The Phenomenon Called Nigeria.

By Msonter Anzaa

Calling Nigeria a phenomenon sounds disrespectful. But subsequent paragraphs contain the qualities so peculiar to Nigeria that they make her into a phenomenon of her own. I hate admitting that Nigeria is a land of controversy. Controversy characterizes every thing about her. The culture even in government circles is to jump from one controversy to another. The very legitimacy of some of our governments is controversial. A few instances would do for illustration. Some time last year, Nuhu Ribadu was almost prevemted from graduating from NIPSS Kuru, Jos even after successfully completing the course. Reports said the order was from above and was meant to correct some illegalities involving Ribadu’s promotions in the police. When public outcry greeted his exemption, the authorities denied ever demanding that he be prevented from graduating because he was not qualified to enroll for the program in the first place. 

Perhaps nothing illustrates controversy in Nigeria better than the anti-corruption war. Just before Ribadu left the EFCC, he was quoted as saying his commission had cases against over twenty state governors. But when the new chairman took over, few case files were found. The others just vanished. And many of those alleged corrupt governors are free today. The EFCC even took a bold step to clear some of them some time ago. You may probably recall that when the on-going FIFA under-17 world cup was given Nigeria to host, the Local Organizing Committee estimated it would cost such a great sum that the federal government said it could not afford to host the tournament. Then almost immediately, the cost was slashed to a negligent amount compared to its original projection. What happened? And if the tournament could be organized with the latter amount, why the earlier purse-drying projection? 

 Another quality that makes Nigeria an interesting phenomenon is her irresponsible leadership. We have had series of irresponsible leaders at all levels or our national life. Their legitimacy is always debatable because of the porous nature of our electoral system. They come up with poor policies while brutally frustrating the aspirations of their own people. So Nigeria has become a nation where governments fight their own people. This is why the Freedom of Information Bill may not be passed by the National Assembly. It may also interest you to remember that some time ago, state governors brought up the idea of going to Harvard University for a training on good governance. One public analyst rightly told them to resign their appointments if they wanted to return to school. To demand a training on good governance was an indictment on their part. By doing so, they told Nigerians that they were not qualified for their offices. 

People who sit in government offices exhaust their mental abilities creating avenues for wasting public funds. Some of them in state Houses of Assembly waste their entire tenures attending seminars across the world on good legislation. In fact, Nigerian leadership is a phenomenon that promises no hope for the future. This nation is a phenomenon that surpasses all understanding. It is confusing why nothing works well here. We began with the parliamentary system which did not work. Then we thought the presidential system was better. Many years later, we still have not reaped the fruits of good governance. 

At the national level, it is one agency or the other, leading to a complex chain of organization that yields no good results. Once in a while, the government sets up a committee to deliberate and make suggestions on a national issue. Then the same government sets up a sub-committee to review the findings of the other committee. The report goes through one review committee and the other until it becomes useless. Someone said privatization would make our industries grow. But this privatization that works well in other lands has not worked here. It is one scandal after the other. Now we want to tidy up our electoral system but no one knows which alternative is better. Why do ideas which work in other lands fail to work here? Nigeria is a phenomenon which should be studied carefully and its challenges confronted aggressively. The future of her people depends on their readiness to positively accept this truth.