OUR GREED … OUR PAINS (2)

By Rev. Fr. Leonard O. Anetekhai

Happy Independence to my mother Land Nigeria, Happy fifty years of constant struggle, I salute with all honour the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macauley, Obafemi Awolowo, Alvan Ikoku, Tafawa Belewa and numerous others, our dear patriotic leaders, who history will never forget in a hurry. These men had dreams and drive to build up a nation with a vision; they pledged all their support to be faithful, loyal, honest and to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with all their heart.
But today, their dreams have been trivialized by some opportunist and apologetic animals in human skin, who pride themselves as leaders. The enemies we have in this country are the political profiteer, the charlatans, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent of every contract awarded through them. Those who agitate for the creation of states to keep their pocket filled as governors after service as ministers. Some even want the country divided permanently (state of confusion), so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds. For them, it is no longer support to be faithful, loyal, honest and to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with all their heart, but the slogan is to serve Nigeria and Nigerians is not by force, therefore anyone can come into public office and do what he or she likes.
The seed of greed which was planted in the 70s and 80s has today become a tree, with its root spreading fast through the length and breath of our great nation, choking and emasculating everything in its paths. The branches of this tree has found a fertile soil in all corners of the nation and prevented the nation from getting the light of development. It has provided a cover for all evils being perpetrated in the nation, making the country what it is today.
Our situation is more than a nightmare, that certainly will never make a child sleep well, not to consider the troubles his or her parent will experience. For once, our leaders have never considered the plight of her citizen from the money made from the sales of our natural resources since independence. Yes, we hear of excess fund from crude oil been shared among the three tiers of government, but to what extent has this raised the hopes of Nigerians? We are still having a deep romance with poverty in the midst of plenty. Fifty years of independence, the only gain we can count is our GREED to accrue wealth that will not last.
At 50, imagine the state of some of the roads we go through, even the so called federal roads are bad. Roads were meant to be built, contracts awarded, adequate fees paid, and all we get in return are the death traps on Ibadan-Lagos and Akure-Ibadan expressway, the Benin-Lagos road is now a human body-parts market. In some cases whole vehicles are swallowed up by deep gaps in the middle of the road. It pains me most that our leaders travel out and see roads built and maintained in other counties, but will never do the same here in Nigeria, all we see especially on our high ways is SLOW DOWN WORK IN PROGRESS, slowing down and moving forward all you find is a drum of coal with fire wood and stone around, this is done to amend our roads. Yet some Nigerians, not Ghanaians sit in a house they call National Assembly to make laws. Sorry if the name hurts, but it is true to their nature, these opportunists do not care because they now move in their Hummer jeeps and forget that men of valour have fought for the greatness of this nation, which structures they are now dismantling and leading to ruins. O Lord, come to our aid!
At 50 good health is expensive for the common man because all our Teaching Hospitals are mere consulting clinics. And crazy enough, a sick public officer today flies abroad; because he cannot get adequate treatment in the country. Education is a no go area, even our common value of brotherhood once shared, has been bastardized with our greedy attitudes in different shape and sizes. Our society is disjointed and dislocated, electoral process messed up, vibrant and lively youths have been thrown into mental darkness. In all this catalogue of woes, one area stands out - our failure in fixing our educational system.
Greed has so eaten up our system, that fighting corruption is still a dream and within us today, when the ruling class is challenged in any way, they start preaching the rule of law, but, when they are stealing our common wealth, they always fail to remember the rule of law. Though we emphasis the rule of law too well but in practise it does not apply. There is no rule of law in the jungle. In a corrupt society, rule of law becomes a ridicule, rule of law is only for a just society that defends the rights of every body, whether rich or poor, highly or lowly placed, but for a corruption ridden country like Nigeria, it is a mockery. A man steals N5, 000 and will be imprisoned instantly for years, but, a politician steals billions and will never see the prison because his case will be delayed and whenever he goes to court, he behaves like a super star instead of the super criminal he is. Waziri the EFCC boss once said “You see people taken to court and they are smiling and waving as if they are political heroes. Meanwhile they are being arraigned for criminal cases and they are waving like Mandela.” Yes, what do you expect, as the scripture say, foundation once destroyed what can the just do. It is pathetic that our situation is now a case of the fox appointed to guard the hen house. The fox ate the hen, and now the fox is to approve whether or not to investigate in regards to the missing hen.
It is a pity in Nigeria that at every conceivable level of governance, we are confronted with a confounding and ravaging enemy whose name is corruption the end result of our greed. The characters masquerading as our leaders are busy looting the nation through a variety of means and schemes. They are determined to lead us all into the realm of utter ruin and destruction and inflict tears, sweat and blood on the governed. Today, recycling has become part of our new vocabulary in Nigeria where old and discredited politicians with no credit to their names traverse the breath of the land seeking a mandate to redeem themselves.
In Nigeria we still have some of the best people today in the world come rains, come shine. But our national morality and dignity has changed, patriotism has declined with the fast growth of geographical zoning, religious sentiments and ethnicity, dedication to duty and service has gone on sabbatical. The only principle that makes sense is the amount of property we have acquired and the money in our bank account. There is no way to explain what is going on and that is why we must turn to God to get us out of this chaos, but we must address the prolonged inequity in the Niger Delta, restructure the electoral system and deeply entrench the rule of law, so that some measure of predictability in the economic and business arena can be achieved that will energize entrepreneurial and creative instincts of the citizens. Then we shall be happy celebrating more fruitful years as Nigerian.