Searching for Nigerian achievements in 2012 KAYODE KETEFE The year 2012, as usual, started on a positive note for Nigerians, not because of any empirically verifiable auspicious fundamentals of any sector of the economy or the sociocultural life, the optimism only flowed from the never-say-die optimistic Nigerian spirit- a mentality that places great faith in the assumption that future has no choice other than turning positive! The millions of churches and mosques all over the land, as always, had also contributed their patriotic quota to these benign prognostications, with their prophecies, homiletic persuasions and pacific spiritual entreaties - 2012, would certainly turn out to be fine. I can recall the famous article of late educationist and social critic, Tai Solarin, entitled "May your road be rough!" which he published in the 1960s. It drew widespread and sustained condemnation then with many people, surprisingly interpreting the statement as a curse, instead of seeing it in the intended realistic and correct perspective. The postulation by the gifted Solarin was that since human life is dogged by countless number of fortuitous occurrences embodying successes and vicissitudes, the proper mentality for facing a new year, like any other period of one's life, is to anticipate the best and prepare for the worst; that people must have an enterprising spirit that dares bitter experiences and an unquenchable mind that refuses to bow to whatever formidable challenges life brings. The article was a piece anchored on three virtuous corner pieces of Spartan work ethics, passionate self-discipline and phenomenal self-belief. But a vast majority of the people would have none of that, they could not reconcile themselves to the fact that hardship and calamity could not be wished away and that these so-called negative aspects of lives are the crucible that turns raw, naive humanity into "gold" of superlative achievements and ennobling sublimities. They would rather prefer the escapist approach that discountenances the inevitability of nasty experiences. What a simplistic reasoning! Be that as it may, the first omen that 2012 would not spare Nigeria of hardship came on the first day of the year when the Federal Government announced the removal of fuel subsidy - a measure which Nigeria has come to refer paradoxically to as New Year gift. The announcement led to the first major crisis of the year as the masses launched a "revolt" called "Occupy Nigeria" that crippled all sectors of the economy for days-on -end costing the nation an estimated N9000 billion naira. Since then, series of national hiccups, problems, disasters etc have been our lots. There was unprecedented upsurge in terrorism, kidnapping, ravages of floods, criminality and general state of insecurity while the standards of living have deteriorated at least marginally. The worrisome thing is that in spite of these upsurges of our problems in all ramifications, there is hardly a single thing one can cite as a genuine advancement on any front. Even our much vaunted average national growth rate of 7.1 per cent has slowed down. We had 7.4 per cent growth in 2011, this has reduced to 6. 3 per cent in 2012 as a result of recession in the non-oil sector, especially the agricultural sector. The other sectors most affected by the self-inflicted recession included, wholesale and retail trade, financial intermediation, real estate, business services, and construction. Even or Gross Domestic Product has reduced from the 2011 level. I stand to be corrected that there is any substantial progress in Nigeria in any sector in 2012. Maybe I am only being biased; I have refused, failed or neglected to look properly to see our wondrous achievements: We have been able to defend our territorial integrity in 2012 having ceded not a single inch of our land to external aggressors. We were able to go to the London Summer Olympic and came back (medal or no medal) without any scandal as none of our athletes tested positive to any banned substances - is that not an achievement? We have also managed to keep our nation together in spite of uncontrollable level of insecurity as evinced in kidnapping, armed robbery, and terrorism. Who says there is no prosperity in the land? Maybe the person has not been reading newspapers about the cheery news of our pastors and church leaders joining billionaires' club with some of them even acquiring private jets! Let us once again return to reality from the momentary flight to the land of humour. The consensus of vast majority of Nigerians is that the year 2012 has not ushered in any authentic advancement in their standards of life. Let no federal minister or presidential aide on this or that churn out any statistics to fool the people about any theoretical advancement in any area, any paper-work-based progress that fails to transform into tangible, experiential outcome is nothing but phantom claims. What makes the matter worse is that the prognostications for the future are, sad to say, inauspicious. Who are the optimists among us who can beat their chests that there will be reduction in the now familiar problems of hunger, unemployment, terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery and infrastructural underdevelopment in 2013? |
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment