Sixty-one years after independence, Nigeria, is like a vehicle struggling to climb a hilly road, amidst bad weather and stormy waterways, making the destination elusive. It is home to over 200 million people. It is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest, and the world’s 13th largest, producer and exporter of oil.
With its wealth in petroleum and natural resources as well as its vast agricultural potentials, Nigeria should have by now become Africa’s undisputed economic giant. But reverse now the case With mass unemployment, overstretched and poorly maintained infrastructure and insecurity, many Nigerians have had to seek their fortunes in several ways to survive. The last six years has been horrible for innocent Nigerians who have been consigned to abject poverty and hence looking for the crumbs that fall from the table of politicians.
Lack of commitment by leaders and the people to the Nigerian project over the years has crippled our chances of maximizing our God-given opportunity. China, America, other developed world, think about the progress of their countries and the people first, but here in Nigeria, we first consider our personal interest, then the left-over for the rest of the people. That is why Nigeria after 61 years, infrastructural deficit will require ‘$3.3trillion in capital expenditure over the next 30 years or $1.1trillion a decade to close its infrastructure deficit’ according to the Moody Report.
Then there is insecurity, which, for the past 10 years, has become intractable.
At 61, one expect that the union between the north and the south shouldn’t be under any threats but today, Nigeria has witnessed several drums of war, songs of discord, separatism and agitations across the six geopolitical zone. Southern governors and their northern counterparts have been holding separate meeting on where 2023 presidency should be zoned to. This also has caused political tension in the land. All these are signs of a failing state. Separately calling for Igbo presidency, Yoruba presidency, Hausa presidency, rotation or no rotation are all indices of a an unstable society. Until we begin to think of the Nigerian project irrespective of our differences, we would not make a headway.
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Nigeria can transform its potential into success. With a huge population, its citizens can be mobilised and empowered to engage in manufacturing as China, Singapore and South Korea have done. This will change the society from a consuming country to a powerhouse in manufacturing and exportation.
At 61, Nigeria should not be groping in the dark. There have been numerous wasted opportunities, no doubt, but it takes just a right turn at any second for a vehicle in the middle of nowhere to find its bearing. There is hope for a tree if it be cut down, that it could spring up and be better again.
