By: Abdulrasheed Ibrahim
To return Nigeria to her past glory, I can say without fear of any contradiction that patriotism, discipline, and honest fight against corruption are the right ingredients that will make that a reality.
As long as Nigerians, whether the leaders and the led remain unpatriotic, indiscipline and corrupt, this country will never develop or move forward in the real sense of the word.
Recently during a weekend, I went to one of the banks in my neighborhood with my ATM card to withdraw cash to solve an urgent financial problem. I was informed at the gate of the bank by one of the security men that the ATM machine was not paying. I had to look around if I could get an alternative and saw a POS operator who told me withdrawal of N20, 000 would attract a charge of N500 which I tried to negotiate but the operator refused. I had no option but to accept it after some grumbling on my part that it was very unfortunate that the fallout of Buhari/Emefiele colouration of the currency still persist, almost a year after the exit of Buhari from power.
Few days later, I was confronted at the premises of the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja, by a young lady journalist who had asked for my view on the recent directive by the Police authority banning the POS operators in the vicinity of all police stations to which I responded as follow:
“While there may not be anything bad with that directive ,am of the view that what Nigerians need most now is the change of attitude from negative to positive .The great Awo once said that : ‘As long as Nigerians remain what they are , nothing clean, principled, ethical, and idealistic can work with them. And Nigerians will remain what they are, unless the evils which now dominate their hearts, at all levels and in all sectors of our political, business, and governmental activities are exorcised. But I venture to assert that they will not be exorcised, and indeed they will be firmly entrenched , unless God Himself imbues a vast majority of us with a revolutionary change of attitude to life and politics”.
What the police authority is trying to curtail is the result of what this country has been turned to due to lack of discipline, patriotism and the desire of many to get rich quick without minding the consequences.
There were certain periods in the history of this country that if probably we had succeeded in sustaining that tempo, we would have gotten it right. One of these periods was when General Yakubu Gowon was sent packing and the late General Murtala Muhammed took over. Only those that were not born then or not students of history would not know what happened within that six months when the people’s General was in power, trying to instill discipline in Nigerians.
Sometime the General would be at gates leading to the government ministries before 8 AM to await the arrival of civil servants coming late to the offices before he was unfortunately assassinated in the failed Dimka Coup of 13th February 1976. Another period was when the military struck on 31st December 1983 and Muhammadu Buhari was brought in as the Head of State to be deputized by Tunde Idiagbon, a graduate of Economics, as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarter. For that period 20 months in power, not many Nigerians knew that Idiagbon was the real brain behind the policy of that military government as discipline and patriotism were made rituals that must be adhere to strictly by all Nigerians.
Indiscipline and corruption were fought to the standstill as the spirit of discipline was imbibed by virtually all Nigerians to the extent that if someone came to your inner bedroom to offer you a bribe, you would not dare collect it for the fear that the giver might be trying to set you up.
When some military guys felt very uncomfortable and wanted the earlier status quo to be maintained they planned to effect a change in leadership. But could that be done when the most active Second-in-Command was around? Immediately Idiagbon left the country for Saudi Arabia, IBB and his boys hatched a palace coup and got Buhari arrested without resistance which brought his government down and that marked the end of Idiagbon’s War against Indiscipline (WAI).
A different chapter was then therefore opened in the history of Nigeria. One of the IBB’s allegations against Buhari/Idiagbon regime was that the duo arrogated power to themselves without consulting others in their government which IBB was part of. He called himself the military president who was ready to return the country to the civil rule and made his regime to be the last military rule. He thereafter embarked on a prolonged transition program which ended up in an annulment that paved way for Abacha Coup which was called the child of necessity.
Nigeria at independence in 1960 was a prosperous country with the hope of being great among the Commonwealth of Nations particularly in Africa where it was often referred as the giant of Africa. People of my age that were born some years after the independence grew up to know a wonderful country.
In those days when you go to the cities you would see many big commercial outfits such as Leventis, UTC, Bata, Kingsway as well as many other manufacturing companies in various industrial estates scattered around the country contributing significantly to the economic development of the nation and as well as the well being of Nigerians.
At that time public university students on campuses lived in luxury with virtually free mail tickets to the dining halls. Employments were even awaiting them from different or various companies before their graduation from the universities. In both our secondary and tertiary institution were foreigners who had “japa” to this country to teach in government owned institutions where the children of the rich and that of the poor mixed freely together without any discrimination.
Then we had good railway system that took Nigerians around the country without any fear of being derailed or kidnapped. Also then unlike today we had wonderful health care system that took care of Nigerians without the need to embark on medical tourism as being done by the contemporary politicians. Those were the glorious periods in the history of Nigeria. Can all these wonderful things be said about Nigeria today?
We learnt in schools and from books the happenings in the country during the pre-independent Nigeria about how agriculture was the mainstay of the country’s economic. We learnt how in the Northern Region of the country under the dynamic leadership of late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the agricultural produce including cash crops such as groundnut and cotton were being packed in sacks to form pyramid ready for export to other countries to earn revenue. Similar things were being replicated respectively in the Western Region under the visionary leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and later Chief Ladoke Akintola as well as in the Eastern Region under the brilliant leadership of the Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and later Chief Micheal Okpara.
