Nigeria’s poor socio-economic performance, human rights abuses, widespread poverty, insecurity, corruption, and lack of trust in the political system have led to disenchantment amongst the electorate, especially the youth who make up 51% of the 84 million registered voters. This matters in a fast-growing population of over 200 million, with more than 60% of people under 25.

There can be two possible effects from such disenchantment on voter turn-out in the 2023 elections; it can motivate high turn-out in which people demand better governance or lead to apathy and low turn-out. It is expected that the high stakes at play will mobilize the former. There is a need for people to participate in choosing political leaders who will serve the public’s interest and promote good governance.

While fighting poverty by a government is an integral aspect of security measures, lack of security of life is another pressing issue that can necessitate prompt intervention. And going by what transpires at the moment, the national security threat has been a major issue for the Nigerian government in recent years.

At the core of Nigeria’s systemic failure is the crisis of governance, which manifests in the declining capacity of the state to cope with a range of internal political and social upheavals. There is an expectation for political leaders to recognize systemic risks such as terrorist attacks, herder-farmer conflict, and police brutality and put in place the necessary infrastructure to gather relevant data for problem-solving. But the insufficiency of political savvy required to navigate the challenges that Nigeria faces has unleashed unrest across the nation and exacerbated existing tensions. The #ENDSARS Protests against police brutality in 2020 is one of the manifestations of bad governance.

The spiral of violence in northern Nigeria in which armed bandits engage in deadly planned attacks on communities, leading to widespread population displacement, has become another grave security challenge that has sharpened regional polarization. Because some public servants are usually unaware of the insecurities faced by ordinary Nigerians, they lack the frame of reference to make laws that address the priorities of citizens. The crisis of governance is accentuated by a democratic culture that accords less importance to the knowledge and competence that political leaders can bring to public office. These systemic challenges have bred an atmosphere of cynicism and mistrust between citizens and political leaders at all levels of government.

Political elites in Nigeria also exploit poverty and illiteracy to mobilize voters with food items such as rice, seasoning, and money. The rice is usually packaged strategically with the image of political candidates and the parties they represent. The assumption is that people are more likely to vote for a politician who influences them with food than one who only brings messages of hope. The practice of using food to mobilize voters is commonly described as “stomach infrastructure” politics.

Therefore, it can be said that Nigeria needs a new model of governance in which political leadership is based on the knowledge and competence of both political leaders and the electorate. One recommended solution is to establish what political philosopher Jason Brennan refers to as epistocracy, which is a system of governance in which the votes of politically informed citizens should count more than the less informed. For Justin Klocksiem, epistocracy represents a political system in which political power rests exclusively on highly educated citizens. This idea drew its philosophical influence from John Stuart Mill, who believed that the eligibility to vote should be accorded to individuals who satisfy certain educational criteria. The notion that educational attainment should be the prerequisite for the electorate to choose their leaders as proposed by Brennan, Klocksiem, and Mill is an important proposition that should be taken seriously.

However, we cannot ignore that such thinking originates from societies where civic education is high and the electorate can make informed choices about leadership. In Nigeria, the majority of citizens are uneducated on political issues. Simultaneously, those who are highly educated are increasingly becoming indifferent to political participation; they have lost faith in the power of their votes and the integrity of the political system. For an epistocratic system to work in Nigeria, there must be significant improvements in literacy levels so that citizens are educated about the issues and can use their knowledge to make informed decisions about Nigeria’s political future.

The post Bad Governance and Poor Political Selection in Nigeria appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

While the nation is battling to save its economy from a further dip in its fortunes as  the Nigeria economy for the first time in three years suffered a major setback. The Nigerian economy was recorded to have shrunk in the second quarter of the Gross Domestic Product by 6.10 per cent. The Federal government of Nigeria will have to employ more drastic measure to avert another major crisis which is heading its way in the nation’s health sector as a large number of doctors are set to exit the country once the ban on international flights is lifted this week.

