Education

Mass Poverty In Nigeria, 2012

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By Adeola Aderounmu

In 2012 several millions of Nigerians will live poorer and suffer more than they have ever done in recent history.
The government of Goodluck Jonathan has ensured that more than ever before more Nigerians will sink further below the poverty line. In 2012 the prices of goods and services have doubled at the same time that wages remain stagnant and unemployment remains a nationwide scourge. The government of Nigeria under Goodluck Jonathan is probably the most irresponsible government on the planet.

Mass poverty is the poverty that affects the majority of a population. More than 70% of Nigerians lack the usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions needed to lead a happy life. This unfortunate category of Nigerians lack material comfort and in plain language they live from hand to mouth.

Poverty in Nigeria is extreme. It covers a wide range: from absence of basic amenities like water, hospitals and electricity, good roads and good schools to absence of security and general hopelessness.

The broad implications of mass poverty in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. There is frustration on the faces of over 90m people who are living on less than USD1 per day. The current changes introduced in Nigeria as a result of fuel price increase will automatically reduce the purchasing power of Nigerians. It will increase their fears and aggravate their fragile health statuses. The causes of many deaths are unascertained and the life expectancy is almost below 50 years.

Nigerians are living the lives they did not choose and which they have not completely resolved to do away with. Only a small fraction of Nigerians have genuinely crossed the poverty line through hardwork, perseverance and a stroke of luck sometimes. Several other rich Nigerians are simply crooks and thieves who stole from the treasuries. This latter category includes almost without exception the president of Nigeria, the vice president and other members of the executives serving and past.

The category, in short, includes almost all politicians who have stolen or enriched themselves on the commonwealth of Nigeria. The extensions of this group include all those who have directly and indirectly benefitted from the corrupt governments that have destroyed Nigeria since 1960 to date.

In today’s Nigeria the politicians continue to earn big while the ordinary masses continue to live desperately from one day to the other. Ordinary Nigerians are not getting what they deserved and they have not gathered enough courage to change the system radically or violently.

Nigeria is a country with now over 160 million people therefore the dimension of mass poverty in Nigeria is both dreadful and shocking. The political system in Nigeria put the outcome of these people’s lives in the hands of one man through a unilateral system of government where everything is decided by a president.

In almost all instances the presidents in Nigeria have been corrupt, senseless and outrightly foolish like the present one. For example rather than reforms that would eradicate corruption and establish viable political structures like regional governments and devolution of power, the government of Jonathan has done nothing about fighting corruption and is happy to oppress the people by keeping the power at the center and increasing the cost of living. No greater form of madness exists on earth.

Nigeria needs to fight corruption and to develop a new form of government that will ensure that power is closer to the grassroots. In that way it will be easier to monitor regional growth and development without depending on a faraway insensitive, lazy and stupid aggregation of looters aka exco and legislators.

In Nigeria there is almost no plan to provide basic infrastructure to the people. The annual budgets are made and looted. Politicians, their families and friends live extravagant life styles and spend a lot of time in their private jets. They just steal and it’s too easy because there are no prosecutions. The judiciary is utterly insane.

Despite the fact that Nigeria is situated in the tropics with access to all forms of flowing water the government cannot provide drinking water to her people. Many homes with water are the results of self-provision and investment that gulp thousands of naira annually. Bore holes are common.

The cost of transportation has escalated since January 2012 and in many places the costs have increased by over 100% compared to what they were last year. The cost of feeding has increased astronomically. People cannot eat what they want, they eat what they find.

Food, water and housing are 3 important parameters to measure the values of our lives and these things have become elusive to the masses in Nigerians. However, mass poverty in Nigeria has other ugly faces. For example, the purchasing power of the Naira is extremely weak. In some very bad situations, some people do not have money at all and there is no social security system.

There has not been efficient or functional power supply even if you can conveniently pay for it. Nigeria is generating a power outage that is too shameful to repeat online. Many businesses run on own generators and the cost of doing businesses are extremely high adding more salt to injury in the unemployment terrain.

The cost of petrol has increased from N65 per liter to N97 per liter. This makes Nigeria the most expensive place to buy petrol in any oil producing nation. The increase was necessary because of the corrupt manner the petroleum industry has been managed and to ensure that the corrupt Nigerian government officials can satisfy their evil lust for stolen wealth.

