by The political platform presented to the electorate by the President-elect of the federal republic of Nigeria, no doubt, is a robust document intended to bring the country out of developmental doldrums but adding the intangibles which indeed are germane to the well being of Nigerians and other residents is the intention of this piece.
Long years of structural violence unleashed by succeeding governments has elevated aberrations to norms which if not reversed would continue to indict any government no matter how sincere its intention.
Collapse of family values:
Though it has always been present since the country gained independence, its real effect started in the second republic due to the immorality of the second republic governments especially the government at the center, it became an unwritten policy under the Dictatorship headed by Ibrahim Babangida when the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Program, SAP, assumed undesired consequences’ The paradigm shift led to the collapse of the family structure when breadwinners are unable to cope with inflation that defeated earnings.
As the retrogression continued and sustained, the nucleus family imploded and for lack of cohesion, the system became a virus that was eating deep into every social fabric. Before our eyes, we added several novel but negative words to the world lexicon; “419” or “Advance fee fraud”, “drug trafficking”, “yahoo-yahoo”, “yahoo plus”, “special center examination writing”, “Area boys” among many other negative tendencies with devastating consequences on the psyche of our country and her people.
A soundly wrought nucleus family policy is one of the intangibles the Tinubu presidency should work on for the long years of neglect. Mothers should be supported with federal cash for maximum of four biological children under age 18. The BVN must be verified evidence and details of birth must be two strict conditions to become a beneficiary.
It is in the DNA of some Nigerians to abuse privileges and rights. Every potential beneficiary must be made to swear on oath on the veracity of their claim. Whoever is found guilty of fraud in the process should be made to serve a prison sentence without an option of fine.
Health is wealth; in addition to the above, the Tinubu presidency should liaise with the insurance companies to support a robust comprehensive insurance policy on health routed through the state and local governments so that none is left out in healthcare delivery
Rule of Law and the sanctity of human freedom and dignity: It is a big shame that the country have always had women legislators in all cadres of legislative assemblies since the return to democratic government 1999. They are spouses and they are mothers. Whatever efforts they have made in terms of abuse and defilement of female minors and adult seem not enough. Many adults and young girls are suffering in silence and dealing with the trauma of varying degrees of sexual assaults, harassments and rape. Few lecturers have been made as scapegoats, but the few punished represents the actual population of offending lecturers, teachers and handlers? The answer is No. The incoming administration should do holistic assessment of this absurdity and find the moral courage to craft a soundly wrought policy thrust to discourage and punish verifiable infractions of the past.
Seeming Dalliance with the deplorable elements:
The love for the President-elect should not blindfold the truth about what many perceive as a dalliance with or a promotion of unwholesome acts of a multitude of vagrants. It smacks of common sense that the deplorable live everyday as if it is bank holiday. They are the cynosures of eyes at every celebrity’s get together either for landmark activity or birthdays. The temptation for coming generations to emulate their lifestyle is real especially in this era of social media where real happenings are the shenanigans of the deplorable; they spend money as if they print money. The cacophony of it all is that those who are supposed to be the enforcers of the law are the actually those who give them teeth to bite and hurt. It stands logic on its feet that responsible and productive citizens are those who are actually at the receiving end of paradigm shift from honesty, hard work and decency to brute force, extortions and ostentatious way of living full of noise without substance. To win the hearts of doubters, a hard and tough decision on these social misfits is a desideratum. An elevation of the status quo or indifference about it validates the resentments, anger and suspicions of many which are justifiable.
Identity Crisis:
This author is a strong believer in “Yank me of my language and you have yanked me of my identity.” Unbeknown to many, those road side artisans are potential engineers. One continues to wonder why the two most influential Books; the Quran and The Bible are interpreted into so many languages and books of mathematics, physics, Biology and many others are not interpreted into most African languages. Could there have been a deliberate, systematic and systemic efforts in this direction aimed at a scientific and technological disequilibrium among the developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries of the world? Can we not fashion out a new order of doing things to suit our peculiarity?
This writer watched with awe recently when a guest was introduced as “Engineer XYZ on Live Show by a major television station on a topic about persistent building collapse in Nigeria station. Despite the topicality and the importance of the topic, what irked the guest was the introduction of him that omitted “Doctor” after he had been addressed as Engineer. The guest wasted air time contesting his title. This is the absurdity in Nigeria. We love titles whether academic or chieftaincy even though we cannot justify the spirit behind the titles.
It is high time we realized the harm we have done to ourselves by losing our identity rooted in language. Why should there be mass failure in core sciences if the subjects and courses had been adapted in local languages? Adopting local catchment area language as primary learning language and English or other elective language as secondary is long overdue if we are desirous in catching up with the world in technology and other core science oriented courses. What is Amoeba in Yoruba? What is Spirogyra in Igbo? What is Osmosis in Hausa? What is H20 in Effik? It is high time we refused to be made inferior by our own consent.
We have been naturally endowed not to have winter and extreme cold weather but because we must show status and class, we must wear jacket and tie in an inclement weather. No be Juju be that? Lol. Should a lawyer spearhead the campaign that the donning of wig should be discontinued during court sessions; lawyers themselves shall be the greatest antagonists. Is it the wig and the black robe won on top of the jacket at court rooms that wins cases or the sagacity and facts of law of an attorney? Are we saying without the cassock or cloak, prayers of a Christian and of Muslim clerics will not be answered? We need a paradigm shift in this old order of doing things if truly we are desirous of getting out of the doldrums of copy and paste.
Hunger in the land:
The Tinubu presidency should declare a state of emergency on hunger. There is serious hunger in the land. A hungry man, they say is an angry man. Virtually everybody is edgy. Parents are finding it very difficult to feed their family. We need to see our kids feed well. They must be happy.
Yes, come May 29, 2023, a new government shall come in place. Nigerians have bought not only into the “Renewed Hope” Election Platform of the President- elect but also in his attribute as a rebel with a cause. This piece is aimed at capturing the intangibles which indeed matter a lot in the life of the citizens
