Fellow Nigerians, wherever two or more Nigerians are gathered and engaged in deep-heated discussions and arguments, you can immediately guess what the issue is all about, NIGERIA and our intractable problems. The questions on most lips today are: are we likely to witness a better Nigeria again; is Nigeria cursed or jinxed; do we have leaders who can rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse; is corruption in our DNA; are we the worst country in the world; is it better to just break up Nigeria and say in unison “to thy tent oh Israel…”? And so on and so forth…

I shall endeavour to respond to the very germane questions, as complex and complicated as they may be. The first question suggests that Nigeria is a good country. Once we all agree on that in principle, then there is hope for a greater and better Nigeria. If we disagree, we must ask ourselves why we are frustrated about the wasted opportunities. Even the famous African writer, Chinua Achebe, had virtually written Nigeria off in his final offering to the country, in his book titled “There was a Country.”

Nigeria can truly frustrate The Pope and make him lose faith in God. It is not that we don’t all know our problems, or that we lack the mental abilities to think through and come up with solutions, but most of us are just too selfish and crudely self-centred to make the necessary sacrifices. We all grumble and lament endlessly before attaining power but as soon as we get into office, it seems some demonic forces overpower our common sense and turn us into foolish morons. Or why would anyone think of stealing in arrears and in advance? What could drive any soul, sensible, rational or otherwise, to inflate contracts at 1000 percent and still stupidly refuse to execute the jobs?

The events of the past few weeks are just enough to task the brains of every optimist and turn us into an incurable pessimist. The stealing going on in a country that has the last Saint standing as President is not only mind-boggling but absolutely incredulous. So, I’m not surprised that many of our citizens have given up finally on anything good ever coming out of Nigeria. But, please, wait a minute, I don’t think hope has evaporated totally from Nigeria. It is true I feel such negative vibes too, sometimes, but I know for a fact that it is not impossible to save Nigeria from its self-inflicted pains, self-immolation and destruction. Kindly permit me to offer my own ideas in a jiffy.

What do we need to move Nigeria forward from this seeming state of inertia or even backwardness? The most important is that one man who genuinely believes in one Nigeria, and is willing to carry everyone along. We don’t need a multitude to fix Nigeria. Let me now describe in greater detail who that man should be. We need a completely detribalised Nigerian. That man must not be a religious bigot or tribal warlord. Sorry, the closest to such would be a Moshood Abiola or an Olusegun Obasanjo, despite his many other foibles. The leader must be naturally brilliant, intelligent, streetwise and confident like those two. The man must have managed people and resources successfully in his personal and private capacity. A man who has never managed business and resources is not likely to be well-equipped to manage the economy of a country as massive as Nigeria. That man must know how to assemble the best team, strictly on merit. Former Presidents Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo impressed me in that aspect. We urgently need a man who believes in a star-studded cabinet and not some colourless and odoriferous desperados who are not interested in nation-building. He must be tolerant of different shades of opinions. He must be fair-minded and treat everyone with respect and decorum. He must obey the rule of law and allow separation of powers, as enshrined in our Constitution to flourish.

That man must know the importance of time, hit the ground running and have his blueprint and masterplans ready from day one. The masterplans must embrace the use of technology and de-emphasise physical contacts between government operatives and raw cash. This will normally reduce temptations by potentially corrupt souls. As much as possible, the leader or President must search for Nigerians with proven records of integrity all over the world. What’s the biggest task ahead of that man?

Education is the bedrock of modern nations. That man must subscribe to this truism. A nation that fails to invest aggressively in education at this time and age is doomed and sentenced to eternal damnation. Education should never be about going to school only and obtaining certificates. No. Education should make everyone a useful citizen, a compassionate human being and responsible soul. We should open vocational schools in every part of Nigeria and teach our youths how to become more of entrepreneurs instead of waiting for jobs that are not available. There is business for most of those with requisite knowledge. But many go to school today to possess certificates that would not be relevant to their lives and well-being.

The next man should be ready for battle, even a full-scale war with the reckless politicians who are not ready to sweat by sacrificing for Nigeria. He must commit to urgent reforms. The present American Presidential system we practise cannot be sustained. It will kill Nigeria, ultimately, if we don’t kill it. A system that forces a country to spend the bulk of its resources on politicians and civil servants is parasitic and must be exterminated by all means. We must consider a parliament with hugely reduced members. We must also think of how our Parliament can be a part time vocation for patriotic people. How I wished our previous military governments were disciplined enough to hand over such institutions to us. The outlandish enjoyment of our politicians is no longer tolerable or tenable. If it continues unabated, the mad insecurity in the land will soon quadruple and not even the uniformed men can contain it.