Based on the observations and findings from the data provided by the United Kingdom’s Council, it was observed that the numbers of Nigerian Doctors migrating to the United Kingdom increased by almost on hundred between July and August despite the restriction on international flights.

It was revealed that after the re-opening of the British High Commission a month ago, a large numbers of Nigerian Doctors had obtained visas and had left even though the restriction on international flights had not been lifted as international flights is expected to resume in the country on Saturday.

It will be recalled that the Nigerian Immigration Service had in July prevented 58 Nigerian doctors from leaving the shores of the country for the United Kingdom.

Recently, as the world prepares for Post Covid realities; the United Kingdom introduced a Health and Care Visa Policy which makes it easier affordable and faster for healthcare professionals to move to the United Kingdom.

It was revealed in an interview conducted on one of the 58 Nigerian Doctors who were prevented from leaving Nigeria for the United Kingdom, he stated that, he does not know the numbers of people among them who has left the country, but he is currently living in the United Kingdom.

Adding to this, the First Vice-President of the National Association of Resident Doctors, Dr Julian Ojebo revealed that about 4000 doctors might leave Nigeria between the months of August to the end of the year.  She explained that the poor treatment of doctors and the unfavorable working conditions they are been made to face in Nigeria made migration almost inevitable. According to her, ‘A lot of resident doctor are leaving. They have all got jobs in Saudi. The only thing stopping them is the Covid-19 and the flight ban… We are going to have over 4,000 doctors leaving now and December. She added that the situation in Nigeria is so bad as many of the Nigerian  doctors are leaving the shores of Nigeria for other African states which many will consider to be way smaller than Nigerian in terms of economical wits.

It is no new feature within the Nigerian nation to seeing professionals across various sectors leaving the country for nations that pays more for their services, the incessant strike actions within the Nigerian health sector is enough prove that doctors in Nigeria are finding the working condition within the Nigerian nation quite unfavorable for them to operate. Inadequate health facilities, the inadequate numbers of doctors in the Nigerian hospitals and health clinic, inability of the government to fully pay its health workers without owing them and many other challenges been faced by the Nigerian doctors.

The federal government of Nigeria must ensure that this looming tragedy is averted else the consequences may turn out to be disastrous. The world is currently battling the onslaught of the covid-19 and many of the nations of the world are prioritizing their health sector, putting in various infrastructures to ensure the qualitative working of the health workers. There is already a major strain on the world health sector and Nigeria is not left out of this. If there is any time that the Nigerian Government needs to take good care of the welfare of its health workers, there has never been a time better than this.

The demands of the Nigerian doctors must be critically look into and must be provided, the Nigerian doctors are protesting inadequate personal protective equipment, poor remuneration, shortage of doctors, lack of adequate infrastructure, consumables and non-payment of life insurance for the doctors. These are the basic things needed by doctors to facilitate an effective working, the Federal government must ensure that as part of its efforts to revamp its primary health care sector across the nation, it must ensure that its doctors are well treated else we find ourselves in a ugly situation of saying goodbyes to the best of our medical personnel in Nigeria.

By Marcus Amudipe

The post Mass Exodus of Doctors looms as international flight resumes appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

Reading the speech of the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari today 26^TH of August 2020, the Vice President of the nation Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN, decried the terribly slow pace of the justice administration in the Nigerian law courts. The president citing from his own personal experiences recanted how long it took the courts to decide and eventually dismiss the election petition which he filed to challenge the results of the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections in Nigeria. According to him, this ugly trend has created a negative image for the Nigerian Judicial system adding that the system needs an urgent reform.

