Nigeria, we hail thee! My country is already on autopilot, heading to an unknown destination in all facets of life, by those mistakenly voted to lead the country out of underdevelopment and hardship. The country has been so unfortunate in leadership. We always deploy energy and huge resources but only to end up voting our undertakers, braggers and kleptomaniacs blessed with itchy fingers to power. We most times trust our leadership into the hands of some of the most wretched on planet earth with poor morals from the ghettos that hurriedly compete for illicit wealth accumulation on accessing power to change class status and to stardom.
We are usually blinded by parochial sentiments to voting the wrong ones into leadership positions which we are continuously paying the price of our ‘foolishness’ and trust today.
A visit to some federal constituencies across the country sends shivers to the marrows as most constituency projects inserted in yearly national budgets are diverted or monetized and those impoverished expected benefitting communities denied the benefit of the projects by their thieving and gluttonous representatives that can best be described as more heartless and deadly than the rampaging bandits and cultists.
In place of the diverted constituency projects and allowances, the peasants are deceived with paltry periodic stipends and crocodile gifts to keep their mouth shut. In some cases, those deprived out of ignorance or sycophancy, even shout praises of their thieving leaders just for providing what rightly belongs to them. The situation calls for revolution to have the best!
Of recent, I astonishingly watched how a serving member of the Federal House of Representatives from Balanga/Billiri federal constituency of Gombe State, Ali JC distributed various items including vehicles to his constituents apart from an accompanying commissioning ceremony of several road projects, he facilitated within the federal constituency within just two years. I kept wondering whether there are two categories of House of Representatives members in Nigeria or the only ones we know. I wonder why other federal constituencies are denied such largesse but instead, left with tears, sorrow and blood and horde of sycophants and praise singers defending poor performance and cases of malfeasance in their underdeveloped areas.
Or, are some of the members the real Rt. Honorable while others are Horrible warming seats with noise making in the same hallow chamber singing the chorus of ‘On Your Mandate We Stand’? I am yet to understand why the difference in the delivery of the dividends of democracy by same elected members! This reminds me of the committed representation of Barr Yakubu Dogara, 2007-2019 (Bogoro, Dass and T/Balewa) federal constituency, Bauchi State, Muhammed Garba Gololo, 2015-2019 from Gamawa federal constituency of Bauchi State, Femi Gbajabiamila, 2003-2023 (Surulere 1) federal constituency, Lagos, Mansir Manusoro (Ganjuwa/Darazo) federal constituency of Bauchi State, and Muktar Aliyu Betara of Borno State (Kwaya-Kusa, Bayo, Shani and Biu) federal constituency. In the senate, I fancy the stewardship of Bashir Mustapha (late), A’isha Dahiru Binani, Jummai Alhassan (late), Sen. Abdul Ahmed Ningi, Rochas Okorocha, Adams Oshimhole, Muhammed Ali Ndume and Danjuma Goje.
As the economy of our country nosedives as a plane that has lost control and about to crash, unprecedented, economic hardship and suffering has befallen our country courtesy of the trumpeted 2015 Change Mantra and 2023 Renewed Hope Agenda. Sadly, at the receiving end of all that happens or does not happen to Nigeria is the average Nigerian.
Life in Nigeria has become about survival of the fittest for the average Nigerian, who has to face the good, the bad and the ugly including challenges from bad governance.
It has become a tough job to be a Nigerian as life in Nigeria is strongly shaped by many challenges including poor representation by the lawmakers at states and national levels, and their well positioned thieving cohorts that shamelessly display ill-gotten wealth during elections and occasions. Most of the wealth displayed by our lawmakers is sourced from dubious means well known even to the dead.
Today, there is an increase in inflation and unemployment. The few vacancies sourced from questionable sources are usually offered to data boys and shameless praise singers. The national currency (Naira) keeps on falling like a weak kneed- aged creature. There is power outage amidst teething expensive fuel. Insecurity has become too rife and harvested on hourly basis. Being a Nigerian has never been harder than it is at the moment under APC’s strategy in governance. Little wonder Nigerians are seeking salvation in other countries.
If anything has changed in Nigeria since 2015 when Muhammadu Buhari became president, with due respect to the person of the President and his party APC, it has been from bad to worse. It has been a change from better life to suffering spree for Nigerians with the exception of the thieves in power and their collaborators in the hard drugs business and money laundering. Nigerians have never had it this bad with the majority going to bed on empty stomach sleeping with two eyes widely opened to the admiration of their tormentors on the corridor of power busy pauperizing the innocent: the security architecture of the country is in sorry state; health sector is in shambles; education is dwindling and the economy is sinking beneath us all.
