in nigeria?
will it be a normal thing for aman to seat down and watch his kids die of hunger while the ill gotten wealth of our politicians provides rich foods for their dogs?
how do u feel staying awake with the sound of listers belonging the a politician arround ur house when the politician can fix electricity for the benefit of all?
well, my arguement here is not to change your belief rather to know the white truth which if tackled proparely will bring the deserved change.
do u know how many people that got employment with that singular move of bringing telecommunictaion to nigeria and nigerians and do u know how many will be employed if the same govt decides to fix power supply?
be rest assured that govt itself knows that the problems of nigeria and nigerians lie in their hands. for all the promises that they never fulfilled, for all the missing funds that they never accounted for, for all the illegal and political killings, for all the electorial malpracticises, for all the illegal importations of firearms, for all money laundries, for every other societal wrongdoings, please let me know where the citizens get involved without the consent of the leaders.
heaven and earth jointly accept the fact that leaders must lead by examples and that is what we have here in nigeria.[color=#006600][/color]

anybody that says that the leadership is not the problem, IMHO has a problem of defining who a leader is and his/her role in society. leaders are people who define the direction, the phyche and the values that a society adopt. so if you are saying that the leaders are the product of the society they are from then remember that the society they came from was defined by the leaders whether they are fathers/mothers, perm sec, principals/teachers, gov/ presidents, it all leads to the fact that leaders are responsible for the ills/goodwill of any group including our country.

the leaders are our damn problems here, they have no clue what they are doing. the age will get rid of those empty headed leaders, expecially the mallam ones, only then can we start moving forward.

Yes the leaders are our problems.

Who are the leaders?

The leaders are you and I that bribe lecturers to pass a course in school, who will encourage giving bribes to government officials, who will not stand up for what is right, who will squander resources entrusted in his care. etc

The point is charity begins at home and unless we decide to be the change by living right from now, we the leaders are still going to be the problem of our nation in the nearest future.

The leaders we have is a reflection of the type of people we really are.Leaders do anything the like because the people around them are not pushing for change or reform.

For us to have a change in nigeria, we have to form a strong alliance of people, a network of positive,ambitious a nd fearless people who believe in transparency and doing things right.

The followers are as bad as the leaders

argent:

Yes the leaders are our problems.

Who are the leaders?

The leaders are you and I that bribe lecturers to pass a course in school, who will encourage giving bribes to government officials, who will not stand up for what is right, who will squander resources entrusted in his care. etc

The point is charity begins at home and unless we decide to be the change by living right from now, we the leaders are still going to be the problem of our nation in the nearest future.

Mr man, leave that bribe lecturer thing for corner, those socalled law makers could put a law to stop bribing and corruption, but how can they do it when they are involve in this act, it starts from head to toe, not toe to head, fathers should show good example not the kid, so the leaders are nigeria setback period.

This topic, whether na leader or na follower dey cause the problem is like asking which comes first: The egg or the chicken.
However, i would like to point out that the leaders have a greater share to bear in the rot that has entered the society today. Why?

There was a time when Nigeria was doing, 'okay' and had the opportunity of becoming a greater nation. Those who were artisans, were good and honest artisans. Traders were honest with their wares and did not dilute or contaminate their goods. Lecturers paid attention to what they were doing in their classes and did not give out handouts in place of teaching. Goods were relatively affordable and even the lower class could afford food to eat. What happened? We had some people who call themselves 'leaders' take the mace of power and ruin the whole country. They decided to steal large sums of money and turn the country into their own private playground.

How did this affect the ordinary man?

The ordinary man (all of us) became hustlers. We began to cut corners and cheat to make ends meet. We started asking for tips to get our work done. The artisans started putting too much turpentine in paint so that instead of one litre of paint, they can have four. The traders started diliting and contaminating their goods so that they will have a double portion to sell and make more money. Road users started 'bribing' the police and others so that they will turn a blind eye to unroad worthy vehicles. Of course, the police started asking for money to enable scrap worthy vehicles pass them by.

The whole country became a mess because of a few people.

