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| Madukar Orji |
Growing up as a teen in the 1970's in the coal city
of Enugu was hilarious; a pride in a nation that bestowed so much hopes, so
much dreams, so much aspiration, unlimited enthusiasm in her then emerging next
generation of nation builders; dreams were dreamed by young men and women,
achievable dreams; hopes became brightened by starring stars of the night. As
it was true then in the hearts of many young men and women not to ask much of
their country but to give their best to their country with the hope that their
commitment would challenge their country to fulfill her social
responsibilities, so is true now that Nigeria has failed her young men and
women to sustain hopes and dreams they once had. It was true then that the
nation indeed provided for her young; prospective graduates got employed while
in final year of higher education, before ever called to national youth
service. The wealth of the nation ushered in new brand of Westernization;
Western diplomats flocked and clustered the nation's shore in a renewed spirit
of neocolonial fraternity; multinational industries and oil companies sprouted
everywhere like germinating seedlings in a season of plantation to scramble for
bounties of a new prosperous nation. The West sleeved in disguise of
neocolonialistic agenda, began the scavenge of a nation. Nigeria gave the world
so much hope, lavished so much wealth, bragged so much about her wealth, and
hosted the world in a festival of African arts and culture (FESTAC) in 1977.
Regrettably, the nation did not outlived her glorious moment; in default, the
hopes and aspiration gradually began to melted away. Today, Nigeria has become
a scorn among comity of nations; she has left tainted frustration in her
citizens, and forced her young to flee her suckling palms to foreign lands in
search of new dreams, to rediscover lost dreams, and to rekindle faded hopes.
Infrastructures have become alarmingly dilapidated, and in most places, none
existent; electricity, the center point of this essay, has become so epileptic
to become a badge of dishonor of a wealthy nation; citizens are left in
blackouts for weeks and/or months depending on area one lives - a ritualistic
way of daily life in a country that still, deceptively, self-acclaims herself
as a "giant of Africa". A nation without electricity is like a blind
man walking unguided in an unguarded street - a trademark of a failing nation.
Does it mean that politicians who find their way to
elected office do not articulate economic and social issues in the country,
which should be their primary reason they were 'elected'? Why has Nigeria
remained a weeping nation year after year, regime after regime? I remember in
1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo assumed political office, he vowed alongside his
minister for mines and power, Bola Ige, that electricity interruption would be
a past by the time he ended his tenure. He came flamboyantly like a comet. He
assumed the messianic personality of a 'Mandela', from prison to presidency;
Nigerians thought that the prison incarceration had revisioned in him the
lesson of humility and service. Regrettably, he became another disappoint the
nation had; he was not the Chinua Achebe's 'Man of the People' wrongly
presumed', a man hoped would bring renaissance of renewal; he was a symbol of
institutionalize corruption like those before him, those that came after him,
and those that will come. The promise became a lying tongue of a man drunk in
grandiose of political power. The blackout darkness of a nation degenerated. By
2010 Nigeria had an operational electricity generation capacity of 4 Gw, an
unimaginably low number for a country size in scope and population of about 165
million people, comparable to 160 Gw generated in an industrialize nation. It's
true Nigeria does not have the industrial capacity to utilize such comparative
huge electricity generation capacity as in industrialize West but one-fourth of
the capacity would put Nigeria on footpath of a developing nation and rekindle
life anew for her citizens. In light of the country's predicament, Goodluck
Jonathan says he wants to build made in Nigeria cars. If to ask: is the auto
factory going to operate with generator sets, generators fueled by crude oil?
How could a nation that could not successfully assembly Peugeot cars or Mercedes
trucks least build one? Or is the Nigeria 'dream' cars going to be built by
Nissan and Stallion car makers as president Goodluck met at the 2014 World
Economic Forum with their chief executive officers. Another man with a lying
tongue, lust in illusion and deception of leadership. Yet, given the country’s
vast crude oil and natural resources, a larger proportion of the population is
stuck in a trap of poverty, a recycling dance of death that subjects 60.9%
Nigerians to absolute poverty. According to 2010 National Bureau of Statistics,
this figure represents 112.47 million Nigerians. The bureau predicts likely
continuation of the rising trend.
