WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD? #27 BILLION.

WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD NIGERIA?

I will begin this piece with a heavy burden in my heart. Somebody might want to ask, why this expression?  I do not seem to fathom whom or a group of people that can or will rescue this great nation called Nigeria from the fangs of the evil yet powerful geniuses who disguise by every means possible, including being subtle as a dove to cling to a political office and afterwards, they turn themselves to demi-gods and become a lion in his full strength and agility during his prime to feast on a prey. The question I always ask myself and I believe many others are asking now is that " What is the way forward Nigeria"?

One of the most recent deliberations which have refused to leave the airspace in the country right now is the appropriation of #27 billion for the renovation of the National Assembly complex. Somebody said what, are you kidding me? Please, if I may ask, how much does it cost to start an entirely new building from scratch, even to the purchase of land. Again, what is the economic value or benefit/s for renovating a mere edifice which still looked good? But, just as a singer rightly sang, " If you ask me, na who I go ask?". Which simply translates that, there are many questions begging for answers. 

However, upon the gradual easing of COVID-19 lockdown, which I believed taught many countries hard lessons but refused to teach our so-called leaders a lesson, not even for the fact that it took one of their own. And what is the lesson? Make your country better if not the best, make it great! To enable you to enjoy the dividends of democracy and good governance in the face of unforeseen pandemics such as this. 

Consequently, the economic effects that #27 Billion would have cannot be overemphasized, with the fact that it can altogether give some critical sectors a face-lift and fill in the gap of infrastructural deficit, ultimately transcending into creating jobs for the teeming unemployed hopeless Nigerian youths. For example, it can turn every teaching hospital in each state of the federation to world-class with state of the art equipment that can take adequate care of plethora ailments. In addition, it can have a great impact on soldiers' welfare, who are at the fore-front fighting insurgency in the northern part of the country, this will definitely boost the morals of these wonderful heroes and heroines who have vehemently rebuffed these agents of Darkness. Furthermore, it will go a long way in equipping our universities, polytechnics, colleges of education to at least a standard that can be compared with other countries who have good educational facilities it is therefore sickening to know that despite the public outcry of the citizenry the executive and the legislative arm of government connived together and appropriated this colossal wastage. Turning deaf ears towards the populace and termed them "The Wailers". Probably after a time, it will subside and definitely, everyone will forget about it, that's what they will say shrugging off any thoughts about it. It may also interest you to know that the chunk of the money would end up in private pockets and alas that would be the end of the story. The government has deliberately and successfully pocketed over 200 million Nigerians who don't seem to care but could rather demonstrate on behalf of George Floyd killed in America and they neglected their own problems bedevilling them. At least there is a popular adage that says "charity begins at home". Bunch of sponsored hypocrites who failed to carry out the same demonstrations on behalf of a 17 years old promising young girl who fell by the bullet of a drunken trigger-happy policeman, not to mention the numerous rape cases and deaths that happened recently. Hence, the 

wastage and the colossal cost associated with maintaining the average cost of this kind of system has clearly shown that it is not working except we want to continue deceiving ourselves and the few enjoying it keep plundering and plunge us into more debts while we sit and look.

Therefore, I will strongly suggest the nation return to the parliamentary system of government where states or regions would be allowed to develop and control their God-given enormous resources in a way that will benefit all and go beyond the practice of mono-economy, having full cognisance that there are numerous untapped resources. 

Again, in my opinion, the presidential system of government is not palatable for Nigeria as the saying goes, "another man's food is another's poison". Profligacy, self-aggrandizement would be curbed when States contributes a percentage to the centre and make sure the rest are judiciously used to develop their localities. This would scrap the lazy empty-headed legislator's,  senior special advisers, special advisers, ministers and numerous assistants with no known usefulness but lock around corridors of power to milk the resources of the nation dry. In addition, visionary leaders should be placed at the helm of affairs in each region and be made to write an undertaking that ensures working towards a blueprint of massive development to the standard of other developed countries of the world within a time frame and also passes the baton to equally or more competent people who would not deviate from the mission of Regional Development. This will be like a form of competition among regions and a central government will supervise and give Score-Card and possibly discipline those who lag behind. This itself would make positions less attractive. Lest I forget, all political positions should be placed on salaries obtainable in other countries and there should be nothing whatsoever called the handling of projects.

In conclusion, I believe Nigeria is a great country,  the most populous black nation which has the capacity of becoming the mother nation of all blacks. The development of Nigeria is critical to the respect that would be accorded to black people and Africans as a whole. God has given us all the resources, manpower and everything needed to be among the greatest Nations on earth, no wonder we have sometimes been dubbed the sleeping giant. It's time for the giant to wake up. Nigeria wakes up; Africa wakes up!!!