Where is Nigeria Going?
By ‘Gbubemi Atimomo
I returned to Nigeria early in 2015 after completing my master’s degree in the UK. The heat of the elections was on and as usual with Nigerian politics, many people had already picked a side. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and former Head of State Muhammed Buhari were considered the frontrunners. Would Goodluck win and continue his government, or would Buhari win and bring the change he had been promising?
I needed to renew my passport before coming home, so I went to the Nigerian High Commission in London. In the waiting room, when I went to pick up my passport, the TV was tuned to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). The All Progressives Congress (APC) was campaigning somewhere in the North; I can’t quite remember where exactly. Buhari was waving a broom before a sea of excited supporters. As expected, discussions in the High Commission’s waiting room were lively as everyone expressed their opinions about who the best candidate was.
When I left Nigeria, I planned to complete my degree and return home. I believed Nigeria had a lot to offer, and I was eager to tap into that. As I began to wrap up my studies, staying abroad became an attractive option. I mulled the thought over several times until I decided that returning to Nigeria felt like the right thing to do. Before leaving the UK, I had been working on switching to another visa category. I received approval to apply for the new visa category a month after I returned. I thought about it and decided not to apply. I was already in Nigeria, and I would stay and hope for the best.
Over the years, many people have asked whether I wish I had stayed in the UK when I had the opportunity. My initial response was always that I didn’t regret it, as I believed I had made the best decision for myself at the time. Nowadays, when people ask me, I find it easier to pause and reflect, and to ask myself again: “Did you make the right decision?” Looking at Nigeria from 2015 to the present, I am tempted to say that I could never have imagined things would become so bad. But truthfully, the signs have always been there and we all know this.
I have always believed that Nigeria will be great in my lifetime and that things will improve, even though it may take some time. I strive to do whatever I can in my little corner to make this vision a reality. I consider myself one of the hopeful ones, but these days, I realize that hope alone is not enough—it never was. Hope is not a strategy; hope without a plan is just a dream. When your plans to thrive in Nigeria begin to be threatened, you realize the need for a Plan B. The second option. The fallback. Quite a few people have exercised this option, which usually involves leaving the country. Aside from traveling abroad, Plan B seems to offer limited alternatives, but not all of us can leave.
Is our problem leadership or followership? Many will argue that our leaders should be held responsible for the state of affairs; after all, they are in charge of all the decision-making. But can we absolve the followers as well? Very often, I think the average Nigerian is more interested in getting into a position of power so that he or she can ensure that they sort themselves, their families, and their cronies out. Could this be why we struggle with holding leadership accountable? Is this why it seems like nothing is changing? Who knows?
‘This government will favor me and my family.’ I cannot remember how this phrase came to be, but it is something we often repeat as a joke on various online platforms. It may sound like a positive confession, but I find it to be an extremely self-centered one. How could we have reduced ourselves to looking out only for the needs of those in our immediate circle when we are tasked with considering the greater good? What about those who do not have a voice, those who cannot fight for themselves, and those who have limited or no access to people who can make this prayer come true?
Things are really bad, and I often wonder how the average person survives. The cost of many basic food items has become too high for many people. Transportation costs have gone through the roof. Health costs? School costs? Requests for urgent 2k have become more frequent and more pressing. There is suffering in the land, and the people are unhappy. Sharing palliatives and giving ‘the most vulnerable citizens’ cash is an insult to the people. Such actions are unsustainable and can never solve any problems. What are the long-term plans to address food security, for example?
The new minimum wage, which has finally been signed into law, is meant to assuage the people and hopefully cushion some of these expenses. But how far will the minimum wage go for the average employee? How many people are even in formal employment across the country? How many states will pay this new minimum wage, considering that some never even paid the old one? And small businesses—how many can afford to increase salaries? The wage increment is necessary without a doubt, but addressing the root causes of the cost of living is more important.
The other day, a Senator of the Federal Republic accused the President of being tone-deaf to the people’s problems. It made me laugh because he should first have pointed the finger at himself and his colleagues before pointing at the President. What has the National Assembly done, within the scope of their powers, to address the state of things? The President is responsible in some aspects, but that does not absolve NASS and other elected and appointed government officials across all arms of government.
And with all our problems, some public servants prefer spending time making incendiary comments rather than creatively addressing the people’s needs. Some government spokespersons now spend more time defending the government than sharing their plans for the people. Should there be a need to defend public officials if they were acting in the best interests of the people, or is it a problem of poor communication such that the people are unaware of what the government is doing? I don’t even know anymore.
If there was one thing I was expecting this administration to address, it was reducing the cost of governance and adopting a more strategic approach to government expenditure. A focus on what can be immediately controlled because it is a quick win. This action, supported by other well-thought-out initiatives, would probably encourage the citizens to believe that the government feels the pinch as well. Instead, what we have seen are various actions that make us wonder whether there is a funding source available solely to the government and not the people.
I am tired. Talking about Nigeria’s issues often makes one wonder whether it is only the citizens who see the problems. We all argue various points and have ideas about what to do to improve the country’s situation, so why aren’t we seeing any improvements? Or should we be a bit more patient? I think God needs to help us because we cannot help ourselves. One day, we will all know where Nigeria is going, but as of today, I just hope they are not leading us to where we don’t know. This is how I see things today.
Content provided by EiE Nigeria
‘Gbubemi Atimomo is an HR & business consultant and entrepreneurship advocate in Lagos. He is also the Founder of SideHustleNG and the Convener of The Spirit of Enterprise (TSOE) initiative, both of which are entrepreneurship advocacy platforms.