There is no way you can really say that you do not blame the leaders because it is MOSTLY their fault. I can guarantee that should an honest, God fearing, dependable, visionary, accountable person come into power and decide to heal the land, things will change. It has been done elsewhere in the world. Will we not agree now that the leader is an important factor?

we started by voting people in with free minds and they failed us. when we resorted to asking for money before we vote, people started saying the leaders are misbahing bcs they paid for our votes. now that obj decided to select them all without our consent, are they doing better.
the balck man's mentality is that the end justifies the means hence every leader wants to get rich not minding what history will offer.
the masses are only responding to treatment.
i think the masses only react to the actions of our leaders.
in the case of bribing lecturers, do u just walk straight to a lecturer and give him bribe? the answer is no. the lecturers who take bribe have their agents through whom you pay in your fees. there are still lecturers who do not take bribe so student will react to that by reading. there lecturers who like sleeping with the female students so the female students will react in the same manners as everybody is trying to survive because the leaders have created a society of survival of the fittest.
if contracts are awarded on merits, do u think a contractor will collect money and dump the contract yet the govt will keep quiet? no way. those in lagos knows the story of oshodi market and most of the roads in lagos.
fashola has sent caterpillars backed by armed mobile policemen on destruction of illegal structures so the masses have no choice than to co-operate.
in those days of idiagbon, men on suites will always be shown on televission holding their hummers urinating at wrong places so when u know that N50 bribe will not set u free, what do u do?
go to abuja where there is law and order, do people behave anyhow like they do in lagos and other cities in nigeria. it is the same masses in abuja yet all they do is to behave like romans when they are in rome.
the leaders are responsible for our problems

jamace:


How will the change come when the men entrusted with the power to make laws, execute the laws and punish the lawbreakers are breakin g every law made with reckless abandon? You are invariably saying that if given the opportunity to lead Nigeria in any capacity, you will sell all of us. Am I right, bros?

Who ENTRUSTED the crooks with these powers? The Nigerian people

Who are the BOSSES In this case? The Nigerian people

Who gets to change the leaders next? The Nigerian people


hence, the people remain the reason why the country is as it is

@poster
i totally agree with you,however you didnt add tribalism,electroral illiteracy

but election don't work here that we know. so you cannot blame the people for people they did not vote, can you?

superboi:

but election don't work here that we know. so you cannot blame the people for people they did not vote, can you?

Actually, if the elections don’t work, it is up to the people to demand a recount/do –over of the election and they demand that they ( the people) be present as the votes are being tallied. So in the end, it is the people. There is really no set way of doing things, if you think about it. The people who happen to be the BOSSES are responsible for ensuring it is done right by those they hire to do the job or they boot them out and find others. That is one of the gains of having a democracy.

plappville:

Mr man, leave that bribe lecturer thing for corner, those socalled law makers could put a law to stop bribing and corruption, but how can they do it when they are involve in this act, it starts from head to toe, not toe to head, fathers should show good example not the kid, so the leaders are nigeria setback period.

Woman, who says am a Mr man  

Why do we have to wait for the lawmakers to put a stop to bribe taking, are laws not meant to be broken?  

My point is charity begins at home, we will continue to complain about our leaders until we all decide to do the right thing, CHANGE

Actually, if the elections don’t work, it is up to the people to demand a recount/do –over of the election and they demand that they ( the people) be present as the votes are being tallied. So in the end, it is the people. There is really no set way of doing things, if you think about it. The people who happen to be the BOSSES are responsible for ensuring it is done right by those they hire to do the job or they boot them out and find others. That is one of the gains of having a democracy.

Kobojunkie,
from your opinion here, i can say you are and have been very far away from nigeria for a very long time.
do u know the history of yar adua and nigerian presidency? do you know that the inec chairman after the us presidential election had the guts to tell the press that usa has a lot to learn from our electorial system.
if you are in the usa and saying nigerians shld take the blames for the problems here, why is it that americans and not taking the blames for afghan and iraqi war rather than putting the whole blames on bush?

why do u say a particular president is better than the other? in every regime, the president will either take blames or praises.

did anyone praise the americans when clinton was the president? no. everybody was praising clinton.

nigeria has been hijacked by a group and they keep on stepping aside and stepping in. we are blaming these group of rulers who have taking over everything by force

chidichris:


Kobojunkie,
from your opinion here, i can say you are and have been very far away from nigeria for a very long time.