We must grow our economy by diversifying our exports. Nigeria is blessed with so much, but we are too mentally lazy to change our over-dependence on oil. Our population should be an asset and not a liability. We have significant natural resources which we are yet to tap. We need to transform our country into an industrial giant. The exploitation of these resources can only augur well for the development and transformation of our nation. It is essential to produce more at home than going abroad for nearly everything. This won’t happen until that man finds the will and courage to fix electricity problems.

The endemic issue of corruption would have to be tackled differently. It should become a way of life for all of us, ingrained in our body fluids. It should stop being a veritable tool for vendetta and witch-hunt. The leader must stop paying hypocritical lip service to fighting corruption if he is not willing to live by example. The billions of Naira we allocate to running the various State houses should be hacked down drastically. This time around, most of the Presidential jets should be sold off save for two for the President and Vice President. When President Obasanjo took power in 1999, he used to fly commercial flights, initially. This forced civil servants to calm down a bit. Nothing stops our President from choosing Air Peace or Arik as our symbolic National carrier. So, wherever he/she is going, you can charter one and patronise a Nigerian company. This will encourage our airlines to keep their aircrafts in serviceable conditions when they know the leader and others may call on them anytime. Our leaders must stop making frivolous flights from fancy.

No Nigerian leader must go abroad for medical treatment. This has become a major source of embarrassment. Is it not sad that some of the best Doctors in the world are Nigerians but they can’t practise in their own country? I pray that COVID-19 has taught us all a big lesson. If it hasn’t, then our case is beyond redemption. There is no earthly reason Nigeria can’t build one world class hospital per region. But none of these suggestions would ever work without the determination to succeed where others have failed. Who can ever imagine that the present government has spent over five years already, with nothing really tangible to show for it?

Lastly, do we need to break up Nigeria for things to work optimally in our country? Once again, my response is no. That will never be the answer. There is no region or State in Nigeria that has only one tribe in the region or even in a State. And where one single tribe predominates, there are several groupings within such tribe. What it means is that if you carve out a Yoruba nation, or whatever name you call it, how will it stop the perennial troubles between the different language groups? I am convinced that once we have a leader who gives every Nigerian a sense of belonging, the agitations would subside.

The billion-dollar question is, who will bell the cat? Truly, it seems we are doomed. And suddenly my optimism has changed to pessimism…


http://thebossnewspapers.com/2020/07/25/pendulum-do-you-think-nigeria-can-ever-be-good-again/

Hmmm Omooba77..

Nigeria will forever be a Joke in the comity of other nations.......She was still an infant before she was given Independence by her guidance (The British).

Imagine an infant being given freedom to scavenge and fend for herself at such an immature age??......She'd be a stray dog.

She'd be on autopilot all the time....Just the way it is Now!!!

Nigeria can never be good!

Nigeria shall never be good!!

Nigeria must never be good!!!

Nigeria will never be good!!!!

I believe Nigeria will be great again. I will become the president of this beloved country someday soon.

godkiller:
I believe Nigeria will be great again. I will become the president of this beloved country someday soon.

Is it malaria?...

Nigeria is a glorified disease.. A cursed country filled with useless youths..

Political class don't care about the country.. All they do is loot and relocate to Dubai

While the stupid youths chant sai Barber.. APC and PDP.. Big brother Naija.. And English premiership..

You don't have light in 2020
You are unemployed and underemployed
You don't have good roads
You reside in the poverty capital of the world
You live in the suicide capital of the world

Still chant sai Barber with a borrowed data
Shame on all Nigerian youths

zombieTRACKER:


Is it malaria?...

Nigeria is a glorified disease.. A cursed country filled with useless youths..

Political class don't care about the country.. All they do is loot and relocate to Dubai

While the stupid youths chant sai Barber.. APC and PDP.. Big brother Naija.. And English premiership..

You don't have light in 2020
You are unemployed and underemployed
You don't have good roads
You are reside in the poverty capital of the world
You live in the suicide capital of the world

Still chant sai Barber with a borrowed data
Shame on all Nigerian youths

Yes you are right with your points and that is why we need to see opportunities in these problems and find solutions to them.

No time for blame games. We need to do the one we can.

The problems you mentioned is enough to make you a multi billonaire only if you can stop for a moment and think.

zombieTRACKER:


Is it malaria?...

Nigeria is a glorified disease.. A cursed country filled with useless youths..

Political class don't care about the country.. All they do is loot and relocate to Dubai

While the stupid youths chant sai Barber.. APC and PDP.. Big brother Naija.. And English premiership..

