LETTERS & VIEWPOINTS



By Alfred Uzokwe  (EMAIL)
Harrisburg, PA, USA
Thursday, July 12, 2001


I want Nigeria back!


he standard of living in Nigeria has degenerated to alarming levels. Garri is slowly becoming unaffordable by the common man, night marauders have refused to allow honest and hard-working citizens any respite, electricity is now a luxury that only the affluent can afford via private generators and unemployment rate has jumped to unprecedented levels. The time has come for the citizens of this country to pull back as a nation, take a deep breath, regroup and start seeking lasting solutions to our hydra-headed maladies. Some would argue that our current problems are part of the growing pains, which we must collectively endure before becoming a bona-fide nation. This is balderdash!

This is a clarion call to all and sundry in Nigeria; the tomfoolery is enough, the suffering of the masses is enough, the wanton killings of innocent citizens by criminal elements or just those with sadistic tendencies must stop. We must begin a real process aimed at returning the country to a semblance of the conditions reminiscent of her glorious past! This requires honest soul-searching by the masses and the powers that be. No entity can ever be sure of where it is going if that entity does not know where it has been. We must take a trip down memory lane, review how things degenerated to this abysmal level in Nigeria. In the end, I am almost certain of one thing; most well meaning Nigerians would declare in unison; WE WANT NIGERIA BACK. We want Nigeria restored to the glorious days of the late 70s and early 80s.

So how did things become this bad in Nigeria? A little after the Biafran war, the going was good or at least ok in Nigeria. Young men and women had aspirations; if you got through secondary school and got a university degree, you were almost set for life. If you decided to get into business, all you needed was a little hard work and success would fall in place. At that time, a secondary school education could fetch a good job and with hard work, one could steadily climb the ladder of progress and eventually become successful. Mismanagement of the economy by successive military administrations in the mid 70s began to slowly change things. They have now succeeded in plunging the nation into one of the darkest periods of her 40-year history.

Babangida still believes that he saved Nigeria with the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) but I beg to differ. Of all the terrible consequences engendered by the SAP, the most damning was the devaluation of the naira; from there on, things went downhill. The naira, which had hitherto been a strong currency and competed favorably against other major currencies like the dollar, started a downward slide with grave consequences. When I first visited the United States on holiday in 1979, my one thousand naira fetched more than one thousand five hundred dollars in traveler's checks! Compare that to what is happening today; you need a sack to carry the naira equivalent of one thousand dollars. What happened, Nigeria? At that time, a bag of cement sold for less than five naira, today it costs almost eight hundred and fifty naira.

The concomitant effect of the devaluation of the naira was double-digit inflation and this basically rendered the middle class an endangered species. Well meaning governments strive to protect the middle class because, this is the class that generates wealth, employs most people in their small businesses and pays the bulk of the tax for societal upkeep. In Nigeria, this class is essentially evaporating and what we now have is a socially and economically stratified society where on one side of the spectrum, is the very poor and on the other, is the exceedingly affluent mainly composed of retired Generals!

As social stratification became more pronounced, and as inflation continued on its runaway trend, the Nigerian tertiary institutions, which used to be real citadels of learning, began to deteriorate. Due to bad management and government disinterest in the affairs of the universities, infrastructures degenerated into a dilapidated mess of crumbling walls and caving roofs. Lecturers were not paid and strikes became the norm rather than anomalous. Standard of education in Nigerian Universities, which used to be the envy of the world, crash-landed and in some cases, became suspect. Students and lecturers alike, lost interest. I dare not blame the students for their disinterest. When I first gained admission into the School of Architecture at the University of Nigeria in 1977, as a young 17 year old, the future was full of promise. It was full of promise because almost all those who graduated before us, settled into meaningful and financially rewarding lives. Upon graduation, they landed good jobs, cars, got married and were comfortable. Those of us following them had an idea of what the future was likely to be like and we were hopeful.

It is sad that I cannot say the same for current university graduates or students currently in the school system. They are aware of the bleak future that await them because of joblessness, high cost of living, evil machinations of robbers and people of their ilk, nepotism, favoritism and all other unpalatable isms. What do they do? They resort to the so-called 419 activities, join secret societies to have a sense of belonging, peddle drugs and even become robbers themselves. I do not excuse this unsavory behaviour, but according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, an individual must satisfy the basic need for food and shelter before seeking self-esteem and actualization. In Nigeria today, our youths have become vulnerable, they see no glimmer of hope in their future and the society does not seem to care. Instead of addressing these issues with zeal, our governors spend their time on meaningless overseas trips, squandering our meager foreign reserves attending "Owambe" parties. What a shame!

