America and the rest of the developed nations feed us with stories of their heroes and we worship them so long as they are non-Nigerians. You bring a story of a man who has electric power twenty four hours a day, whose mental capacity has not been impaired by sleeping and waking to the sound of a running 2.5 KV generator, who had not spent eight years for a four-year degree course because of strike actions of the university lecturers and you want us to toe their lines? No, we do not have the same conditions and owing to the difference in places of birth, we started the race of life at a different pace. Show me a great Nigerian, who made gold using our extant conditions, and I will appreciate him more than Pope!
Americans have Obama we have Fashola; they have Bill Gate we have Philips Emeagwali, they have Beyonce and we have Bukonla Elemide(Asha). Nigeria is a great nation with few man-made problems (corruption and impunity) that can be fixed.
The difference between Abuja and New York is simple; the former is subject to pretentious dead letters disdainfully styled as 'law' while the latter is subject to a gripping and sweeping operations of prevailing sanctionable rules and regulations devoid of class discrimination. The sword of justice is useless if it can't pierce through the flesh of corrupt elements among us. In any case, corruption is not limited to financial crimes. The least act of disrespect for established values (for personal gain) is a manifest case of corruption which ought to attract appropriate sanction. Justice should not look at the face or status of offenders. Afterall, the statue of justice rightly displayed an energetic blind woman, except in Nigeria where 'justice' has a special eye for the protection of the rich. And we jointly made it to be so. Yes, our laws are probably meant to protect the rich and oppress the poor. Sadly enough the poor aid and abet this ignoble process. With all these, one begin to wonder if there is something wrong with our soil or the air we breathe in this part of the world.
My theory is that there is nothing wrong with our land except that our system conditioned the way we react. Nigeria is still a wonderful land in spite of our leaders' reckless activities and can be one of the best in the world if we first learn to fight corruption and impunity associated with governance and the holders of public offices!
Wherever you look among Nigerians, there are people who hate to abide by rules and want privilege where they have not sown. It's got to stop. This is 2014, and anybody who spends taxpayers' money like confetti or wants extraordinary consideration in anything must be held accountable for earning it.
Saint-Olawale Jimoh
(Observers' Reflections Int'l)
©2014
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