This statement was made at the 60^th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association which was themed, “Stepping Forward” in his words as extracted from the Punch Newspaper, “At the end, I lost all three cases. I wondered then, why it needed to take so long to arrive at a verdict and if I had won the case, someone who did not win the election would have been in the office all that time. “

“In 2019, I was no longer petitioner; I had now become a respondent in the case of Atiku and Buhari and the whole process took barely six months. What was the difference? The law had changed since my own in 2003, 2007, and 2011. You had introduced time limits for election petitions. Everything must be done within a six to eight-month period. My question then is why can’t we have a time limit for criminal cases?  Why can’t we have a rule that will say a criminal trial all the way to the Supreme Court must not exceed 12months? And why can’t we do the same for civil cases? Even if we say that civil cases must not go beyond   12 and 15 months. I think that for me is stepping forward.

The president was also reported to have spoken against the delivery of conflicting and contradicting orders by the judges, saying that the ruling All Progressive Congress in its recent leadership crises had about eight conflicting court rulings which did a lot to intensify the leadership crisis in the party.

No doubt, the Nigerian Judicial system is in a dire need of a reform that will see to the restoration of the institution to that of an ideal system devoid of so many irregularities. The seemingly long period of time taken to completely deliver judgments or rulings on various criminal cases in Nigeria, some cases takes as long as two to three years before the Nigerian court arrives at a verdict and in these cases some of the accused persons are usually locked up in jail till a verdict is delivered.

Also the various instances of the court giving out different verdicts have gone a long way in discrediting the institution. There is no uniformity of decisions within the system leaving a wide porous gap which is easily manipulated by people especially politicians to find their way out of a legal ruling which is not to their favor.

By Marcus Amudipe

The post Buhari advocates a 12-month time limit for criminal cases appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

The journalist identified as Eyo0Charles asked the former minister of Aviation that who is bankrolling you. The question was asked in reaction to the tour of Femi FaniKayode which has seen him visited six Nigerian states where he has been monitoring some of the federal government projects.

As shown in the video of the interview, Femi was shown to have responded angrily at the reporter, in his words,” Do you know who you are talking to? What type of insulting question is that?  Who can give me money for anything? Who do you think that you are talking to? Go and report yourself to your publisher. I could see from your face before you got here, how stupid you are. Don’t ever talk to me like that. Who do you think you are talking to? Bankroll who? You think I am one of those ones you… from who, when, how? You have a small mind, very small mind.”

While Nigerians have taken to the social media pages and other media outlets to state their opinion regarding the issue with many not obviously impressed with the utterances of the former minister of aviation, for a man who is on a tour visiting some Nigerian states in a bid to check some of the governments projects in his bid to demand accountability from them, his reaction to the simple question asked him is an outright disengagement from what he is truly fighting for which is accountability from the government.

Femi FaniKayode however took to his twitter page to apologize for his actions, an apology which Nigerians have faulted as he only apologized for using the word stupid on the journalist instead of apologizing for the totality of his actions. For a man like Femi FaniKayode who is not only a politician but one who can be considered an elder state man in Nigeria, a more exemplary character and behavioral pattern is expected from him.

This incident is a mirror reflecting the state of our society, the pathetic ills of social stratification   which has divided the Nigerian community in which the rich and privileged looks down and makes a mere meal of those below them. It mirrors and reflects the ills of a society whose leadership structure is built on a structure where leaders think that they cannot be held accountable or questioned by people they think are higher than them.  It brings to remembrance the famous slogan has been used in the book animal farm by George Orwell in which the animals adopted the slang, “all animals are equal” but along the line this was changed to, “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others”.

We live in a society where lecturers in various Nigerian Tertiary institutions treat students with disdain and contempt,  a society where bosses at work attaches no respect in dealing with their subordinates at work.  The case of Femi Fani-Kayode is just one among a thousands more cases in Nigeria.

This is also a clarion call to the media sector to give more facelift to their personnel, the way you dress is the way you will be addressed they often say.  Politicians or other figures will definitely find it hard to disrespect the media men when they are well dressed with impressive physical attributes. This is not to posit that the said reporter involved in this scenario is not well dressed. However we cannot deny the fact that the media industry needs a major facelift and revamp which will go a long way in creating respect of the media men from the public and not merely see them as casual workers who are hunting for stories on empty stomach around.