The position of leadership in any country from Councillorship up to the Presidency should not be for every Dick , Tom and Harry rather it should be for people that are very brilliant, visionary and competent. It should equally not be meant for the highest bidders as it is being done today’s politics rather it should be for those that know the essence of leadership which ought to be the service to the people. Leadership must be for the people that are well read and understand what are going on in their countries and around the world to enable them proffer solutions to the problems confronting their people.
The happenings today are the reverse of the glorious periods in the history of Nigeria. The situation is getting from bad to worse as the socialist ideology that was very prevalent among the politicians of those days has gone on flight paving way for the capitalist ideology. Adequate attentions are no longer being paid to the public institutions particularly the public universities by those in government .The private sectors have virtually taken over everything with the politicians in or out of government themselves establishing private schools .On the last count or check on the Internet, there are presently about 149 private universities in Nigeria.
Whether most parents in this country can afford the fees being charged by those institutions is a different question entirely. One of the negative effects of this proliferation is that if due attention is not given to the public schools by the government by funding them adequately this will result to a higher number of the school drop outs that may eventually become a recruit ground for the criminals engaging in all sort of crimes such as banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery as being seen today venting their frustration on the populace in different parts of the country by constituting security risk to the nation.
When a nation refuses to educate its populace and most employable people remain unemployed such a nation is only endangering its peaceful existence and stability which is exactly what we are witnessing in this country today.
During the Second Republic, the Lagos State Government under the leadership of Alhaji Lateef Jakande wanted to replicate what Chief Obafemi Awolowo did in the old Western Region with the aim of making education accessible to all rather than being exclusive preserve of some in the society.
According to Jakande there should not be one set of schools for the children of the rich and another one for the children of the poor. He therefore cancelled the existence of the private primary schools that all parents and their children must embrace the government compulsory pubic primary schools. He was dragged to court by the proprietors of the private schoos in what was later reported in the law report as the case of Archbishop Anthony Olubunmi Okogie & 6 others Vs. The Attorney-General of Lagos State (1981) 2 NCLR at Pg. 337, where Hon. Justice Mamman Nasir in answering some of the questions put before the panel of the Federal Court of Appeal presided over by his Lordship held affirmatively that:
“Yes, it comes under classes of economic activities outside the major sectors of the economy. The State is enjoined to protect such right but only to the extent that it shall not compulsorily stop or inhibit the enjoyment of the right….It is only an obligation placed on the government, other persons and organizations equally have the right to provide similar or different educational facilities. The Government, however, cannot be blamed if it succeeds in pushing the proprietors out of the ‘market’ by providing better educational facilities…”
While the proprietors of the private schools carried the day in the court as the decision of the Lagos State Government to outlaw private primary school was set aside, the big question that still remains unanswered till date is whether the successive governments in different parts of the country with their financial capacity and prowess have succeeded in pushing the private school proprietors out of the market by providing better educational facilities as held by the court?
This is a question to be answered by men and women of reason. But trust Jakande , a renowned and reputable journalist of several years standing before becoming the Governor of Lagos State said :
“The stand of this Administration is that private primary education is incompatible with the provision of free education at all levels. The Constitution of Nigeria requires us to ensure that ‘there are equal and adequate opportunities at all levels’ and declares that ‘Government shall as and when practicable provide: (a) free compulsory and universal primary education….Those who talk glibly about the infringement of fundamental rights are only being dishonest. And it is a matter for regret that such persons include men who profess to be the representatives of God on earth. I know that the hood does not make an Archbishop. But nobles oblige. A person placed in a position of leadership in any sector of our society must not only mind his language but should not permit selfish interest to stand in the way of the public interest .If he does so, he is not only a sinner; he is an hypocrite of which his flock should be ashamed.”
Leaders in the position of leadership must exercise great caution and restraint in the selection of those to serve with them which must be based on brilliance, competence and ability to deliver to justify their appointments. Any appointment based on favoutism and nepotism is bound to be questioned by reasonable people. To again borrow again from the words of Jakande, those in authority “should not permit selfish interest to stand in the way of the public interest”.
Why must a leader appoint his close relative to position when it is apparent that there are better alternative on the ground? Leaders must live by example. If the President can appoint his immediate relatives to position, how do you then blame those judicial officers and other politicians who also want to give judicial or political positions to their children and close relatives? There is this argument that there is nothing bad in such arrangement that even in America such things are being done and are acceptable. If such thing is done and acceptable in America, must the same thing be done and acceptable to the people of Iran or in any other countries in the world? Such argument may only hold water if those eventually selected are the best among the others.
I do not think there is any problem with Nigeria as far as her geographical location, the abundant human and natural resources as well as good weather and fertile land she is blessed with are concerned, her major problem still remains largely that of brilliant, competent, patriotic, upright and visionary leaders that will seriously reflect on her past, discover and return her to the past glory when things were working well for the country. Nigeria’s political scene needs the reincarnation of the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamid Azikwe, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Chief Michael Okpara , Chief SLA Akintola and Alhaji Lateef Jakande among others that did very well when they were privileged to serve this country in various capacities.
If contemporary politicians are ready to learn about the politics of true service to the Nigerian people, the politicians of old were the ones they can look up to and learn a lot from.
• Ibrahim can be reached on: abdulrasheedibrahim362@gmail.com