Long term measures would have been to tackle the oil mafia and to ensure that we service the existing refineries and build new ones to cater for our needs and export. But Nigerian officials now headed by Jonathan prefer that we import what we have. No greater stupidity..!

Rather than tackle the problems head on and plan a long term solution to the economic problems in Nigeria the myopic government of Jonathan decided to add to the burden of Nigerians. There are now more poor people in Nigerian than ever before.

Nigeria has Uranium in at least 18 states of the federation, I have not heard the governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido and the Minister OF Finance, Okonji-Iweala mentioned what Goodluck Jonathan is doing about it. Nigeria is almost without electricity and the country is sitting on Uranium deposit. Talk of daft people in power all the time.

Apart from Uranium there are uncountable numbers of natural resources/ mineral deposits in Nigeria. All the governments, past and present, have focused on the crude oil thereby limiting the economic growth of Nigeria. Even if the crude oil has been well managed, mass poverty will not exist in Nigeria. Agriculture has been relegated due to the greed and incompetence of all these corrupt people.

The lack of power supply, as mentioned above, has aided the mass poverty as thousands of people have been put out of job since many companies can no longer sustain their operations in the absence of it.

The situation is very demoralizing and still there are other equally important things that define the intensity and seriousness of mass poverty in Nigeria. The Nigerian masses and elites cannot travel on safe roads. The masses are more affected because there is constant chaos in the public transportation methods. The conditions are dehumanizing to say the least.

Mass poverty in Nigeria is further displayed in the health schemes. There are no solid or clear cut health care policies to care for the population especially babies, pregnant women and old people who are more helpless than other groups of people. The cost of getting good treatment at the hospital is prohibitive and the access of modern health facilities is greatly hindered. I am not sure if there are handicap friendly facilities in public places in Nigeria. The poor and helpless masses are always at the receiving end of all the misgivings of the politicians and policy makers.

Nigerian politicians continue to travel abroad, to receive treatment or to die. Nigerian hospitals are inadequate and ill-equipped.

The overall consequences of poverty are diverse. Quickly, some of these things have spiral effects and these have obviously spun down to the upcoming generations. For example as a result of the range of extreme want of necessities and the absence of material comforts, the children of the masses no longer have access to quality education.

They do not have adequate recreational facilities and their social orientations are falsely modified by various things around them and those that they are unduly exposed to. What is going on daily in Nigeria as a way of life shows very sorry states of things. Things are getting worse from day to day.

Mass poverty can also result from high rate of unemployment. There has been an upsurge in armed robbery in recent years. It is not uncommon to find school drop outs and unemployed graduates among the criminals who have become very merciless in their operations. In addition to this, it was a rude shock for me to discover recently that many primary school and secondary students now have some form of allegiance to other persons in their localities or areas. I could not believe that secret cults are no longer secrets.

True stories have been told how some young people have been killed by what seemed like cults activities in broad day lights. I was told that some were shots dead in unsuccessful robbery operations at other places. These stories are told nowadays like “it’s one of those things”. Things have really gone from bad to worse. Many years ago in Nigeria, the emphasis was on academic excellence and sporting activities at leisure. Indeed, things have changed and very worryingly too. Could all these be due to the spiral effect of poverty in action? What role does poverty play in other neglected aspects of our lives?

I am still mad at people who have refused to see the bigger picture. If you have escaped poverty by some hardwork, luck or some form of looting or stealing that does not mean that we should forget the people who are still suffering from the corruption and bad government in Nigeria. Nigeria is too corrupt, probably the most corrupt country in the world.

The politicians are looting and they call it receiving salaries and allowances. What an open scandal!

And for Nigerians living abroad you have not escaped the poverty in Nigeria. Far from it! When you are in Nigeria, you still use generators to produce the power you need. That is a sign of poverty.

You drive your fancy cars on very bad roads and have to change parts or do repairs often. That is a sign of poverty.
You live in houses with heavy security. That is a reflection of poverty and a sign of extreme insecurity.

My personal experiences and observations showed that Mass Poverty accelerated by absolute rot of governance over the years may have taken its toll on virtually all aspects of the Nigerian life.

