Politics

Why Nigeria is Retrogressing

The dream of every state is to make progress in every sphere of their livelihood as a nation. And because of this aspiration, nations are putting in place different developmental strategies to ensure advancement in the socio-economic, political and every other aspect of their lives.

Employing the tool of analyses of comparative politics, one could say that many societies have recorded tremendous increase in the standard of living of their populace. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, reverse is the case of which resulted to many asking national questions that keeps begging for answers on why Nigeria keep retrogressing. In fact, one could say that Nigeria is retrogressing at bullet speed based on the reflection of the Nigeria’s socio-economic and political reality tracing from the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era up to this current “democratic dispensation”.

Every 1st October, Nigerians celebrates her independence from external rule (the British) but, unknowing to most Nigerians that internally, Nigeria hasn’t gained independence.

How can Nigeria claim to be independent when there is no independence of the judiciary from the executive arm of the government?

How do you expect the judiciary to be the last hope of the common man when the most senior officer in the judiciary (The Chief Justice of Nigeria; C.J.N) is an appointee of the president? And is duty bound to serve the interest of his principal.

You expect the court to be independent but they waiting monthly to get paid by the executive and you think this dependency won’t affect their output?

As far as democracy is concerned, the judiciary needs both political and economic independence to deliver judiciously.

If the Independent National Electoral commission is independent as it claims, why should it be the president that would appoint the INEC chairman? And you think this won’t influence his dealings in the commission?

Traditionally, the military is apolitical and stays out of political matters but due to the fact that the Nigeria service chiefs are all appointees of the president, one of them boldly came out to say that their loyalty is to the president and not the Nigerian people. So, what do you expect from someone that can be hired and fired by the president?

The war against freedom of speech in guise of hate speech has been used by the ruling class to silence public opinion and the press from publishing the ill happenings in the government, which is why media houses are made to pay millions as fine for doing their job.

Peaceful protest has almost been criminalized such that protesters are subjected to illegal detention, harassment, and even killed by the politicized security operatives.

A Nigerian youth seen waving the Nigerian national flag in support of the ongoing protest against the unjust brutality of The Nigerian Police Force Unit named Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos on October 13, 2020.

But ideally, peaceful protest and demonstrations are one of the dividends of the democracy Nigeria claim to be practicing,

After doing the “SORO SOKE” and “WE MOVE” demonstrations, you still seat at home on Election Day refusing to go out to vote wisely then expecting things to change for good for Nigeria to progress?

Nigeria claims to be a federation but, in practice lacks the basic attribute of a federal state with no effective formula for revenue allocations.

How do you expect grass root development when the local governments aren’t autonomous? How does a federation that claims to be republican fail to constitutionalize rotational governance among the federating units?

How will Nigeria escape retrogression when as one of the poorest countries of the world, she runs a bi-cameral system of legislature at the national level; Paying billions annually to over 469 legislators both in the senate and the House of Representatives, when she can operate the unicameral system of a single house to save cost.

Before we could exhaustively comprehend where Nigeria was, where she is and where she is heading to, we need to first and foremost answer some probing questions without prejudice.

  • Does Nigerians truly love Nigeria?
  • Does Nigerians see themselves as one?
  • Does Nigerians belief in Nigeria?
  • Can Nigerians agree to die for Nigeria?

If all these answers are yes with concrete and sophisticated reasons, then Nigeria can easily retrace her footstep towards progression. But sadly, in a situation where there is a NO in any of the answers, then retrogression becomes inevitable.

It is not solely about who is in power, it is about the structure. Therefore, with the above narratives of how and why Nigeria is retrogressing it has become noticeable that the structure of Nigeria as a state is faulty.

So, no matter how competent a leader is, as long as Nigeria still maintains her existing status quo, retrogression becomes perpetual, hence the need for physical and psychological restructuring.

Mark my word; if Nigeria fails to restructure now, time will come when Nigeria will beg to be restructured.

the author
Broadcasting
I'm a public affairs analyst. Currently studying political science at Bayero University, Kano. A radio presenter at BUKFM, Kano. I believe in hardwork and self development.

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