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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.

The Curse of the Oil, Cost of Kerosene, Absence of Electricity and Greediness of Nigerian Rulers

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Adeola Aderounmu

Oil remains a curse to Nigeria, there are no doubts about that.

Norway has oil and is rated as one of the most developed countries in the world. Norway is a prosperous country. How did Norway and some other countries succeed with oil while Nigeria failed woefully? Before the unrest in Libya, Libyans were living a fairly good life!

On paper, Nigeria is a prosperous country but in reality the masses are suffering despite the oil wealth of Nigeria.

Nigerians including the poor masses living in the Niger Delta where Dr. Jonathan was born are rated among the poorest people in the world.

Northern Nigerians, especially the women are rated among the least educated people in the world.

What a tragedy!

Why is a blessed country like Nigeria home to some of the poorest people in the world?

This is because of poor management, bad rulership, and outright looting of the Nigerian treasury by greedy men and women who have pretended to be serving the country since 1960.

There is an ongoing trial in Nigeria where the immediate past speaker looted billions of naira.

Imagine what will happen to the European economy as a whole if 1 billion dollars is unaccounted for?

Has anyone imagine what will become of Greece or Spain if 1 billion dollars suddenly grew legs?

Even Sweden will suffer as a country if 1 billion dollars suddenly disappeared.

But in Nigeria, several trillion of dollars have disappeared since 1960 and the thieves and looters are free people, mostly.

Some have died and their children have inherited the stolen monies.

Then we complain that our economy is bad, that our living conditions are terrible and about all the anomalies that we put up with.

If all the looters living in Nigeria can return the monies that they have looted, Nigeria will pay off her debts in a matter of seconds and there will be plenty of money to resuscitate the rotten infrastructure and to build new ones.

There will be free education and possibilities to provide basic needs of life like food, water and electricity.
Nigeria does not deserve a debt pardon, aids or grants.

Nothing close to those is among our needs.

What we need is to join hands, surround all the looters and force them to cough out stolen loots.

Then we should start serving out serious consequences to those who are still looting or that will be looting in the future.

When all these have been done, we must not forget to re-diversify our economy. We must go back to agriculture. The groundnuts from the north and the cocoa from the west can feed the world again.

We have pretended to be working on our natural deposits but we have deceived ourselves for too long in that aspect.
We should seek genuine efforts to do real work and sustain and spread the prosperity of Nigeria.

THE COST OF KEROSENE

Assuming that all is well with Nigeria, we should have moved away from using kerosene as the source of cooking in our kitchens.

There are over 90m Nigerians living in poverty, so kerosene remains the number one source of energy for cooking. In reality this is still a dangerous way to cook food as explosions are common due to counterfeit kerosene products and poor kitchen habits relating to safety and precautions.

If all was well in Nigeria, a product like kerosene should be provided free of charge for families that still prefer this out-dated method of cooking using of kerosene stove.

But instead a keg of kerosene, usually about 4 liters went up to about N1 500 in the scarcity that we have seen in recent days.

In the absence of scarcity this product cost about N500. That is a lot of money for poor people.

ABSENCE OF ELECTRICITY

I have written several times about the sad state of electricity in Nigeria. Electricity supplies in several places are close to zero percent!

Businesses are grinding to a permanent halt in many places because of the lack of electricity.

In the computer village in Lagos, it has become so bad that small scale businessmen and women are on generators 24-7.

Do they have a choice?

These people are crying inside. They are tired, worn out and living with hope of a better day.

WHAT NOW?

The choices of good men in Nigeria are too limited. It’s as if politics especially at the top has been forever left to men of questionable characters, ex-rogues and gangsters.

Nigerians really hoped on Goodluck Jonathan but some of us did not. I respect the right of Jonathan concerning his aspirations but it is sad that Nigerians did not see that Jonathan is a PDP representative and that the PDP has no good plans for Nigeria.

The evidence since 1999 are there for all of us to see but Nigerians decided to differentiate Jonathan from the PDP.

The consequences are here with us.

The counter arguments are going to be rife. Nigerians will forget that the morning shows the day and that the hopes that they have in Jonathan are the same that they had in Obasanjo in 1999. Today, 12 years into the reign of the PDP, the standard of living has dropped sharply, and the percentage of unemployed Nigerians have increased. More people have dropped below the poverty level. Only a very negligible percentage of Nigerians have joined the (rich) middle class.

There is no hate over our arguments, time will tell. But I can add that 4 years from now the arguments will take known dimensions-a man cannot fix Nigeria in 4 years!

Nigerians will come to realize someday that with a PDP government and the current Nigerian mentality of service provision and lack of true patriotism, we may end up even worse in 2015.

Only time will tell.

In the meantime, there are reasons to step up anticorruption activities. There are urgent needs to invoke national debates on the way forward or backward for the various segments or nations within Nigeria. There is a need to discuss true federalism and what each region wants to contribute or take away from the national treasury.

The present structure is suicidal. There is a serious need to discuss wealth creation and distribution. With the threats of secession, growing terrorism, civil unrest and religious intolerance there has never been greater need than now to discuss about the entity called Nigeria.