Family "honour syndrome" which used to act as a deterrent to crime in villages has gradually eroded. Today, no one bothers about the source of people's wealth even in villages. When I was growing up, it was an unwritten law that if, for example, someone without a visible means of income drove into the village with say a brand new car, the rumor mill would just about drive the person insane and out of the village, until the source of the car was satisfactorily explained! This acted as a natural deterrent to crime. Families were very particular about their reputation. These days, families no longer seem to care. The result is armed robbery, advance fee fraud activities, and senseless killings. This is regrettable.

In villages, some local kingmakers would willingly grant chieftaincy titles to people of dubious characters as long as they could dish out money. In the past, the prerequisite for bestowing chieftaincy titles on individuals was probity, honour, wisdom, transparency and honesty. These days, chieftaincy titles are mainly bestowed on the very rich to further buttress their standing in the society. In other words, these days, "money talks"

Politics has become as dirty as ever; votes are cast for politicians who spend the most money bribing the populace. I am amazed that people have the temerity to even mention Babangida as 2003 presidential aspirant even after he made himself one of the richest retired Generals. He could now come back, use our money and bribe the populace into submission and before you know it, he will be at the helm of affairs. This would be an affront on the citizenry! What can he do in 2003 that he did not have the opportunity to do for 8 years? The first task of politicians of his ilk would be to pay back favors to their lackeys, recoup the hefty sum spent on electioneering campaigns and strategize on how to amass more wealth for perpetuity in power

The most current trend is that very wealthy Nigerians constitute themselves into kingmakers by donating very large sums of money to political parties and individuals. After the elections, the elected officials dole out contracts to them as pay back; inept contractors get road construction projects and prosecute the jobs haphazardly. As a corollary, roads crumble as fast as they are built. As a Civil Engineer, I know the extent of effort that goes into the construction of durable roads, if these get-rich-fast contractors tried using the proper process for construction of roads, they would not make as much profit, so they cut corners to maximize profits. The resultant effect is pothole-ridden and collapsing roads. We must change our tactics. We must start electing politicians with impeccable integrity, and proven administrative competence. Meritocracy must replace mediocrity.

The exodus of Nigerian professionals to oversees countries (I am guilty of this) is another phenomenon that has not helped the country at all. In the 80s, an attempt was briefly made to stem this tide with the "Andrew no check out -o" advertisement, but you cannot ask people not to check out when the country was gradually being dismantled and plundered with reckless abandon. People saw the exodus as the only viable alternative. Before asking people not to check out, the government should have instituted measures to make it attractive to stay within. This could have been achieved by supporting and encouraging small businesses, granting them loans, giving them financial incentives for hiring new graduates and helping individuals defray the cost of business start up, to mention just a few. This never happened. What a pity! Nigeria has lost some of her finest minds to the Diasporas for good. Nigerian professors and academicians now populate foreign universities and are notable for their outstanding feats. This is a loss for Nigeria and is further hamstringing our ability to take our rightful place in the world.

One thing I would give to Nigerians is that we are a resilient people. The terrible impacts of the structural adjustment program on the economy did not dampen the ardor of all Nigerians. Resourceful individuals started floating very viable industries, banks and agro-based ventures. These thrived for a while and it looked as though Nigeria was transforming into a mini Taiwan. In the characteristic nature of the government, rather than support and uplift these industries, they allowed our physical infrastructures to deteriorate beyond reason. NEPA broke down; NITEL went downhill and of course, the road system collapsed.

A sensible government should know that allowing essential utilities and infrastructures to collapse, also means allowing the economy to crumble. No industry can function without constant electricity to run machines, smooth roads to transport goods and working phones for communication. In the absence of these amenities, some of the industries collapsed and those that eventually became self-sustaining jerked up the prices of their goods to remain in business. Today, goods manufactured in Nigeria seem to cost more than those imported and as such, importation is still more attractive. Why is it difficult for our so-called government to understand the dynamics and interrelationships of things needed to maintain a healthy economy? Now the government has a policy of 100% inspection of imported goods; the custom chaps are once again having a field day and enriching their pockets and the common man suffers because after bribing customs guys handsomely, the importers turn around and jerk up their prices. What a vicious cycle!

The military should shoulder the greatest blame for Nigeria's woes today. Their unwanted intervention put the nation in a deep hole. It is difficult for me to fathom why someone primarily trained in the art of killing and subjugation without the benefit of administrative or managerial training, would suddenly wrest government from elected officials and expect to do any better? Today in Nigeria, practically every retired army General is a millionaire! Now how could this be? You cannot blame junior officers for aspiring to toe the lines of their erstwhile bosses; IBB is a millionaire and does not even mind flaunting his wealth, Abubakar is a millionaire even though he "served" for a short time and Abacha was and is still a millionaire; the list goes on and on

I could go on and on about the problems with Nigeria, but I am sure that nothing I say here is new. Our leaders need a change of attitude. When they go to these Owambe parties abroad, they should take time to observe how governments put the citizenry ahead of everything else. The masses must request that they bring back those good old days!!!!