The commentary below is one of hundreds of contributions to "Nigeria, What Next?", allAfrica.com's debate on the best way forward for Africa's most populous nation after April '03's contested election.
It is funny that Salihu Zarma [another contributor] should mention that Nigerians are not celebrating. I ask him what should they celebrate, the fact that God has been so kind not to hand them over to the worst of two evils?
I remember there was a time Nigeria had an exchange rate of 45 kobo to $US1.00, Obasanjo was head of state back then and things were not so bad, in fact, one could say the future looked rosy until Shagari and his boys wrecked it all.
The military came in under the guise of repairing the situation and if anyone with a memory can remember, they really tried; but you had Nigerians complaining loudly as usual and before you could say "coup", there was Babangida and his boys announcing to us that he was effectively our new manager of state!
Things were not so bad in 1984 when Buhari and his boys managed the state but by the time Babangida and his boys were finished with us, our moral fiber had been ripped apart, our economy survived only because Nigerians went abroad in droves to prevent mass starvation of our loved ones, our beloved country Nigeria had become one of the most corrupt on earth and I know for a fact that is no propaganda.
There is a saying that those who the gods want to kill, they first make crazy. By the time Babangida and his boys were finished with us, we were on the verge of insanity but he managed to pacify us with Shonekan and we all thought things would "hopefully" get better. Deep down, we knew we were only hoping against hope and soon enough, Abacha and his boys were the new managers of state.
This is enough to drive any society crazy but Nigerians are special, they are the true Jobs of this world, adversity bounces off them like teflon. Abacha showed us true dictatorship, his predecessors had only been practice rounds (from the first ever coup in Nigeria to Abacha's), he was not only brutal, but he seemed to thrive on cruelty. Unfortunately for Abacha, Nigerians by this time had found their faith and soon enough, God answered their prayers. Once again, God has given Nigeria a chance to lay a solid foundation for the future generations of Nigerians to come, and once again, it seems we might just blow it with our childish complaints and myopia.
For those too young to remember, this is our true third republic having blown two previous opportunities. The reason they imploded are the same being bandied around once again by anarchy hawkers and social parasites that want nothing good for ordinary Nigerians as long as they and theirs are okay.
They will complain and make all sort of crude noises hoping for a state of total anarchy so they can ask their mercenaries in the military to intervene to save the country. If Nigerians let this happen again, they deserve whatever fate befalls them and I will campaign hard for those abroad not to support them in anyway or shape.
The cost to those abroad is heavy financially, socially, culturally, and emotionally and if the other party to our covenant (Nigerians at home will fight hard for a better future, and we abroad will work very hard to do our best to support them financially) can't keep their part of the deal, maybe we should just terminate the covenant and see how long Nigerians can really last without our support.
Nigerians abroad should realise that we hold a great amount of political power in our wallets and we should find a way to turn it into political leverage. We should let Nigerians back home know that we will start practicing a policy of "No Political participation, no support".
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Those back home can't be our friends if their wish is for us to remain exiles forever, we should let them know point-blank that we will hold them responsible when we get back home and it's business as usual, we should let them know that if we are going to be sweating off our butts abroad, we'd like some kind of social compensation back home, that we expect them to put any trivial grievances away and work hard towards laying a solid foundation for Nigeria.
We should also let these old guard corrupt politicians know that we don't want them to build the house, we just want them to do a good bricklayer's job and lay a solid foundation. Obasanjo should not be in a rush to undertake any ambitious projects, he should just get our laws respected, and enforced. If he tries anything without doing the above, it would be a gargantuan waste of time.
Taofik Onasanya, Canada
23 Apr 2003