Delay is dangerous!

Come Let’s Celebrate! It’s 50 Years of Hopelessness!

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By Adeola Aderounmu

I continue to marvel.

They are either aliens or extremely special breeds of wicked souls taking revenge for things that I cannot explain.

I will probably continue to write about this particular issue until October 1st and afterwards.

We have complained that it is morally wrong for Nigeria to celebrate the 50th year anniversary in an ostentatious manner because of the resounding failure of the various governments since 1960.

Our pleas and appeals have fell on deaf ears.

Goodluck Jonathan planned to celebrate with 10b Naira. We complained. We suggested that the money should be used to procure cancer testing machines for our dilapidated hospitals.

Yar Adua died of kidney and heart problems. The government of Nigeria should consider millions of Nigeria suffering/dying daily for the same/ similar reasons and procure kidney dialysis machine and other instruments relevant to the testing and treatment of kidney and heart problems.

These idiots in government don’t see the need to divert money into the health institutions so that we can increase the life expectancy of Nigerians with figures less than 50 years.

One man told me that if Goodluck does not do the party that some other persons will embezzle the money. This is the level to which the Nigerian mentality has descended. We talk like mad people.

Alas! The men in the Nigerian senate/ house of assembly confirmed the stupidity in the Nigerian political space by reviewing upward the money for the party. I think it is now around 16-17 billion naira!

So ladies and gentlemen of the sane world, we will soon be treated to a worldwide party that will cost 17 billion naira or more.

And we also live in a country where scavengers make less than 200 naira a day and they have families to feed.

Our politicians in Nigeria are special.

Sometimes I think their senses are under their feet, smashed.

We are complaining that we should have a low key celebration and use this time of our 50th anniversary to map out strategies that will make us emerge a developed country in our second jubilee and all we can get for the calamities in Nigeria is a party worth 17 billion naira or more.

No greater madness!

The money is not a big deal to those who approved it because they can steal, loot and cart away millions through exaggerated salaries and bonuses while the rest of us can go to hell.

These people who think and act foolishly owe us no apology, no probity and no accountability because we didn’t vote for them.

Our politics is jungle politics where the fittest survive and win everything. The weak and losers lick their wound and beg for favours.

We are in trouble and constant dilemma.

It is hard to believe how we reason and how corruption had destroyed the essence of our lives.

Today I dedicated my twitter and facebook statuses to the African children whose future had been stolen even before they were born.

Has anyone thought of a 17billion naira education endowment fund, how much it will avail if it is not looted?

Curse apart, suffering will persist on the African continent until true freedom is fought for.

Freedom after all is not free.

A Niger Deltan President?

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Adeola Aderounmu

By stroke of fate Mr. Goodluck Jonathan became the (ruler) of Nigeria.

We must not forget that this man was handpicked by Obasanjo to become the Vice President in 2007. Obasanjo it was who also handpicked the late Umaru Yar Adua.

History has recorded the observations that some of us made on the useless election of 2007. We say Never Again to such shame and stupidity of the highest order.

We now look forward to the future. We are keen to see if we have learnt our lessons and if we can actually sit down, think, plan and conduct credible elections. The 2011 elections are just around the corner. It won’t be long.

If Mr. Jonathan succeeds he will become the first president of Nigeria from a minority group. History will be made. It’s not a pain to wait for 2011.

Before then however history is already recording the deeds of Mr. Jonathan. In fact history has his records already since he became a prominent Bayelsa State politician. Unfortunately the stories are bad especially regarding his wife. The EFCC under Ribadu probably has an unfinished task.

There are many tasks that Mr. RIBADU left undone. The Andy Uba dollars-in-presidential-jet saga will be a life time stigma. It is indelible. Conscience-the open wound that truth only can heal-is my best word on such matters. The rest is common sense.

But one manipulative advantage you get when you are protected by impunity and reach a position of authority is to destroy files or influence cases to your benefits. Mr. Jonathan has done well so far. Kudos!

The more pressing issue however is that for over 50 years the people of the Niger Delta have suffered. Nigeria’s oil is from the Niger Delta. 150m people depend on this oil since 85% of our national income is derived from the sale of crude oil. Who knows where the other 15% comes from?

Some of the poorest people in the world live in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria. They have no access to basic infrastructure. Their environment has been destroyed and polluted by international oil companies. In the Niger Delta foreign nationals live like kings and queens while the indigenes are suffering.

Indeed there have been a lot of politics destroying the development agenda. State governors from the Niger Delta area must also be held accountable for many of the vices in the Niger Delta. They played politics while the ordinary people suffer.

Without delving into the history of the violence and the poverty, we must now focus our minds on Mr. Jonathan. He is from the Niger Delta. As the ruler of Nigeria, what will he do to bring social justice and freedom to his people?

When the northerners were in charge we blame them for negligence and tribalism. We accuse them of stealing and looting. How will Mr. Jonathan correct some of the anomalies of the previous governments?

How will he ensure that oil spillage ceases and that the oil cabal is checked so that progress and development can take place in his home region? What measures will Mr. Jonathan take to ensure that the Niger Delta becomes more beautiful that the administrative Abuja?

