Ukah: Nigeria: Hope against impossible odds

FIFTY-THREE years ago, October 1, 1960, one of the most important, if not the most important dream, hope and struggle of Nigerian people at the time, came to fruition – freedom to govern themselves, take control of their future and superintend their destiny – independence from the British colonialists. This extraordinary realisation which came on the strained backs, worn feet and sleep-deprived eyes of our nation’s foremost and perhaps, only statesmen and patriots till date, stoked overwhelming cheers and shouts of joy across the land, with fathers, mothers, and even children dancing out their hearts on the dusty village roads and city streets in all corners of the country – from Mbaise to Enugu, Benin to Lagos, Ibadan to Lokoja and Zaria to Maiduguri.
The Nigerian people were excited and rightfully so, about their young nation and its bright future considering that it had vast inherent ingredients critical for success and greatness – extraordinarily blessed with all kinds of natural resources and fertile land that spreads from north to south and east to west. As expected, the country actually took off on a good footing, with citizens having some sense of stakeholdership and visionary leaders with a honed and clear sense of where they wanted to take their respective regions and the country.
During this time, there existed some leadership, accountability and healthy competition among the various regions. Regional leaders made concerted efforts to think out-of-the box and come up with creative ways of generating wealth and sustaining their mostly agricultural economies – economies that provided competitive educational infrastructure, local and foreign scholarships, and free education for most of its people.
Unfortunately, 53 years later, what we see and live in is a country that most of us can’t honestly be proud of; a country under the siege of seasoned opportunists masquerading as leaders and politicians; a country where looting of public treasury is implicitly encouraged; a country with no iota of accountability in public service at all levels; a country where holding a public office is seen as the shortest route to instant and stupendous wealth; a country where a majority of its citizens has been left behind and on their own; a country with no middle class; a country unable to generate enough electricity for its citizens after much wasted resources and many unfulfilled promises by successive disingenuous administrations; and a country whose millions of ordinary citizens are greeted each day with enormous odds.
At 53, we are a country whose citizens still die of ordinary malaria; a country with no basic infrastructure – roads, railways, and crumbling schools at all levels, a security challenged country with Boko Haram unrest in the North, militancy and crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, as well as a “lucrative” kidnapping enterprise in the East and West, a jobs challenged country with incomputable youth unemployment rate; a country where a sizeable population of children and even adults go to bed hungry; a scientifically and technologically-challenged country, but most serious and worrisome of all, a hugely leadership-challenged country.
But, as tempting as it is to pack our bags and give up in the face of these enormous man-made odds, ills and challenges that pervade the land, the undying and resilient spirit of the Nigerian people continually rekindles one’s hope in what is possible in the land only if our visionless and detached political/ruling class could pause for a moment and recognize that the stories of these everyday Nigerians that have been left behind, are our stories; that the struggles of ordinary Nigerian parents and millions of unemployed youth are our struggles; that Nigeria only works when it works for the many and not just for an opportunist few; that while we may not all speak the same language or come from the same background, our aspirations are shared and that we will rise and fall as one people.
While there still remains a tremendous amount of work to be done in order to take our country to where it truly ought to be, one still remains strongly hopeful in our ability to get there – a hope rooted in the unyielding and stubborn resilient spirit of the Nigerian people, most of whom are decent and ever-ready to do the right thing even in the face of impossible odds.
In the absence of politicians and leaders that should serve as role models for the youth; in the midst of worsening power situation that has stifled industrial and economic growth and forced manufacturing companies, welders, hair-dressers, and barbers to close shops; in the midst of crumbling schools and lack of opportunities that have given rise to massive brain-drain and crime, even with increasing poverty and inability of parents to educate their children, one still sees hope in the daily struggles and toils of everyday Nigerians – teachers, rural farmers, taxi and bus drivers, barbers, mechanics, food vendors, and traders in our markets, on the streets of our cities and track roads of our villages.
In the face of flagrant displays of ill-acquired affluence by an insensitive, visionless, opportunistic, and detached political/ruling class and unscrupulous civil servants, in the absence of ladders of opportunity necessary for upward social mobility; in the lack of running water that forces ordinary citizens to keep wandering how they will buy the next gallon of drinking or cooking water from exorbitant private borehole operators and in the presence of disease-causing dusty roads or in most cases, complete lack of them in the forgotten corners of our country; one still sees incredible doggedness and hope in the daily struggles of millions of ordinary Nigerian parents, youth and children.
Amid the deteriorating academic infrastructure and joblessness, one still sees hope rather than despondency in the hardwork and dedication of most Nigerian students, who keep burning their late-night candles with the hope that the jobs picture will improve before they graduate. One sees nothing but hope in the toils of ordinary Nigerians, who always end their frustrations of an overall leadership failure and of a country that has simply left them behind with just two words – ‘God dey’.
At 53, as we reflect on our country’s unimpressive journey so far, let us be reminded that we as a people, shall overcome; let us remember that Nigeria will always be bigger than any self-serving individual or group; let us take consolation in the “weird” fact that this is a transient phase in the life of our potentially great nation; let us take solace in the fact that we are a resilient, smart and hardworking people and that standing united and hopeful, we the people will finally have our much-craved opportunity to steer this ship called Nigeria, to calm waters, and really take our destiny in our own hands – finally actualizing the dream of our founding fathers.
At 53, while it may seem like deprived everyday Nigerians are the biggest losers in the Nigerian project considering their inhuman and unnecessary daily sufferings and prevailing economic hardship, the biggest losers in my opinion, are and will always be the visionless and corrupt political/ruling class and their bureaucrat allies who instead of engraving their names in history books to be studied, researched and emulated by future generations, wilfully chose to squander their privileged opportunities and relegate their names to the trash cans of history in exchange for filthy mundanities.
So, for today’s office and power-holders, now is your opportune moment to make the wise choice of bending our nation’s man-made economic hardship curve; now is your time to think not just about your pockets, but your place in history. You are exhorted to be attentive to your better angels, to tow the path of honour and to put your hands on our nation’s arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better and more prosperous day for both present and future generations.
• Dr. Ukah writes from United States.

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