Failed Nigeria: Who Are The Contributors?

Olayinka Awofadeju

There is a saying among Nigerians, especially among the youths that Nigeria is a failed country. Nigeria is a country with 525 native languages and 371 tribes across 250 ethnic groups.

According to Wikipedia, a failed state is a state that has lost its effective ability to govern its populace. A failed state maintains legal sovereignty but experiences a breakdown in political power, law enforcement, and civil society, leading to a state of near-anarchy.

Characteristics of a failed state include the presence of an insurgency, extreme political corruption, overwhelming crime rates suggestive of an incapacitated police force, an impenetrable and ineffective bureaucracy, judiciary ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, and consolidation of power by regional authorities.

Contributors of a failed country in Nigeria are enormous, starting from individual. Killing of our economy, majority takes work here in Nigeria with levity, clamouring to go abroad and make it. They go abroad, work assiduously to build their country while they couldn't work here in Nigeria with the same spirit.

Locally made goods (food, clothes, vehicle, shoes etc) are irritating to some elites who prefer foreign products. The exchange rate is killing our economy while importation is strengthening their economy over there. The rate at which we depend on Dollar is affecting our currency and building their economy.

Politically, our leaders are not doing well. The rate at which our leaders mis-manage funds meant for the development of our nation is worrisome. Recently, federal government announced N15 billion to build vice president's villa in Abuja, N346 billion voted for presidential jets and refreshment, N160 billion SUVs for law makers, N1.5 billion to buy vehicle for first lady. These and other many ways federal government has been spending heavily without considering the masses.

Government officials travel regularly abroad, they can only copy what can enrich them, not what can build the nation. When they are sick, they prefer to go abroad than to equip our hospitals. Recently, I read in the news that the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu is going abroad again for medical treatment. Someone that governed his state for good seven years, what impact has he made in the health sector in his state?

Education in this country is becoming nothing as there are no capable hands to teach the students from primary to higher institution. Majority of the capable hands have traveled out of the country. This is why many prefer to enroll their children in private schools or abroad if they can afford it.

The civil servants had been clamouring for increment of salary which government claimed there is no money. ASUU and many other bodies have been going on strike without achieving anything from their industrial actions. This act of government has led to the act of kidnapping, terrorism and insurgency within the country, breakdown of order among the security agents, disregard of authority by the masses, not believing in judiciary etc.

Looking at this from judiciary side, the belief of the masses is that there is no justice from the judiciary anymore as majority of the judges are political. I sometimes overheard someone saying "if you don't have anything to do with your money, charge APC to court". The belief is that APC is judiciary and judiciary is APC. If this is true, it is over with Nigeria already.

From Academics, there are many ways in which they are contributing to the killing of Nigeria economy. First is mismanagement of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by the management of the institutions. Secondly is the embezzlement through ghost workers and in some other areas. Management in universities compel lecturers to publish internationally and particularly in Scopus. The publication of an article which cost almost two million naira when changed to Dollars.

Why can't we promote our own journals in Nigeria, why enforcing costly foreign journals on academics? As we change our currency (naira) into Dollar everytime, we are strengthening their currency and building their economy while killing ours.

Looking at various sectors, we shall see that we are all contributing to the failure of Nigeria in one way or the other. To build this nation, we must all be ready without shifting blame, join hands together to build and make sure that Nigeria does not fail. Nigeria can be great once again if we put hands together.