Adeola Aderounmu.

It will be very instructive not to miss the points about the situation of things in Nigeria. There is no doubt that Nigeria is a very beautiful country (by nature) and a very wonderful geographical entity. There is no doubt that Nigerians are beautiful, hardworking and kind. However it is in this same Nigeria that you have beasts and lunatics who have used the instruments of governance and power to sentence millions of Nigerians to a life of perpetual poverty and agony. It is in this same beautiful Nigeria that you have some of the worst attributes of a democratic nation.

Those who govern in Nigeria are exceedingly rich. They are so rich that they could provide for their 14th unborn generation. They are so rich that they could stash away billions of dollars in foreign accounts and when they die, the money is lost to these useless oversea hypocritic countries. They tell us now that Nigeria is so corrupt that she occupies the 121st position on the ladder of corruption. How corrupt then is the United Kingdom, the United States and all these funny isolated islands who accept money from Nigerian thieves? Nonsense!

Indeed corruption is very rampant around the world but to different degrees and dimensions. It is such in Nigeria that while the public officers are getting richer and more insane, they do so at the expense of two things: the people and the negligence of public service. No administration in Nigeria has admitted to being a corrupt one and that is ridiculous. The point is that each administration is afraid to prosecute the previous one because they all have the same evil intention and that is to steal and loot from what they called the national cake. This is the monumental tragedy that has befallen Nigeria since independence. This is the biggest tragedy that has plagued Nigeria which has made it possible for the common man to live a fulfilling life.

It is made worse because of the influence of mistrust, tribalism, nepotism and extreme but inadmissible hatred for one another. There is a lot of pretense in the air and self preservation is the only law in Nigeria public service. The principle of me, myself and I is the most functional element in Nigeria military or political governments. The result is that an individual who is in public service becomes the only means to alleviate himself, his acquaintances, friends and families from the shackles of poverty and penury.

The consequence is the elaborate mind game that determine who survives and who suffers in Nigeria. Those who survive on their own are in a way the extraordinary people who stumble on the required space and function that allowed their relevance to be explored as it should have been normally. They are few and mostly intellectuals. You will find this category of people across all strata of the Nigerian society. All over the world, people in this category are used to keep the society in good shape and function. In Nigeria, they are usually hidden and silent.
There is a growing branch of the Nigerian society who are the opportunists as mentioned earlier who get rich because of the relationship that they have to power or to someone in power. There is nothing wrong with have this connection or influence but the mechanism that runs it is based on a corrupt system, a winner takes it all attitude and a mentality that focuses on self or just a few in the best situation.

We have failed to realize that the society is supposed to be built on fair play and equal opportunities. We stopped rewarding merits and excellence while promoting one useless concept called federal character. We promote violence and aggression. We, in general, promote evil over good and vices over virtues. So in essence we miss the point about the real situation of things once we get our hands on what we want. The me , myself and I attitude promotes a mentality of the survival of the fittest whereas the resources dictate otherwise. Nigeria is running a system that is defiant to the stipulations of nature and natural laws.

For example, the people of Nigeria have no business being poor. It is very unfortunate that more than 90m Nigerians are poor and cannot by themselves determine what they want to eat or how they want to eat. They cannot even determine how they want to live! It is extremely shameful that Western Union is going from Europe and America to Nigeria. Under natural laws, it should be the other way round. Nigerians are supposed to be the richest in the world not only as country but as individuals. Unfortunately, only a few Nigerians have ganged up to be in this “richest category”. It should have been everyone.

Indeed there will always be poor people everywhere but that the poor outnumbered the rich in Nigeria is catastrophic in economic evaluation. How is that possible? It is possible because as mentioned earlier, there are people who can provide for their nth generation while the living are starving. There are monies scattered all over the world in foreign banks and foreign economies and these have no real value or use to Nigerians who are alive. There are people living in Nigeria with monies that they would never be able to earn if they lived up to a million years. Yet they have this money and the state and people cannot take from them. It’s shocking and amazing!

I cannot understand why the poor cannot rise against the government in Nigeria. I mean it is a game of number, more than 90m against the others. What are we talking about? I am guilty of not fighting against the evil in my society they way I should when I was living in Nigeria. I tried a little though and I thought I did my best.

Ordinary Nigerians are so focused on religion and other things that they forget how life should be. Some people have never experienced how a good life feels like. The society is so fractionated that some people tell you stories that I call “make believe”. Those who think they are fortunate or even smart to be doing well invariably always forget what they see and those they encounter on the streets everyday.

I have written about Nigeria in many ways and from many angles and my message is the same: it is possible for all Nigerians to live a good life. But so far, there is no indication that that hope will be realized soon.

The government is in business as usual, reshuffle the cabinet and let other thieves come and steal their own part of the national cake. The politicians will never be prosecuted or they will never be made to refund the money they stole. No one is talking to Babangida anymore. He is permanently above the law. This man stole money that some African countries don’t even have! Obasanjo just messed up the power sector, he will never have to account for that! From 1960 to 2007, Nigeria continues to promote idiocy and madness in government and public service. I cannot stop saying that mad men are ruling in children! I have no other explanation for the unbelievable status of Nigeria in the comity of nations.

Everyone is public service must be good, accountable, prosecutable and intellectually functional if the society and country must move forward. Unfortunately, Only a few men are good but their efforts cannot cover 150m people. It doesn’t work that way especially when these good people are not even in public service. You must be crazy to survive Nigeria’s kind of democracy.

Nigeria is my country of birth. I’m still proud to be a Nigerian. It’s the pride of the black nation but I would really love to see my continue make real progress, not abstract or imaginary progresses. I look forward to the tangible things that can make life worth living in Nigeria.

Constant power supply, Good roads, modern and affordable health care (so the president does not fool around the world), good educational system (so the useless ministers will not be sending their children abroad), clean water and beautiful (affordable) houses and everything that promote merit over tribalism and mediocre. Nigerians abroad want to come back home. They need a place to call their real homes: This is the dream! I