No government in Nigeria has seriously tackled corruption or fight poverty in real terms. There is no hope in sight as the present government is showing itself as the most useless ever in the history of Nigeria.

Ordinary Nigerians (especially those who cannot treat their leg ache, head ache and stomach ache abroad) have gone through a lot of life excruciating and traumatic experiences especially since 1999. All the hopes raised at the onset of the new found democracy have been crushed and dashed. We don’t have the form of government that we require.

Nigeria must split into different regions/ nations and corruption in all the regions must be fought totally.

The Occupy Nigeria movement should be re-arranged to form a movement for the convocation of a sovereign National Conference or a movement for the initiation of a referendum to define the way forward for Nigeria. Nigerians cannot continue like this, it is too hopeless.

Sometime must be done now to prepare for the future generations that will occupy and live in the present Niger-area.

The Regions that existed in Nigeria before the intervention of the military in 1966 must be restored. It is the only hope for the eradication of both corruption and everlasting poverty. If necessary a revolution must be initiated and sustained to achieve these aims. The power of change lies with the people and not the Labour Unions. The Labour in Nigeria is a collection of miscreants in search of personal recognition and riches.

The people must rise up once again and take what is theirs. Freedom and independence have never been offered on a platter of gold. They are earned with dedication and great sacrifices. 2012 offers a new opportunity for the change Nigerians seek.

Governor Fashola Finally Makes His Presence Known at Festac Grammar School

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by ADEOLA ADEROUNMU

The Lagos State Government has finally sent one of its building contractors Access-1 Energy and Trading Company to start re-construction work at Festac Grammar School.

LASG awards contract for Reconstruction work at Festac Grammar School

LASG awards contract for Reconstruction work at Festac Grammar School

For those who have not been following the story. Here are links to the story so far:

Governor Fashola, Festac Grammar School Ti Baje o..!

Festac Grammar School Vs Lagos State Government

Photo Essay: Festac Grammar School Alumni Projects’ Management Group Is Working

In April when this struggle started I had written that one of the greatest mysteries of Lagos State Ministry of Education is how a school that got the first prototype one storey-structure in the old Ojo Local Government was left to rot away totally as a predominantly poultry school. It seems that the government of Governor Fashola, in a reaction to the series of stories about the embarrassing situations at FGS, is set to repair, renovate and re-construct FGS.

I also made a promise that was hard to keep. But I did my best. The ultimate goal was to write about Festac Grammar School once a month because as I stated then: the problems with Festac Grammar School became for me a personal struggle. It is still a cause.

Now that hope has come, I feel obliged to write this story about the presence of Governor Fashola in Festac Grammar School through Acces-1 Energy Trading Company.

I have not received the details of the contract; therefore I am not in a position to describe the extent of the work that will be done.

However I do know the old storey building that was built in 1985 has now been given some re-touching in terms of structural maintenance.

One of the dilapidated poultry block of classrooms has been pulled down completely to pave way for a new storey building of 12 classrooms.

Foundation of Storey Building of 12 Classrooms

Foundation of Storey Building of 12 Classrooms

These developments are in the positive directions. They are in line with one of the long-term objectives of the Alumni Association to ensure that the school poultry structures built by Lateef Jakande are overhauled and replaced by modern storey buildings.

This objective should never be different from the functions of the Lagos State Ministry of Education. How schools are allowed to rotten remain inexplicable and if we tie it to the systemic corruption in the Nigeria system then it is an indication of what I feared most: that the future of the unborn generations remain stolen.

Whichever way, it gladdens the heart and it brings a sense of fulfillment to witness the re-construction work at FGS. Without any doubt I am convinced that it was a rapid response to our calls that have been made on the NVS and some of our blogs.

The Lagos State Government has shown that we do not need to know anyone in the corridors at Alausa in Ikeja before our agitations can be attended to. What the LASG must also ensure is that it carries out its functions without allowing us to carry the burdens to the web space all the time.

Our agitations and concerns are genuine and noble. It is clear that we want education to be promoted. A sane environment is necessary to produce sane minds. A sane environment is necessary to nurture the future generations.

On our part as members of the Alumni Group we have made progresses. We have donated some equipment to the school and we have helped them to settle electricity bills. We have more plans.

In terms of our organization we are now duly registered and our activities are governed by a written constitution. We are in the process of electing our executive members to take over from the caretaker committee and more than ever before the future of the Alumni Group look secured.

