Can We Say A ‘Happy New Year’?
Fellow Nigerians, as this turbulent year draws to a close, it is only normal to wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. I understand there are several calendars in the world but the Christian calendar has become the most popular.
The birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, fixed on December 25, has also become the most celebrated globally. The Missionaries must have done a marvellous job of selling the birth, and also the death, of Jesus Christ to a global audience. I doubt if any icon in history enjoys such superlative attention in death.
At midnight tonight, the bell would toll once again to certify the death of a dying year and the many hopes that came and died with it. Not just that, it will signal the birth of a new year and the rebirth of new hopes and aspirations. No matter your belief, you will sleep tonight and wake up to a new life tomorrow as pre-determined by some geniuses many centuries ago. But in reality, nothing will change unless you work for it in earnest. Your home is going to be on the same spot. Your bed will remain in the same position it was before you went to sleep. Your kitchen will remain as full or as empty as you left it. In fact, you are likely to face more challenges in the New Year, especially, if you are a Nigerian.
I’m not cursing you, but it seems your road will be very rough in 2012. The gods of power and politics in Nigeria have already ensured that what you deserve in the New Year is pure and unadulterated hardship. While they will increase the food on their own tables, they have ensured that yours must decrease. You are going to pay more for everything and earn less for your gallant efforts. And even if you make the money, you will no longer have access to it as you want or deserve. A new law by the powers-that-be will ensure that you can no longer enter a bank and withdraw large sums of money. We are entering the era of a cashless society, whatever that means. We are being teleported into an ethereal world of optical illusion, a wonderland where everything would be at the touch of a few buttons, and at the complete mercy of some machines.
Nigeria is going to defy Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion, by making sure that “actions and reactions” would no longer be equal and opposite. Our love and propensity for science and technology must be legendary. That must explain the reason we always put the cart before the horse and do everything in a hurry even when it is obvious we are not ready. Didn’t we waste billions of our badly-needed resources on importing data-capturing gadgets before returning to our pre-historic electoral system only recently? We brought in so many laptops before remembering there was no electricity to power or recharge the batteries, and that the exercise would be conducted under the trees and at a temperature exceeding 40 degrees in some locations. Why do we act before we think?
As for me and my house, we have decided not to mention the most raging topic by name again. The gods have decided you and I must be prepared for hard times in the New Year. Since the gods know what is good for us all, it is foolhardy to continue to argue with our Lords and Saviours. The debate has since been elevated to the level of religion. In Nigeria of today, there can only be one road to heaven. And it is a narrow lane paved with coarse gravels and lined with sharp thorns. But in their view, it is our only expressway to salvation and prosperity. To argue otherwise is to commit heresy. But why not if not?
Whatever has a beginning must have an end. We must all pray to see the end of this incongruous journey. The journey starts when tomorrow arrives. That hour of reckoning seems to have come finally. The whirlwind of terror is here. The time has come to challenge fate and await the results with bated breath. There is nothing you and I can do to stop this march of history. It may be the tonic we need to wake us up from our incredible stupor. Nations that live in better conditions are challenging ancient myths. They are breaking down walls of superstitions and repression. The world is in turmoil while we continue to live in fool’s paradise. This cannot endure for much longer. Our spirits may be broken but not killed. We have blood flowing through our veins. We are covered in flesh like all humans. We must thus share many similarities with other beings.
Our time will come. I think the moment has arrived. Everyone can feel it, even if we tend to pretend that something monumental can ever happen here. The signs of the end times are palpable. It is no longer hidden to the wise. On the last days, strange things would begin to happen, we were told as kids. Strange things are already happening in our land. The locusts have invaded our clime with a ferocity never imagined or contemplated. It is obvious that the symptoms are evil. Brothers are killing brothers. Sisters are devouring sisters. We have become vampires for no clear-cut reasons. Worse-still, no one is able to fathom a credible guess.
It is in this terrible mood that our rulers have decided to introduce more draconian measures. All the pointers are there that our country is broke. That is the only explanation for this desperation. It is apparent and unassailable that our politicians are merely looking for scapegoats and we are their fall-guys who must continue to feed their eternal greed. The whole idea is to collect from those who have little or none and give unto those who have and even have aplenty. They are unwilling to reduce their personal lifestyles as their budget suggests. They will spend more in the New Year on frivolities and jamborees. In their homes, there would be nothing called austerity measures. Such strange words don’t exist in their lexicon. And it is a matter of do as I say and not as I do.
The people I pity are the technocrats. I’m surprised that they can’t see that this road and journey can only lead to perfidy. They are staking their all, their reputation in particular, for the prodigal sons and daughters who have already sold their today and tomorrow to the demons of power and money. How would these otherwise brilliant technocrats be able to justify the atrocious spending spree we are about to witness in the New Year while fellow Nigerians are being asked to tighten their belts?
This is the crux of the matter and my point of departure from those dogs that seem determined to get lost in the wilderness. I will give my recipe for peace and progress but under no illusion that it would be heeded. The various tiers of government in Nigeria must do everything possible to reduce the cost of operating democratic institutions.
This Presidential system has become too costly and unbearable. There is the urgent need to operate as a nation under Emergency conditions. We can no longer afford to practise Capitalism without capital. Our rulers must change their attitude and habits to that of true leaders ready to share the pain and pleasure with fellow Nigerians. The days should be gone when paupers instantly become wealthy on attaining power and office.
The time has come for a drastic reduction in political offices and operatives. Education must enjoy a pride of place while employment generation takes centre stage. The wave of crime would continue to increase for as long as we continue to breed jobless and frustrated youths. The abundance of talents in Nigeria must be dutifully harnessed for our common good. It is not true that we cannot afford to fund these things as government tend to emphasise all the time. The lack of proper management of our resources is the main cause of our woes.
Our infrastructural calamities must be immediately tackled. I suggest our rulers take some time to watch a CNN programme that has virtually become my favourite on that great channel, Future Cities. In Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Russia, China, and indeed most parts of the world, new monuments are springing up in droves. What we have to show for our oil wealth is the filthiest environment in the world. Our leaders must be told in clear terms that we deserve much better. We are amongst the most widely-travelled human beings on earth and it is indeed a total shame that we have been forced to live such a squalid existence. We should be spared this undeserved shame for God’s sake.
Our over-dependence on oil revenue must be halted urgently. A diversification of our economic activity is long overdue. There is so much that we have been endowed with that we neglected since we discovered oil that we must bring back. An aggressive attempt must be made to support Nigerians who are genuinely serious about going into farming. A lot of our graduates on national service should be prepared by government for a future in agricultural production.
There are many natural products that have not been tapped by us. All hands must be on deck to search for and exploit them. Nigeria has no business being a poor and beggarly nation with all that it has pleased nature to give us. It is to our great misfortune that we carelessly allowed ourselves to be led by the dregs of our society who lack the intellect and training required for running modern and civilised societies.
There is a heavy price for this type of short-sightedness on our part. It is the reason most of us have a great battle ahead in the year 2012, before it turns into a mirage.
source: thisdaylive