Don’t you think the above excuse has expired by now?

chidichris:

do u know the history of yar adua and nigerian presidency?

Yes, I do. In fact, I would debate that I know more of him than you seem to. Wallowing in conspiracy theories never solves any problem.

chidichris:

do you know that the inec chairman after the us presidential election had the guts to tell the press that usa has a lot to learn from our electorial system.

Yes, I know.

chidichris:

if you are in the usa and saying nigerians shld take the blames for the problems here, why is it that americans and not taking the blames for afghan and iraqi war rather than putting the whole blames on bush?

I have no clue what you mean here. Actually, many Americans have been pushing for American soldiers to get out of Iraq because they feel it is time the IRAQI people learn to fight for themselves rather than continue to think America should be in the middle of a civil war they do not seem to want to do much about.

Now I could link all that to what you posted above but I don’t understand your statement. If you could rephrase, maybe I can better respond.

chidichris:

why do u say a particular president is better than the other?

Actually, I am not one who thinks that way, I judge the president by the work he does and the way he handles his people while he is in office, but in a democracy, as you saw the last election, if the people are not satisfied with their government, they take it on themselves to change things. Case and point what we just saw happen January 20th.

chidichris:

in every regime, the president will either take blames or praises.

That does not absolve the people from their duties in ensuring those in leadership are there to serve them, and not make it the other way around.

chidichris:

did anyone praise the americans when clinton was the president? no. everybody was praising clinton.

The people praising him where his EMPLOYERS. . . the American people who were impressed with the work he was doing as their EMPLOYEE.

chidichris:

nigeria has been hijacked by a group and they keep on stepping aside and stepping in. we are blaming these group of rulers who have taking over everything by force

And how has that worked out for you? The same group continues to sit and steal from you and you think continuing to blame them is the solution here? Are you serious?

Sort of like sitting in a cold house blaming the heating technician for not coming, as reason why you continue to live in a cold house, with predictions of temperatures plunging below zero in a couple of days. Do you think you are the wiser one continuing to sit back, and waiting to freeze to death when the heating technician could not care less?

kindly shut dat shit up Jamace. nigerian society is just as corrupt as the leaders.


. Eche shut up.

Nigerian leaders are corrupt because Nigerians are corrupt. The leadership is a reflection of its society, not the other way around.

power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
if you want to be less bias about the topic, consult your dictionary on the word - LEADER.
if u don't believe that the problem of nigeria is our leaders then reffer me to any country of the world where the leaders are good and their fellowers are bad or reffer me to any country where their leaders and bad and the fellowers are good.
the level of corruption of any country is determined by its officials and not necessarily the citizens.
what the world thinks about any country of this world is based on the leaders.
i would want to take u back to the usa under clinton - good leader good country.
look at zimbabwe under mugabe - bad leader bad country.
what do u do on a clean up day when idiagbon and top govt officials were busy working on a clean up day? what do u do when drivers were forced to eat naira they gave as bribe to officers at check point. tell me what a student will do if N1000 will save him from been in the university for additional 2 years. what will u do if giving N200 will make u go about ur normal business instead of wasting the whole day at the police station while the police claim they re on investigation.
how will a normal person respond to a confirmed fact that every politician is rich in nigeria?
will it be a normal thing for aman to seat down and watch his kids die of hunger while the ill gotten wealth of our politicians provides rich foods for their dogs?
how do u feel staying awake with the sound of listers belonging the a politician arround ur house when the politician can fix electricity for the benefit of all?
well, my arguement here is not to change your belief rather to know the white truth which if tackled proparely will bring the deserved change.
do u know how many people that got employment with that singular move of bringing telecommunictaion to nigeria and nigerians and do u know how many will be employed if the same govt decides to fix power supply?
be rest assured that govt itself knows that the problems of nigeria and nigerians lie in their hands. for all the promises that they never fulfilled, for all the missing funds that they never accounted for, for all the illegal and political killings, for all the electorial malpracticises, for all the illegal importations of firearms, for all money laundries, for every other societal wrongdoings, please let me know where the citizens get involved without the consent of the leaders

Thank you jare. The leaders remain our problems in Nigeria.

Kobojunkie,
i like ur explainations here though u failed to mention what you think as the solution.
with your knowledge, i know u will provide some solutions here but please when doing that, do not include protest as no one here will get involved because life bullets awaits anyone who tries to do so.
like i did mention earlier, from your write ups, u seem to be away from nigeria for a very long time. may i bring to your notice that obj during his eight years tenure was able to delete two villages and till now no one asked why so do have that at the back of your mind.
remember we lost our justice minister/attorney general of the federation in the hands of assasins in his own house and till now no one was able to trace his killers to remind u about the scurity system here.
since you know much about yar adua, i guess u were aware of the money laundry case against andy uba the then psersonal assistant to obj via presidential jet in the usa of which he was found guilty and fined by a us court but back home our corruption fighting lord(ribadu) called that a civil case.

i do not want us to digress on the matter at hand. nigeria has power supply problems, security problems, educational system is bad, hospitals are not functioning, bad roads, unemployment, our electorial system is very bad, crimes and poor standard of living has become the order of the day. if the above mentioned situations are confirmed to be a problem and are in existance by ur own judgement, how do u think the citizens are responsible against my own belief which preffer to blame our so-called leaders.
nigerians are handicapped as human right is only active on the pages of our news papers hence most of us who have chance can only hide under funny names and say what we want to say despite the fact that no one is interested.

the average nigerian is more to blame than the leaders. i have said before the so called leaders are from naija not cameron or ghana as most like you beleive

my dear we have the leaders we deserve

i think the simpliest way to solve this arguement will be to outline the problems we have as nigerians. upon doing so, we will be able to link the govt or the people to any of these problems.
to me, the following are some of the major problems nigeria are facing till date;
1. power supply : i can't see how individuals can get this for nigeria and we know that the development of every country depends heavily on power supply. so govt is responsible for this.
2. election : the latest development in nigeria today has shifted the decission of who to lead nigeria and nigerians from the masses to the govt. from the position of things since 2003, there have been more of selection in nigeria hence the govt have failed the people by selecting the wrong ppl.
3. embezzlement of public funds : the masses are far from having access to public funds. this has been an outstanding problem as public leaders have seen their position as juicy hence the opportunity to embezzle our public funds.
4. security : foriegn investor considers security as one of their criterias for going to any country and in a normal society, provision of security for lives and property remains a role for the govt.
5. leadership by example : our leaders have thought us the need of using any slight opportunity to make ourselves rich hence the followers.

please no need to be wasting time arguing unnecessarily. highlight ur points and let us know how the people instead of the govt is the problem of nigeria

chidichris:

Kobojunkie,
i like ur explainations here though u failed to mention what you think as the solution.

I have done that so many times now that I believe anyone who has read my posts on here would know where I stand on the issue of change in Nigeria.

chidichris:

with your knowledge, i know u will provide some solutions here but please when doing that, do not include protest as no one here will get involved because life bullets awaits anyone who tries to do so.

Well, here is the funny thing about solutions to problems. More times than not, they are usually things people do not want to do. Take for instance a child disrespects a family member; usually solution would be for the child in this case to apologize to the family member, but if you check, more than likely, the kid is not willing to do that. So you see, solutions are what they are, whether we like to, or will do them is a completely different issue. We have always known the solution to Nigeria’s problem has been for people to get more involved in the process. We are the EMPLOYERS, we help pay the bills of these politicians and if we are not willing to step up to be better BUSINESS OWNERS/EMPLOYERS/CITIZENS, then why expect anything to change for our own good?

chidichris:

like i did mention earlier, from your write ups, u seem to be away from nigeria for a very long time. may i bring to your notice that obj during his eight years tenure was able to delete two villages and till now no one asked why so do have that at the back of your mind.

I don’t come on here to boast of my travels back and forth to Nigeria, so I would tell you that your assumption of me is completely wrong. Funny thing is when I lived full time in Nigeria, People made the same assumptions; it all seems as if tagging someone an outsider is one of the excuses used by Nigerians. It does not work. I know of Obasanjo’s dealings during his presidency. Who were the people killed? Nigerians! Who elected him? Nigerians! I remember clearly when Obasanjo became president; he had, and still has his own team of praise-singers. There were many who hailed him as the messiah of Nigeria. I had hopes as always that the man would at least consider what legacy he leaves that country when he is gone.
Now, who do you expect to demand justice be brought to those that were annihilated? Let me guess, we wait for one of the many corrupt politicians to do it? Or we as the people demand he be brought to book on the crimes committed against us? I mean if you want the corrupt politicians to do it, then may I ask that you shut up about the man while you want for your messiah to show up in this. If you however, think the people ought to cry foul here and demand justice, then I ask that you get to raise your voice on the issue if you really care for justice on it.
We can all sit and blame these men but at the end of the day, our continued silence on these issues is the reason why it continues. If you sit back watching your house burn, chances are high that you will end up with nothing but ashes where you once had your house. But the minute you move, take action, to quench the fire yourself, you actually have a greater chance of taking back power from the fire that is burning your house down.

chidichris:

remember we lost our justice minister/attorney general of the federation in the hands of assasins in his own house and till now no one was able to trace his killers to remind u about the scurity system here.

We lost just one man; we have so many other justices, lawyers and equally good attorneys out there amongst there amongst us today. Some of them are here on nairaland. What good is it to you, and I, that we continue to mourn the death of one man without looking to see the thousands more out there who can accomplish even more than the dead one did for us?
The man has been dead for years now; isn’t it time to move on and focus on making sure that we do not make his life work go to nothing? Is he going to come back himself to find his killers for us? Or are we the living not now responsible for finding them and making sure they are brought to book?

chidichris:

since you know much about yar adua, i guess u were aware of the money laundry case against andy uba the then psersonal assistant to obj via presidential jet in the usa of which he was found guilty and fined by a us court but back home our corruption fighting lord(ribadu) called that a civil case.

Again, why act as if this is new? This is not new . . . this is old news; old and usual happenings in that country. Enough of the finger pointing and more acting is what I am speaking of here.

chidichris:

i do not want us to digress on the matter at hand. nigeria has power supply problems,

Nigeria has had power problems for over 20 years now. The power issue is not new.

chidichris:

security problems,

Nigeria has had security problems since before the days of Anini. It is not new.

chidichris:

educational system is bad,

The problems in the educational system has been around since after the death of Awolowo over 20 years ago. It is not new.

chidichris:

hospitals are not functioning,

Again Nothing new.

chidichris:

bad roads,

Death traps that have existed since the late 80’s.

chidichris:

unemployment,

Again, problems started since the late 80’s. So not new.

chidichris:

our electorial system is very bad,

I think it got the biggest blow with the June 12th annulment back in 93.

chidichris:

crimes and poor standard of living has become the order of the day.

Again, these are not new problems. We have not really had new problems in decades.

My point is, these problems are not new problems, they are at least 15 years old problems and so we should stop pretending they started during Obasanjo’s regime or only last night. The factor that has remained constant through all the times the problems have been in existence has been the silence of the Nigerian people. Sure, there have been protests here and there but it seems when we do not get instant results, we back down. Worse is when we choose to attack each other rather than the very problems that continue to plague us.


When Ken Saro Wiwa was fighting for his people, majority of Nigerians stood by the side as if it was not a fight to get behind. He pushed hard, but some of his own people ended up stabbing and selling him out. At the end of the day, the man died for what he believed in. What most of us did back then was pick up the paper to read of his struggle as if he was from another world, and then go back to our lives as if nothing was going on.