This year, less than 5 months after we re-converged as Alumni Group from our different niches we have organized career day/ workshop at Festac Grammar School and we have awarded prizes to outstanding students.

We have made ourselves more visible in Festac Town and we have provided ourselves with the platform that will motivate the students attending Festac Grammar School. They are now in contact with us. We have a wonderful opportunity to be their role models and mentors.

For us this year is a success story in the history of our Alumni Group.

It is not yet Eureka! It must be pointed out that governments in Nigeria are fond of abandoning projects and looting the funds earmarked for such projects, even after the shameful 10% kickbacks. We hope that the re-construction work at Festac Grammar School will be neither a half-baked project nor an abandoned one.

Our hope is that this rejuvenation that will inspire and motivate the students and staffs of FGS.

The Alumni Group, as promised in a previous essay, will work closely with the leadership of the school to emphasize the importance of maintenance culture. On the long run too, we will have to find the appropriate communication channel to ease information flow between the Lagos State Ministry of Education and our Alumni Group. That will help us to know first-hand about the plans that are made for schools in Lagos and how often the structures will be checked for comfort and safety.

The academic aspect can also not be over emphasized. Quality control measures should be re-introduced while all hands must be on deck to rescue the “dying culture” of attending public schools.

No matter what happens, FGS will remain in our hearts and we will never relent until the image of the school both in terms of structure and academic excellence are revitalized fully. We are committed.

Acknowledgement : All photos were courtesy of
Oluwafisayo Oyeromade Ogunjimi Orilambo

Email: pheesayor@hotmail.com

aderounmu@gmail.com

Nigeria Failed to Qualify for 2012 Nations Cup..!

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Adeola Aderounmu

Nigeria has failed to reach the African Nations Cup Competition that is slated for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012.

P W D L GF GA Pts
Guinea* 6 4 2 0 13 5 14
Nigeria 6 3 2 1 12 5 11
Ethiopia 6 2 1 3 8 13 6
Madagascar 6 0 1 5 4 14 1

*Guinea Qualified Table source:BBC

There is no need for over reaction to this expected outcome. The deed was done in Ethiopia when Nigeria drew 2-2 with the Ethiopians. Guineans thrashed Ethiopians 1-4.

Out of necessity Nigerians Madagascar at home 0-2 but it was too late. Guinea sealed her place at the Nations Cup when it thrashed Nigeria 1-0 at home in October 2010.

Football is a team work and this has been over flogged in debates. But the final phase of the teamwork is reflected on the pitch over a period of 90 minutes.

The teamwork is not about the footballers only. It is about the structure and the operations of each country’s football federation.

When something as serious as Nigeria missing a Nation’s cup goes wrong, a lot of issues are brought into questioning or focus.

What is the current level or standard of football in Nigeria?

What are the statutory functions of the Football Association?

What has the Football Association done in the last 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 years to promote the development of football in Nigeria?

How do we make selections for the national team? Do we have a neutral selection process or are we still in the primitive era of using influence, position and bribe to secure player’s position in the national team?

How old are our players in the age-group competitions? How can we optimize the potentials of our players to the best result possible?

Going back to the Football Association, who are the people running the association? Do they know what football is or are they in the association because they stupidly belong to one geographical region in Nigeria?

Have we ever in the history of Nigeria allowed technical know-how and professionalism guide our judgments and decisions in the running of our sports in general?

The problem as it turned out to be is not peculiar to football. Nigerian Sports if practically dead!
We are hardly seen in world championships-field and track, athletics and so on-yet we still foolishly adhered to that rotten title-Giant of Africa.

It is a sad situation. Nigerians should cry for Nigeria not just because the glory of Sports is gone-but also because the glory of the country belongs to the past.

All these national ailments can be traced back to our collective mentalities-how we do things and how we let bad things pass for good.

Nigeria’s problem has become not just an ordinary labyrinth; it is also a convoluted one.

It is hard to make amends because so far no ruler or person in authority has been bold enough to start the cleansing process while the guilty are in their current positions. Nigerian government is in love with witch-hunting and shadow chasing.

But maybe someday, someone would realize that in everything that we do we need a fresh start.

