Rants of a Nigerian citizen on the brink of despondency
I have spent a lot of time thinking about my life in the last few weeks. Let me qualify that properly: thinking about my life in Nigeria. One wakes up and the media is awash with either remote or looming bad news. To be honest? I am tired. I am tired of being tired. My tired is tired. My tired is tired of me being tired.
I consider myself a patriotic citizen: one who defends Nigeria with all his might. Even when Nigeria has happened to me, I have kept the faith. I know many other people like this: we probably all chant “Nigeria Go Better” and “it will be well” every day. Despite how things have gone, many have maintained hope that things will get better one day.
We have heard it said many times: Nigeria is full of promise, the light at the end of our tunnel is getting clearer. But with each passing day, I wonder when things will get better. The default option for many Nigerians who have weighed their options has been to seek greener pastures abroad. I no longer consider such people as turncoats. I have since gone from wishing them the best as they seek to migrate to encouraging whoever wants to leave to do so without hesitation. I have now got to the point where I wonder if my head is correct seeing as I have mentally escorted so many people abroad while I am here looking forward to a better Nigeria. Will this ever happen in my lifetime?
People who have left, those who are leaving, and those who are planning to leave are not unpatriotic. They are neither unskilled nor clueless. Many were living the good life by the average Nigerian standard: possessing full-time jobs that paid their bills probably with a little extra to plan for some wants. I guess they just viewed their options and decided on a Plan B?
In recent times, it has been like one day, one trouble. You wake up, and a new problem has presented itself to beat the previous day’s problem. If it isn’t fuel scarcity, it is sharp practising fuel stations selling fuel above the regulated price. Wake up another day, and you are informed about being more security conscious. Why? The top dog of a transport union has been suspended, and his goons would likely flood the streets in protest. You hope to dream of a better tomorrow but remember that universities would still be on strike for another two months. And the icing on the cake? The electricity grid has collapsed, so many parts of the country would be without light for a while. Can we please catch a break? Na only Naija dey this world?
These are even the problems that stare us in the face, the ones we are aware of. There are many others we may not know or be conscious of because we do not immediately see the signs. Our rising debt for instance: foreign and domestic. I often wonder about repayment when I think about indebtedness at federal and state levels. A large part of our revenue already goes to debt servicing but are we earning enough to plug the holes? I just hope future generations do not spend every day cursing the old guard for incurring neck tightening loans on their behalf.
Meanwhile, the price of everything is going up, up, and away. Even if things improve, we know those prices are most likely staying up because whatever goes up in these parts, stays up. To think that I had been tracking the price of sardine for so long and now, the entire shopping list is on the tracker, and not just for imported goods. As Zlatan has said: “overthinking no dey solve problem”, so now I just buy essential items and treat myself when I can. What is the point of tracking prices anyway?
At least I can still afford to meet my basic needs and a little more, but I am one in a minority, many of us are. If I celebrate and give testimonies about how I survive, what about those who barely make ends meet? I often wonder how people cope especially as salary raises are few and far between. What about business owners? Hustlers? The unemployed?
When and how will things get better? What needs to happen for better days to come? What can I do to contribute to making things better? Have I ever been a part of the problem in any way? Am I a solution to any of the problems? I think about these things often. Is Nigeria the only country with problems at the moment? Far from it, every nation has its peculiar challenges, but sometimes, ours seems like a unique brand.
Yes, it has been said times without number: “the answer to our problem is making sure as many citizens as possible participate during the political process”. Join a political party. Get your voter’s card. Vote at elections. Do not be disenfranchised. But how quickly can change come? The two major parties we have now are the same of same, and their tentacles have been spread wide across the land. Hypothetically speaking, these two entities may continue to remain in government for a while. Members change parties so often, one wonders what ideologies many of them stand for. So, should we be expecting anything different?
Elections are around the corner and predictably, discussions everywhere are more centred on who succeeds who than what can be done to alleviate our problems. Do the politicians have the time now to focus on our many national problems? Indeed, it is the people’s problem because the politicians’ problems will be solved by next year’s elections. Either they win or they leverage for a position, and the status quo continues.
I have limited my exposure to Nigerian news. Every time I catch a headline, there is usually considerable negativity. Is it that we have nothing worth celebrating, or those worth celebrating are so insignificant? I wonder. But even as I lament, I often wonder if things are really this bad or we have just been accustomed to exposing ourselves to the worst news. Surely there is some good happening somewhere in the land?
Sometimes I wish I could just go to sleep and wake up in a Nigerian utopia. Our problems wouldn’t be about having constant electricity or queuing for petrol. Rather, we would be laboured with thoughts on whether Europeans should be granted visa-free access or whether we should provide discounted electricity to the rest of West Africa. One day, things will be better. If wishes were horses, right? Anyway, this is the way I see things today.