58 Years! Will there be a nation?

Hurray, Nigeria is 58 years! We sincerely thank God for the worthy achievement. But what are we celebrating! We are celebrating the Giant of Africa that is the poverty capital of the world! We should be happy that while global life expectancy is about 70 years, ours is 52 years! We should roll out drums that our GDP per capita is about $2000 when the average for other comparable emerging markets is about $6, 000. Yes we should celebrate! We should celebrate that over 60 million of our youths remain unemployed or underemployed with our growing population of about 200 million now perceived as a serious emerging risk instead of an asset. Of course we should celebrate that we are now so divided along ethnic and religious lines with trust in governance and among ourselves almost eroded and the labour of our heroes past virtually in vain! And yes we should celebrate!
In his very interesting book, “There was a Country”, erudite Chinua Achebe, drawing mainly from the Biafra story deeply lamented how the fortunes and opportunities of the Giant of Africa were and are being wasted.  It is very sad that all he lamented that caused the civil war and that have retarded our development as a nation seems to be escalating 48 years after the civil war! God have mercy! Who did this to us or why are we doing so much damage to ourselves. Life is very short! Why are we making it shorter and more inhuman for our fellow beloved citizens? In almost every lip and tongue, from Sokoto to Lagos and from Bayelsa to Maiduguri, the question we urgently need to answer is-‘Will there be a Nation?’ And if there will be, when it will be! When will there be a nation where compatriots will arise to serve our fatherland with love, strength and faith creating a country and nation bound in freedom, peace and unity!
Few weeks ago, on questioning a friend on why he is relocating to Canada with his wife and four children, he answered me with a heart wrenching statement. “I love Nigeria and very scared if I will survive in Canada. I have to go because we don’t really seem to a have a future and a nation in Nigeria. A society where good aspirations and opportunities of the citizens are not supported is a risk to me and my family”. He said that his only encouragement to go is because his bank has lost over 100 employees to Canada this year alone and that the Canadian bug is happening to almost all firms in Nigeria. Given the solemn and passionate way he expressed his feelings about Nigeria and Canada, I enquired more. At 46 years and having worked for about 16 years, he is still an assistant manager in one of the banks. He got his BSc at 25 and secured his first job at 30 years after 4 years of active job search.  As the first son and bread winner of a family of seven, he has many dependants. With limited rest and pressures mainly from work to achieve his target, he is presently under high blood pressure medication. This is the story of many Nigerians and it is a story of a successful and fortunate Nigerian! When I narrated the story to another friend of mine, he said that my Canadian bound friend should go and give thanksgiving in church that he has a job in a country where over 60 million youths remain either unemployed or underemployed. He advised him not to return to Nigeria until the signs that we are ready to be a nation are visible. The question is when will that be and will my friend and others like him ever return to Nigeria again!
A man of 58 years is no more a child! As an adult, he should be willing and desperate to change if he has not achieved the basic things and expectations of life. As this is the case with Nigeria, I think that the 58^th independence should be a period of deep remorse and sober reflection on the part of our leaders in every segment of our society (political, economic, religious, social and cultural). As political leadership almost determines everything in Nigeria, we implore PMB and his government to take a critical look at the country and appreciate that we are in crisis. The country is highly divided, the economy is about to enter recession again, there is serious poverty and frightful insecurity pervades.
Mr President, this is not the time for blames, it is the time for action and visionary leadership. It demands more than what your independence speech enumerated! Nigeria desperately yearns for effective leadership and this you can provide even in the remaining months of this your first tenure. Do whatever it takes in terms of appointments, policies, actions and inactions, dialogue and engagement to rescue the precarious state of dear country Nigeria. While you have rejected calls for the restructuring of the country, I passionately implore you to rethink your position and appreciate how restructuring will positively help Mallam Aminu of SarkinYari of Daura, Kolawole of  Ijebu Ode, Mama Doshima of Vandekiya, Papa Ikechukwu of Abakaliki and Akpan Asuquo of IkotEkpene. There is no better legacy than for you to be remembered as the President that put Nigeria in the path of sustainable economic growth, the leader that unified the country and provided the environment where every Nigeria irrespective of tribe or religion, state of origin or gender is able to achieve his legitimate potentials and aspirations.
The same passionate plea goes to our state governors who in most cases govern our states like prodigal sons bequeathing us with unsustainable debts and little development outcomes! Given the resources and potentials our states are endowed with, the only reason why they are in debts is purely due to lack of vision and inept leadership on the part of His Excellencies! With good vision and effective leadership, there is no reason why every state in Nigeria should not have a savings deposit or investment fund of over $1 billion. In Proverbs 29, verse 2, it is stated that “When just men are multiplied, the common people shall rejoice. When the impious take up leadership, the people shall mourn. And verse 16 states that, “When the impious are multiplied, crimes will be multiplied. But the just shall see their ruin”. O God of creation, we earnestly continue to pray that you in your infinite mercy and wisdom guide our leaders right and help them to know the truth to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign and reign and reign!
 
 
Franklin NnaemekaNgwu (PhD)
Dr. Ngwu is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy, Finance and Risk Management, Lagos Business School and a Member, Expert Network, World Economic Forum.