The failure to generate uninterrupted electricity
for Nigerians stems from the fact that Nigeria has lost the threshold of
decorum of a nation whose eyes should be glued to the future. Electricity
blackout has become daily occurrence in homes, in businesses, in every part of
the country - and this, is increasingly worrisome. As a way out of the
predicament, businesses and households purchase electricity generating sets to
light their homes and offices, power machinery and equipment. These generating
sets do not only increase cost liability, they also emit carbon monoxide into
the atmosphere - health consequence resulting from this is polluted and
poisoned air. Everybody suffers the consequence, whether it is the politician
in glass-sealed mansion in Abuja, or the downtrodden streaming for space in
slums of Ajegunle. Again, fuel and gas are needed to power these generating
sets, thus profit margins are reduced, cost increased, and prices hiked. In
spite of 10% increase in 2013 budget allocation to electricity generation,
streets, homes and businesses are still littered in blackout - an affront to
human dignity. Nigerians would have lived healthier has there been
uninterrupted electricity to power fans and/or air conditioners in homes and
offices that would provide habitable room temperatures, thus deny mosquitoes the
privilege of transmitting malaria parasites, which simultaneously comes with
illnesses that could disable functionality of human body. Electricity blackout
could not permit hospitals to perform medical procedures on patients; women
could not give successful birth delivery, hence increasing risk of accidental
death and complications. The risk of human error of professional negligence by
doctors and nurses no doubt worsens the already health havoc; human life in the
hands of doctors becomes like a chicken ready to be slashed for a pot of stew
sauce without recourse to responsibility. Again, children cannot appropriately
learn in schools because blackout is everywhere; science and computer
laboratories have become storage spaces when there is no electricity to
experimentally utilization the equipment. The result is turnout of half-baked
graduates who litter the streets in search of jobs, in most cases unqualified.
The consequence is a nation of band of unemployed young men and women with
deficient tools to compete and excel in modern techno-society - these are young
men and women who constitute the quantum of Nigeria poor. Some of the
unemployed have broken bounds with societal norms and decency to engage in
armed robbery, human trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping, terrorism, and most
have been frustrated to flee. Besides, the level of poverty has led to various
regional agitations across the country. For example, In the Niger Delta, the
youths years ago vowed to riffle the economy of the nation, they vandalized oil
pipelines, kidnapped oil workers, and almost crippled the national economy. The
nightmare they unleashed resulted to horrifying mayhem in the region. In the
midst of delusion and passion for regional autonomy, the movement for
emancipation of the State of Biafra resurrected in the East, across the beds of
River Niger. In the North, Boko Haram began a campaign of anarchy and
annihilation that is terrorizing the North, from the banks of River Benue
toward the deserts of the Fulani caliphate. These regional resentments reflect
continued scourge of poverty, undevelopment, and frustration across the regions
of the nation.
Privatization of power sector or any other
government sector is not panacea for development in Nigeria because the endemic
corruption that has rippled democracy and fabric of the society makes nothing
transparent, and nothing gets done with due administrative process. Besides,
there is a level in development theory that a country can attain to provide and
sustain its citizens before it embarks on privatization of its economy; certain
structures must be in place, and these are not yet in place. Nigeria has a
political system where the rich circumvent the law of the land in ridicule and
intimation of the poor; a nation where those that are caught stolen are
rewarded, released from prison, given amnesty, and/or appointed to serve same
government he or she stole from without minimum regard to national conscience
and consciousness. Is this a country to be celebrated and hoped to have a
future? To turn things around, first, full scale electricity generation and
supply must be vigorously pursued to raise industrial production and
productivity, bring peace of mind and certainty to homes - these, no doubt will
close the recycling trap of poverty and rekindle life anew in the citizenry.
For this to come true requires effective governance, effective laws that are
time-tested, and effective enforcement. Until corruption is controlled the
problem of electricity, like many numerous problems confronting the nation,
remains dreamful. As I look beyond the horizon, Nigerians are not yet ready to
give away privileges of corruption and indiscipline, to sacrifice the present
for the future - for this, Nigeria remains standstill. It's not a matter of
debate but a matter of what has been seen, what is seen, and what is hope to be
seen; it's the reality, not illusion of fantasy of imaginary 'Alice
Wonderland'. Like in economics, politics projects same for the future. A
handful of politicians cannot decide the faith of a nation; cannot decide a
national conference of a people for a free people, choose who attends, or set
its agenda. Nigeria is still run like an enterprise owned by a clique of
investors whose sole interest is profit. Unfortunately, this is not the new Nigeria
many illusively nurse the hope would still come. Though, things can still
turnaround for better 'ONLY IF' Nigerians must massively determine the kind of
nation, the kind of government system they want, and those who participant.
Like in every meaningful nation where citizens rise up, and are still rising
up, stand up for justice and corrupt governance, Nigerians must wake up from
slumber; Nigerians must wear off the 'complacency of 'who cares attitude' and
take fate in their hands so that their children's children yet unborn will
still have a nation called Nigeria. It bemoans that the generation that my
father was born into waited patiently, like vultures, to see a better Nigeria,
my father died with hopes unfulfilled, dreams drowned. My generation is about
to extinct, yet Nigeria still crawls like a colorless chameleon - my generation
will soon die leaving our children's children go same way as our fathers. For
those that still sleep in fantasy, know ye thee that neither miracle nor prayer
brings about societal change. Rather, public opinion and people's deeds change
a society. Responsible nations do not bruise their knees in endless prayer,
wishfully waiting for a miracle that would never come; nations take their faith
in their hands ready to rediscover their fate anew.
Written By Madukar Orji
Author: LUST FOR CORRUPTION THE AFRICA YOU DON'T KNOW
Author: THE MYTH OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND ECHOES OF IBO NATIONALISM
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