By Zik Gbemre

To put the subject matter more bluntly, we, as Nigerians, are the worst enemies of ourselves as progress as a people. When I say “we”, I am referring to both (past and present) public/political leaders at the helm of affairs in Federal and State levels, and of course the entire Nigerian masses. In other words, whatever we see wrong today in Nigeria was created, and is still being created by Nigerians. We are, and have been our own undoing. Though, majority of the blame goes to those set of Nigerians that have been privileged and opportuned to be in one political position or the other as custodians/deciders of our collective wealth, but they are still part and parcel of that flock called Nigerians. So, our problem is not foreigners or externally oriented – that part is obviously allowed by ‘us’. Hence, our problem in this country is us – that psychic construct that makes us Nigerian.

I was recently reminded of this undeniable fact about the situation of Nigeria and what has brought us to where we are as a nation, when I read a statement, more like a testimony of corruption, credited to one Engr. John Zibiri, who apparently was said to have taken his family and “fled” to Australia out of frustration over the terrible state of corruption in Nigeria. First published online in 2017, and has been reechoed ever since and more recently; the said statement by Zibiri, amounts to a testimony of how corruption has eaten into every nook and cranny of the Nigerian culture.

This is Zibiri’s statement: “I worked and lived in Abuja for 18 years. I ran my own private company from 2001 until 2014. Everything is wrong with Nigeria. The Director won’t give you Contract except you pay up front. The banks won’t give you loan except you concede a certain percentage. The man supervising the contract won’t pass the job except you play ball. The clerk won’t pass your file for payment except you rob his palm. The account department won’t raise your payment voucher or cheque unless you see them. I can go on and on. The worst thing is that it has become a norm that nobody sees anything wrong with it. If you think otherwise, they begin to think you are sick and not normal. If you try to stand in their way, you put your life at risk. If you get killed there is no justice system in place to seek redress and bring the perpetrators to book. The police are corrupt, the Judges are same. Nobody cares about anybody. No law and order. I looked from my left to right, everybody is only desperate about one thing; money”.

“They will kill anybody and anything that stand between them and money. I am an Electrical Engineer with MNSE and COREN. The system does not care about my qualifications. Distribution and transmission jobs are given to Alhajis, Chiefs, Traditional rulers, friends and relatives without any basic skills. I started asking myself, how do I convince my kids that education and hard work is rewarding? When fools, agberos and touts are running the country, from National Assembly to Presidency? Is this what my four sons will also go through? In 2014 I decided I have had enough. I decided I was leaving. I immigrated to Australia with my family. Do not put yourself in harm’s way for any reason. the problem of Nigeria is in the hands of Nigerians living in Nigeria”.

“Try starting a gate house in your village, everybody wants to profiteer from it. The bricklayer, the carpenter, the mason and even your brother who claim to be supervising on your behalf. They are corrupt, morally bankrupt and selfish. Everybody there thinks about himself and nobody is thinking about Nigeria. I do not have to be the one to go there to change anything. Let those under the hammer start to ask questions”.

Strong words but yet very true, about the pathetic state of Nigeria and its people. As sad as this may sound, the truth is, the Nigerian political leaders and followers are not yet ready for development. Those at the top who are benefitting from the “Status quo” want the situation to remain as it is, while the rest populace have become “comfortable/indifferent/content” with the way things are, hence they are not ready to make the needed sacrifice and changes to change the narrative. They only complain when it affects their brothers, sisters, friends, fronts, kinsmen, church members, political parties, tribesmen, religion, etc. But they are happy and comfortable with the situation if it is the other way around. The few persons that want to stand out, castigate, speak against and expose these anomalies, are usually seen as the trouble-makers, the odd ones, and are given bad names or even ostracized.

I once asked the question? Who seats behind those desks in different Government institutions giving permits, licenses, passports, etc., and collecting bribes? Who influences and inflate contracts meant to develop and provide basic infrastructural needs across the country? Who does not deliver on the jobs at the end of the day? Who collects stolen money in the name of tithes and offerings? Who gives titles to evidently corrupt thieves in and outside government? They are all Nigerians, not foreigners. But Nigerians! Pastor, Sam Adeyemi, noted that, every time he thinks about the issues in Nigeria, he could not help but ask “why are we being so hypocritical? Whatever that is wrong with our country, is wrong with almost every citizen. The person that insists on taking bribe from you before you get the document you are supposed to get from a Government office, is that the President? No, it is the average Nigerian like you and me. The person that breaks the traffic rule on the road, it is not the President. So, it is that average Nigerian, that Construct of the average Nigerian, that is the person that is in politics. That is the person in the Judiciary, that is the person in the Legislature, that is the person in Government Offices, that is the person at the top, and that is the person at the bottom, that is the person that is stealing as a staff of a Bank. It is the construction of that person that we need to look at. The Institutions that are supposed to help build the person’s mental construct from childhood – block by block. If you have any country where people are behaving right, it started from day one – from their childhood. It starts from the family. It is in the curriculum of the schools…”

