NIGERIOLOGY

BY FRANCIS OLAMIDE

The challenges many third world countries are facing can be traced back to lack of starting capital, but Nigeria is very fortunate to have both startup and working capital. I mean, in this country we have everything we need to make this nation blossom.

Nigeria is not as populated as China, India and the United States yet these countries are well governed. So, the problem of this nation cannot be overpopulation. In fact, we gained independence with a population of thirty-five million. Singapore never had the privilege we had when they gained independence in 1965. With high levels of poverty staring them in the face, unemployment on the rise and seventy pecent of their population lived in overcrowded conditions including the fact that half of their population were illiterates. Singapore of present day cannot be compared to Nigeria in every way.

I am not a spokesperson to the Federal Government of Nigeria neither do I have an affiliation with anyone on Mr. President’s cabinet. Their spokesmen are paid to always see the good in their government, praise their clueless ideas and turn blind eyes to the ill in their government. I am not on their payroll, so, if they cannot see the bad in their government by themselves, I will point it out to them.

We are still ruled by the old people who have been the architect of our downfall since independence; those wolves in sheep clothing called leaders have always offered us nothing. They enjoy adding salt to the wound of the masses as long as it makes their pockets full. With their power drunk ideology, like a hurricane, they will take out anyone who stands in their way of getting wherever and whatever they want. Canada is the world’s mining capital with just five minerals while Nigeria has fifty-two minerals but she is poorer than a rat because of poor governance.

This government resumed office in 2015 and the hopes of citizens were raised. We all thought the unrelenting efforts and incessant trial of Buhari to rule the country was a light at the tunnel for us. We thought that with him, we were in good hands but it wasn’t till later we realised we had jumped into fire.

It was simply a repeat of Buhari’s 1983 government in disguise. None also considered his age as all we wanted was to be freed from the sixteen years of being ruled by PDP. But we were forgetting something; APC and PDP are two sides of a coin and voting him in was a sheer waste of time.

He assumed office with choruses of ending corruption and arrived at Aso Rock with the chorus of “change”. We gullibly yielded to all his pleadings because we had been beguiled by his empty noise about chasing out all parasites in the economy. Nigerians were so patient that they gave him all the time he needed to appoint his ministers – six months. There again, we made a horrible mistake. Each of his cabinet minister was nothing short of the list of beneficiary from the APC community. He began using the office of the president to compensate those that had supported his presidential campaign.

We also thought it was normal for a sitting president to travel but with time found it unneccessary. His first trip to Niger republic was useless and unneeded in a time where his home was under attack. He kept going to places promising peace and safety while his own domain was nothing close to that and this he did with public funds.

List of Buhari’s Trips from assumption of office till May 2016;

Niger Republic (June 2015), Chad (June 2015), Germany (June 2015), South Africa (June 2015), USA (July 2015), Cameroon (July 2015), Benin Republic (August 2015), Ghana (September 2015), France (September 2015), USA (September 2015), India (October 2015), Sudan (October 2015), Iran (November 2015), France (November 2015), Malta (November 2015), South Africa (December 2015), Benin republic (December 2015), UAE (January 2016), Kenya (January 2016), Ethiopia (January 2016), France (February 2016), United kingdom (February 2016), Egypt (February 2016), Saudi Arabia (February 2016), Qatar (February 2016), Equatorial Guinea (March 2016), USA (March 2016), China (April 2016), United kingdom (May 2016)

Upon arrival at those countries, only on few occasions was he received by their Presidents. They either sent their Prime Ministers or Deputies to receive him. I believe the Presidents of those countries have no time for unnecessary visits because they are busy working on raising the standard of their nations. This administration has also done nothing but expose us negatively to the international community. Exposures that called for delay and deny of VISA at embassies.

Upon making us the capital of world poverty, Pa. Buhari called us many names that downgraded our status in the international community. He called our hard working youths “lazy” and “always waiting for the government to do everything for them”. That statement was a replica of what he called Nigerians in his military era, “my people are useless”, “my people are senseless”, “my people are indisciplined”. Which government portrays her people like that before the international community?

With all the corruption PMB claims to be fighting, how many people have ended up in jail since he resumed office? Who is the top government embezzler that he has made a scape goat for others to learn from? His cabinet is full of people without various school certificates. It is in his government we see people without a Masters degree claiming to have a PhD and they’re still allowed to serve our nation.

Many of his ministers are being accused of not going through the mandatory NYSC scheme. While competent graduates suffer under the sun at various NYSC camps only to receive less than 57 dollars a month. Sometimes, they even refuse to pay this stipend for months leaving innocent corpers stranded. This present government has nothing good to write home about.

He turns blind eyes to corrupt APC stalwarts. The so called constitution has never been used to help the masses except for selfish political ambitions. Senators and cabinet members know the section and sub-section of the constitution that says their salary must be increased, their allowance must be steady etc. They will never see the section that says they are supposed to maintain and protect the welfare of the citizens – what a pity!

In addition, I have never seen nepotism at this rate in my life. This old President is gradually leading Nigeria to her early grave by absorbing all his family members who are supposed to be minding their cattle rearing businesses in the North into the Nigerian government. Every key position in this country is being held by northerners. Wherever his shallow thinking kinsmen oversee, the place will either experience stagnancy or they make enough money for their brother at the top from the oppression of poor. His relatives, the Fulanis destroy people’s farm as well as murder farmers but he is fine with it.

He will never declare them as terrorists, but, a little agitation from IPOB, and he named them terrorists. He is always on the lookout for other tribes to misbehave in public positions so he can replace them with his brothers.