Adding to this, media personnel must ensure that it embrace and engages members of the public using the approved modus operandi of engagements in their field of work. The row with Femi FaniKayode would have been avoided if the reporter had used a statement which is less capable of drawing a negative response or been misinterpreted. Instead of, “Who is bankrolling you?” the statement, “how are you bankrolling your trips” could have been better and less provocative.

By Marcus Amudipe

The post Who is bankrolling you? appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

The incessant cases of industrial strikes  which has become a culture, a major experience which students across all levels of the Nigerian academic set-up  now braces up to experience.  The average number of years expected of the Nigerian student is four years, however the usual four years duration as often been seen by many as a makeshift one as the sole determiner of the numbers of years which students are expected to spend in the University is mostly dependent on the numbers of industrial strike actions that are been encountered during the course of the student academic sojourn.

Just as the Nigerian nation battled the onslaught of Covid-19 in the nation as well as other nations of the world, it was also battling the month long industrial strike action which was embarked by the members of the Academic Staff Union [ASUU].

Coming on from the recent statement released by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Biodun Ogunyemi stated that the association is ready to stay true to its vow to sustain its ongoing strike action until the Federal government of Nigeria accedes to its demands, accepting and implanting them without leaving out one.

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Biodun Ogunyemi, stated this at the University of Port Harcourt on Saturday during its interactive session with critical stakeholders, meant to provide public enlightenment on the struggles of the union.

As reported on the Punch Newspaper, Ogunyemi stated that the association is not just bent on arranging strike whenever they feel like as the purpose of this strike is to demand from the Federal Government to implement its 2012 universities need

“Students who are our children and partners in progress should show understanding, what we are asking from the government is in their interest and the interest of the nation, good hostel accommodation, good classroom blocks that can engender effective learning, laboratories where cutting edge research can be carried out and offices that can drive the process of quality university education.”

“So, what we are asking of the government are not baseless things, but those things that in 2012, the government conducted during a needs assessment survey and found out that there are widespread rot and decay in the university system, we asking that the government implement its own report of 2012.”

Ogunyemi also added that it was saddening that Nigerian university lecturers were still receiving the same salary scale of 2009 in 2020, stressing that the sad reality must be addressed before ASUU would suspend its ongoing strike action.

“Salary issues are still there, we have not fully addressed that, it appears that some forces in government are bent on suffering our members by withholding their salaries. But we believe that once we sort out the issues of Universities Transparency and Accountability Solution, other issues will fall in place.”

“The 2009 agreement we had with government stipulates that that agreement would be reviewed every three years, but since then, we have not been able to review the salary scale and that is why we are saying that the negotiation we started with the government in 2017 ought to have been completed and with the completion of that negotiation process.”

“A new salary scale should be in place and we are insisting that the process is completed before this ongoing strike is suspended among other things.”

Examining the positions and demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, while many might have  accused them of been inconsiderate with their various cases of ending strikes action, the members of the general public might come to realize their pans and their plight. Just like every other Nigerian worker, they deserve a good working condition in their various universities. These are individuals who have overcome various educational hurdles just to be where they are, even as they dedicate their lives to impacting knowledge to the younger and coming generation of Nigerians. The Federal government must see it a necessity to ensure that the welfare of this set of people are well taken care of and that they are working in a conducive environment.

Comparing the salary scale of university lecturers in the state to that of other nations around, and what it lawmakers earn.  It is however important for the Federal government to see to it that the demands of the ASUU are met.

By Amudipe Marcus

The post Strike continues until FG meets our demand – ASUU appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

One of the major campaign promises of President Muhammadu Buhari is the curtailing of the various insecurities issues that has been ravaging the nation in the past few years.

According to a recent report on the Punch Newspaper which is a leading Nigerian Newspaper reported that bandits have killed 1,126 villagers in Nigeria between January and June 2020. This report was based on a finding by the Amnesty International, according to them the most affected villages in southern kaduna where armed men killed at least 366 people in multiple attacks between January and July.