Abuja was built with oil money. How does Mr. Jonathan want to ensure that oil money is used to build the villages, cities and towns where the oil is extracted?

He might say he want to win in 2011 first before he starts to act. It might be too late. You can never be sure of tomorrow. You must seize the day-today. You must start that process of amendment now, not tomorrow, not 2011.

This opportunity to build the Niger Delta and the rest of Nigeria of course is a rare one considering the history of Nigeria dominated by hegemony.

If Jonathan fails to deliver to his people now, the chance may slip by. Nothing is guaranteed in Nigeria. Nothing is sure in this life, only death.

He might say we didn’t elect him. That is right. I have no real or legitimate president all my life and I’m almost 40.

Shagari was rigged in 79 and 83. Obasanjo was rigged in 99 and 03. Umaru was packaged in 2007 and Jonathan inherited Umaru’s burden. At other times I was ruled by maniacs, dictators and tyrants. I have endured!

This is why so much is at stake now and in 2011. I’m longing for a leader that I can call a president. Someone I can be proud of.

There is so much expectation, not the first time though, and the anticipations are huge as well.

People are longing for a change. A change they can believe in.

Unless a purposeful leader emerges the change will not come.

A purposeful leader and his household will, show good examples, be prudent, be selfless, corrupt-free and above all lead with a sense of purpose and vision.

Wasting billions of naira on a useless celebration or party while we wallow in permanent darkness due to lack of electricity is not a good sign.

My Random Reflections @ 38

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Adeola Aderounmu

Time waits for no man. This is the third in the series of my random reflections about Nigeria written on my birthday.

I must confess it was really hard to find things to discuss about.

Exactly 3 years ago I argued that there is almost nothing new to write about in Nigeria.

Many of the things we complained about 30 years ago are still unresolved. Nigeria’s problems must be one of mankind’s greatest puzzles.

I refuse to overflog the issues.

However it is just necessary that we continue to remind ourselves of our potentials and our collective failures.

Nigeria remains a potentially great nation with very bad rulers. We are missing true leaders.

This country has been captured and recaptured by people who imposed themselves on us by force. Truth does not expire and time does not transform illegality into legality. The misapplication of the law can conveniently do the latter.

Evidently the rulers of Nigeria never learn from history and in the arrogance of their minds and their avoidable misconceptions about power they continue to repeat the same old and silly mistakes. Together we remain in doldrums.

The one who rules Nigeria today by inheriting the remnants of the 2007 charade will now spend billions of naira celebrating failures. Meanwhile pensioners are dying on the verification exercise queues. Some schools remain closed while our children roam the streets missing lessons and examinations.

I promised not to overflog the issues.

But one should never look beyond Nigeria’s political arena for the definition of insanity.

Nigeria is taking a turn for the worse with each passing year because as a nation of over 140m people, we lack a good leader. We are missing true leaders. Blood suckers-those who attempt and succeed in taking as much from us as possible-continue to reign in Nigeria.

We need a change that can work for Nigeria.

Maybe in 2011, 51 years after independence we will finally be able to count our votes. We’ll see where the electoral reforms take us and if we can finally have genuine democracy and legitimate government in Nigeria.
With the different views we have on election and election matters in Nigeria and considering our volatile tribal inclinations it will take a great deal of education and public enlightenment to have a successful election in 2011.

To be honest 2011 is not the magic year. A lot of water has passed under River Niger since June 12 ‘93. I don’t know the probability of getting to that threshold level.

But our best shots, we must give!

I’m still working hard on the goals and plans that I made @ 37

I’m afraid of time. I may never be able to do all I wanted to do, for myself, for humanity. I may never be able to write all the books that I had in mind.

I have plans but the family remain a fundamental time-taker. Daily work is essential too.

I must continue to look for the right people and the right moments. A number of thing will surely fall in their rightful places in due times. I’ve got to keep on moving, keep all dreams alive.

Well it’s my birthday and as a tradition I have never failed to celebrate for the past 15 years. I’ve learnt to count my days and apply my heart to wisdom.

The celebration this year has been two-folds. The first was with my family on Saturday at the countryside and the second with my friends on Sunday at our home. But my birthday is July 12th so the celebration can continue because I’m usually on hols this time of the year since 2002.

I have challenges but there are reasons for me to celebrate and share with others. Not least was an additional professional academic degree last spring.

Greater challenges lie ahead. Not least the task of building Nigeria. Nigeria is sinking because of Nigerian-made factors that suit a few and enslave the rest.

I still believe in Nigeria as a workable project if we can break that cult-like rulership and enthrone the true pillars of democracy.

2011 will provide a testing ground for our institutions. We’ll see if we manage to build them on principles or if we still left them aimlessly on selfish people.

The modes and outcomes of the 2011 elections will provide a quick insight into what lies ahead in the new jubilee.

The outgoing one (1960-2010) is a complete disaster and any form of extraordinary celebration (or looting mechanism) attached should be considered as a crime against ordinary Nigerians.

History will not be kind to the protagonists of such wastage in the land of the resilient.

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