Another commentator while describing the Nigerian situation, used an analogy of OPPRESSORS AND FOOLISH CITIZENS, describing the Nigeria citizens and their elected oppressors: “During the Soviet dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, he was a brutal dictator with a mind of his own. On one fateful day, Stalin came to Politburo meeting with a live chicken. Standing in front of audience, He started to pluck the feathers of the live chicken off one by one. The chicken trembled in pain, blood tricking out of its pores. It gave out grievous cries, but Stalin being a cruel dictator continued without remorse plucking the feathers out until the chicken was completely naked. After which, he threw the chicken on the ground. The naked chicken was staggering in pain. Stalin goes into his pocket and from his pockets, he took out some chicken food and started to throw it at the poor & hapless creature”.

The poor chicken in pain started eating and Stalin started walking towards his seat. As he walked away, he kept dropping some feeds on the floor & the chicken followed him and sat feeding from his feet. Joseph Stalin then turned to members of his political party leadership. He said, “This chicken represents the people”. You must disempower them, brutalize them, beat them up, starve them and then leave them. If you do this, go into your pocket & give them peanuts when they are in that helpless and desperate situation, they will blindly follow you for the rest of their life, worshiping you. They will think you are a hero forever. They will forget that, you’re responsible for their sorrowful situation in the first place. Breath taking, isn’t it?

“Now! Take a look at all the people some Nigerians are busy defending on social media. Take a look at those they call their heroes.  They are the same people who plunged Nigeria into the situation they are in. They are the same people who are responsible for their predicaments. Did you see the numbers of people that throng to Bukola Saraki’s house during the last Christmas period to go and collect peanuts?  Did you see the crowd that welcomed James Ibori who was jailed in UK for stealing his State’s public funds?  Your guess is as good as mine. And the likes of many others, we all know about. Nigerians kill those they should defend and defend those they should kill!”

Like most black countries in Africa, Nigeria is a nation where its people who find or force themselves in/into Government, see it as a “business opportunity” or “a farm yard”, to make money that would transform their generations yet unborn. Government is never seen as a place of service to the people. Take for instance the recent drama in the polity, where the Nigerian Government, rather than make the needed sacrifice on their part as leaders, to address the minimum wage issue, they are planning instead to increase VAT (Value Added Tax). In this regard, it was reported that The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Nigerian lawmakers to reduce their obviously enormous salaries by fifty percent (50%) so as to enable them pay workers the new minimum wage of N30,000. This came in reaction to the Federal Government’s plan to increase the VAT as a means to generate revenue for the payment of minimum wage. The Emir said increasing the VAT would be tantamount to giving someone something with the left hand and still take it back using the right hand. The Emir of Kano pointed out that increasing VAT by 50% will further impoverishing the poor masses; hence making the increase in minimum wage of no effects.

It was noted that the President Buhari’s total emoluments stand at ₦14M, Vice President Osinbajo’s total emoluments stand at ₦12M, Senators in Nigeria earn ₦36M, House of Representative Members earn ₦25M each. It is only in Nigeria that Senators would earn higher than the President. To which Sanusi was said to have noted that the organogram should be reversed and the President should earn higher than the lawmakers. With the above suggestion, President Buhari should slash his salary by 50% making it ₦7M and his VP becomes ₦6M. Senators should earn ₦5M monthly while House of Reps should earn ₦4M monthly instead of increasing VAT by 50%. My take, the ₦5M being proposed for the Senators is even far too high, I suggest that they should be put on “Seating Allowance”, the day you do not seat, no kobo for you, this nonsense has gone on for far too long. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Until Nigerians in and outside Government change their orientation, and until they start taking Government as a place for serving the public and not a business enterprises or factory, Nigeria will continue to move two steps backward and one step forward in its developmental strides. And until the general masses start condemning these people for who they are, and start making their own individual adjustments as Nigerians, we will remain an undeveloped nation that is heading to become a failed nation.

Zik Gbemre,

September 18, 2019.

We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes as if Those Were Our Causes