3 Things We Can Do About Nigeria (4): the Crux of the Matter 2

 

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Continued from the previous post. You can read the previous articles through these links: 1, 2, 3.

 

3. Attack the Root Causes

If the leaders that we have are not ready to help us, then we must help ourselves. If the people that have been voting in unpatriotic leaders have been voting wrongly then we must start educating them. It may be true that majority of our legislators (senators and representatives) are not absolutely selfless people. It may be true that majority of Nigerian politicians are potential political investors seeking to get elected and recoup their investments through profits that are dangerous to Nigeria’s future. But, even if it is absolutely true that many of our elected leaders don’t do the best they should actually do while in office, that reality will not change if we don’t do something about it. Our legislators have the power to do a lot more than they presently do. If they truly bear the interest of the people at heart, they are able to use policies to influence positive change, make political offices attractive to only those that want to serve Nigeria, reduce the cost of governance, mitigate corruption across all levels and fix the impossible insecurity problem over time and even checkmate the almighty president whenever he slacks. But they will only do those things and perhaps more if they are properly installed by the people themselves. Most of the leaders that are elected to hold forth in Abuja are not affected by the concerns of most Nigerians. They were not absolutely given a seat there by people who may not have means but have many excellent leadership options. So, the laws that most of them make are made by choice and interest and not by commitment and accountability. On the face of it, their money got them there not their readiness to serve.

So, what’s your role in all these? Your role is to start from where you are with what you have. Get your PVC. Get concerned about the selection process of the person that will sit over the funds allocated to your local government. If you already know that the monies some of our leaders misappropriate, even when borrowed by the entire nation, belongs to every Nigerian, and that it should get to everyone in form of good roads, better healthcare, quality education, affordable food and shelter, reliable electricity, effective security, etc. and that the misappropriation of such monies is the reason why some (but quite many) people die through road accidents and insecurity or healthcare issues, students get poor education, people become corrupt to prosper or even survive in our society, business becomes quite expensive to run, etc., then start doing something effective about it henceforth. If you didn’t think of it that way before, well now you should. So, start enlightening those that are yet to see these root causes as our problems and encourage them to take responsibility within their vicinity. That is one way to help ourselves.

Most of all, examine yourself often and sincerely. Ask yourself, with the kind of decisions I make each day, the kind of life I am living right now, if I were to be the Ward Counsellor, the Local Government Chairman, a Member of the State or Federal House of Representatives, a Senator, the Governor of my state or even the President of my country, would Nigeria get better or worse? Would my reasons for getting angry about poor governance in the first place be justifiable? When you ask these questions, you will sense the truth. So, if sense that you’re not good enough, try to become a better Nigerian because there will always be room for more improvement. Most times, people get the kind of leaders they deserve. But we are clamoring that we deserve better than we are getting right now and we truly do. So, let’s make sure that we ourselves are more than the mere culprits that many of our leaders think we are. Let’s start making a difference. Let's fix this nation.