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Monday, March 21, 2011

DEFIANT ATTITUDE


                                                           
     Taking a closer look at Nigeria environment these days, one will not be adjudge an unpatriotic citizen with a declaration that government is non existence in Nigeria. Majority of Nigeria will agree with me on this issue. The only people that will not agree are the politician, and the people who are taking crumbs as dividend of democracy from them.
      In the last twelve years of democratic setting, the government has found it difficult to provide the citizen with basic social      amenities. I doubt if there is a state in Nigeria that is enjoying adequate supply of pipe borne water. Nigerians are still experiencing darkness with epileptic power supply for over twenty years now. The road networks are quite bad. Roads that are constructed before independence, after and in the 70’s are better off in standard and qualities than the one’s being constructed these days.Adequate provision of shelter is non-existent. How many Nigerians can afford the houses built under the federal housing mortgage scheme. Those that have benefited from this scheme, how many of them were able to complete the terms of the agreement before the houses are taken back from them due to either job loss or collapse of their investment.
     Social benefits in terms of various welfare packages been enjoying by most citizen of the developed countries especially the teeming unemployed and the aged are non-inexistent. Our state of security and level of preparedness in an emergency situation have been tested several times, and we have been found wanting most of the times. Spate of kidnapping cases, murder, and terrorist acts in recent times have shown that security can be easily breach in this country.
      All these antecedents has led the Nation into the chaotic situation we now found ourselves. People engage in unlawful activities without recourse to law. Most Nigerian families no longer feed adequately well. This presuppose that a family that found it difficulty to feed well will definitely found it difficult to impart values, morals and good manners into its younger generation. Such families will continue to breed generation of defiant characters. All these are result of bad governance. A bad family can never translate to a good society. So in essence family acting as agent of socialization is a foregone conclusion in our polity.
       Some of our leaders are exhibiting this form of character in the way they run Nigeria affairs. They believe they are not answerable to us since they got their mandate through rigging of election process and not through effective and efficient ballot system. This made them to circumvent policies they made themselves through their actions and inaction in the execution of the nation’s economic policies.
        Millions of Nigerians are wallowing in abject poverty and our political leaders are feasting on the nations resources without blinking an eyelid or even showing remorse for their on-human act. I do not belief that one has to be a member of a political party before one can start enjoying the so called dividend of democracy. Since the past twelve years that the People Democratic Party has been the ruling party in Nigeria, their main campaign slogan of poverty eradication has not been reflected on the entire populace except few Nigerians that are fraternizing with them.
         The nation political class is yet to learn their lessons. Their campaigns on radio and television stations shows that they are not yet matured and they equally lack the political intellect on how to organize campaign. Most of their campaigns are tailored towards character assassination, blackmailing, violence, arson rather than been issue based. Listen on their jingles on radio and their campaign on television stations signifies nothing but noise making to the electorate. There are yet to give us an antidote to the myriads of problems ravaging the country. Comment expressed by some of them while campaigning only confirm our fear that the nation had already falling into wrong hands and it is only God that can get us out of their grip.
          I remembered vividly well that during the first and second republic nearly all the political party had manifesto. The electorate used their manifestos to compare the various programs they claim the citizens are going to enjoy when they eventually get into office. So the electorate uses the information at their disposal together with the caliber of people in each political party to choose the party they thought is likely to perform. Today we are only witnessing violence, arson, intimidaton, aggressor, murder and rigging of election. This probably explains why manifesto is no longer in vogue in their political calculations, plans, and strategies. They seem not to have faith in the nation’s electoral system anylonger.Reason being that most of them got to the office through the back door and not through peoples’ mandate.
           Our late President was bold enough to say that he did not get to the office through the peoples mandate immediately he came into office. This statement explain why the political class are defiant in their in their attitude towards Nigerians.
            The current campaign train of the ruling party is nothing but mere wastage of the nations’ resources. It also signify defiancy.The party can not tell us that the money been expended on this projects comes from the pockets of individual party members. With the myriads of problems confronting the nation vis-à-vis unemployment,corruption,energy,inflation,food shortages,housing,security,bad roads, lack of  portable water,kidnapping,health care, decayed infrastructural facilities, decayed educational system, lack of institution ,terrorism, I found it difficult to belief that the Government can still go on spending spree.
With this defiant attitude of our leaders in their resolve to ground the nation’s resources to a halt, it is going to take the nations a longtime to get out of  the doldrums. Their defiancy in resolving to steal us blind by looting the nation’s treasury explain the do or die stands of our politicians to get to the office at all cost. The incessant killings, kidnapping and bombing being experienced in the polity are politically motivated tailored towards achieving their selfish ambition. Age is nothing but a number as the saying goes. However I belief the younger ones should be allowed to take over the helms of affairs in the polity and the old men should leave the stage. We need fresh brains. We need young men that can postulate the right economic solution to the nations economic problem that has defied all forms of solution in recent time.
             If efforts are not made to solve these problems, then the nation should be ready for avalanche of grave repercussion which is likely to befall us in the future. The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta’s {MEND} threat to bomb major cities the country is an exhibition of defiancy brought about by the defiant posture of the ruling class. That is the truth. If the government over the years had solved their problems, the youth restiveness that metamorphosis into gangsters and gradually threading along the path of terrorism would have been nip in the bud long before now.
          The insubordination of the political class to the teaming masses of Nigeria populace is gradually caughting up with them. Nigerians are still confused as to how a member of house of representative and senate member could be earning as much as #15m and #20m naira per month. To make matter worse, a counselor is earning more than a university professor in our system. What an insult.Definately this is not acceptable.
         A system that profess zero tolerance for corruption and at the same time celebrating criminalities leaves no one in doubt as to the seriousness of this government in justifying its claim.
          Nigerians are in perilous state. Majority of the people are living in penury, while the political class and their cohorts are living ostentatious life. One does not need a soothsayer to inform us that the political class actions and deeds will boomerang soon. We are all living witness to the recent happenings in places like Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and currently Libya. If anyone belief that this type of political upheaval been experienced in those countries can not take place in Nigeria should have a rethink and take time to analyze the situation on ground. Some of the reasons which lead to political unrest in those countries are similar to what we are experiencing in Nigeria now.
          Most crime been perpetrated in the country today are carried by the youth. The Nigeria youth corpers, those in service, and those that have finished service but still unemployed have discovered that surviving in Nigeria system is far beyond holding a certificate. One has to fight over everything before you can survive in system.
          The defiance attitude been exhibited by our leaders does not start now. This is an act they have developed since adulthood; they are only using their political platform to unleash their act of treachery on Nigerians. It is a cyclical phenomenon, because very soon most Nigerian youths will graduate into the political class and the cycle will continue. In other words they too will start to exhibit the defiant character in them. So the question is how  do we stop this trend. The truth is people who have perfected the habit of circumventing all known laws, will do everything possible to make sure that the status quo remains unchanchanged.
          Thank you.
Quadri Kazeem 
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