NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE!

Nigeria is a grand design of God, just like the Garden of Eden, however, years of rape, destruction and devastation from outside and within has turned Gods creation into a shadow of itself, and what I can only compare to a nation worse than Sodom and Gomorrah or even Nineveh as in the old bible history. I begin to wonder, what is really our problem? If we are going to talk of knowledge, we have it in abundance, if you are going to talk about wisdom, we are of no lack also, yet however, we seem to always fall in the same trap time after time. Nigeria has gone through different forms of leadership, from imperialism to colonialism to independent civilanism to military rule and then back to the current dispensation of civilian rule, we have had tribal rulership, dog eat dog politics, power tussles that have sometimes resulted in assassinations, murders, fights and even wars, however, as a country of over a hundred and fifty million people and counting, only an elite few are enjoying the resources and wealth that we have been so blessed with. So I ask, why the slow pace of development? Why are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Why do we still have the attitude of do or die politics? Where is the spirit of service? Where is the spirit of fairplay? Why is it that we have allowed a shadow to stay over us as a people, a black shadow, a shadow that has but only one name CORRUPTION? Everyone has their own definition of corruption, some use the word favour to define it, some use the words, it is a capitalist world to define it, some say, if I dont do it, somebody else will. This virus has eaten deep into the fabric on the Nigerian society and at a point was used to define us as a nation, but we have seen a change in the perception of the world over a few years due to the efforts of lovers of the nation Nigeria, people that have taken pride to stand up and be counted. I know of a few, but I choose not to mention names at this point. As I mentioned earlier, we were viewed as a corrupt nation, the Halliburton scandal goes to show of institutional corruption that has been rooted for over more than a decade, the exorbitant expenses of the National assembly, the drain on the resources of the nation is not sustainable at the rate we are going. With a nation that has so many people and so few systems in place to deal with their needs, it is not surprising why we have lacked the ability to tackle this disease, so I wonder how we can get ourselves out of the pit that we are? I have harboured the belief for a very long time that Nigerians are the smartest people in the world and I still hold that belief. I am sure you agree with me, but dont just agree with me because you are a Nigerian, analyse my statement; apart from the Jews, do you know that wherever a Nigerian builds his tent, he or she prospers and do you know that Nigerians are survivors like the Jews, we are scattered all over the world being successful in all that we lay our

hands to do, so, the Nigerian factor is not a negative factor, it is actually a positive one. However, I go back to the point of corruption in our society, over the last decade we have experienced astronomical cases of mismanagement of funds that have been painted as expenses and contract awards, unnecessary spending on things that have not directly transformed into benefits for the masses, we have governments that have focused on the image of the government and not the image of the common Nigerian citizen, lack of proper transport facilities, lack of proper healthcare, an inefficient security service and an economy that has become consumer led. There have been notable references to corruption on a grand scale in the last two decades, from grand international corporate corruption to internal federal mismanagement. The first I will mention is the case of Corruption by corporate companies such as Julius Berger and also Halliburton, both of which were settled by the companies paying fines to the federal government, the two internal mismanagement items that I will mention that have been highlighted are that of Two of the notable awards of contracts that involved sitting speakers of the federal house of representatives. It was revealed by the press in 2007, that Honourable Dino Melaye was heavily involved in the events that surrounded the incident that involved the then speaker Patricia Etteh; who was found to have broken rules in awarding contracts worth $5-million to renovate two official houses and buy 10 cars, which eventually led to her impeachment. Moving forward to 2010, the same honourable Dino Melaye and a group of Representatives labelling themselves as Progressives were part of the fracas that was witnessed around the world which was a result of the same kind of mismanagement as we saw in 2007, however, instead of the accusations to be dealt with in an intelligent and civilised manner, we witnessed fighting and punching that also involved women. Forget about the fact that men are suppose to show leadership and security to the female sex, however, in the case of the members of the house, their ego got the better of them and they showed to the whole world, Nigerian children alike, that this is the way to make laws in Nigeria. I am sure that someone will say, the same kind of fighting happens in Europe too, such as in the eastern block nations, well, that is true, but with the kind of culture passed down to us by our forefathers, is this what we have allowed western practised politics to turn us into? A nation where no one cares about the other, where we have no respect for decency and morality? I will like to suggest that, if all those that have lost their lives over the last century for Nigeria were to see Nigeria today, I do not think they will be very happy. However, what I will like to point out is the re-occuring factor of Honourable Dino Melaye; it takes great courage to stand up and be counted when you are a little dim light in full darkness, a whistle blower amongst your own family of thieves. The act that led to his clothes being ripped from his body and him being dragged out of the house in shame as him and his remaining progressives were suspended by the house for their so called behaviour was not just an act of courage, but a sense and belief that we can still change Nigeria

