While the politicians politic

She shared with me that she was shocked to hear from the politician that she should declare her political bias. She answered that she did not belong to any political party since she was not cut out for such. She was told pointblank that what they had in the state was for the patronage of […]

She shared with me that she was shocked to hear from the politician that she should declare her political bias. She answered that she did not belong to any political party since she was not cut out for such. She was told pointblank that what they had in the state was for the patronage of those who fought and secured the victory for their party. Another young man decided to invest his little resources in food processing cottage industry in his community since they had a lot of cassava, rice and fruits. The politicians in the community became jittery because they reasoned he was simply laying a foundation for a political declaration. Many of the young persons in the community continued to come to him to support their political ambitions. He became worried because he thought he was simply trying to be a business man and not a party politician. Another young Catholic priest decided to organize his community to focus on community self help projects. The politicians started worrying about the political party the priest was working for. For them, politics is everything. You cannot do anything without political undertone. But can we live other lives in Nigeria outside politics? Can Nigeria be creative outside politics?        
A nation of idle people is always a poor nation. The wealth of every nation depends greatly on the creativity of her citizens. That is what is called diversified economy. I may be wrong but my concept is right. A country of mono economy is always in trouble because once that fails, the people will suffer. That is why a state in Nigeria that does not have investments and  does not develop her internally generated revenue (IGR) base, continues to cry about dwindling or poor allocation from the federation account.
Nigeria is going through a stage which is equivalent to adolescence in a person. At that stage of development the growing child lays the foundation for a successful life or that of failure. At this stage of the life of Nigeria, a choice needs to be made. But what I see is that the young people are all thinking of political leadership. How do I become a councilor, chairman of a local government, adviser or assistant to a politician or how to become a commissioner in a state?  Many young people are losing their creativity. I do not see the desire for enterprise outside the structures of the governance. The most important people are made to be politicians and people who have positions in governance. That means nothing more than closeness to money and power. We are beginning to imagine that money, wealth and power cannot be created and acquired outside party politics and governance. This is one of the banes of Nigeria’s problems. Anyone outside government is treated as below standard and nobody. Many times, it is imagined that he has no right to contribute to debate on governance. We are wrong and this has led to the turbulence in our land. How did we get to this stage?     
The stage for this was laid a long time ago. We saw it coming and we were helpless. It started with the greed of our people. The opportunity and joy of our Independence in 1960 and the first Republic was wasted. When the first Republic fell arising from the coup of the 1965, the political gladiators were killed. The Army took over until 1979 when the second republic was entrenched. It was like a locust invasion on the nation’s economy. I know of people who just happened to be in politics, who ordinarily added no value to the nation building and development but became political actors. They went straight to the common fund, emptied it all and every sector of the nation’s life suffered immensely. That was when every other sector of the nation was relegated to the background. Teaching and other civil service jobs were for those who were helpless. Salaries and other entitlements were never paid and when they tried to pay, it was after a long period of strike and demonstrations. Meanwhile, politicians and political office holders and their families were feeding fat on our common fund. By the time the military came back on the last day of 1983, the nation went up in total jubilation because we thought it was a rescue mission. Children danced along the streets, market people celebrated. It was like we had waited for too long for this. Many of the politicians were detained and tried and some sentenced to prison terms for as long as over 200 years. People rejoiced. Then the military started and refused to go. Ten years down the drain and the Maradonic dance had not changed. In 1993 elections were held and we thought we had a winner but he could not be announced. A dubious group called Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), led by Chief Author Nzeribe went to the court to stop the announcement of the results and declaration of the winner. The rest is history, we would say. It took the persistence of Nigerians before the military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida ‘stepped aside’. The interim national government lasted three months then Abacha took over. The looting continued until by the hand of God Himself, his tenure was terminated by reason of his death. When Abdulsalami mid-wived the current political dispensation about 15 years ago, Nigerian took it with a pint of salt. But it has survived to the glory of God. We have learnt our lessons and the military has also realized that it does not have the answer to Nigeria’s political problems. We must solve our own problems in democratic way, homegrown or imported.
I have gone a good length to narrate this well known brief story of Nigeria’s political adventure to illustrate a point. Within these periods, every other sector of the nation’s life suffered. We lost personnel development. Within this period, the banking industry collapsed and then we had the failed bank tribunal. Many of the key actors in the banking industry were jailed.  Contracts were awarded for construction of national facilities; building of schools, roads, electricity, communication, hospitals. The money was paid but our own parents, brothers and sisters and friends who were the contractors refused to execute the contracts. Then we had the failed contract tribunal. Many still went to jail. I do not know if all the cases had been dispensed with from the courts. Then, during the Obasanjo’s government, two agencies were established to fight corruption and graft, ICPC and EFCC. They chased politicians and office holders. Some are still under investigations. Yet corruption and graft has continued to walk on four legs like a colossus. What this means is that other aspects of the life of the economy continue to be affected negatively. Take for instance.
We once had National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) in Port Harcourt which employed thousands of Nigerians and contributed immensely to the national economy but it is no more. Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL), is gone. Nigerian Airways, NIPOST, Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL), Niger Dock, the makers of our ships and repair of same, etc, are comatose. What of our four refineries?  At the state level, Benue Cement Company, sponsors of the famous Benue Lions Football Club of Gboko, Lobi Bank Ltd, Benue Hotels Board, Taraku Mills, Benue Brewery, Benue Bottling Company, all in Benue State. What of the famous Bendel Insurance the sponsors of Insurance football club of Benin City, Bendel Cement Company all in the present Edo State? What of famous Concord Hotel, Nike Resort Hotel, Premier Brewery, Star Publishing company of Enugu State, New Nigeria Press of Kaduna, Nigerian Standard of Jos, Jos Brewery Ltd, etc. Think of the Banking industry. Under the regime of Chukwuma Charles Soludo as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to save the banking industry, many of the banks had to merge to form 25 mega banks. Well, we are witnesses to what has happened to what we thought was the formidable Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Bank PHB, and others. This has been taken over by ARMCON to save the customers’ money we were told. Before then many depositors lost money in the failed Societe Generale Bank, Savanna Bank and others. Now these money generating enterprises have collapsed and here begins our worry.
Rev. Fr. Idoko is a Director of Pastoral Affairs, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria