Amaechi: “We steal because Nigerians don’t stone us.”

“Artificial intelligence, data mining, Sframes, multi-objective optimization, hybrid algorithms, computational intelligence, demand side management, smart grids” etc. are some of the high-sounding grammar that characterize my everyday life as a doctoral student. I can feel my head swelling now because a paper has just been accepted in a high impact factor (above 6) ISI journal – damn! However, here comes the kicker – I’m currently having a bruised ego and a rethink because of the very simple yet powerful advice offered me by an older colleague about life. The hoary hair doth have wisdom!

There is no doubt that governance in Nigeria presents a peculiar case study for research into the study of the successes of alternative methods of brainwashing. Never have I seen a people with so much potential, collectively jettison the use of their brains handing it over to a “few” to decide its usage. These days I begin to wonder if it was these same folks that fought a civil war, confronted despots/military leaders and ejected an incumbent government. Thinking my browser has problems, I employ tunnels and VPNs to mirror Nigeria as my location searching furiously for the folks who so mobilized Nigerians to vote out Jonathan. They and Nigerians have gone quiet suddenly. The government’s experiment has succeeded!

My reconstruction of Nigeria’s history has always been tied to certain words which were prevalent at certain dispensations. Post the civil war it was words like “integration”, “national unity”, “reconstruction” etc. Post 1999 we have heard words/statements like “deregulation of the downstream sector” and the now commonly abused word – diversification! Selling these agendas to Nigerians have always come at a cost to the public purse. Campaigns, town hall meetings, major committees, sub-committees, side-committees, expert-committees, review committees, newspaper adverts, radio and television jingles etc. have been some cost draining initiatives to sell government’s focus. There would never have been problems if the resultant benefits had exceeded expenditure, or how can we explain the monorail project in Rivers state, airport in Ekiti State, “opon-imo” in Osun State, proposed 4th mainland bridge in Lagos State, airport in Osun State etc. in the face of mounting debts, rising cost of living, rising unemployment, dereliction of public infrastructure etc. My consternation is further compounded when youths who should have been objective begin to blindly drum support for such phantom projects because of inducements from those in government.

I have and will continue to reiterate the fact that Nigeria is in tatters. I now see why multinationals move out to London, New York, Paris, Johannesburg etc. to recruit Nigerians to work in Nigeria. On a fateful day on parade ground during my NYSC days, I was discussing with some “corpers” on the relevance of NYSC to youths in the current Nigeria when a first class graduate from FUTA voiced out that he was happy with the scheme because the monthly allowance he was going to start earning was more than the 10K he was getting prior to coming for service. I was ashamed. As a fellow university scholar, I was expecting a more tenable and objective argument from this “afonja”, but what he spewed that day has put me in perpetual shock. Were it not for Christopher who bested me during my MSc study, I had totally lost faith in FUTA.

Simple solutions have always been the best solution. How relevant is building the 4th mainland bridge to boosting the economy of Lagos State – vis-à-vis job creation and creation of a conducive environment for businesses to thrive. The express road linking VI, Lekki, Ajah is a private public initiative hence the collection of tolls. The road is one of the best maintained roads I have used in Lagos. Its relevance is there for all to see. The Lekki-Ikoyi bridge on the other hand has only added aesthetics to Lagos as I am yet to see the economic benefit of the bridge (which was built with public funds) to the common man and the youths in Lagos. It will be nice to know when the bridge would start generating profit from toll collection. Rather than spending over a trillion Naira on a bridge, what about building low cost houses in Ajah and Ibeju-Lekki for civil servants? How about decongesting Ikeja by moving certain government parastatals to the Ibeju-Lekki axis. How about decongesting VI and Marina by encouraging companies to consider having branches in the Ibeju-Lekki axis? How about improving the infrastructure in that axis – inlet roads, pipe borne water, hospitals, waste collection and management, security etc. Rather than raising objective questions, I see youths commenting on how progressive Lagos is!

Sir, why should Ekiti have an airport now? What about encouraging farming among youths? Sir, why can’t the state set up an agriculture based company with focus on a, b and c crops, earmark land, purchase machinery (tractors, fertilizers, processing equipment etc.) and get indigenous youths to manage on agreed sharing formula, with the aim of state sufficiency and then exporting processed products? Sir, the money wasted on monorail in Rivers State, why wasn’t it used for setting up oil palm farms, periwinkle/snail/crabs/crayfish farms for youths in the state? Your “excellency”, rather than buying coffins for mass burial of state indigenes, how about encouraging education by offering fantastic scholarships and rewards to indigenes who excel in academics? Mr. president sir, rather than prospecting for oil in Benue and Chad, why can’t the funds be channelled to improving our universities – increased funding for research, scholarships/funding for students, competitions/fairs for science and technology based students etc.? No, Nigerian youths can’t ask those questions. “Don’t get honourable angry o”, “O boy watch the kind of questions you ask his “excellency” o” etc. are their warnings during Q&A’s. In fact, the persons to ask questions are usually pre-selected and tutored on the kind of questions to ask – shame on us!

The elites of today were mostly products of free education, scholarships and funding from the government. Many of them are from poor and rural backgrounds but have risen through the ranks because Nigeria gave them the opportunity to. How do they repay the system – by cancelling scholarships, withholding allowances for scholars abroad, increasing fees without commensurate investment in facilities and closing institutions of learning at will. Their kids school abroad – away from the rot and decay they have created, yet the youths say nothing. They travel abroad to threat common cold and ear infections despite huge budgets for our healthcare facilities. The response of the youths – nothing! They make numerous trips abroad all in the name of attracting foreign investors yet they have nothing to show for their globe-trotting – the response of the youths, nothing! They remind us of how old America is and how Rome wasn’t built in a day and admonish us to have patience! Are the youths up in arms demanding accountability? No! They talk about the dividends of democracy and how much better we are now compared to life under military dictatorship – are they being stoned? No. in the public they appear to antagonize each other while exchanging banters behind closed doors far away from the youths, are we better for it? No! I have to calm down as I’m getting worked up. Them swear for us?

Take a stroll around the major cities in Nigeria especially Lagos and you will be amazed by the sheer magnitude of unemployed youths roaming the streets aimlessly. Every year their number keeps increasing as more graduates are released from the universities. We can argue on the need for youths to be creative and think outside the box, however, there is no denying the fact that without the necessary support in place, there is only so much we can achieve.

Nigerian youths let’s please arise from our slumber and begin to engage our leaders. Let’s begin to question their decisions – “Sir, how are we going to pay for this project?” “What is the economic viability of this project sir?” “How sustainable is this project and what is its relevance to your intended core goals sir for this state?” Our questions must force the leaders to think. Let’s challenge them with their past failures and summersaults. Let’s make them do their homework before addressing us. Let’s not give them any breathing space. Let’s always remember that the simple solutions are always the best solutions.


For previous posts:
https://www.nairaland.com/3855288/thank-sir-brain
https://www.nairaland.com/3851707/excuse-me-sir-look-stupid
https://www.nairaland.com/3851270/youths-might-sense

cc;
lalasticlala
Mynd44
OAM4J
Seun

Heaven far frm u i swear. Na who u want make e read that textbook wey u write above me? Park well GUY

Thisboysef

Otradearena:
Thisboysef

thats the name bro!

Go back to basics.

A Trial will convince you

The first sentence tho