By Melody Nduka Nwosu
Whenever the topic of a better Nigeria is brought up, there are various reactions that follow. People tend to blame the leaders for the misfortunes of the country, or they just do not care. They argue that the buck lies with the ‘Ogas at the Top’. However on this topic, I beg to differ.
This is the year 2014, exactly 100 years since the Northern and Southern Protectorate were amalgamated to form the Nigeria we know today. Even so, it is profoundly stupefying how little Nigeria has developed politically, economically and socially; this is not to say that Nigeria has not been developed in anyway but that the rate at which we are developing now is not as fast as the rate at which we were developing in the early years after the British left Nigeria.
The Nigeria of my dream is a really wonderful Nigeria; too wonderful to the point of unrealism. I cannot expressly blame our leaders for ALL the troubles in this nation because we the citizens have several faults in the matter at hand. The citizens in my dream Nigeria are patriotic. They are willing to stay back for their tertiary education instead of rushing ‘abroad’ to escape the ‘razzness’ of Nigeria.
In my dream Nigeria, people are hard working and follow due process and rules. In Nigeria today full- fledged human beings with great thinking faculties would see a sign that reads, ‘Do not litter’ or ‘Do not urinate’ and would do the exact opposite like a switch has been turned on to do the reverse. In my dream Nigeria, the above will not be the case as citizens adhere to rules not because they are commands or because they are lawful but because they are the right things to do for everyone and are ethical. The average Nigerian in my dream Nigeria is a leader in his or her own right, is helpful and not selfish.
Moving on to matters of health and education; the Nigeria of my dream would not been found wanting in any area of these sectors as lots of time, funds and effort would be put into these sectors. According to the UN’s Global Competitive Index of 2014, Nigeria ranked 129th in institutions, 135th in infrastructure, 146th in health and primary education and 127th in the overall rankings of the index. Just imagine that. Most children are on the streets hawking goods and many pregnant women cannot have good medical attention because of the state of the health sector in Nigeria. Children ought to have good primary, secondary and tertiary education and there ought to be free medical treatment for people of a certain income, pregnant women, the elderly, infants and children if not in private hospitals then in public hospitals. Education in primary and secondary schools should be free and there ought to be financial aid options for people who may not find it easy to attend the public universities. Youths would be eager to attend public Nigerian universities if they are sure of employment opportunities when they finish school and if the institutions are still as prestigious as they were in the past. In order for all these to be achieved, the schools and hospitals ought to be in the best shape possible for people to even want to patronize them. All these services would make it evident to the Nigerian public and the world that taxpayers’ money is doing what it ought to do.
In the Nigeria of my dream, the citizens would be content with the supply of social amenities like power, water, good roads, stadiums and gyms for sports. It is so sad that lots of Nigerian talents are lost because they are not groomed especially in the area of sports and the creative arts. Despite the fact that we are rapidly improving in our entertainment and sporting industries, there is still a lot of work to be done. Not every child can be a lawyer or an investment banker so schools, organizations and funds need to be put in place in order for these talents to be honed as we can’t do without them. The 2012 Olympics, most especially Nigeria’s basketball match with the USA is still vivid in my memory; I cannot forget how the American team flogged the Nigerian team and used our team to break Olympic records or how the Nigerian team was filled up with ‘Nigerians’ who played professionally for American basketball teams, had not even been to Nigeria or knew anything about the country for that matter. There was even a Nigerian citizen in Team USA. If more than a truck-load of the talents of our Nigerian youths are groomed and developed, Nigeria would be able to raise her head in worldwide events like the Olympics, World Cup and even music and movie award shows like the Grammy’s and the Oscars. All these would allow Nigeria to be taken more seriously and for the citizens to be more patriotic and have more faith in the country.
The security of Nigeria today is very questionable. With Boko Haram, kidnappers, armed robbers, street thugs, ritual killers not to talk of ethnic rivalries which could lead to violence, there is much work to be done in terms of the matter of internal security. In the Nigeria of my dream, people ought not to be afraid of staying out after 7pm or should not be scared of travelling at night but unfortunately that’s not the case in the Nigeria of today. Girls are getting raped, people are getting killed for money by their fellow men and people are scared of travelling to some particular states because of fear of death. I personally do not want to travel to Abuja or any other northern state because of the fear of getting bombed to death by Boko Haram and their other terrorist friends; no offense to the people who live there but that is the way many other Nigerians feel. This should not be the case, people ought to feel safe wherever they go especially in their country. That’s how it should be.
Also, Nigeria’s economy is not flourishing the way it used to in the 70s and 80s and that is not progressive enough as e are meant to be moving forward instead of backward. In the Nigeria of my dream, the economy would be restored to its former glory; the days when the naira and kobo had as much value as the American dollar. This is not impossible to achieve if e stop specializing on only the Petroleum Sector but on other sectors most especially the Agricultural Sector. What helped Nigeria then was the fact that we grew our on food and exported to other countries without importing much. Also, refineries were functioning unlike today were we would export oil to other countries and then import it back when it is refined. Honestly it does not make sense, but that can be changed if the leaders start using our tax and public funds for what they are meant for instead of stuffing them into their pockets and foreign bank accounts. The corruption in the country at the moment is terrible beyond words or description. How a governor would go into office for four years and have nothing to show for his time in office is mind-boggling. The excesses of Nigerian leaders should be curbed and this is where the Legislature and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission comes into play. They ought to pay close attention to how our country’s funds are being spent in order for Nigeria to develop properly.
All I have mentioned above may sound unrealistic but that does not mean they cannot be achieved, even if 100 percent is not achieved at least 80 percent can be achieved. James Allen said and I quote, ‘Dream lofty dreams and as you dream so shall you become’, but dreaming without action is useless. In all we do, as Nigerians we should strive to be patriotic. We should reach that stage hereby we would have faith in our country even in matters like the Super Eagles winning the world Cup someday. It may sound impossible but as Rob Bell said and I quote, ‘what we do comes out of who we believe we are, therefore we should believe in ourselves because what we do matters even if it’s just simply throwing trash in the waste bin, sweeping the street or writing on a better Nigeria, we can influence a lot of people to do good. Rome was not built in a day and that is what gives me hope on a better Nigeria. This is what gives me confidence to end with this quote by William Jones, ‘Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does’. Peace.