Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts - the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art.--- John Ruskin
True, I have always tried to ask myself why Nigeria the most populous rich black nation on earth has still remained like this, despite our unquantifiable human and natural resources. Sometimes I ponder, wondering if all the intellectual capital and mineral resources at our disposal are real or mere imaginary assumption. But my eyes over the decades I know have not been deceiving me with what I have been seeing, hearing and witnessing over the years since I found myself as a citizen of this great diversified country. To be honest, I sometimes feel mortified whenever I look round me and I see the wastage of both human and natural wealth littering everywhere. I am more embarrassed by the wasteful attitudes of some of past and present leaders, especially our current politicians who despite all the mother luck that has smiled on them in terms of modernization and globalization are still finding it difficult to steer the wheels of this capable rich nation towards one of the most developed nations in the world. We boast of anything you can ever imagine on earth, both in human and natural endeavors. We have some of the world richest concentration of natural resources from natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, bitumen, lead, zinc and arable land, where some of the world richest agricultural products are produced; is it cocoa, groundnut, cassava, yam, palm kernel, millet, rice, maize ,beans, tomatoes, sugarcane, and other body nourishing food scattered everywhere yanfu-yanfu? But upon all these the Nigeria nation is still credited with some of the worst roads and hungry homes in the world with malnourished citizens.Our death trap roads are daily trampled upon by expensive deceptive automobiles, from end of discussion, discussion continues, Infinity Jeep, Hummers, BMWs, Rolls Royce, Bentleys, Jaguar, Limousines and the other illusive luxurious man made road machines, while most of the roads are a sorry sites to see. Are we not really ashamed that despite the large concentration of luxurious cars in our country, we are yet to create a made in Nigeria car? Is it not really a big embarrassment to our present generation of big men and politicians that in spite of their purported wealth and collection they have nothing to show the world or leave behind like their predecessors did? Thanks to our past leaders; they brought us and left behind Peugeot, Volkswagen, Fiat and Lada assembling factories; a legacy our present leaders are still chopping from. And the fact that they have privatized this heritage to themselves and their cronies, these legacies today are sadly a ghost of their past glory. We boast and have the record of being the African nation with the highest rate of schools, from public to private primary and secondary schools, government and private universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and the rest, yet our educational sector is so prejudiced and lagging behind disgracefully. No wonder, none of our strike indulged universities was chosen among the 300 best in the world recently. Are we not truly ashamed that despite the full concentration of battalions of professors, teachers, lecturers, intellectual capital and other intellectual and education stakeholders in the country, rich Nigerians still annually globe throt across the world with huge capital flight in search of knowledge and other sundry educational materials. Is it not a big embracement and shame on our leaders and some unpatriotic Nigerians that in spite of our status as one of the world richest oil producing nations, our mothers, wives, concubines, mistresses, and other struggling citizens are still finding it difficult to afford a gallon of kerosene? is it not part of the shame that most Nigerian homes have never seen or witnessed how gas is used for cooking, while the government and our big men export some of the highest quantity in the world to other nation; even though some of the communities where this gas is flared are yet to enjoy the blue flame of cooking gas in their homes.I don’t know about you, but I am ashamed that we are still witnessing ethno-religious, tribal and political crises in this 21st century. I am sad that despite our large concentration of mosques and churches, with world acclaimed imams and pastors, reverend fathers and sheiks, many innocent Nigerians are still daily maimed and killed in the name of religion. Come, is it not a big shame that given the high number of different traditional institutions made up of different class of emirs, obas and chiefs, we are still fighting senseless hostilities about settlers and indigene, breeding discrimination and nepotism among our various tribe and people.Shouldn’t we cover ourselves with the thickest blanket in shame, as we watch our previously energetic sporting activities degenerate into a shamble and have continued to wobble in disgrace, despite all the abundant talents that are scattered in all corners of this country and the huge financial expenditure constantly funneled into the moribund sector? Are we not abashed that almost twenty years since our new democratic dispensation our politicians across the states are still finding it difficult to execute one meaningful national project that could stand the test of time? Should our representatives not cover their face in shame as they daily fight over monetary gains and political positions? Are they not embarrassed that the prices of almost everything in our markets have risen to the highest price since their takeover of our hitherto vibrant economy? Is it not an amazing phenomenon that for more than fifty years after independence the Nigeria nation is still wobbling in darkness as a result of epileptic power supply and our farmers are still crying for fertilizer and other farming inputs every farming season, while our railways are more of a boju-boju on our rails.? Is not scandalous that our hitherto peace loving and easy going nation is now more identified with corruption, drug trafficking, 419, terrorism, incompetency, maladministration, militancy and ritualists? What has really happened to that Nigeria nation that has produced some of the world acclaimed writers, journalists, technocrats, administrators, soldiers, policemen and women, great sportsmen and women, musicians, actors and actress, artists and all other world class human beings in all human endeavors? Are we not really ashamed with all the present man-made wahala that are bedeviling this great nation which could be fix and should be fixed in order for posterity not to laugh at us, especially those whose responsibility it is to fix them?
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