In the sport Ministry maybe we can start by seeking the services of professionals to run to our football associations. Maybe we now need a blue print to help us develop football in Nigeria. When I was young we had reasons to pursue excellence in both our academic and sports activities.

There were local and regional competitions to look forward to, both in sports and academics. These things were good for our bodies, minds and souls.

[03-05/09/10: Nigeria 2-0 Madagascar
03-05/09/10: Ethiopia 1-4 Guinea
08-10/10/10: Madagascar 0-1 Ethiopia
08-10/10/10: Guinea 1-0 Nigeria
25-27/03/11: Nigeria 4-0 Ethiopia
25-27/03/11: Madagascar 1-1 Guinea
03-06/06/11: Ethiopia 2-2 Nigeria
03-06/06/11: Guinea 4-1 Madagascar
02-04/09/11: Madagascar 0-2 Nigeria
02-04/09/11: Guinea 1-0 Ethiopia
07-09/10/11: Ethiopia 4-2 Madagascar
07-09/10/11: Nigeria 2-2 Guinea] Source: BBC African Football

Nigerian youth today don’t realize what they have missed and how their childhood and future have been stolen from them. It is almost a crime against humanity that children and youth are deprived of their fundamental human rights.

Rather than cry over spilled milk Nigerians should take a look inward and ask themselves-what went wrong? What went wrong was not the game in Abuja which ended 2-2. Several things have gone wrong before that game that was played under tension and pressure.

If we find out those things that are/went wrong and how long we have coped pretentiously with those anomalies, then we are probably on a good start to finding the solutions. Hopefully someday we will also stop repeating our mistakes.

Congratulations to the Guinean National Team for this great achievement. The 10m inhabitants must be jubilating for their triumph over a country of 150m people.

Being a giant in whatever field at all is a measure of achievements and golden strides. For Guinea this is a gigantic achievement. Let those countries living on past glories wake up for their slumbers. The world is moving forward, never backwards.

In Gabon and Eq. Guuinea come 2012, African giants in football will be clashing. Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Egypt have a lot to learn from the history that will be made in 2012.

1999-2015 PDP Years May Be The Worst Of Our Lives

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Adeola Aderounmu

The problems facing Nigeria are huge. They are also many.

The solutions are not easy to define because for over 50 years the country has been neglected as successive governments looted and stole just the way they liked.

Both military and civilian administrations in Nigeria neglected the people and plundered the country like emperors and tropical gangsters.

There is no federal government in Nigeria that has successfully planned for the future or made long-term plans to ensure national growth and development.

In 2011 Nigerians followed their minds while neglecting the power of deep cerebral thinking as they voted massively for Mr. Jonathan. The votes-Nigerians claimed-was not for the PDP.

Unless something is done in the days ahead the next 4 years may add to the previous 12 as the worst years that Nigerians alive have ever seen.

Security is at its lowest ebb since the end of the civil war. Terrorism is fully established and Boko Haram can take Borno, Kaduna and even Niger States if it so desired.

Food has never been so expensive in the history of Nigeria. The prices are increasing daily and the purchasing power of the Naira remains low as its value continues to tumble.

The worst express roads and highways in the world are still in Nigeria. One Minister cried at Benin-Ore road but she could not repair 0.1km of the stretch. One former Minister of Works and Housing is from Benin and his cerebrum could not connect to his nerves to get the simple messages: repair, build, restore, maintain.

The chronicle of Nigeria as a failed country is also very evident in the education sector, health department and area of infrastructure.

Lack of housing schemes and absence of water for majority of the population joined with the high cost of food in making Nigeria a country inhabited by more than 90m impoverished citizens. This, though hardly spoken about widely, is probably the worst man-made tragedy of our time.

With the near complete absence of state-supplied electricity Nigeria is among the worst places on earth inhabited by humans. We near Somalia, so precariously!

In addition to a President, Nigeria has Ministers, (including the unnecessary, wasteful and redundant Ministers of States), Lawmakers, Governors, Commissioners and even Councilors. For all the PDP dominated years, very little has been done to touch the people’s lives.

Nigeria has been left in the hands of Special Advisers, Special Assistants, Expert Facebookers and PR Consultants. Nigeria probably runs the most expensive government in the world and nothing is in the pipeline to change the status quo. Looting continua..! It is also not a joke that a governor in Nigeria appointed a special assistant for Lagos Matter and another special assistant for Lagos Affairs.