The organization revealed that it was able to gather its information through an interview session which it conducted among people in the area, from the interviewed civilians in Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Taraba and Zamfara its revealed that the people living in the stated areas has been living in intense fear of attacks and kidnap as the cases of insecurities has soar higher in the rural areas.

According to a report signed by its Director, Osai Ojigho, on Sunday stated that   “The Nigerian authorities have left the rural communities at the mercy of rampaging gunmen, who have killed at least 1,126 people in the North of the country since January,” Amnesty also pointed out that many of those interviewed described how security forces often arrived hours after attacks had ended, even when officers had been given information about impending attacks.

“During one attack in Unguwan Magaji in Kaduna State, security forces arrived at the scene but left when they saw the sophisticated ammunition the attackers were using. By the time they returned, at least 17 people had been killed,” the report added.

Amnesty international pointed out that according to many of those interviewed they stated that the security forces has not been doing much to curtail the ugly situation as they are always found of arriving at the venue of the attacks hours later after the attack had ended, they also stated that even when the security operatives has already been briefed about impending attacks they would always come late, failing in their duties to protect and defend the people.

As stated by one of those interviewed as reported on the Punch Newspaper “During one attack in Unguwan Magaji in Kaduna State, security forces arrived at the scene but left when they saw the sophisticated ammunition the attackers were using. By the time they returned, at least 17 people had been killed,” the report added.

Amnesty added that at least, 77 people had been killed since January 2020 in the ongoing communal clashes between the Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups in Taraba State.

The organization said on May 28, 2020, at least 74 people were reportedly killed in Sokoto State, when gunmen attacked four villages in the Sabon Birni Local Government Area.

“According to witnesses interviewed by Amnesty International in Kaduna, Plateau and Katsina states, the attacks are well coordinated. Attackers stormed villages on motorcycles and heavily armed. They shoot sporadically at people, set houses on fire, steal cattle, destroy farm produce and abduct villagers for ransom,” the report read in part.

The Governor of Kaduna  Nasir El-Rufai according to Amnesty international was reported to have imposed a 24-hour curfew in the affected areas on two months ago, however despite this development the cases of insecurities in these areas has continued to go unabated.

A further 22 people were reported killed when gunmen suspected to be herders attacked four communities in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of the state on August 6.
The Nigerian nation cannot thrive and develop when its people constantly live in fear of insecurities and incessant attacks.  While the nation is plagued with so many challenges over the years since its inception as a sovereign state, it is however important for the government to do an effective brainstorming to bring the nation’s defense to a standard and level where they will be effectively capable of curtailing this ugly trend.  The Nigerian nation has lost enough of its citizens to the various cases of insecurities across its states, if this ugly trend is not curtailed, the nation could see its numbers reduce greatly over the various cases of insecurities in the nation.

The Buhari led administration must continue to ensure that it effects a positive change in the nation’s defense structure. The army must be fully equipped and motivated to fight these bandits and terrorist.

By Amudipe Marcus

The post Bandits claim 1,126 Nigerians lives- Amnesty appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

The world has largely relied on IT in recent months to be able to sustain a good level of economic and government activities. According to several recruitment companies in Nigeria, enquiries about IT jobs in Nigeria have increased significantly in recent months. Also, recent graduates with some work experience in Lagos are beginning to show more interest in switching to  IT career in Nigeria because IT is one of the few industries that allowed many staff to work from home during COVID-19 lockdown.

Truth be told, the post-corona world will continue to practice significant social distancing and will allow many workers to work from home. This will continue to increase the need for technologies and will ultimately create additional job opportunities in the IT and telecom industries.

