“So in the Libyan fable it is told That once an eagle,
stricken with a dart, Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft,
With our own feathers, not by others’ hands. Are we now smitten.
-Aeschylus
Fellow Nigerians, I’ve been on tour of Africa, as I mentioned
recently on this page, and I’ve covered parts of East and West
Africa in the past two weeks. My conclusion and verdict is that
things are happening out there while we are free to delude
ourselves that we are the giant of Africa. The things that make us
the giant, exceptionally brilliant citizens, humongous population,
energetic manpower, fertile land, beautiful weather, we’ve refused
to turn into useful assets but rather into liabilities. I won’t
bore you with too much details of the countries visited but will
summarise the things we lack and why we are lagging behind and what
we need to do speedily to catch up and ultimately overtake the
comity of other nations in their march towards genuine progress,
development and advancement.
Nigeria parades some of the worst airports in Africa today. Let
no one preach to me that it is because the PDP government stole the
money meant for the airports. As a matter of fact the Goodluck
Jonathan administration made some remarkable effort compared to our
own government of change which in nearly three years has revamped
only the runway in Abuja. The most disgraceful airport for a seat
of government is the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. I plead
with President Muhammadu Buhari or Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to
pay unscheduled visits to that disgraceful airport, I’m sure they
will shed tears. Next they should please come to Lagos and ignore
the Presidential wing and head to the odoriferous sections ordinary
mortals like us use regularly and I’m certain they would be warmly
received by some putrid spirits.
It is unexplainable how we can continue to disgrace our dear
beloved country without a care in the world. There is no other
country you have to give your passport first to secret service
agents before you queue up again in front of Immigration officials.
There is no airport you get accosted by countless uniformed
officers at the entrance of departure and at the exit of arrival.
There is no airport where on arrival, all passengers must exit the
airport in one direction only and no taxis within range. This is
the situation in Lagos. Let me not talk about the rickety elevators
and escalators. We are indeed a most difficult race. The only
reasonable and professional airport is the MM2 in Lagos which is
privately owned.
I saw better airports in much smaller country. By the time Ghana
opens its Terminal 3 very soon to the public, it would be about the
best in West Africa. This was a project that was substantially
worked on under the Government of President John Dramani Mahama.
The cargo section which is already in operation is wearing the
powerful signature of Swissport as its operators. The Immigration
section at the Kotoka International Airport is one of the most
advanced in Africa complete with cameras for iris and
fingerprinting machines for data capturing. We have neither despite
our being prone to terrorism. I could not believe my eyes when I
landed in Dakar, Senegal, last week at its brand new airport opened
by the obviously visionary President Macky Sall, only last
December. It is such a beauty to behold. Even the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, which was destroyed by a
towering inferno years back, has since been restored to its old
glory and expanded to cater for millions of passengers. The
international Airport in Kigali is very small but running
efficiently. My favourite part is the Immigration area where you
pay $30 for visa on arrival without stress and thereafter pass your
bags through x-ray machines instead of a multitude of officers
rummaging through your luggage. I hope Rwanda would drastically
reduce the time passengers have to spend clearing security on
departure and also improve on the quality of food and services in
the Business Class lounge. Rwanda has become a country of choice
for me as an example of a serious country that wants to engage the
world in serious business.
No nation can be considered civilised without putting certain
things in place. One of such is infrastructure. Electricity is on
top of the priority. Many African countries have improved their
power generation, transmission and distribution processes. Too much
politicisation and bureaucracy has turned Nigeria into a jinxed
nation despite the billions of dollars spent and obviously wasted
by successive governments. As a matter of fact, one of the most
ambitious power projects in our country has already gone to
international arbitration because of the excessive power show in
Abuja. Every effort to upgrade our power sector has met with
foolish resistance. Whereas, Ghana again, under the former
President John Dramani Mahama, was able to fix the erratic power
outages, nicknamed Dumso Dumso, within two years. And the Ghana
Electricity Company was very creative by rationing and rotating
power supplies to different zones interchangeably.
I can list a myriad of problems facing us but the biggest is the
failure of leadership. Our leaders have blatantly refused to do the
needful. The biggest of all the afflictions is ethnicity which
turns otherwise intelligent human beings into morons. Most of our
problems would evaporate and disappear the day we are ready to
exorcise the demon of ethnicity. I saw the evidence of this thesis
in Rwanda where everyone must regard each other as Rwandese rather
as Tutsis or Hutus. It has become a crime to so describe any
citizen of Rwanda.
On the contrary, Nigerian leaders prefer to be identified as
local champions instead of being global personalities. Our
clannishness has stultified us beyond reason. I used to be an
incurable optimist but recent events have turned me into a paranoid
pessimist and unless we urgently rescue our country back from those
who are too short-sighted to see the power and strength in the
indivisibility of Nigeria, this union may collapse like a pack of
cards. No Nigerian should be treated like a second class citizen in
his own country. No ethnic group should feel superior to another.