The ordinary citizens and people of Nigeria are suffering like mad as billions of Naira are wasted daily on side attractions including one useless talk of tenure elongation.

A 3-month genuine anticorruption program to arrest and prosecute all corrupt people in and out of government will avail more than the senseless debate about tenure elongation. Such a genuine adventure will settle for all time the question of accountability and probity. It will make elections less adventurous.

But all the governments in Nigeria including the government of Jonathan have been dominated by corrupt people many of whom have been recycled. This cycle of idiocy makes it impossible to fight corruption but relatively easier to distract with irrelevant issues like duration of looting tenures.

But in any case the government of Jonathan has promised to do wonders. It promised a lot during the election campaigns in 2010 and early 2011.

The office of the Nigerian president is too powerful. It’s like what the Yorubas called Kabiyesi (no one can question you?). The Nigerian presidency offers room for both laziness and lackadaisical attitude.

At this stage of post-election 2011 what should Mr. Jonathan be doing?

His schedule should be taking him round all the Federal Ministries in Nigeria and probably all the states of the Federation for the fulfillments of electoral promises.

In the Ministry of Transport he should be commissioning several kilometers and stretches of federal roads and rail lines all around Nigeria. It is very important that such projects are everlasting projects with regular maintenance included in the contracts.

In the Ministry of Education he should be restoring all the Federal schools including the Federal Universities. The competition will be to ensure that all Government Universities are more efficient than Private Universities that have been established with looted funds or collections from congregations.

In the Ministry of Water Resources Jonathan should be using his knowledge of science to work together with the Minister he has appointed. Millions of Nigerians are living without access to pipe-borne water. Water-borne diseases and malaria are giant killers of Nigerian children and adults too.

I remember that in Yar Adua’s village women fetched dirty water from deep wells and they sold the water. They are still probably doing that while Sambo is likely drinking imported water.

There are quite a number of natural sources of water in Nigeria and the south coast is lineated by the Atlantic Ocean. Clean and affordable water should flow in every home in Nigeria and 4 years is good enough to accomplish that.

In Ogoniland gradual poisoning of the population commenced since 1959 or so through polluted water and soil and when the full effects will become manifested, extremely poor Nigerians from the extremely rich oil fields of the Niger-Delta will face one of the worst human-induced health crises the world has seen.

Jonathan is asking the UN to help rid his region (Niger-Delta Ogoniland) of the devastation of oil spillage. A report stated that it will take about 3 decades to clear the mess. It has taken more than 5 decades to create it.

Why ask the UN? What about our EIA specialists in Nigeria? They should be on the next flight to Abuja and then the next one to Ogoniland to start working. Sincerity of purpose is the keyword. UN will not clean Nigeria. Nigerians will cleanup Nigeria when people like Jonathan start putting square pegs in square holes rather than buying 3 presidential jets for one person in a nation where poverty wage is negotiated.

What has Jonathan thought about concerning providing houses and flats for Nigerians? What is the function of the Federal Ministry of Housing? When was the last time that the Federal Government of Nigeria embarked on aggressive and rapid housing programs?

What is wrong with the Federal Government working together with private construction companies and well established banks to ensure that decent flats and apartments become affordable and accessible by 2014 or 2015 as Jonathan’s parting gifts to Nigerians?

The number of Nigerian politicians and public figures dying in foreign hospitals is increasing. This is a disgrace I am so ashame. The Babangidas and the Yar Aduas of this world know better by now that health is wealth and that having quick access to quality health services is very important. But they were so daft and myopic not to make such services available to themselves at home in Nigeria.

One hopes that the sad omen will not hit the Jonathans. It is now time to do something once and for all about our health institutions from the community levels to the highest spot. Our University Hospitals must also be revived immediately. We can’t wait for the next state-sponsored treatment abroad before we open this discussion again.

All the things that take Nigerians abroad for treatment including the twisted ankle of Mr. Atiku should be highlighted and corrected in the next 24 calendar months at most. Even the children with holes in the heart should have corrective surgeries in Nigeria and not in India. How long shall we express inferior intelligence by the things we do wrong? Just how long?

