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STATE OF THE NATION - Nigeria takes one step forward, and ten steps backward...

I just came back from Nigeria. I traversed the length and breadth of the nation a bit in my three-week stay. Something is different about the country compared to when I visited last year....


The people are more desperate...
Hunger has increased astronomically....
The gap between the haves and have-nots has further widened...
You feel impunity in the air... You see police collecting bribes openly like we have not seen since the Shagari era in 1983... There are more law enforcement agents on the roads now, yet the crime rate has not abated... You see VIO, Road Safety, State Law enforcers, the Police, everywhere mounting illegal roadblocks...

I heard things from those close to the seat of power about those who hold the reins of power, and I weep for Nigeria - it is beyond disheartening... Projects are being abandoned because a significant portion has been given as bribes to government officials like governors and ministers, including major monarchs - they all collect money for projects in their domain... Nobody questions contractors when they deliver subpar projects or leave them uncompleted because they have collected bribes on them. Nigeria has returned to the era before the military coup of 1983... Politicians are abusing the power of governance without regard to the electorate...

Things are astronomically expensive, yet salaries have more or less stagnated... The purchasing power of ordinary Nigerians, especially civil servants, particularly those at the state level, has diminished, and people are living hand-to-mouth again...

And I wonder... the stock market is doing well, but only those who have money can invest... The middle class that drives the economy is decimated...

Some states are doing their best because they are in the opposition - states like Oyo state... the quality of the constructed roads is top notch... I see this too with some Federal roads...e.g., Ife-Ibadan road is now being reconstructed with a concrete base to replace the so-called newly constructed one by RCC that did not last more than a few years...I saw same on Shagamu road that leads to Ayepe...

The panhandling at the airports has reduced, and the international wing is a bit improved... only that there was no tunnel to convey passengers out of the plane from an international flight from a country like the U.S.

The nation is becoming a one-party state of mostly thieves who steal the nation's wealth with impunity, who are converging from the opposition... the wealth of the nation, aside from artisans and private practitioners, is in the hands of a few people close to the seat of power... they leave crumbs for the rest of the people...

I hope Nigerians will go out and vote in the next presidential election in 2027... 25% turnout rate will make rigging easy for these thieves... The power of democracy belongs to the people, not some godfather who thinks the rest of Nigerians are idiots who can not determine their leaders and their future... If we do not want the nation to degenerate into violence, or we do not want the military to return, we need to stand up as a people to participate in the electoral process en masse.

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