into a nation that cares about the other man, a nation that still has morals and can change for the better. So why is it, that Dino Melaye is the one at the centre of uncovering corruption in the house? Some speculate that, it is because he did not get enough of the loot that is being shared, some say he is disgruntled, but I say, or I suggest that the fact that he is standing up and calling attention to some of the mismanagement is what he was voted to the house to do, as a representative of the people he has the obligation to do what he is doing, no matter how low or loud his voice is, he has an obligation to the people that he represents to raise it, For a man to speak out more than once over an issue of mismanagement and institutionalised corruption is an act to be commended and the more that follow in his footsteps the better for the development of the National Assembly and the nation as a whole. There can not be one rule for one speaker and another rule for the other, if there has been mismanagement and abuse of power, questions should be asked and answers should be given and if it is necessary for charges to be brought so should it be, no individual or group of individuals are above the law, whether they are lawmakers or not. If Patricia Etteh was impeached for an act that appears to be similar to what the current speaker is being accused of, it is only reasonable and fair that he faces the same process that the former speaker faced and if found guilty, should face impeachment too, plain and simple. In all that has been said, the key fact is for us to try and eliminate corruption in the whole fabric of our society, not just in the House of Assembly but also in the ministrys, our institutions, our security agencies, we need to eliminate corruption in our everyday lives, we need to live a life that is responsible, accountable and transparent, we need to pay our bills when they are due, we need to pay our taxes, we need to wait in line for our turn, we need to charge a fair price for a commodity, we need to treat every individual with honour and respect, we need to make sure we put in the amount of hours at work that we are suppose to, we need to make a conscious effort to be good people, we can not just call ourselves good people, we have to act the part as well. I agree that we are a great nation, but we also need to prove it. Every Nigerian knows the right thing to do and when we are outside Nigeria, we do the right thing, so let us start doing the right thing at home too. There is nothing stopping us from being the biggest economy in Africa over the next five years because we have the resources, the people, the knowledge, the enterprise and the blessing of God almighty. In conclusion, if we are going to turn our future around we need more than just political reform, we need a mindset renewal, we need to accept that we are all in one way or the other that the fabric of our society promotes corruption and we need to change that. As an individual, you need to make sure you do your best to promote noncorruption, it will initially be hard, but it gets better as time goes by, all the developed nations that we aspire to emulate, had their bad periods as well before they became great. China is a good

example, they have become the producers of the world today, but they were not that forty years ago. That is why I know it can be done in Nigeria. We have the best framework to do it, The Industrialism of the east, the intelligence of the west, the management of the north and not to forget the resources and hospitality of the south, a great recipe for greatness and a great nation. Finally, we need to build organisations that will hold our politicians accountable, organisations within political parties, organisations that give birth to the likes of the so called Progressives organisations that will lobby on behalf of the people and the rights of the people, organisations that will say what is right and what is wrong, organisations with integrity and trustworthiness. These are the institutions and organisations that will build the political landscape of the country and help to eradicate the epidemic of corruption. We need a strong nation and we can only get that if we combat corruption head on.

Peter Gabriel January, 2011.