I can go on with what Mr. Jonathan should be doing. It is not the least that he must work together with the Minister of Youth, Labour and Productivity to ensure that the problems of employment and national productivity are tackled and solved. It will be recklessness not to re-introduced government-organised farm settlement schemes across Nigeria under the control of states or regions. Cocoa, groundnut, oil-palm and cassava must hit the export again.

The Minister of Natural resources under Jonathan must have his or her hands full with the type of promises that Jonathan made. Has anything progressive been done in the last 2-3 months in the coal and steel industry for example?

Most of the things above will not work in the absence of electricity. Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa said that power will be constant by 2015. We have heard that before. Mr. Jonathan must make electric power supply a priority and ensure that we light up Nigeria by the end of his first year in office. If this means destroying the generator importers cartel, so be it!

Mr. Jonathan has a moral obligation to keep permanent tabs on all the ministries under his rank. Nigeria must move away from the textbook-forms of administration where Ministers read out their plans every 4 years from what they have read in books or on Google and do nothing after the recitations.

Mr. Jonathan took a record time to appoint his cabinet. After wasting our time he cannot place people into positions and let them do what they like. What Nigerian politicians like is to do nothing. They love to steal and loot.

We cannot afford that carelessness any more. Mr. Jonathan should not oversee another 4 years of wanton looting and he must not orchestrate one. He must put his house and office in order.

Mr. Jonathan should get out of the comfort of Aso Rock. He can’t spend 4 years meeting people and holding endless discussions. When is he going to hit the roads? Four years is such a long time in human existence. Some people’s lives were changed in 4 seconds, some in 4 minutes.

Nigerians said they voted for Mr. Jonathan and not for the PDP. I’m still laughing. It is left for Mr. Jonathan to prove Nigerians right or wrong. 1999-2007 was a complete waste of our lives. We became a GSM society. And so what? The world has since moved on. Our debts were cancelled. Where does that leave us now? Abacha’s loots were partially recovered. But the Nigerian bookkeepers under Obasanjo stated that the money was spent on projects executed a few years before the loots were recovered. The chief bookkeeper is back. A country of abracadabra..!

Even if Mr. Jonathan is a new magician he will never achieve half of the lies he promised during his nationwide campaigns. Those are elections jives and they are full of deceits and thoughtless moments. The greatest legacy Jonathan can leave behind as his single tenure runs a countdown is to ensure that as much as possible is done out of his debts of promises.

He must get somewhere commendable in the race and targets he set for himself. The task before and after The Jonathan Era are huge. Nigeria definitely needs a transformation borne out of honesty and patriotism.

I cannot end this essay without stating my support for regional governments. Instead of tenure elongation what we should be seeking on the long-term are constitutional changes tied to eradication of corruption, devolution of power, regional productivity, growth and development.

Nigeria: From Regional Government to Terrorist Country

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Nigerians were shocked when on December 25 2009 a young man by the name Abdul-Muttalab attempted to bomb an America-bound plane which he boarded from Amsterdam.

I was one of the several bloggers who screamed “Nigerians are not terrorists”! History and current events have proven otherwise.

Nigeria is now a front liner among the terrorist countries of the world.

In one of the most cowardly expressions I’ve read this year, Mr. Jonathan said that no nation is free from terrorism. Indeed, true because Norway just got hit. But what has Mr. Jonathan done since the war started in Maiduguri and now brought to his doorsteps in Abuja?

The Nigerian Police headquarter in Abuja the capital of Nigeria was attacked on Thursday 16th June 2011 by suicide bombers. They succeeded in detonating massive loads of bombs inside the parking area of the Nigerian Police Force in Asokoro Abuja.

Those who are responsible for these series of successful terror attacks inside Nigeria have exposed the complete lack of intelligence of the Nigerian Government.

No one has been arrested since the first letter bomb of 1986 which was masterminded by Babangida and his security aides. In recent years the use of bombs in Northern Nigeria has escalated with neither arrest nor conclusive investigations. In Northern Nigeria bombs are more common than groundnuts.

The weaknesses of the Nigerian Defense mechanisms have constantly reminded us that Nigeria can be annexed at any time by serious external aggressions.

The present state of insecurity of the country called Nigeria may be an introduction into the final chapter of Nigeria as a unified anomaly.

