WHY NIGERIA MAY NEVER DEVELOP

 FRESH BREATH

               Photo Credit: Financial Times

By Ben AHANONU

The emergence of nation-states at a point in the political, social and economic evolution of humanity was underpinned by the desire of groups of people to come together in a legal union for the mutual benefit of members of the union through the pooling of their resources to develop, maintain and protect the union and its common interests.

Majority of the nation-states of this world evolved through a voluntary multilateral process and such nation-states are the best for it.

They are strong and dominant militarily, politically and economically because the leaders and members of the union intentionally repress their various personal interests while pursuing only those efforts and goals that will enhance and sustain the common good.

These nation-states are usually homogenous in terms of race and culture.

Because everybody is given a sense of belonging, patriotism thrives and there is neither wastage nor feeling of disenchantment in the nation states that emerged so to speak voluntarily.

Everything and everybody falls into line and the centre truly holds.

There are also other nation-states and these I refer to as bizarre contraptions of the colonial powers, patched together for their selfish interests; some like amorphous mass of ethnic groups very different from each other are in incongruous unions that can best be described as unworkable.

Many of the countries in Africa including Nigeria fall into this group.

The constituent members are convinced that what divides them outweighs what unites them yet the selfish impostors as rulers and insatiable politicians sing choruses of elusive unity because they are feeding on the geographical expression of corruption called Nigeria.

It is a known fact that of all the countries in Africa, the most unserious is Nigeria.

After decades of independence; with much revenue coming from petrol, the country remains enmeshed in real economic, social and political quagmire.

There is so much wastage, poor management of scarce resources and lack of maintenance culture.

It is certain that until the rulers (as there are no leaders in Nigeria) can come to terms with the fact that they have failed the nation and begin to tread a new path that will be characterized by maintenance culture, Nigeria will may never develop.

Sustainable economic development essentially derives from maintenance culture. It is like consolidation on gains and no forward-looking nation toys with that.

In Westminster, Britain for instance, the Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace remain in pristine condition to date because of the prevailing culture of maintenance in that country.

Another reason why Nigeria may  never develop is the factor of world-class corruption, which is well-embedded and institutionalized. Virtually everybody and everything in Nigeria are corrupt; even the trees, birds etc. In fact, there is no place in the world where corruption is tolerated and domesticated as in Nigeria.

In the same Nigeria, the irony of anticorruption crusade is that those pursuing the corrupt are twice as corrupt, ask Magu.

The other reason why Nigeria may never develop is what I chose to call greed of officialdom.

 

Are you aware that each petrol dollar is meant to serve the common good but when some greedy politicians and government officials decide to take all through what they christened “enhanced packages,” what will happen to the other Nigerian who may not be so privileged?

How can only one person rake in N42 million quarterly for doing nothing substantial in a country where states claim that they cannot pay workers the new National Minimum wage? This is also a country where the per capita income is less than $1 dollar.

Furthermore, the burden of security vote is tantamount to official robbery. How can somebody in a poor country like Nigeria receive over N6 billion annually as security vote?

I mean, how can the country develop when so much is brutally misappropriated?

Nigeria is about the only country in the world where recurrent expenditure is consistently higher than capital vote in the yearly budget. How can the country develop when so much is frittered away?

There is no sense of self-sacrifice in this country and every quest for public office is propelled by the desire for personal aggrandizement. That is why they i.e. the “politricsians” can kill and do just anything to gain power.

It is my view that Nigeria may remain undeveloped or rather underdeveloped until public office is made unattractive. It is only then that the real people, who are eager to serve for just the honour and not for their pocket, will emerge.

The notorious immunity clause, which protects the president and governors from prosecution while they are still in power, is the gravest unconstitutionality squeezed into the 1999 Constitution by the self-serving and shortsighted men and women who had a hand in the making of that faulty document.

What immunity clause breeds is the culture of impunity on the part of the affected government officials and happenings in most states of the federation corroborate that claim. The excesses of the so-called executive governors have reached alarming proportions. This leads to animosity by the populace towards the executive governors, who knows? It may erupt someday into inexorable crisis, “God forbid!”

Arguably, Nigeria is about the only country in the world with the highest level of insecurity in peacetime. The Niger Delta is still boiling despite the celebrated amnesty. Boko Haram is currently striking further afield. Kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and armed robbers are daily on the prowl.

Without doubt, no investor would want to put his or her funds in a country where there is so much harm and confusion. Moreover, the consequence of any terrorist attack is always devastating and each wave of sectarian crisis takes the country many steps backwards because of the wanton destruction that it leaves on its wake.

The above-mentioned points are truly inhibiting and the patchwork of nations called Nigeria will remain undeveloped and may even disintegrate so long as those negative factors remain unaddressed.

I think Nigeria should be renegotiated. Just my opinion.