By Adeola Aderounmu

In 2024, some states in Nigeria do not produce a pin or a broom.

Understanding The 2024 Situation In Nigeria

In recent days (this February 2024), the criticisms against the Tinubu Jaguda government have toned up. There are reports of people dying of hunger. A woman fainted and her children are starving. A bag of cement is 9000 naira. A lot of things are displayed online with prices hitting the roof and bursting off.

But, how many of these problems in Nigeria are handiwork of Tinubu’s jaguda government and how many of it are due to the (stupid) expectations from about 200 million people? My explanations are long and perhaps repetitive.

Things are expensive globally

The rise in cost of living in recent years, especially since the inception of the Russia-Ukraine war, is on a global scale. In Sweden, I know of an interest rate on housing that flew from USD 700 per month to USD 1300 per month. How does a civil servant anywhere in the world prepare to cough out so much difference every month on mortgage? What about the cost of food, transport, health care and other stuffs? In our stores and supermarkets in Sweden, prices have hit the roof and a lot of families are struggling. But this essay is not about the situation in Sweden.

In a country like Nigeria, where the minimum wage is N 30 000 (< 20 USD), the hopes after the emergence of the Tinubu Emilokan jaguda government was that there would be a positive change. The man, Tinubu, made so many promises some people thought he would be their messiah. It’s turning out to be another episode of a long series of broken promises in Nigeria’s horror-filled politics.

Nigeria is running a useless system of government

Some of us have mentioned this several times but majority still troop to the ballot boxes every 4 years to keep the useless and senseless system of government working. As long as you are voting in Nigeria’s political elections, you are part of the reason Nigeria is what it is today. As long as you belong to a political party in this senseless system, you are part of the problem with yourself. How does this sound to your hearing: Make money in River State, send the money to Tinubu, Tinubu shares the money to Sokoto, Kaduna and the rest of the state including River State? How much of the amount River State sent to Tinubu do you think comes back to River State? Do the same math for Lagos and all the other states in the country where some economic activities are still going on. Do you think money made in Alaska would be send to Biden so Biden can send the money to Texas and other American states?

In Nigeria today, all the monies from the regions are sent to Tinubu in Abuja. Before Tinubu, it was to Buhari, Jonathan, Obasanjo, Babangida, Shagari, Murtala and Gowon. This senseless thing started after the coups of 1966. How can you send money to one person and expect accountability? How can you send all the monies in an economy to an individual and you expect that individual to be sane? Even you, you will go crazy and surely become very corrupt!

Make money in Rivers State, send the money to Tinubu in Abuja. Tinubu shares the money to Sokot, Kaduna, Imo and the remaining states in Nigeria. How much of the amount comes back to Rivers State? Does that even make any sense to you if you have some brain cells to think? But that is what you vote for every 4 years? You are the problem with yourself!

Nigerian Politicians are corrupt. They are documented criminals.

Some may argue that if Nigerian politicians are not corrupt, the unitary system would work. But that is the exact illusion that is created by the system and the (s)elections that come with it. That is what the criminal politicians what you to believe. That is why more than 3 generations of Nigerians have wasted away. That belief and hope in the system is the reason why this generation would die in extreme penury and poverty.

Globally, politicians are corrupt to varying degrees. But Nigerian politicians are documented criminals. Some were criminals before they entered government houses, others became criminals after emerging in government houses. There is no way a sane person will not become insane after emerging in Nigerian politics. It’s designed for you to steal or loot.

To be clear, the list of criminal-politicians living openly in Nigeria after looting in politics is endless. There is no justice under a unitary system of government and one of the reasons is the concentration of power in one person, at the center. Buhari, Jonathan, Obasanjo, Babangida, name them. All the former and serving governors. All the ministers, past and present. Everyone in Emilokan Jaguda government. They are all thieves. Nigeria is running a useless system of government supervised by thieves and you are crying that thing are expensive. You are not ready to save yourselves and your children.

Nigeria is a consumption-based economy

One of the consequences of sharing monies to different states in Nigeria was that several states became unproductive. Before the useless unitary system was introduced to Nigeria, all the different regions were very productive. Agriculture and industrialization were in full speed. The regions competed with one another. Their respective economies were vibrant, and the common currency was very strong. Infrastructures were built and maintained. Everything made in Nigeria and by Nigerians were of the highest standard. Our health care and schools attracted people from all over the world. That was the golden period of the regional system of government in Nigeria.

Fast forward post unitary system of government. In 2024, some states in Nigeria do not produce a pin or a broom. The politicians cross their legs, sit their asses at the government houses and wait for federal allocations that have been mopped up from a few productive states. When the money gets to them, they steal most of it, at the state and local government levels. The same at the ministries; ministers loot monies and they get away with their loots. There are almost no consequences for being a criminal politician in Nigeria.

Even in some states where minerals are mined, a few criminals in the states have cornered all the mineral resources with the help of unregistered foreign companies/persons. So, it would appear that the money shared to the states are looted by politicians. Then the income from the mineral resources that are supposed to be used for the state end up in the pockets of the same politicians and a few of their friends. These are the people you see buying houses and land for trillions of naira all over the country and abroad. Several politicians starting from the presidency down to the local government level just dip their hands into the country’s account and take money to buy houses in UK, Dubai and America.  Then you are there crying that things are expensive, you are not serious yet. Our freedom will never come on a platter of gold.  

