X-raying Nigeria at 59

 “Ultimately, Nigeria must urgently reform, operate true federalism and organise to allow for peaceful resolution or separation. There is nothing sacrosanct about a political contraption, which Nigeria is. The amicable separation and success of the Czech and Slovakia Republics prove this. There is no viable alternative to restructuring and unless we make the right choices, an untidy implosion is neither far-fetched nor too far away. Far from being celebration time, this is a time to act to save the tottering edifice”

– The PUNCH Editorial, October 1, 2019.

Happy 59th Independence anniversary compatriots! Congratulating ourselves is still in order despite our numerous developmental challenges. This is indeed a time for sober reflection, as the President said in his Independence Day speech. Nigeria, truth be told, is a failing country. The country’s leadership has failed the citizens. Grand corruption, poverty, unemployment, insecurity, indiscipline and culture of impunity have been entrenched in the country by its past and present leaders at all levels.

Nigeria of today, unlike in the past, has been privatised. The privatisation being referred to here is not in the sense of what the Bureau of Public Enterprises does under the National Council on Privatisation. It is not about privatising and commercialising State-Owned Enterprises and licensing private interest to be a player in the management of the country’s economy. The privatisation of Nigeria is in the mould of a few individuals in leadership positions acting without norms and values and operating the country as if it is their private estate. They act with impunity. To them, the rule of law is a theoretical textbook expression which should have no bearing on governance.

What has Nigeria got to show for 59 years of independence? Social inequality is on the increase with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Only feeble attempts have been made to lift Nigerians out of poverty. Since 1980 when former President Shehu Shagari declared austerity measures in the country, Nigerians have been trapped in misery and deprivation. Today, the “middle class” of the 1960s to 1990s is gradually thinning out.  Now, we have two extreme social classes – the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.

Nigeria’s education sector is comatose at present. Public schools which house over 80 per cent of pupils and students are in a state of disrepair. Learning in many public schools is now taking place in ramshackle, dilapidated structures. Learning materials are grossly inadequate with teachers and lecturers poorly remunerated and motivated. Perpetual industrial actions have been the order of the day in Nigeria’s education sector. In our tertiary institutions, a cold war exists between the academic and non-academic staff with both of them taking turns to embark on strikes to press home their demand for better working conditions.  While private schools may not be experiencing industrial actions by their staff, however, the mercantilist approach of the private school owners makes patronage of their services unattractive. Despite that, huge foreign exchange is lost to education tourism as Nigerians who could afford it flock to tertiary institutions abroad in pursuit of academic excellence.

At the end, those who spent millions on their education in private schools and those who spend far less in public school graduate into unemployment market where only a few gainful job opportunities exist. The dearth of employment opportunities paved the way for racketeering as the few jobs available go to those who are either well-connected or willing to pay for the available job placements.

Nigeria’s health sector, like education, is another sordid story. Many of our public hospitals are in deplorable conditions. They are poorly equipped and inadequately staffed. The patient to doctor ratio is abysmal. Former president of the Nigerian Medical Association, Prof. Mike Ogirima, in a March 2018 interview said at the moment Nigeria had a ratio of one medical doctor to 6,000 people in a given community. However, the World Health Organisation recommends a ratio of one doctor to 600 people in a community. Fifty nine years after independence, out-of-pocket medicare is the order of the day when in other climes a majority of their citizens are on health insurance. In Nigeria, Universal Health Coverage is still a mirage with many people dying of treatable and preventable diseases such as malaria, cholera, dysentery, cough, pile and meningitis. Thankfully we’ve been certified polio-free after many decades. However, Nigeria’s infant and maternal mortality is still intolerable.

Security-wise, no one will say the country is safer and better secured than it previously was. Before the advent of Boko Haram insurgency in 2009, Nigeria grappled with ethno-religious conflicts, banditry and kidnapping for ransom. Thrown into the mix now are the herders/farmers clashes which have led to thousands of death as well as destruction of farmlands and livestock worth billions of naira.  This has exacerbated the deep-seated animosity between Fulani herders and farmers across the country especially in Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa and Nasarawa states.  The spike in crime and criminality has been traced to the global terrorism prevalence, social injustice, unemployment and poverty.  Several security summits have been held, billions of dollars in extra-budgetary spending have been incurred and additional security personnel have been recruited all with little impact. Unfortunately, while our leaders secure themselves and their households, a majority of Nigerians are at the mercy of criminal elements among us. There is no clearer sign of state capture by criminal gangs than the various amnesty programmes initiated for the Niger Delta militants who carried out economic crimes of pipeline vandalism, oil bunkering and kidnapping for ransom and their counterparts in Katsina and Zamfara states who are into banditry.

The parlous state of infrastructure has continued to slow down Nigeria’s economic growth. The country’s road network is a state of decay. Be they federal, state or local government roads, many of them are ridden with potholes and gullies thereby causing avoidable road accidents and security risks as the bandits take advantage of the bad portions of the roads to carry out armed robbery and kidnapping. Today, many people who fly are doing so not because they have the wherewithal but because of their safety and security. However, it is heartwarming that the Federal Government is fixing the rail infrastructure aimed at affordable mass transit. But work on these rail projects need to be expedited in order to relieve pressure on our roads. Also, the inland waterways as a means of transport have been largely underdeveloped, yet this is needful in order to provide an alternate means of transport to Nigerians.

Electricity provision in the country is still very insignificant. At the best of time, the power generation is still hovering about 7,000 MW. This is grossly inadequate to efficiently run the economy. Epileptic electricity supply has exponentially increased the cost of doing business in Nigeria as most companies have to run their businesses on power generating contraptions of all kinds. This has also substantially led to increased fuel consumption. Ironically, 59 years after independence, the country still exports crude oil only to import refined petroleum products as our four state-owned refineries have gone comatose. Now, Nigeria is stuck with the corruption-laden fuel subsidy regime.

The economy is hemorrhaging and remains fragile.   In the first six months of this year, 22 million barrels of crude oil were stolen from this country with the fear that if not curtailed the figure will double before year end. This was made public during the August 2019 National Economic Council meeting. How could we have an industrial scale pipeline vandalism and oil theft with all the security agencies from Navy to Air Forces, police and the DSS in place if not that they are working in cahoots with these economic saboteurs?

Grand corruption remains a potent threat to Nigeria’s continued existence. While attempts are being made by federal agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal and the police to fight the monster, the perpetrators have been finding creative and ingenious ways to escape punishment. In spite of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, prosecution of corruption cases is still being done at a snail’s pace. Just imagine what the billions of naira being stolen by our political leaders could have done to fix the infrastructural deficit of the country.

Like in medical science, an X-ray helps in diagnoses of ailments. This I have tried to do in this piece. Thankfully, Nigeria’s ailment is not terminal. It is curable. However, are our leaders ready to do the needful by taking the bitter pills of restructuring the country for better governance?