We must free the soul of Nigeria from greed – Okei-Odumakin

By Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin
The day was October 1, 1960.  A symbolic lowering of the Union Jack, the flag of the British Empire came down and was replaced with the Green White Green flag of Nigeria.
A people were given independence as the doleful play of “Rule Britannia,” was heard on her soil the last time.
To consolidate Nigeria’s independence from Britain, the Nigerian flag rose with the over-bright, marching tune of the new anthem: “Nigeria we hail thee – Our own dear native land Though tribe and tongue may differ In brotherhood we stand – Nigerians all are proud to serve Our sovereign motherland.”

Five decades and seven years later, I cannot but approach Nigeria’s anniversary with a glimpse of hope albeit on national introspection. Consequently it is time we spoke some home-truths and look at where we are in the scheme of things.
Nigeria can, and will be great again. This I strongly believe we all have significant roles to play in this herculean task of perfecting our union. However, I will not attempt to shy away from our present reality and I hope to capture a few of this ineptitude bewildering our country.
What shall we say of the disturbing rise in ethnic nationalism and religious bigotry even as insecurity and disharmony continue to lay a firm grip on us?
Our country is more divided today than at any other time since the Civil War. And Biafra, 36 years after, seems not like a faded dream but a haunting spectre with agitations on the rise. The conspicuous mismatch between the nation’s potentials and its achievements has become for many a frustrating riddle; for others a topic for national debate; and yet for another group, it is nothing but denouement lament.
The environment for doing business and our ranking in world competitive index has worsened. Therefore, job opportunities for our teeming youths have become harder to come by. We have seen the rapid depreciation of the Naira, the total decimation of our industrial, agricultural and manufacturing sector and the decay of virtually all our roads, airports, power generating facilities and infrastructures.
Armed robbery, kidnapping and human trafficking continue to ravage many parts of the country. A bunch of extremist insurgents are hoisting flags on large areas of our territory, claiming to have conquered.
Our government has given up on the Chibok Girls and we have witnessed the humiliation, insults and physical harassment by security forces on those who fought for their return. Unspeakable horrors are now being committed daily against our people by anti-social elements in the name of religion and other causes.
To put it bluntly, the Nigeria we have today is far from the dreams of our founding fathers and heroes who laboured for her freedom. We seem to have been reduced to a naked nation with no one in charge of her to address her serious, grave deficit.
To put Nigeria back on the track requires a complete overhaul of the entire system that is not working for majority of the citizens. First, we need to free the soul of Nigeria from the grip of greed .The level of corruption in our system is not tolerable and is killing the people. Our people need to know that most of the problems confronting us today are one way or the other related to the systemic corruption in the land.
We must also improve on the quality of our leadership as a country. At present leadership is the only job in Nigeria for which no preparation is required and no background check is done.
Criminals easily find their ways to the leadership card mixed with the incompetent. We need forward looking leaders imbued with ideas on how a modern country runs. Those who have no such cannot offer the country the requisite leadership to move it forward.
Lastly we cannot continue to ignore the architecture of relationship between our various ethnic groups. We must therefore pay attention to the demand for discussions of our union to have a more united, stable, peaceful and harmonious country based on justice for all the constituent units.
More glory will come to Nigeria if we do all the above and there will be joy in the land.