A rotten head

What people are facing in Nigeria today are not only due to the pressure of global crises. Internationally, we are all feeling the impacts of a global economy meltdown. Interests on our mortgages are up in the sky, depression is high and homelessness (even in the absence of war) is noticeable.  But what makes Nigeria unique is that the head is super rotten. The head is represented by politics and policies. It is represented by law and order. By accountability and patriotism. But they are all decayed!

It does not matter who is elected or selected as Nigeria’s president. You can be Atikufied or Obidiots or Agbadoists, it does not matter. Where did Anambra money go when Obi was governor? What did Atiku do with all he stole for years 1999 – 2007 as VP? The unitary system of government does not give accounts. It loots and assist to loot because that was the purpose of the system. In recent years, a man called Buhari, a classical dullard and a man of low mentality was pushed down the throats of Nigerians as president. In private conversation, we know that no one of us will employ Buhari as a gatekeeper or servant. He was that incompetent and incoherent. But some cabals made him a president. Unforgivable. Today, a certain Tinubu whose identity cannot be verified is leading. Everything about Tinubu is unclear. What is clear is that he, like Obi and Atiku, is one of the criminal politicians in Nigeria. But he is president.

The heads in Nigeria have always been rotten. The implication is that the rottenness spreads into the entire network and systems in Nigeria. There is nothing in Nigeria today that does not smell. That is the most viable explanation to how some people with no known source of extra income, can survive on USD 20 a month. Even a bag of rice approached USD 70 but we move, abi? Nigerians say they hustle to make ends meet. You don’t want to know what hustle means to some people. Let’s leave it there. Try to get something that is your right in Nigeria, like a passport. Try to open a bank account. Try to park your car in a public place in Lagos Island. Everything is hard and frustrating. We rip one another. The head is bad, rotten and smelly. You can feel it in everything in Nigeria.

Where do we go from here?

In some articles in the past, I have written very provocatively. I still do, sometimes. In one controversial article published in the Nigerian Village Square, I asked if we should lease Nigeria to the former colonial masters, to see if they can turn things around in 10 years. On more than one occasion, I wrote articles titled: No rage, no change. They are here on my blog. Today, I cannot stand by and allow a rogue called a colonial master to rule my life; that article on leasing Nigeria was borne out of frustration in the days of ignorance. Still the idea was to provoke to positive actions. More than a decade later, Nigeria is down the hole.

But I stand by “No rage, No change”. Sometimes, we say revolution. Sadly, Nigeria does not need a revolution that change people or replace people in a unitary system. Nigeria needs a revolution that would reshape the geographical space very dramatically. If Nigeria continue to exist in its modus operandi, I cannot see the light. Even the tunnel does not exist. As long as a unitary system of government remains, Nigeria and Nigerians are hopeless. 10 years from now, some will debate this provocation!

The big question is: what can you give to make your geographical space a better place for your children? If my generation or the one after ends thinking we can save Nigeria, then we would end up chasing shadows. Our lives may add no real values to humanity. Our parents died believing in a certain imaginary one Nigeria. See where it left us.

Our concern should be on our common heritage, our common culture, our common values, our common language. We must return to where the bubble bursts in 1966. Everybody need to know where we were before the 2 useless 1966 coups in order to understand what we are up against. It would not come easy because the politicians, the elites and the rogue colonial masters are also ready to keep Nigeria as a giant slave camp. But with a massive population of over 60 million representing, the Yoruba for example must be able to govern their Western Region where Agriculture was king. Nobody was eager to leave Yoruba Western Region for a low standard London or Paris, at that time. My mother stayed back in Abeokuta of the 1950s. She told me the story. What a glorious choice she made. In 2002, I could not make the same decision as my mother when the call came. What applied to a 1960 glorious Western Yoruba Land applied also to the other regions at that time. It is the regions that we must take back in order to pursue own peace, happiness and economic prosperity.

One of the greatest fallacies and chant of slaveries in Nigeria today is “We will take Nigeria back”. From who? Was Nigeria ever made for you? What is Nigeria? We have lived our lives on false identity. Sadly, we will die this way, with the identity that our ancestors did not bequeath to us. But we can save our children and the unborn generations by giving them their rightful identities. You can never claim back what was never yours. Nigeria was created as a slave camp. What belongs to you is Western Region-Yoruba, Eastern Region-Igbo (Biafra), Northern Region-Arewa, Middle-Belt and the South-South (The Delta). In this new age, perhaps more regions should emerge. Why not? Some of the most prosperous countries in the world do not even have a million inhabitants.

Finally, there will be no quick fix to all the problems that have accumulated in Nigeria since the erroneous coups of 1966 and the prevalence of mad, corrupt people in government houses since 1966 to date. If we correct the most fundamental error today (that is operating at the regional levels), our children and children’s children would have something to smile about in the next 20, 30, 40 or 50 years and forever.

We have to stop crying or lamenting on the social media and in real life. We need to stop praying from Maiduguri to Jerusalem and Mecca. Let us stop wasting time. Stop sharing nonsense. Share the history and stories that will change for our lives for better, forever. Spread the news that awaken our critical thinking. Let us disagree to agree that we need a proper plan for the rest of our lives.  Our progress starts the day we start building our respective nations again. Everything starts on the day of our real freedom from a slave camp called Nigeria.

aderounmu@gmail.com