NIGERIA @ 66: A Stronger Nation, Battered Citizens

 

 Michael Ufot

It is glorious that at 66, Nigeria still stands as one indivisible, independent nation.

Blessed with unquantified natural and human resources, the country has no reason to be poor. In wealth, in strength, in global relevance, Nigeria has grown in leaps and bounds. We have achieved financial independence to function optimally as a nation.

But what of the people?

On paper, we are a stronger nation. On the streets, we are battered citizens.

All thanks to our heroes past who paid the price to champion independence in 1960. Though some pundits argue that struggle was driven more by personal and regional interests than collective good, today the federation has at least given every region a sense of belonging through federal character.

Sixty-six years after, we must applaud past and present leaders and ordinary Nigerians who have struggled to coexist despite differences in tongue, faith, tribe and political persuasion. We have survived military rulership and transited to democracy , a government many believe should be truly representative.

Yet, election after election, citizens have not expressed satisfaction with the quality of leaders foisted on them by the umpire. Perceived rigging, irregularities and imposition have become the hallmark of our electoral process, where almost every declared winner is detested by the people.

Little wonder a former governor from the South-South could openly endorse a sitting President for a second term on the laughable ground that every other President had two terms of eight years. Not performance, but entitlement.

We are in a country where road contracts are awarded without disclosing contract sums to the public. Where public schools are substandard, general hospitals are not fixed, and medical services are unaffordable for the common man. It is suffocating. It is unbearable.

Leadership decisions are taken solely by incumbents. Preferred candidates are imposed on a gullible public in the name of elections. Indeed, Nigeria still has a long way to go.

Today, transportation costs are biting hard following the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. While the policy has given surplus monies to governors, the masses bear the ripple effects... hunger, inflation, and excruciating hardship.

Who will rescue Nigeria? The question has been asked for decades, with no answer in sight. Campaign promises upon campaign promises have only revealed personal interest over collective good.

As 2027 beckons, those in government are again reaching out to the already battered citizens to blindfold them into voting for their principals. Pitiably, many will collect peanuts and mortgage their future for another eight years.

If there could be a President who would reinstate fuel subsidy to ameliorate the sufferings of the masses and give succour to citizens, there would at least be a sigh of relief.

As Nigeria bounces into an audacious 66 years of independence, it is pertinent for her leaders to realize one truth: There is no strong nation without strong, well-fed citizens.

Michael Ufot is a Journalist based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.