Every Nigerian should treat the other as equal partners. The next
set of Nigerian leaders must be scrutinised and confirmed to be
those who are detribalised and religious-tolerant. Nigeria has
suffered too much as a result of unbridled parochialism.
As we approach our next general elections, we must prepare to
find, select and elect leaders who would detach us from the
superstitions that have held us down for far too long than normal
at this time and age. We must seek leaders with an acceptable
modicum of education. This is not an attempt to deride those who
have no formal education. My mum who brought me up had none but she
knew the value of education and invested her modest resources in
us. Nigeria is too blessed with geniuses to keep settling for
leaders without substantial education. Education and exposure to
modernity should help reduce our proclivity for backward
behaviours.
We must make up our minds about what we want as a people. Do we
want to remain forever backward in the name of ethnicity, religion
and incredible propensity for material acquisition? Everyone in the
world is trying to break free from a useless past, why can’t we
emulate them? Our universe today is knowledge driven, why do we
continue to wallow in ignorance? Until we fix our education which
has collapsed, almost irreparably, our country is doomed. I was
regaled with stories of how the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame,
is turning his country into a technology hub in Africa.
I have no doubt that even our ruling government in Nigeria has
some of the brightest guys who would readily match their
counterparts anywhere in the world, but we won’t give them the
chance to function optimally. We all remember how Professor Yemi
Osinbajo was able to unite Nigerians last year in the middle of the
threat of secession from Nnamdi Kanu and his Biafran agitators. If
APC had continued along the new path created by the Vice President,
things would have been much better for the government and our
country by now. We saw an Acting President who was visiting
everywhere and interacting with politicians across divides without
discriminating against anyone. The erudite scholar gave us all a
sense of pride and place. But soon after the President returned
from his medical sojourn in the United Kingdom, things fell apart.
We returned conveniently to our perfidious ways. Some people even
accused the Vice President of working to outshine his boss despite
is avowed loyalty to his principal. Why would anyone change a
winning strategy that everyone was already applauding? If the
President had maintained that tempo and pace of activities, perhaps
the APC would have saved itself from the present calamity. If the
APC fails in next year’s general election, it would only have been
a severe punishment for its recalcitrance and myopic nature. Things
should always be done according to merits.
The youths who wish to take over power from the elders should
also be fully prepared to work very hard and not sit down, arms
akimbo, expecting a miracle from heaven. Their only qualification
should never be that they are young and youthful. They must be
accomplished in their own rights and market their credentials
energetically. There is no point taking over power only to continue
the monumental mess of the past.
Is shall be well with Nigeria…
“So in the Libyan fable it is told That once an eagle,
stricken with a dart, Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft,
With our own feathers, not by others’ hands. Are we now smitten.
-Aeschylus
Fellow Nigerians, I’ve been on tour of Africa, as I mentioned
recently on this page, and I’ve covered parts of East and West
Africa in the past two weeks. My conclusion and verdict is that
things are happening out there while we are free to delude
ourselves that we are the giant of Africa. The things that make us
the giant, exceptionally brilliant citizens, humongous population,
energetic manpower, fertile land, beautiful weather, we’ve refused
to turn into useful assets but rather into liabilities. I won’t
bore you with too much details of the countries visited but will
summarise the things we lack and why we are lagging behind and what
we need to do speedily to catch up and ultimately overtake the
comity of other nations in their march towards genuine progress,
development and advancement.
Nigeria parades some of the worst airports in Africa today. Let
no one preach to me that it is because the PDP government stole the
money meant for the airports. As a matter of fact the Goodluck
Jonathan administration made some remarkable effort compared to our
own government of change which in nearly three years has revamped
only the runway in Abuja. The most disgraceful airport for a seat
of government is the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. I plead
with President Muhammadu Buhari or Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to
pay unscheduled visits to that disgraceful airport, I’m sure they
will shed tears. Next they should please come to Lagos and ignore
the Presidential wing and head to the odoriferous sections ordinary
mortals like us use regularly and I’m certain they would be warmly
received by some putrid spirits.
It is unexplainable how we can continue to disgrace our dear
beloved country without a care in the world. There is no other
country you have to give your passport first to secret service
agents before you queue up again in front of Immigration officials.
There is no airport you get accosted by countless uniformed
officers at the entrance of departure and at the exit of arrival.
There is no airport where on arrival, all passengers must exit the
airport in one direction only and no taxis within range. This is
the situation in Lagos. Let me not talk about the rickety elevators
and escalators. We are indeed a most difficult race. The only
reasonable and professional airport is the MM2 in Lagos which is
privately owned.
I saw better airports in much smaller country. By the time Ghana
opens its Terminal 3 very soon to the public, it would be about the
best in West Africa. This was a project that was substantially
worked on under the Government of President John Dramani Mahama.