The standard of living of most Nigerians, continue to drop daily while the cost of living is at an all high. The depreciation in the value of the naira has resulted in an alarming hike in prices of many consumer goods, pushing more people into abject poverty and starvation. As a result, most families can no longer afford a meal a day.
The health care sector is nothing to write home about. The frail health care system makes it difficult for people to receive the required medical care and it is no longer a secret that thieving Nigerian elites prefer travelling abroad for medical tourism rather than fixing the ailing health system.
Accessing government hospitals implies facing long, winding queues and an upfront payment before treatment. Though there are a number of private hospitals with fully equipped facilities, the cost is exorbitant for an average Nigerian that survives on legitimate earning.
Insecurity has peaked at an all time high as activities by money ritualists, cultists, tribal militia groups, insurgents, kidnappers and bandits has made the country unsafe for everyone except sponsors of the crimes. Internet fraudsters, a.k.a Yahoo boys, are on the prowl, with their new trend being money rituals, subtly termed yahoo plus. More so, travelling on Nigerian roads has become a nightmare, as the rate of robbery, kidnapping and ethno-religious killing has geometrically increased. Even boarding government commercial vehicles at their designated terminus is no longer a guarantee of safety, as hypnotism and diversion can take place, leading to sales of human beings or their parts by driver-kidnappers.
The reality of education in Nigeria, too, is less rosy. Due to underfunding and incessant strike actions by pressure groups, the state of many schools and the general quality of education are rather poor.
Sadly the brunt of this falls on the poor whereas the thieving elites and their collaborators send their children overseas to study and fortunately, return as drug addicts, internet fraudsters or extremists, in a bid to make sure they receive quality education rather than address the challenges at home.
Indeed, nothing is permanent in Nigeria, except suffering, economic hardship and a state of hopelessness.
Under Buhari’s watch, Nigeria was subjected to agonizing fuel scarcity, increase in security challenges, frightening food inflation and scarcity, hikes in the price of diesel, the free fall of the naira and power outages, and he was unperturbed. He handed over to a ‘better’ manager in 2023 to complete the race and bury Nigerians alive.
Funny enough, amidst these economic challenges, Buhari had the guts to advise Nigerians to venture into agriculture and to leverage the opportunity that it offers in order to find a lasting solution to their economic crisis — an indication that his government lacked better ideas on how to solve the problems brought upon the nation.
And shamelessly, the same APC that came to power through a well coordinated campaign strategy against the then performing PDP, is deep in plans to retain power at the centre beyond 2023.
Are Nigerians the fools we are rated to be by our undertakers or mere stooges for a price? Can we be fooled again to vote cluelessness, ineptitude and marginalization combined at our peril? Are we ready for massive burial from those grave diggers that are busy messing-up our country since 2015? To have a firsthand glance of how poverty has taken its toll on hitherto happy and progressing people, pay a visit to some villages in Benue, Borno, Nasarawa, Kogi, Kaduna, Ondo, Niger, Kebbi, Katsina, Sokoto and Imo States to assess the horrible situation. People share stagnant ponds in competition with animals for drinking water. There is no functional health facility in several villages despite the rating as APC strongholds. In place of functional medical facilities, traditional medicine vendors, juju priests and marabouts attend to willing patients while in few cases, there are refurbished mal-functional ambulances provided to the PHC facilities. Instead of a functional health facility in most of the villages, motorcycles are provided to few political touts to keep them in trade. Instead of standard market stalls in most places to boost economic activities for steady revenue generation, makeshifts are provided.
In most states and federal constituencies controlled by APC, the federal government’s intervention is cornered by selected APC chieftains and their appendages while members of other parties are denied the benefit. Portable water is gold in most federal constituencies as steady development is on hold. The federal constituencies are littered with uncompleted constituency projects suspected to have been paid.
Funny enough, as elections are fast approaching, a brand new trick of roads rehabilitation and construction as well as provision of shallow boreholes have been introduced by the deceivers to deceive the unsuspecting electorates for cheap votes and return to business as usual. A request for the location of past constituency projects in most federal constituencies attract insults and abuses from morally bankrupt children and children from the breadlines on recruitment for dirty jobs including the destruction of their ancestral homes.
When those in opposition throw challenges to the system, attack dogs fed from rotten bones and children from the breadlines from the ghettos bark in defence of their masters while anticipating crumbs in form of federal appointments or token amount for the next meal. The list of absurdities in most federal constituencies across the country is glaring, mind boggling and endless.
No single project worth N250million standing anywhere within most of the entire federal constituencies other than those provided by state governments. The people are dying in droves due to malnutrition, squalor and disease. Poverty has become their bed partner while insecurity is chasing them away from their ancestral abodes.
Yet, the people are told to maintain status quo ante in 2027 for perpetual slavery and other uncertainties. What a wicked world!
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