The top job websites in Nigeria are also focusing a lot on IT in recent times because even small companies are hiring IT specialists in order to enhance their operations through technology. Through better use of IT, financial, entertainment, and medical practices are growing their businesses around the world. In the same vein, Nigerian companies have significantly increased their use of IT in recent months and this will remain the norm for a long time. According to the #1 IT recruitment agency in Nigeria – Delon Jobs, despite the looming economic crisis, IT jobs in the next five years in Nigeria will likely double the amount of IT jobs created in Nigeria within the last five years. This is because though many companies will downsize a lot in terms of human resources, several of them will have to utilize more technology to get more work done. Relying more on technologies will enhance the need for IT specialists and employers will do more of IT recruitment in Nigeria than ever before.

Before I continue with my article, I like to answer a popular question in many people’s minds related to the highest paying IT jobs in Nigeria through a simple infographic estimate of the top 15 highest paying IT jobs in Nigeria, as estimated by Delon Jobs.

Highest Paying IT Jobs in Nigeria

If you have carefully gone through the infographic picture above on the top paying IT jobs in Nigeria, you would have learnt a little about fifteen out of the several fields of IT in Nigeria today.

IT Jobs in Lagos

As at June 2020, software development is currently the most sought-after category of jobs in the IT industry in Lagos. This is perhaps because there is a higher demand for them than any of the other high-paying IT jobs in Nigeria. Lagos employers are paying high salaries because there is scarcity of experienced software developers in the country. So whenever software developer jobs in Nigeria positions are posted on job portals, the positions do not get filled up quickly except the new employer is willing to pay a decent amount. This industry is therefore currently a seller’s market.

Top Job Website in Nigeria

If you visit the current #1 job website in Nigeria – jobs.delon.ng that is focused a lot on IT jobs, you will always find different types of software developer positions that remain unfilled for many weeks. This clearly shows there is a growing demand which is not sufficiently matched with adequate supply at the moment. There are many types of jobs associated with software development. I will discuss a few of them as follows.

UI UX Designer Jobs in Nigeria

User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) job is the first type I like to talk about. It is a very uncommon type of job in the software development industry in Nigeria because the industry is not currently putting a lot of value on it. It is however unfortunate that most companies end up spending more time and money fixing poorly created software because they did not devote adequate time on the initial UI/UX design before the development team started coding. No matter how gifted and experienced your software coding team is, they will always run into problems if the UI/UX was not perfectly done at the beginning.

UI/UX requires a lot of collaboration with the customer and the challenge is that some customers do not even want to exercise the required patience to go through this process. They always want the software developers to start coding quickly in order to get the product ready on time. But it is the responsibility of the software development company to explain in detail to the customer the need for proper UI/UX work before coding. I predict that there will be many new job opportunities for UI/UX designers in Nigeria in the next five years.

Quality Assurance Jobs in Nigeria

Quality Assurance (QA) engineers are also not often talked about in the Nigeria software development industry. Yet it is perhaps one of the major reasons why software products from the West tend to be less devoid of problems than local software products. Local software products in Nigeria will become much more successful when QA is taken more seriously. So if you are a recent engineering graduate that loves coding but do not really have the flair or skills in coding, QA is a good area to consider as there will be more jobs related to QA in the next few years.

Cyber Security Jobs in Nigeria

A cyber security engineer creates and executes secure network solution against cyber-attacks and hackers. It is a rapidly growing field in Nigeria’s financial sector, but there will be growing needs for cyber security engineers in government, oil & gas, online marketplace, as well as insurance in the next few years. Cyber security experts are still very few in Nigeria, but it is a good area to explore as a student or recent graduate. It will continue to be a high-paying job in Nigeria.

Software Developer Jobs in Nigeria

Software development today includes mobile app developers, web app developers, and desktop app developers. But because of the advent of cloud computing and massive growth of mobile technologies around the world, the need for mobile and web developers has increased. So people talk more about mobile and web development in many companies. But Nigerian companies continue to require inhouse software developers to help with several customization work on their off-the-shelf software, there will always be need for traditional core software developers in Nigeria for the next five years.