We now live in an age where we have next to no excuse to continue to allow these problems live. We have the internet and the media to voice our opinions and reach others to support our cause. We now have a global community that is watching to see where the next move for change will start. What are we doing?
I didn’t vote for Obama cause I did not believe in him, but now that he is president I have to get behind him as he is the people’s choice and I hope he does a good job even though he was not my first choice. But I noticed people on here and many across Africa where all on the Obama bandwagon. They chanted his name and prayed for him to win. Little do they know or think of how millions of American VOLUNTEERS here spent days and nights campaigning, building and putting up websites, gathering to discuss how to ensure they reach the most people to get the most votes. One of my coworkers on Election Day drove around the community to pick up homeless people, buy them breakfast and lunch and take them to the polls to vote for their idea of Change. For many, their years of hard work paid off in the end. If we want to see change in Nigeria, we, the Nigerian people, need to get up and do something to ensure the change we want.

chidichris:

if the above mentioned situations are confirmed to be a problem and are in existance by ur own judgement, how do u think the citizens are responsible against my own belief which preffer to blame our so-called leaders.

We sat by and watched the water works turn off the taps on us, with little or no protest or demands made that it be fixed and turned back on ASAP. We sat by and watched the hospitals break down while we continued to pay our taxes, without demanding that the money we paid be immediately used to rebuild or refurb the hospitals. I can go on.

chidichris:

nigerians are handicapped as human right is only active on the pages of our news papers hence most of us who have chance can only hide under funny names and say what we want to say despite the fact that no one is interested.

Well, it is not a matter of hiding behind a funny name. We are not handicapped, but many of us are so convinced that we are. And that is understandable because we have suffered a lot. However, at the end of the day, you either choose to die fighting for change or you choose to continue living as a slave in your own father’s land. If you choose the latter, be sure to understand that means you ought to work harder at accepting what you get as your well deserved fate.

I do have a question. Why are you and so many others against the idea of calling Nigerians to realize that to see change, they have to as citizens change?

chidichris:

i think the simpliest way to solve this arguement will be to outline the problems we have as nigerians. upon doing so, we will be able to link the govt or the people to any of these problems.
to me, the following are some of the major problems nigeria are facing till date;
1. power supply : i can't see how individuals can get this for nigeria and we know that the development of every country depends heavily on power supply. so govt is responsible for this.

Calling people to action does not mean same thing as having individuals go out to build their own power plants. That is not what it is about. We pay taxes; it is our duty to see that the money is used by those we hire to do exactly what we need the money used for. Any other plans contrary needs to be rejected and these individuals fired.
Last I checked Democracy is government for the people by the people. Notice that the definition emphasizes that the people have a big role to play in government when it comes to democracy. Can we continue to act the way we did under military rule in a democracy when we know that the new system REQUIRES and DEMANDS we be involved to hold those we put in government accountable?

chidichris:

2. election : the latest development in nigeria today has shifted the decission of who to lead nigeria and nigerians from the masses to the govt. from the position of things since 2003, there have been more of selection in nigeria hence the govt have failed the people by selecting the wrong ppl.

So what are the people to do? Sit back, knowing the government has failed them and continue to allow these EMPLOYEES of the people continue to fail us while we continue to work hard to pay their salaries?

chidichris:

3. embezzlement of public funds : the masses are far from having access to public funds. this has been an outstanding problem as public leaders have seen their position as juicy hence the opportunity to embezzle our public funds.

And do you advocate we continue to sit, doing nothing about it, while they continue their acts? I mean it is one way or the other. Which do we choose?

chidichris:

4. security : foriegn investor considers security as one of their criterias for going to any country and in a normal society, provision of security for lives and property remains a role for the govt.

Again, do we choose to continue with the status quo or do we choose to take over the game by acting to ensure we put in leaders who can understand they work for us?

chidichris:

5. leadership by example : our leaders have thought us the need of using any slight opportunity to make ourselves rich hence the followers.
please no need to be wasting time arguing unnecessarily. Highlight ur points and let us know how the people instead of the govt is the problem of nigeria

It is all simple. Do we as a people continue to sit back, arguing or debating how bad things are in Nigeria? Or do we act? Which one? Whichever choice you make decides your understanding of the problem and to be honest, it is all good.