The Inspector General of Police boasted that we are in the last days of Boko-Haram. Rather than be intimidated the group came out strongly to blast the headquarters of the Nigerian Police and to simply tell Afiz Ringim to shut the f— up!

But how did Nigeria become a terrorist country?

Students of political science should be doing extended researches on the rise of terrorism in Nigeria. Through such comprehensive studies we can get the full report on how terrorism has become a part of our existence in Nigeria.

Nigeria right from onset is a political error and an occurrence facilitated by the selfish (and probably stupid) thinking of the colonial masters. How can people and ethnic groups that have nothing in common be formed into one country? Intelligence was deducted when such economic and political decisions were formulated.

The stupidity of the creation of Nigeria would have been probably neutralized by a purposeful leadership. But what Nigeria got since 1960 has been a series of government dominated by tribalism, nepotism and massive corruption. Summarily government in Nigeria is like total madness in high places.

In the process civil war was fought from 1967-1970. Violent crimes and armed robberies rose remarkably after the civil war.

After 50 years of near total neglect and non-governance, unemployment increased in Nigeria and the standard of living dropped sharply. Austerity measures were introduced in the early 1980s and Structural Adjustment Program in the mid-80s under one of Nigeria’s most notorious dictators, Ibrahim Babangida became Stomach Adjustments program as hunger crept into the lives of millions of Nigerians. we have not recovered.

The governments of Nigeria neglected the well-being and welfare of the people. Politicians stole money and as I write stealing remains the main reason why people go into politics in Nigeria.

Religious riots became common. Many internal borders became disputable and ethnic rife mixed with religious tensions.

Many decisions including the location of state capitals for newly created unviable states were based on political gains rather than social justice. Many Nigerian politicians are too ignorant of the meaning of social justice.
They promoted ethnic politics and even religious politics.

Education was relegated and today public education is almost non-existent. Several politicians stole public funds and started private schools. Many sent their children abroad as they stole blindly.

In short Nigeria became a country where the government runs its own thing on one hand and the citizens run theirs on the other hand. The two became exclusively independent of the other especially as votes are useless and elections are predetermined. So in Nigeria, anything goes.

Many people made it in life out of extraordinary situations and amidst little hope. Many did not make it and will never experience good or quality life because the system is too disorganized and cruel to recognize the plights of the majority who are suffering.

In 2003 the central government collaborated with the River state government and gave weapons to the youth so that the PDP can win elections by force. This terrible carelessness gave more power to local groups who later became formidable as militants in the Niger Delta. Across Nigeria this became more common.

Rather than educating the youth and providing for the welfare of the states, the PDP government under Obasanjo gave them guns!

As the 2011 wrapped up, riots broke out in Northern Nigeria and many innocent people and youth corpers lost their lives. Boko Haram rose to unprecedented heights. The connections are too hard to ignore. The problems escalated because of the level of illiteracy in the North and the fact that religion and politics are perfect volatile mix in that region.

Boko Haram may be facilitating the last chapter of our common history.

When I started this essay a few weeks ago the activities of Boko Haram was daily and widespread. But as I conclude this July month of 2011 it seems that they have relaxed a bit.

Or maybe the security apparatus is starting to work properly.

Everything in life is a function of time.

Nigeria remains one country just to serve the corrupt and the cabal. For example we know that electricity may never improve in Nigeria because those who import and sell generators are government officials and politicians.
They will never wish for a better power supply.

It is the same for the education sector. Public education may never improve in Nigeria unless all the private schools own by politicians are taken away. They were established with stolen funds.

It is time for all Nigerians to have a stake in the future of the different nations within this ugly combination.

We should support a return Regional government similar to what we have in those days: Western Region, Eastern Region, Northern Region and Middle Belt. If necessary new regions like the Niger-Delta should be introduced.

It is time for each region to determine how it wants to run itself using its own economic, human and natural resources. It is time to take the power away from the center. Let us return it to the region where it will be possible to manage and even uproot corruption. It is absolutely useless to remain like this. What we have now is a product of corruption, made for the corrupt and to enslave more than 90m Nigerians who live in absolute poverty and penury.

There is no simple way to analyse Nigeria and the way forward will demand a lot of sacrifices. Surely the killings in the delta and in Maiduguri are not the type of sacrifices. They are too costly.