Cloud Engineer Jobs in Nigeria

Cloud and infrastructure engineers now work closely with software developers to handle the infrastructure end of development. Cloud engineers assess existing physical infrastructure of a business, or requirement, and determines solutions for moving different functions (e.g. database storage) to a cloud-based system. And they set up and maintain the system. They are like the link between software developers and the hardware infrastructure. Because of the huge cost of maintaining physical datacenter infrastructure in Nigeria (power supply, safety, etc), many Nigerian companies will embrace cloud computing more in the next five years. The challenge however is the internet bandwidth and reliability. If we get our internet reliable, more and more companies will trust the technology and it will create jobs for cloud engineers.

Data Engineer Jobs in Nigeria

Then we have the data engineers (sometimes called data scientists) who can venture in several sub-areas including big data specialists, artificial intelligence, etc. It is an emerging field in Nigeria, but I am concerned that the professionals in the sub-industry talk more about the processing side than acquisition. There is very little data available in Nigeria. We do not even know our population, real unemployment rate, etc. I predict much lower growth in this area over the next five years than the ones I described earlier.

Project Manager Jobs in Nigeria

Project managers, scrum masters, product managers, product owners, agile coach and software development managers are management or business-related roles associated with software development. They perform best when they have technical background but there are also many efficient managers without technical background. There have always been project managers in Nigeria, but the growth will come from the new agile frameworks. More companies will hire scrum masters, product owners and agile coaches over the next five years.

Network Engineer Jobs in Nigeria

Moving away from software development, we have network engineers that were the most sought-after engineers in the early 2000s. Companies used to pay a lot to hire top network specialists but that is not happening anymore. This is mainly because the supply has increased a lot and has matched demands or in fact exceeded regular demands.

Though these positions are no longer as glamorous as they were in the past, they will always be required in Nigeria. It is easier to become a network engineer than a software developer, so I encourage IT students to continue to include network engineering as a viable career option.

IT Support Engineer Jobs in Nigeria

This title is often used for IT professionals handling hardware support, basic server administration, small inhouse networks, UPS, and inverters, among others. It is perhaps the oldest IT role in Nigeria that is gradually fading away. These roles will continue to disappear within the next five years.

Engineering Jobs in Nigeria

The most related engineering jobs to IT is power engineers or electrical engineers in Nigeria. Companies require UPS, batteries, inverters, generators to maintain their IT infrastructure. IT specialists are not trained to handle these. So there will continue to be opportunities for electrical engineers in the IT industry over the next five years. Beyond IT, the expected growth in the power industry will create many jobs for electrical engineers in Nigeria for the next ten years or more.

Getting IT Jobs in Nigeria

So what is required to produce adequate number of IT specialists that will match the upcoming surge in IT jobs in Nigeria? The simple answer is that Nigeria has to produce more qualified people.

Acquiring IT skills and education used to very expensive and exclusive, but that is no longer the case. You do not need to go to a top public university or an expensive private university in order to become an expert in any IT field of your choice.

I was interviewing several people recently for a senior software engineer position, and the top two candidates were HND holders. Ordinarily, they would have been disqualified from the hiring process because the requirement was bachelor’s degree, but because we decided not to screen out HND holders, we found them. Every company providing top IT recruitment service in Nigeria will not screen IT candidates based on the university or polytechnic you attended because they know that does not play any role at this time. They focus on your skills and ability to adapt to the new employer’s work environment.

Internship Jobs in Nigeria

If you are interested in the IT industry as a student, you should spend time reading a lot about the different fields of IT, learn a lot about them, evaluate them in terms of job opportunities in Nigeria and your personal academic ability.

In order to determine what IT fields are hiring a lot in Nigeria at the moment, you can do some google research or regularly visit websites of the top IT recruitment and outsourcing companies in Nigeria to update yourself about the IT employment market. While searching for different types of IT jobs, you will see several different types of IT jobs, including some of the ones I described earlier. You should study all those job types and try to narrow down to your top three or five which you may end up building your career plan around in future.

