By Boma Nwuke
Nigeria was once a country of bountiful opportunities. It was once a country as Chinua Achebe noted before he died.
It was once a country where the young, and all those who have the never-die-spirit that children born here are noted for, nursed great dreams of a nation where the sun would never set; and aspired to attain great heights through sound education, great courage, appropriate exposure and dint of hardwork.
So, we grew as kids to dream of an indissoluble and indivisible country and assured one another of an undying sense of brotherhood that would endure even forever.
In the nation’s good days, scholarship programmes were floated by the Federal and State governments to provide outstanding students with the chance to pursue careers at home and abroad.
In the good old days, I vividly remember, exchange rate between the dollar and the naira was less than N100. In those days, Nigeria’s daily crude oil production was put at 2 million barrels per day. Though, thieving politicians held sway, the impact of their stealing tendencies was not as abnormal as it is now.
In those good old days, the four refineries, Port Harcourt,Warri and Kaduna produced at optimal levels, making refined petroleum products such as Kerosene, Diesel and Premium Motor Spirit ( PMS) available to those who required them.
In those good days of old, job offers for skilled and unskilled labour overflowed. There were clerical jobs for young school leavers, holders of West African School Certificates as well as teaching jobs for holders of certificates obtained from Teacher Training Colleges.
Similarly, Public Universities were the cynosure of all eyes in a developing economy, citadels of knowledge for those with genuine aspirations to emerge graduate and post graduate students.
Lecturers were demi- gods, the hostels – homes away from home to behold and the environment of the university, conducive for learning.
Not anymore. Everything has changed. If we expected a Daniel to come to justice, rulers who would mold our nation together, and patriots who would cultivate a culture of great nationalism, we are obviously in a dreamland.. It is as if the gates of hell have been opened unto us.
Whereas in days past, Nigerians freely crisscrossed the length and breath of the country in search of livelihoods, instability and insecurity have become evidence of the reality that stares us in the face.
Yesterday, we could take the availability of foodstuff for granted. Bags of rice and tubers of yam were major staples in most homes and were easy to buy. Not anymore. Bags of rice, yams and other edibles have become the exclusive preserve of a few.
Our military considered one of the nationalistic institutions was revered, adored and seen as the greatest fighting force in Africa. Today, the military is demystified, hounded and pounded by bandits and terrorists who have held the country hostage while Nigerian leaders jet in and out of the country and make merry.
Banditry and terrorism were occurrences that we read about in the Middle East and parts of Asia. But now, those twin evils have fully berthed in Nigeria, their tentacles spreading through all nooks and crannies of the country.
Military checkpoints and jails are attacked while homes, farms and well guarded cities are turning fighting grounds.
Kidnapping is now the order of day. The high and lowly are not spared. Places of worship have graduated into targets while priest’s and clerics are slaughtered.
In 2014, Boko Haram terrorists dealt a blow to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, bombing Nyanya Park. Over seventy people lost their lives. Hours later, the terrorists invaded Government Girls Secondary School Chibok, Borno State and kidnapped over 200 school girls who were writing their final exams.
The terrorism clusters and carnage on major cities, villages and fringes informed editorial opinions which depicted Nigeria as a failed state.
Infact, the Leadership Newspaper in citing the “failed state index” which ranked the country 16 out of178 countries, behind Somalia, Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan and Chad said in its Editorial entitled “This State has Failed” that a third of Nigeria’s land mass has been under emergency rule for a year.
It also observed that in at least another third of the country, there have been “… mass murders, kidnapping for ransom, daylight armed robberies, breakdown of law and order, and unrestrained stealing of public funds “
The editorial states that “the Jonathan regime has demonstrated a frightening incompetence in the handling of the state’s affairs. It is now beyond doubt that the regime is incapable of protecting the people.”
The Leadership editorial under reference and the concerns that it raised at the time will pale in significance when compared with the level of insecurity and audacity of the terrorists now.
In comparison to what exists under the Buhari administration, events that transpired during the Jonathan era, would qualify as a mere scratch on the surface, especially if we were to look sincerely at the real situation.
It’s no longer news that terrorists have laid siege to the Federal Capital Territory and neighbouring states of Nasarawa and Niger and are daring the military effortlessly in onslaughts while protecting their dens which are too much of strongholds to destroy.
In the midst of all this, the government treats the terrorists with kid gloves, pays what could be seen as lip service to threats that Nigerians are facing and moves on as if all is well.
All is not well, Nigeria is gradually gravitating towards a point where its people may be forced to say farewell. Things are falling apart. The police whose duty is to protect civilians are being killed like animals.
The Army, Navy and Air force are not spared either. Civilians, traditional rulers, young boys and girls are increasingly turning into informants whose loyalty is to the terrorists .
Nigerian cities are becoming too hot to stay in. The same is true of what is happening at the countryside where the bulk of Nigerians reside. Sadly, young damsels are being forced into early marriage by their captors.
The option of even of leaving the shores of the country is not something to contemplate. Imagine what the cost of airfares and the exchange rate are now.
Yet, the politicians are unperturbed, going from the living room to the other room in a manner that suggests that the country can go to blazes and burn to ashes.
But before we say adieu, either to ourselves or Nigeria, Can we for once have the opportunity of reminiscencing over our humble beginnings?
Is it proper that when more is expected, particularly of us, we are ready to throw away statehood as a result of mundane considerations? Should we worry not about our kids and kin and once pristine communities?
Who are the terrorists that a once sophisticated army cannot subdue? Who are the terrorists that the Niger Delta boys cannot annihilate? Who are the terrorists that IPOB cannot teach a lesson? Who are the terrorists that the South West security outfit, Amotekun can not chase away? Who is the commander – in – chief of the Armed Forces?
When a government has failed to protect the people, It has failed absolutely. What is obviously left is for the people to say “what portion do we have in” this government, “To your tents O’ Nigerians.”
Growing up, I didn’t for once imagine we will be sliding down this cliff. I never imagined that this day will come when my trust in the inability of my country to protect me would be so badly shaken.
I am horrified by the realization that there are many in our midst who would rather be ethnic bigots instead of Nigerian leaders. I am ashamed that these people who have put all of us in a mess have often worn the garb of nationalists and patriots.
I am disturbed that the “one Nigeria slogan” has been a mere ruse, and a mere slogan not even good enough for kids in kindergarten to embrace.
Boma Nwuke is a senior journalist, Media Director and member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors ( NGE).
