ela Kuti's satirical song "Suffering and Shmiling", is seemingly a fitting description of an average Nigerian's attitude to life and living. Although centered around religious hypocrisy, this music, like George Orwell's Animal Farm, tends to x-ray the endemic inequality in our society.

Nigerians are either forgiving, overly sentimental, complacent, hapless, careless, or a combination of all of the above. Some Nigerians tend to be too emotional, focusing on their feelings than tackling the main source of the nation's core issues. Some tend to live for the here-and-now, than plan for the future. The future of any progressive nation is highly dependent on the amount of investment in its young population. Our nation's policy makers are yet to realize this aspect.

JAMB, like many other public institutions, has once again failed Nigerian young population. It beats any intelligent imagination that a country supposedly governed on equal basis, had some regions' candidates perform abysmally in a unified exam meant to be conducted on equal basis. Granted, the Registrar has apologized, with an explanation of what transpired. As human beings, we understand the humility expressed by the Professor. Yes, we understand and accept his apology. He also promises to reschedule the exam; fine. But is there any policy regarding repercussion for the damage and embarrassment it causes the nation?

I'm personally worried that our country may be heading in the wrong direction because people in positions of authority refuse to take responsibility for failures in the execution of the job entrusted in their care. Numerous examples exist to buttress this lack of responsibility. Some of the salient ones include the following:

Several jail breaks in this country have either been investigated or are still undergoing investigation. Many years along the line, no highly-placed official lost their position. The last national election witnessed similar stories of malfunctioned systems. One story led to another, a couple of billion naira down the drain. No one held to account.

Government agencies and institutions have been sabotaged by 'known [gun] people' as opposed to the faceless "unknown gunmen"; as usual, no one gets punished, even when we know the perpetrators. A couple of years ago, some ministers and heads of government parastatals were invited to give account of their stewardship by the National Assembly. At the end of the entire charade and national show of shame, some ministers yelled their way through the process; today, some are rewarded with higher portfolios in government. Others fainted and their ilk rallied around, sprinkling water, fanning them, playing the medical doctor, and finally, rushed them out of the venue. Case closed.

Growing up in Nigeria, my experience has been that you have to intimidate the system with your strength and influence, to get away with murder. You can also engage in self-help to circumvent prosecution. If anything fails, the following two remain the last resort, and almost etched in stone: i. Mobilize the impoverished youth of your village to picket for you. ii. Engage the services of your traditional rulers to whip up tribal sentiments and blackmail law enforcement agencies, and you're good to go. I didn't forget public crying plus wiping of tears, which is so prevalent and instantly wins our feeble hearts. I pledge to Nigeria my country!!!