The recent resignation of the former finance minister is another example of that. He should have replaced her with someone else, but, he opted for his sheeple Northerner again. It is this same nepotism in employment that is the root for the delay of pensioners’ entitlements, unpaid salaries across the country among other labor issues. His exhibition of nepotism continued when he replaced Vice Chancellors and competent workers in Nigerian universities with lackeys and relatives.

Further more, 3 million jobs were promised before we voted him in but people have lost more than 4.5 million jobs in 2016 alone. Our old and good for nothing president met the naira at 197 to the dollar. The naira became the worst performing currency by 2017. Yet the haggard looking man will not acknowledge that he is the father of increased instability and dampened growth in our economy.

Sincerely, I do not know the message this government is trying to pass across to us when they can never accept responsibility for anything they do or anything that happens in their government. It’s either they say they don’t know or they are not involved.

They are also experts at dutifully transferring blame to other people, places or things. When it’s good they take credit for it but when it’s bad they transfer blame on the previous government or anything that isn’t affiliated with them. Our economy is on the verge of crashing out, but they won’t see that. All they know is to tell lies – many times done through the lying tongue of the Minister for Information – Lai Mohamed.

Another disheartening thing is how this cancerous government took us so high to the top of the poverty pinnacle in the world. People are getting poorer and poorer every day. A nation like DR.Congo is competing with us on the world poverty ranking. By 2050, more than 40% of people living in extreme poverty will be in two countries – Nigeria and DR.Congo. India was there but the consistent reduction of poor people in India is a sign of relief that they will soon get out of it.

As blessed as Nigeria is, we suffer like we have nothing. They tell us lies that we are out of recession yet the price of Garri and other food stuffs have not gone down in the market. I wonder the recession we are out of that the masses do not have a feeling of it in their various slums and abodes. Rice has become untouchable for many families in Nigeria because we banned the product when our local production could barely meet 25% of our total demand.

This nonsense tenure under PMB has turned blind eye to the activities of the Fulani herdsmen who invade farms to eat up crops and indiscriminately harvest farms. Many times they end up killing the farmers. Benue, the food basket of the nation was one of the major places that was hit hard. Millions of displaced persons are on the streets. You will know something is wrong with this administration when a minister of Agriculture planned to import grasses from Brazil to feed cattle when there is no food for humans in the land.

The IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps have become a site for raping innocent women and girls, it is also a hunger and mosquito breeding vicinity. Any positive change this clueless and useless government say we are experiencing is a big fat lie. If the average person on the streets of Nigeria cannot feel the alleged change then it is a lie. Nigerians do not deserve to be lied to.

This poverty that has eaten deep into our nation is the catalyst for people looking for greener pastures in other countries. And this lying government will still be asking a stupid rhetorical question, “Why are people travelling abroad? Nigeria is a good place to live in”. If it is a good place to live in, citizens will not risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

They know how dangerous and life endangering it is but when they look back at the state of the country and the fading hope for a better tomorrow, they know that it’s better to die on the sea than to die of hunger here in this ugly country. In millions they die on their way to various European countries or they end up becoming victims of slavery.

From snake swallowing money, to rats invading the Presidential Villa and other blatant lies that this government has told us. People are the real value of any nation. If a nation is not investing in her people, they will soon crash out.

Our national thieves in Senators’ form earn more than any public worker in this country. While an average Nigerian student struggles to get his school fees paid, purchase a JAMB form or WAEC form. This is their agenda – to keep us poor and to make us ignorant so they can increase the zeros on financial documents and we will not be able to interpret it.

They receive money for various projects without execution. They prefer to send their children abroad for their education because they know the investment they have made in the education sector cannot compete with Africa’s standard let alone the world’s.

They promise the populace various white elephant projects. No matter how a country is, we still know that it is possible for every person to live comfortably especially in a blessed country like Nigeria. Nigerians are hardworking all over the place but there is no job. No one has the guts to say Nigerians are lazy because when you give them a job, they will do it diligently.

We convocate thousands of people from our higher institution every year and send them back to their parents’ home where they came from. How will they take care for their aged parents after all the investment made by them. Out of frustration they opt to do anything their hands find doing either legally or illegally. I really wish I could keep writing.

In conclusion, the issue I have with Nigerians is that they are still in love with their oppressors. They are very much crazy about the people that have put them in chains, the embezzlers that have mentally imprisoned them. Almost everyone has been brainwashed with fables that nothing can change. They have grown cold in their bid to fight for their lives.

Sometimes, I do not blame them because they have been kept in this state for so long. So now, their thinking is in the direction the oppressors are pointing to. These bastards that oppressed them have a long term plan of doing so, but the masses think short term. Perhaps that is why we have been foolishly following all these years. They plan five elections ahead but we are only thinking about one election year. If you train an eagle with chickens, the eagle will never think it can fly.

I still ask my self when Nigerians would wake up. This useless people are still wallowing around begging for votes against 2019 general elections. They cavort from state to state spreading their lies. Saraki is shouting he wants to grow Nigeria, is Nigeria a mango or pawpaw tree? The very same way APC chorused “change” in 2015. We didn’t ask for the type of change they’re bringing and how they intend to effect the change – we fell into that trap. Same thieves same agenda, same power drunk idiots and voting them in will bring same results. If it’s every four years Nigerians are powerful then let us use our four-four years power judiciously.

It is hard for some people to see beyond religion, politics and ethnicity but it is imperative to know that if Nigeria gets better today we will all be beneficiaries. If things go from bad to worse we will all feel the bite too. I cry every day for Nigeria.