Where is Nigeria going? — Gbubemi Atimomo 

Lamentations of a Nigerian citizen without a second passport

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 Muhammedu 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 had 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 hot as everyone expressed their opinions about who the best candidate was.

When I left Nigeria, I planned to complete the 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 back 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 the approval to apply for the new visa category a month after I returned. I thought about it and decided I would no longer apply. I was already in Nigeria. I would stay back and hope for the best.

Over the years, many people have asked whether I wish I had stayed back in the UK when I had the opportunity. My initial response was always that I didn’t regret it as I believed that I made the best decision for myself at the time. Nowadays, when people ask me, I find it easier to pause and reflect, and ask myself again: “Did you make the right decision?” I look at Nigeria from 2015 till date and I am tempted to say that I could never have imagined that things would have become so bad. But truthfully speaking, 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 be much better even though it may take some time. I strive to do whatever I can in my little corner to make this real. I consider myself one of the hopeful ones but these days, I realise hope is not enough, it never was. Hope is not a strategy and hope without a plan is just a dream, and when your plans to thrive in Nigeria begin to get threatened is probably when you realise that you need a Plan B. The second option. The fallback. Quite a few people have exercised this and it usually involves leaving the country. Aside from travelling out, plan B seems to offer limited options but all of us cannot leave.

Is our problem leadership or followership? Many will argue that our leaders should be held responsible for the state of things, 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/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 happening? Who knows?

This government will favour me and my family. I cannot remember how this phrase came to be but it is something we often repeat for jokes on various online platforms. It may sound like a positive confession but I find it to be an extremely self-centred one. How could we have reduced ourselves to looking out for just the needs of those in our immediate circle when tasked with looking out for 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 through?

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? The 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 minimum wage take 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 the arms of government.

And with all our problems, some public servants prefer spending time making incendiary comments rather than creatively assuaging the people. 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 even unaware of what the government is doing? I don’t even know again.

If there was one thing I was expecting this administration would 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. Rather, what we have seen is various actions that make us wonder whether there is a funding source available solely to the government and not the people.

Abeg, I am tired. Talking about Nigeria’s issues often makes one wonder whether it is only the citizens who see the issues. We all argue various points and we all have ideas about what to do to improve the situation of the country, 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 that they are not carrying us to where we no know o. This is the way I see things today.