By Kayode Emola
As Nigeria journeys towards a new political dispensation, it is worth taking note of the outgoing dispensation, considering what the future holds for citizens under the ongoing administration compared to how it could be if they were given a fresh start.
Many critics of the Goodluck presidency labelled him as the worst administration in Nigeria, not least because he was viewed as a gatekeeper for corrupt politicians. Large sums of money were disappearing at an alarming rate, with the president unable to call his ministers, aides and permanent secretaries to order. His weak leadership causes one to wonder what type of country Nigeria had become.
Jonathan was eventually voted out of office, succeeded by Buhari, a two-star general and an anti-corruption crusader, who was voted in on the promise of change. A lot of Nigerians expected things to change for the better, and so waited patiently to see the giant rising again.
However, rather than seeing a reversal of the negative trends that had brought the country to its knees, the decline across governance and international indices accelerated. This inevitably made many Nigerians even poorer, to the point that in May 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the world’s poverty capital. The question now is, ‘How did we get here?’
The situation was so bad that when Buhari visited England in 2016, the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron, described Nigeria as a “fantastically corrupt” country, in fact “possibly [one of] the two most corrupt countries in the world,” in a meeting with Queen Elizabeth.
Looking at the present economic situation of Nigeria, it is easy to explain it away as part of the global economic downturn. However, the critical assessment reveals that our decline started long before the Russian-Ukraine crisis which is currently driving global inflation and rising food prices.
When Goodluck handed over power to Buhari in 2015, the US dollar was trading at a rate of $1 to ₦199. Buhari’s supporters promised that he was going to make the naira stronger. However, the situation today is that of a crashing economy with over-dependence on imports. The naira is now exchanging at a rate of $1 to ₦710, representing a collapse of the currency by 356%, with its value against the dollar set to fall still further.
What could have destroyed the economy and the value of the Naira in the space of seven years? Many Nigerians, especially southerners who have seen their fortunes erased before their very eyes, are asking this question. The truth is that Buhari came with a mission, but his agenda has been obscured from many Nigerians, especially those who were promoting his brand against Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari’s mission was simple: to carve out a place for his Fulani brethren. He wanted to create a country they could call home, detached from the Hausa clan whom they had previously piggy-backed on to succeed in Nigerian governance. Buhari was prepared to do whatever it took, no matter whose ox was gored in the process, daring anyone to challenge his audacity. His actions have not only made Nigeria poorer but now made it unsafe for even Buhari to call home.
Rather than list the numerous challenges Nigeria is facing today, I would like to seek alternatives to our present situation. In order to do so, it behoves us to consider the forces that brought Nigeria into existence: firstly, the insatiable appetite of Lugard to amalgamate the southern and northern protectorates so as to exploit the material prosperity of the south; and secondly, the greed of the so-called founding fathers who, at the time of independence, made the decision to keep Nigeria united as a single entity, despite knowing full well that the union was doomed to fail from the very beginning.
Whilst I could see even in 2015 that neither Buhari nor Jonathan’s presidency could save Nigeria from its impending doom, it seems our people are foolishly following the same path they walked in 2015 yet hoping that some miracle will provide them a different outcome. What Nigeria needs at this time is not another election, but rather to halt and hold a discussion on the way forward involving all the indigenous peoples. Failure to do so could result in another bitter civil war, just as the American CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) predicted, with the consequent loss of millions of lives.
It is well known that there are no winners in war, just losers on both sides; with nations requiring decades to recover from its effects. Therefore, we must act quickly to prevent conflict from arising, before the anger felt by the masses boils over. There is no doubt that, as the tensions in Nigeria reach critical mass, disintegration along ethnic and religious lines is inevitable.
This disintegration will eventually lead to the emergence of new nations, one of which will be the Yoruba/Oduduwa nation. Although the future appears bright for this new Yoruba nation, we must not think that its prosperity is a given. It will require hard work, for every member to play their part in building the land. We must keep this in mind, as the degeneration of Nigeria has rubbed off on many of its citizens, and we Yoruba are not immune to it.
In the coming weeks and months, I will expound further on the work needed to take us from where we are to where we ought to be as a nation. We must not be deceived, the necessary work is extensive; but it will give us an insight into what our future could look like in the Yoruba nation, in contrast to the current situation facing us in Nigeria. Perhaps, through this, our people will see that the earlier we get out of Nigeria, the better it is for us all.