You don't have light in 2020
You are unemployed and underemployed
You don't have good roads
You are reside in the poverty capital of the world
You live in the suicide capital of the world

Still chant sai Barber with a borrowed data
Shame on all Nigerian youths

The same elderly rogues will be writing epistles to confuse the so called youth. When election comes, they will push their narrative down our throat. All they need to do is buy guns, cutlass and weeds for the youth to rig and snatch ballot boxes for them.
If the Youth say no to rigging, it will stand.

I am NOT a pessimist, but it is not possible for Nigeria to ever become good except something very drastic happens like a bloody revolution or a breakup into many entities.

Op, be sincere with yourself, what is your own answer?

A deaf and blind can easily pass this question if it were in an exam.

There's only one hope for Nigerians. I swear Nigerians are too soft. They way they love oppression is crazy to me. They don't even know they love their oppressors. Lets jsut say one of this crazy politicians die, the way they'll be mourning and feeling bad for them is crazy. They hate when evil men fall, so when they cry about politicians being corrupt, I just think they must be joking or pretending.


Anyways, the only hope this country has is to enact a capital punishment (preferably death sentence) for corrupt practices of all forms. No immunity for anyone except the president.

Nigeria can never be good and nothing good can come out of the dump.

Not in this lifetime

Better this country be run by white slave owners than blacks.

I stopped waiting for when Nigeria will be good instead I try to be good to other Nigerians

Kriss216:
Nigeria can never be good!

Nigeria shall never be good!!

Nigeria must never be good!!!

Nigeria will never be good!!!!

Nigeria will be good, if the youth wakes up and decide who rule them, irrespective of ethnicity and religion. The best way to fight corruption is to have less contact through the use of tevhnology. Imagine all you need to do to get Nigeria passport, is to fill online form, make payment, go to a studio you can snap and your picture uploaded and you don't need to carry any file to Ikoyi. Your passport is printed and mailed or you go to a centre to collect.

SenecaTheYonger:
There's only one hope for Nigerians. I swear Nigerians are too soft. They way they love oppression is crazy to me. They don't even know they love their oppressors. Lets jsut say one of this crazy politicians die, the way they'll be mourning and feeling bad for them is crazy. They hate when evil men fall, so when they cry about politicians being corrupt, I just think they must be joking or pretending.


Anyways, the only hope this country has is to enact a capital punishment (preferably death sentence) for corrupt practices of all forms. No immunity for anyone except the president.

Were they soft... 2011-2015.....?

Omooba77:


Were they soft... 2011-2015.....?

yh

The ZOO must go down for a better country to rise.

Dele ibn Momodu part of conspiracy

JUST TRY APREC-AUTONOMOUS POLICING RESOURCING AND ELECTIONEERING CONTROL FOR OUR 36 CONSTITUTIONAL STATES AND YOU WILL SEE WONDERS.

YOU SEE, BUHARI IS A SOLDIER PRIMA FACIE AND EVERY FULANI MAN IS A TERRORIST. BUHARI CANNOT SURVIVE IN APREC-AUTONOMOUS POLICING RESOURCING AND ELECTIONEERING CONTROL FOR OUR 36 CONSTITUTIONAL STATES.

With the people from South East? never

Give us gun to protect ourselves from oppressive behaviors of terrorists in the form of Fulani herdsmen, bandits,bokoharam and illiterate gun wielding sarz officials and we will all be fine.
The only problem I have with Nigeria is insecurity. I do not mind doing the worst form of job to make a living but I will never be able to stomach the fact that we so helpless In the face of our enemies.
Nigeria must legalise gun for self protection

Tumbulum:
Give us gun to protect ourselves from oppressive behaviors of terrorists in the form of Fulani herdsmen, bandits,bokoharam and illiterate gun wielding sarz officials and we will all be fine.
The only problem I have with Nigeria is insecurity. I do not mind doing the worst form of job to make a living but I will never be able to stomach the fact that we so helpless In the face of our enemies.
Nigeria must legalise gun for self protection

Nobody will be left by Tomorrow.

Tumbulum:
Give us gun to protect ourselves from oppressive behaviors of terrorists in the form of Fulani herdsmen, bandits,bokoharam and illiterate gun wielding sarz officials and we will all be fine.
The only problem I have with Nigeria is insecurity. I do not mind doing the worst form of job to make a living but I will never be able to stomach the fact that we so helpless In the face of our enemies.
Nigeria must legalise gun for self protection

We are not helpless, just united.
So many divisionary elements amongst us

Dele missed out the good men in GEJ Team, Adesina, Okonjo to mentioned a few.
Lalasticlala

Good?

johnykgoal:
Good?

Yea. It will be good