The cargo section which is already in operation is wearing the
powerful signature of Swissport as its operators. The Immigration
section at the Kotoka International Airport is one of the most
advanced in Africa complete with cameras for iris and
fingerprinting machines for data capturing. We have neither despite
our being prone to terrorism. I could not believe my eyes when I
landed in Dakar, Senegal, last week at its brand new airport opened
by the obviously visionary President Macky Sall, only last
December. It is such a beauty to behold. Even the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, which was destroyed by a
towering inferno years back, has since been restored to its old
glory and expanded to cater for millions of passengers. The
international Airport in Kigali is very small but running
efficiently. My favourite part is the Immigration area where you
pay $30 for visa on arrival without stress and thereafter pass your
bags through x-ray machines instead of a multitude of officers
rummaging through your luggage. I hope Rwanda would drastically
reduce the time passengers have to spend clearing security on
departure and also improve on the quality of food and services in
the Business Class lounge. Rwanda has become a country of choice
for me as an example of a serious country that wants to engage the
world in serious business.
No nation can be considered civilised without putting certain
things in place. One of such is infrastructure. Electricity is on
top of the priority. Many African countries have improved their
power generation, transmission and distribution processes. Too much
politicisation and bureaucracy has turned Nigeria into a jinxed
nation despite the billions of dollars spent and obviously wasted
by successive governments. As a matter of fact, one of the most
ambitious power projects in our country has already gone to
international arbitration because of the excessive power show in
Abuja. Every effort to upgrade our power sector has met with
foolish resistance. Whereas, Ghana again, under the former
President John Dramani Mahama, was able to fix the erratic power
outages, nicknamed Dumso Dumso, within two years. And the Ghana
Electricity Company was very creative by rationing and rotating
power supplies to different zones interchangeably.
I can list a myriad of problems facing us but the biggest is the
failure of leadership. Our leaders have blatantly refused to do the
needful. The biggest of all the afflictions is ethnicity which
turns otherwise intelligent human beings into morons. Most of our
problems would evaporate and disappear the day we are ready to
exorcise the demon of ethnicity. I saw the evidence of this thesis
in Rwanda where everyone must regard each other as Rwandese rather
as Tutsis or Hutus. It has become a crime to so describe any
citizen of Rwanda.
On the contrary, Nigerian leaders prefer to be identified as
local champions instead of being global personalities. Our
clannishness has stultified us beyond reason. I used to be an
incurable optimist but recent events have turned me into a paranoid
pessimist and unless we urgently rescue our country back from those
who are too short-sighted to see the power and strength in the
indivisibility of Nigeria, this union may collapse like a pack of
cards. No Nigerian should be treated like a second class citizen in
his own country. No ethnic group should feel superior to another.
Every Nigerian should treat the other as equal partners. The next
set of Nigerian leaders must be scrutinised and confirmed to be
those who are detribalised and religious-tolerant. Nigeria has
suffered too much as a result of unbridled parochialism.
As we approach our next general elections, we must prepare to
find, select and elect leaders who would detach us from the
superstitions that have held us down for far too long than normal
at this time and age. We must seek leaders with an acceptable
modicum of education. This is not an attempt to deride those who
have no formal education. My mum who brought me up had none but she
knew the value of education and invested her modest resources in
us. Nigeria is too blessed with geniuses to keep settling for
leaders without substantial education. Education and exposure to
modernity should help reduce our proclivity for backward
behaviours.
We must make up our minds about what we want as a people. Do we
want to remain forever backward in the name of ethnicity, religion
and incredible propensity for material acquisition? Everyone in the
world is trying to break free from a useless past, why can’t we
emulate them? Our universe today is knowledge driven, why do we
continue to wallow in ignorance? Until we fix our education which
has collapsed, almost irreparably, our country is doomed. I was
regaled with stories of how the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame,
is turning his country into a technology hub in Africa.
I have no doubt that even our ruling government in Nigeria has
some of the brightest guys who would readily match their
counterparts anywhere in the world, but we won’t give them the
chance to function optimally. We all remember how Professor Yemi
Osinbajo was able to unite Nigerians last year in the middle of the
threat of secession from Nnamdi Kanu and his Biafran agitators. If
APC had continued along the new path created by the Vice President,
things would have been much better for the government and our
country by now. We saw an Acting President who was visiting
everywhere and interacting with politicians across divides without
discriminating against anyone. The erudite scholar gave us all a
sense of pride and place. But soon after the President returned
from his medical sojourn in the United Kingdom, things fell apart.
We returned conveniently to our perfidious ways. Some people even
accused the Vice President of working to outshine his boss despite
is avowed loyalty to his principal. Why would anyone change a
winning strategy that everyone was already applauding? If the
President had maintained that tempo and pace of activities, perhaps
the APC would have saved itself from the present calamity. If the
APC fails in next year’s general election, it would only have been
a severe punishment for its recalcitrance and myopic nature. Things
should always be done according to merits.
The youths who wish to take over power from the elders should
also be fully prepared to work very hard and not sit down, arms
akimbo, expecting a miracle from heaven. Their only qualification
should never be that they are young and youthful. They must be
accomplished in their own rights and market their credentials
energetically. There is no point taking over power only to continue
the monumental mess of the past.
Is shall be well with Nigeria…
Read more https://nairalaw.com/before-the-rest-of-africa-leaves-us-behind-by-dele-momodu/