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ong before dead people began to have appointments in
government and fuel price skyrocketed; before one billion dollars was marked
out for fight against insurgency which had been defeated a dozen times; before
inflation rate increased and recession took over the economy; before the case
of budget paddling and its sturdy defense; long before all these, the year is
2010 and we’re in the month of May. Yaradua has died in a Saudi Arabian
hospital; Goodluck Jonathan has just been made Acting President, rising so much
hope that an academician with a PhD has come to our rescue. Dora Akunyili, the
Minister of Information, has dissolved the Federal Executive Council, and a new
song of progress is on everyone’s lips. Then five years later, corruption
overwhelms Jonathan’s government; public officeholders loot funds with
recklessness and no one seems to care. Oil prices are on the brink of slipping.
Then an old General, who is seen as a saint, comes out and says, “Behold I’ll
rescue you from the shadows of death”. We believe him, but sometimes our beliefs
don’t proffer solutions to numerous problems.
The story of bad governance in Nigeria’s political
space has managed to remain fairly constant since 1999, or rather since
colonial eras it has degenerated with each passing decade. History documented tribalism
as far back as the ‘50s, and this was practiced among our so-called founding
fathers. We heard of corruption, electoral malpractices and manipulations of
census figures many decades ago. Then the ensuing political imbalance which led
to riot that left so many dead in Ibadan and the bitter war of anguish and
kwashiorkor which followed. The cluelessness of Gowon dogged closely after the
war, combined with so many coups and counter-coups which brought in the
military that ruined Nigeria for about two decades and beyond.
It thus appeared as though as the years go by,
governance has become infested with more weevils of incompetence. The economic
pace has retrogressed and appears as if there would no longer be progress no
matter the effort put towards lifting the economy from the ditch. And so sadly,
Buhari’s dispensation has been the worst we’ve had of recent.
The truth is we hear so many messages and prophesy
of hope at the beginning of every New Year only to find that same year bitterer
than the previous years when it winds up. I know as regards 2018, you must’ve
heard so many messages of hope from politicians and religious places. But be
realistic! 2018 might be worse than previous years. I’m a pessimist; the
Nigerian sordid situation had made me so. If you’re a pessimist, you’re never
heartbroken because you don’t believe totally that a situation will be better.
Thus, it’s a good thing to be a pessimist henceforth. Believe nothing about
Nigeria in 2018. Just thrust it in your mind that we’re yet to see the worse in
our national life.
