TheCable

It is very easy to point fingers at everybody else except ourselves on what or who are the problems of Nigeria. And we are very generous in doing this. The bulk of the blames, we assign to our leaders. And that is rightfully so. However, we forget that we are all leaders in our own little ways.

Whether you are a mother, a father, a teacher, an employer of labour, a pastor, an imam, a housewife, a minister, a legislator or a governor, you are a leader. The lack of ability to internalize this fact makes many of us see the problems confronting us as that of others to solve.

Yes, some of the problems are domiciled in certain entities, so they become the ones who should lead the struggle for solutions in such matters. However, the bottom line is that we all have roles to play in our various spheres of influence.

This is where the issue of capacity or lack of it comes in. Let’s begin with security. It is true that security is of utmost importance in any society. That is why the security of lives and property is the primary responsibility of governments all over the civilized world. Governments have collapsed in different parts of the world when they are unable to secure the lives of their citizens.

As a nation, we have failed abysmally in this regard. All it takes is for you to conceive a crime in Nigeria, plan it and execute it. The chances of your being caught are minimal. It is this lack of holding people accountable for the crime they commit that has encouraged much the crime we witness in this country. Be it 419, fraud in government or private corporations, kidnapping, murder and so on.

The law enforcement agencies, especially the Police, have disappointed us with their lack of capacity. You are left to wonder whether they still gather intelligence. If they still do, we are not seeing much in terms of results. I remember when we were in the university years back, we had among the student population security agents who were also students.  As such, there was hardly anything the students were planning which the security agencies were not aware of.

Is it not lack of capacity on the part of the security agencies that enabled the growth of the kidnap “industry” in Nigeria? Many young men and women now believe that the shortest cut to making a fortune is for them to form a ring of kidnappers and go into business. The higher the net worth of their victims the better for them. We have also been regaled with stories of collaboration between some law enforcement officers and kidnappers. This is not just a case of lack of capacity, but a betrayal of trust reposed in them by the society.

The continuous sad story we hear from Southern Kaduna exposes the lack of capacity of security agencies. Let’s be clear with one fact: There will always be conflicts in all societies. Managing such conflicts is the responsibility of government and the security forces. In this case, there is  failure on the part of all concerned, including community leaders. No society can achieve its full potentials when it is perpetually at war. That is what we are having in Southern Kaduna and it is a tragedy and a big shame.

A situation in which human lives are no longer valued, where people are butchered like chickens cannot be acceptable in any decent society. When security agencies are clearly failing in their duties and there is a reluctance to revamp and reorganise them, then there is something that is clearly more than meets the eyes. And it cannot be in the national interest.

Without security of lives and property, how do you promote your tourism? If the truth must be told, this is a country that is blessed with amazing tourism potentials. From the Argungu Fishing Festival to the Durban in Kano to Yankari Game Reserve, to the beauty of the Plateau to Osun Oshogbo to the Enugu Coal mines to Obudu cattle ranch, etc, the nation is adequately blessed.  But we lack capacity to develop and maintain what we have. We also lack capacity to assure visitors that their lives are safe if they come to Nigeria, We cannot even assure our own citizens that travelling by road to different parts of the country is a safe thing to do. So what we have in Nigeria are business tourists and not tourists in the real sense of the word. We surely can do better.

Our scandalous infrastructure – be it electricity, roads, railways, etc – is also a sad reflection of our lack of capacity to put in place things that we make life comfortable for us as a people. Almost 60 years after independence, our roads are far worse than they were 40 years ago, the railway system is just being revived. Electricity supply remains a disgrace. How we expect to develop without adequate power supply beats my imagination.

Everywhere you look, the story of decay is the story of our lack of capacity. Severely hit is our educational system in which you see supposed graduates who are struggling to write a complete sentence without making a mistake. And with porous brains, they want to work in the best organisations in the land!

Sports which has brought joy to us as a people also suffer from this malaise. Remember the first and last time we won Olympics gold medals? That was in 1996. Chioma Ajunwa gave us the first gold before the Under 23 Soccer Team gave us another. Since then, we have been struggling to win medals. Our fire brigade approach to preparing for competitions is still very much with us. Long term plans are consigned to the shelves rather than being brought to the tracks and fields.

One thing that is sure is that we cannot continue on this path. Otherwise, the rest of the world will leave us behind and we will no longer be a viable country.