By: Alhumphery Onyanabo
People are running out of Nigeria in droves. Doctors are leaving. They prefer to work even in West African countries than waste time in Nigeria. Our hospitals are empty. No doctors, no equipments, no beds, no medicines…no electricity…
Nurses are also on the run. London is their choice destination. Write an exam or two and you start work. There are enough old and infirm people to take care of there. The result is that auxillary nurses are now in charge in our hospitals, they spend six months in a quack clinic learning the trade, they do graduation, gather family, eat rice and soft drink and after a few prayers from elders and family, they ‘qualify as nurses’. My grand aunty, Emily Duke, a nurse of distinction will be turning in her grave at this sad turn of events. Desecration of the the Noble profession of nursing.
These so called ‘nurses’ who at best should be mopping floors now administer drugs and Injections. Mohbad was a victim of such I hear.
The list is endless. The medical laboratories are empty. The experienced hands have all left. They are tired of promises of a better tomorrow. What of teachers, they are no more waiting for their proverbial reward in heaven. They are leaving in large numbers. Canada they say is looking for teachers.
Recruiting people to go and work abroad is now a big business. Like all fads in Nigeria, the agencies are springing up everyday. They offer coaching online. They charge an arm and a leg and promise people paradise. People are ready to sell what it took them tm years to acquire here, cars, household furniture…everything to ‘japa’ and start a new life there. Some are fortunate, but many have been conned. Many families are stranded abroad. No going forward and they can’t come back because of Shame and debts. There is more; some who cannot afford to fly are going to Europe via the desert route, some choose to flee as stowaways in ocean going vessels, risking their lives without food or what just to seek a better life…anything but Nigeria. How did it get so bad.
How can a country that is so blessed with abundance of natural and human resources be so poor. How can our youths and brightest be running away to become second class citizens when they should be here helping to join hands to make Nigeria a great nation. How did we lose it.
How did a country that Gen Gowon once said its problem is not money but how to spend it. How did we become a beggar nation. Going cap in hand to multilateral agencies begging for loans that end up in private pockets.
Nigeria has land; vast arable land, as you travel this great country whether up north, south or west, you can drive for hours and hours and what will greet you are uninhabited forests and green shrubs. We have the best weather in Africa, even the world, yet we pay lip service to agriculture and food production. I will further on this much later.
A couple of years ago, I was consulting for a small company involved in the importation of Petroleum products. Their expansion plan was to build a 5,000 metric ton modular refinery In the Lekki free trade zone. This was long before Dangote started ground breaking. They brought in some Russians who wanted to invest.
I remember during a break in one of the meetings, one of the Russians asked if I know who owns a pig farm in Nigeria. And I asked why. He said they will like to buy it over and expand it. I was dumbstruck. Why would a Russian leave his country to come and buy a pig farm here. He educated me. ” My friend, you have the best weather in the world. In Russia, if I open a pig farm, all my profit goes on heating for the pigs. But here, the weather is perfect, I don’t spend any money on heating. When the pigs are big. I kill them, pack and export to Russia”. It took me a while to get over it. They value what we have more than we do.
We have gold and lots of solid minerals but nobody can give an adequate account of who is mining and selling what. Same goes for our almighty crude. The rich and the powerful in conjunction with a corrupt few bring in vessels of millions of barrels and in broad daylight, cart away our crude. We have navy, we have Airforce, we have the J.T.F but these vessels come in ‘unseen’ and leave ‘unseen’ in these days of modern technology where everything can be seen on satellite from your phone or laptop. That is Naija magic for you.
In Nigeria, we pay lip service to securing what belongs to us, as long as a few are profiting.
In Saudi Arabia, ARAMCO can account for every barrel of crude that is drilled in Saudi Arabia. Everything is on a screen.
In Nigeria both NNPC, SHELL, MOBIL, AGIP, CHEVRON and the indigenous oil drilling companies can not give us a definite account of how much crude oil they drill and is taken out of NIGERIA daily. Are they not all complicit? But who cares, who will call them to account? it’s been going on for so long that they have forgotten what they are doing is a crime against the Nigerian people.
In small Ghana just around the corner, no vessel, big or small can enter their territorial waters without announcing. The Navy will see you on its radar and open communication by force. You either make your mission known or they shoot you down. That is how serious nations conduct the business of securing their sea borders.
Should I even bother about our refineries. We have four of them. None is working. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on turn around maintenance, the contractors are so called billionaires today, donating money about , flaunting wealth. Our refineries pay billions of naira yearly to staff who sit down year after year doing nothing. So we are forced to take out our crude and import Petroleum products. NNPC will muddy the waters and tell you why we must pay expensive petrol in Nigeria even though we have crude. They will blame everything including the skies but themselves.
So I ask, do they really care about us? I mean our leaders. If they do, they won’t ask us to tighten our belts and barely be able to afford the neccesities of life while they loosen theirs and live large.
Corporations that employ thousands of people in Nigeria and add to our GDP are leaving Nigeria due to rising costs and the incostintency of government policies. They say one thing today, while you are trying to implement another person wakes up, throws it all out and starts something new. Who cares. But people are hurting…losing money. That’s not how a civilised nation is run. Only animals live like that. What have we not become?
Airline tickets from flights originating or terminating in Nigeria are more expensive than other African countries, even Benin Republic next door. The ticket you but in Nigeria is about half the price if you put one foot across the border. Why. The airlines are tired of chasing banks to help them repartraite their funds or buy forex from the black market all because a guy called Emiefele decided to lock up the dollars and sell them to his friends. Foreign airlines are now owed over $600m and so everyone has to pay for tickets at the black market rate. Take it or leave it. It’s all a huge mess.
Again I ask, do they really care about us?
If they do, members of the national assembly will not collect monies which they appropriated as constituency projects and dispense to themselves as they so wish with very little on the ground. Who oversights them? What can we even do?
The local government is the Fourth tie of government they say. But in Nigeria, local governments are tied to the apron strings of the state Governor. He can sack and fire local government chairmen at will. You know why, so he can control the funds that is meant to go to them. Throw them a few crumbs to keep them quiet, let them enjoy the perks of office as local government chairmen…that should be enough.
High drama is presently playing out in Ogun State A hot head, Wale Adedayo, a local government chairman had the effontery to accuse his state governor of sitting on local government funds. The whole weight of the law has been brought down on his small head. First he was impeached on trumped up allegations, then he was invited by the DSS. He told his bit. He was asked to go. later on, he was arrested by the police in Ogun State and charged to court for being so bold and bogus to accuse the governor of not releasing local government funds. He has been released on bail from prison. Wale Adedayo says he has proof of his allegations, but nobody is prepared to listen. The Governor an elected official is behaving like an emperor, but why won’t he. Equally elected local government chairmen in Ogun State went visiting him at Government House in solidarity. They prostrated in the full glare of television cameras and pleaded that he overlooks the sins of one of them. But we all know one thing for sure, Wale Adedayo will have his day.
While we tighten our belt and squeeze to send our children and grandchildren to school, to pay for electricity and DSTV and transportation and the daily rise in food prices, a recent study says there has been an increase by 31% of the price of food stuffs in the last few months all because our oga at the top took the decision to remove Petroleum subsidy.
The suffering in the land is beyond description. If you are on the streets you will know. Our people are hungry and jobless. The stalls are empty. Go to the markets and talk to our mothers who sell there. It’s tales of woes. The malls are full of goods that people have no cash to buy. The restaurants are open but how many people are going in to patronise them. What sells is alcohol of any kind; In sachets, plastic bottles, cans or whatever, people just want to drown their sorrows and sleep. Round the clock people are drinking. It has never been this bad.
But in our hallowed seats of power in the various states and in Abuja, those in control, those in charge of our common wealth believe they are not part of us. The national assembly is sharing millions of naira to it’s members to ‘enjoy their holiday’.
Parties are thrown every weekend with expensive liquor and choice food and cocktails for already overfed guests all at our expense. While our youths roam the streets and sleep under the bridges. Do they care? Do they see us?
They bloat the salary bills. They employ all manner of aides and assistants who do nothing but follow them around and sing their praises. That is what we have become.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio I hear has just created the Office of the wife of the Senate President. It seems madam is bored at home. What that means is that a structure will be created for her with a budget, staff, vehicles and you name it. Soon she will start receiving the wives of Speakers, attending local and oversea conferences, travelling First Class at our expense and it will all be business as usual.
Some days ago, The President sent three more names to the national assembly to be confirmed as ministers. We already have 47 ministers, if all goes well and their prayers are answered, we will have 50 ministers. That is four football teams plus two. To do what? What ever 50 can do, 25 can also do to slash the huge cost of governance but no, their support base must be settled for the sake of his tomorrow. Read my lips.
As President Olusegun Obasanjo had about 27 ministers, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had 30, Muhammadu Buhari had 44.
Take a minute to consider what this will mean to the nation that is borrowing to stay afloat. These 50 ministers won’t pay house rent like the rest of us, they will be fed free, with booze as well. They won’t buy gas or pay electricity bills, they won’t buy fuel for their cars like the rest of us and they will recieve all kinds of allowances and estacodes for travelling locally and internationally, feeding allowances plus gifts from those who need favours from them which we are not allowed to enumerate here, but we all know it’s true. These ministers will also appoint their croonees and hangers-on as aides and swell the wage bill while we all tighten our belts even further and clap.
Everybody with a little opportunity is heaping the coals.
Again I ask, do they really care about us? I leave you to your conclusions. This is Nigeria
By Al Humphrey Onyanabo
(The Story Teller),
writes from Lagos and is passionate about Nigeria.
Email; preciousliitlethoughts@gmail.com
