A history-based opinion:

I am still sad at the protracting nature of "NDDCgate". That our lawmakers have again shown cause to invite the Acting MD of the commission is a merry-go-round to me. The public hearing of the NDDC is a waste of sweets, bottle water, kolanuts, and chewing gums.

Let the office of the Auditor General concerntrate on who approved the spendings of the commission when Barrister Joi Nunieh was in office, especially as she has, herself, acccepted that she was insubordinate to her superiors, and refused to carry out what she believed were unlawful for her.

The "arrowhead" question is: was it Joi Nunieh who approved the commission's spending associated with the N80bn expenditure between October 2019 and February 2020? If it was not her, as she has confessed that she was insubordinate, who, then, approved the spendings in the NDDC during this period?

The National Assembly is clearly over-reaching Professor Daniel Pondei. Let Professor Pondei answer for his term and Joi Nunieh for her term. Results will be achieved quickly. Nigerians are not fools joo!

We, Nigerians, may have attained a period of national prosperity and international decorum in the years just after the British rule. There was a reason why things worked well for us as a nation at that time until we accepted to embrace democratic rule in 1979, after all.

Casting our hearts to history, we would see how the First Republic administrators, though some were carried away, to some extent, by political power and free access to our national treasury, they were responsible for repositioning Nigeria for self rule. They expanded the infrasture and maintained an excellent economy.

They did much to replicate the British in giving back to the people. Government institutions were strong enough to command obedience from the operators. Unfortunately, the military came, manipulated political power, regimented our social and economic institutions, and muzzled our constitution.

The period between 1966 and 1999 were our departure points from good governance, and its traditions. Since then, Nigeria suffered institutional collapse. And i think if our lawmakers love this country enough to volunteer to serve, they should concentrate on jigging our laws to throw up very strong institutions.

This is why I have chosen to dedicate this literary piece to "the tears I shed for my country, Nigeria." An upcoming book.

I see all the infrastructural provisions: transportation, telecommunication, power, health, education, religion; and to all extent, the stable running of our economic balance sheets and a good foreign exchange regime, during the time between 1960 and 1992, was clearly achieved from the long-term projection, planning and the provisions from our colonial rule.

As at 1990, "the meal ticket system" was still operative in our universities. Car loans were still given to lower cadre senior civil servants. We still had a middle class economy. This was only 30 years ago, concerning provisions availed by our colonial masters from between 1914 and 1960.

If we look at it closely, things started falling apart for us, as a country, when these colonial provisions needed to undergo necessary periodic maintenance, and no leader was looking in that direction, even when our revenue earnings were sumptuous and delicious. Our leaders mistook our national prosperity for "meal tickets" instead of seeing it as "means" for investment.

We are borrowing today to do what should have been done more than 30 years ago, when we started having our deficiency in the culture for maintenance and infrastructural upgrading. I am talking about the period from 1985 until now. It was then we heard some Nigerians complaining that "we do not have the 'maintenance culture'".

What truly happened, looking at the characterization of our leaders then, especially from how they fell upon the provisions of the British, and loved the attraction and corruption of power, the open access to the national treasury and the control of the military, as the British enjoyed, they were blinded to the social, administrative, educational, developmental, and the religious responsibilities and discipline of the British.

Rather than loving all aspects of the British administrative style, which, though, in their pursuit of controlling power, and the exploitation of our human and natural resources, the British authorities gave back beautifully to Nigeria and to Nigerians, by the legacies they left behind for us, including a virile civil and public service.

Everything crumbled from 1992, and the very rich economy we enjoyed, now, usually, falls into economy recession, because operators of government keep exploiting the weak laws of our constitution, which has proven to be incapable of sustaining the powers needed to strengthen, and tighten the screws around our government institutions, in order to promote transparency in government operations, like the Treasury Single Account.

In the face of all these intensive national needs, and the need to quickly identify "official thieves", needs required to guide us away from national collapse and shame, I see Nigerians being burdened by legislative bodies that have fallen into the trap every blind politician we have endured as a people has fallen into: enjoying the reaps of office and being blind to their fundamental responsibilities towards us.

Our lawmakers must wake up from their blind slumber, and treat their blind eyesights. Until our institutions can overtake any operator of government, however powerful he is, our bodies of legislature will continue to be enmembered by the same leadership problems we have been enduring - blind-slumbering leadership.

Ini Akpan Morgan writes from Uyo, Nigeria via "time.subsidaries@gmail.com"