It’s always darkest before daybreak

Part of my instinct on what this government may achieve at the end of the day hinges on the fact that the roguery that defined governance in the last ten odd years seem to be reducing.  That itself may be due to the fact that we are earning less from crude oil – our only […]

Part of my instinct on what this government may achieve at the end of the day hinges on the fact that the roguery that defined governance in the last ten odd years seem to be reducing.  That itself may be due to the fact that we are earning less from crude oil – our only product.  That may also be due to the demeanour of the current president.  His so-called gentle demeanour is however counter-balanced by stories we hear about his wife’s deal-making tendencies, which I will ignore for a latter article.

I am also terribly gung-ho about what Lamido Sanusi is doing for the Nigerian financial sector.  I daresay even he does not appreciate the sheer reach of his policies and the potentials of his acts of bravery and principle to salvage this country from eternal destruction.  Now I drive round and see banks changing their adverts of consumer finance products (come and buy gold and jewellery, we will finance your new car, flat-screen tvs etc), to PROJECT FINANCE.  I am so happy that things are changing on that front.  Someone observed recently that the funds Nigerian banks used to acquire subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone and so on, could have been used to revamp the nation’s infrastructure base, which by every measurement is the worst in the world, per capita.  Now they are forced to do the right thing.

Before now, Nigerian banks had turned their backs on their responsibilities.  Everybody blames government and just about everybody who live in Abuja, while ignoring what they can do to make things right.  We forgot totally that the redemption of this nation at the end of the day, will be everybody’s cup of tea.  Well, all of us cannot contribute at the same time, but if only we tried in our personal capacities, maybe our situation will not be as bad as it is today.  I will continue to refer to the example of Lamido.  I now know that Nigeria’s problem is not corruption, but lack of bravery.  People would have threatened the man to high heavens, but he stuck to doing the right thing.  He could have generally assumed the mantle of CBN and continue to parley with his colleagues as they rob all of us blind.  Note that over N8trillion was swindled from the stock market by these private sector fast chaps – almost three years’ national budget.  

If people are appointed into government positions, they are easily intimidated by those they work with about ‘how things work around here’.  Many actually go there to ‘damage’ the treasury as much as they can.  Others are ‘nominated’ by their godfathers with clear instructions about how much return that they must make, after ‘settling’ themselves.  But if we had one or two truly courageous persons in key government positions, things will change, like it is in the banking industry. I will continue to support Sanusi in his initiatives and also to ensure that he does not derail.  The challenge is great.  El-Rufai had that kind of courage, but most of his energy was channelled at the victims (displacing poor people), rather than the real villains.  He was slave to Obasanjo’s political agenda.

But my greatest conviction that Yar’adua may laugh last lies in the saying, and fact, that it is always darkest before daybreak.  Things have never been this bad in this country, and I think it cannot get worse.  People are angrier than they’ve ever been.  But we should be hopeful.  Of course we cannot as yet invest any confidence in our politicians.  Of course many people within and outside government do not share the broad vision of preserving our commonwealth and ensuring better distribution of such commonwealth so that life can be better for everybody – themselves inclusive.  Yet, I can feel a breakthrough around the corner – very imminently.

Many Nigerians have become so psychologically damaged by decades of misgovernance, that they cannot begin to picture what the ideal nation should look like.  Many people tell me things were better in Obasanjo’s era, when all we did then was ‘blow’ all the money that we fortuitously made from crude oil.  I still ask God why he played such a game on Nigeria – making us make so much money when we had the most sadistic president ever!  Now where are we – Nigerians have become the most hated, despised, disdained and at the same time, feared people on Earth.  Look around you, which other people suffer our kind of reputational deficit?

Nigeria is one country that is barred from international trading platforms because other nationals think we are all fraudsters.  As far as new platforms of international trade is concerned, Nigeria may as well be on planet Pluto.  Nobody wants anything to do with Nigeria.  Our people are scattered and displaced all around the world, clashing with police and immigration officials in Greece, Italy, China, Singapore and just about everywhere.  Nigerians are those people that every country wants to get rid of.  We have killed all our institutions and appropriated all our infrastructure.  Mad men – the type that Farida Waziri wants their brain checked for Obsessive Compulsive Psychological Disorder but which David Mark (who owns a multi-million dollar golf course in Dublin among others booty), perhaps being one of the OCD patients, condemned her – dictate the pace and texture of government and perpetuate fear.

Yet I believe that another ‘unknown unknown’, like the Sanusi tsunami, is around the corner.  Everybody hold your seats. Belt up properly for the ride will get pretty rough, as God answers the prayers of his long-suffering people.  Nigeria will surely turn the corner.  It’s always darkest before daybreak!  Happy belated 49th Anniversary.  I predict the 50th will come with palpable hope and change for the better.