I like to provide some advice to recent graduates of IT-related courses in Nigeria who have little skills in IT but strongly desire to find IT jobs in Nigeria. My first advice is to seek internship opportunity with companies at zero or little pay. I remember many years ago I worked at a newly formed company in Lekki. It was owned by some of Nigerian banks. There was an electrical engineering graduate who had looked for job for a few years without success. Suddenly he met the company’s IT manager and appealed for an internship position to give him a chance to learn. The IT manager initially declined, saying the company did not have a policy of hiring post-NYSC people as interns but after enormous persuasion from other people, he sought management approval and the engineer got the job. The man (the electrical engineering graduate) worked for a few years, learnt a lot, got confirmed as a full-time IT specialist and he is currently working in the UK as an IT specialist.

If you do not get an internship opportunity, you can start learning some skills by yourself. Once you determine one or two areas that you are mostly interested in, you should approach friends or family members who are specialists in those areas and plead for books, helpful information, and software. You can also appeal for practical lessons from them. I have deliberately mentioned friends and family because I anticipate that these will be people that would not mind providing free assistance to you.

The last example is good for people that can get training sponsorship. If you have a parent or guardian that can sponsor you for IT training, please take advantage of the opportunity and enroll yourself at good IT training institutes in Nigeria. Devout about six to twelve months to learn a lot and get fully prepared for the employment market. Once you have developed some good skills, you can then start looking for IT jobs in Nigeria.

Npower Jobs in Nigeria

Let us talk about government role a bit. At this corona period, government has been doing a lot to create jobs through the Npower program, but according to a tribune article which discusses how governments can reduce unemployment in Nigeria, the federal and state governments must create deliberate policy incentives to encourage companies to keep as many jobs as possible during this corona crisis.

The governments should also handle the recently approved N2.3 trillion stimulus put together by the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) assembled by President Muhammadu Buhari with the best possible transparency and integrity. The state governments also need to improve its COVID-19 palliative selection and distribution strategies across Nigeria.

As we talk about IT jobs in Nigeria, Npower jobs and government efforts to enhance employment across the country, it is important for students, Pre-NYSC, NYSC and recent graduates to also sharpen their job hunting skills in Nigeria in order to successfully compete for opportunities, whether it is private-driven or government-led. Read career interviews in Nigeria and attend job webinars dedicated to Nigerian students, Pre-NYSC, NYSC and recent graduates. Delon jobs organizes such events and you can watch some past episodes of their live webinar on finding jobs in Nigeria is available here on youtube.

Nigeria Jobs on Linkedin

I should not end this article without discussing how Nigerians can benefit from effective use of linkedin. Linkedin offers tremendous opportunities for job seekers to connect with employers, but many IT job seekers do not use it effectively. If you are an IT professional with great interests in working for a big Nigerian company called ABC, you should not wait until you find a linkedin job post from ABC before reaching out to people working in ABC. You should try to find connections from company ABC so that you already have friends there before a job opportunity comes up. Also, ensure you are following the company on linkedin so that you get their news posts on time.

Whenever you find an IT job posted on linkedin, check if you have any 1^st level or 2^nd level connection in the company to try to seek referral opportunities or ask important questions about the job opening before applying. Linkedin is a very powerful tool and you should take time to learn how to maximize its use in your search for good IT jobs in Nigeria. In recent years, the some job websites in Nigeria on linkedin post hundreds of new Nigeria jobs on linkedin every week, and that makes it easier for people to see diverse types of jobs while they remain on linkedin.

Online Jobs in Nigeria

Another category of jobs that will grow significantly in Nigeria within the next five years is online jobs in Nigeria. It requires basic IT knowledge and skills, but is not sub-industry of IT. Students, recent graduates and experienced workers should position themselves for many upcoming online jobs in Nigeria even after the end of COVID-19. If you are a student in Nigeria, you can watch a video that provides very good tutorial about how to get online jobs in Nigeria as a student.

Finally, having talked briefly about online jobs, I like to also talk about online stores in Nigeria before I end this article. This is basically the act of selling products and services online in Nigeria, through smartphones and basic technology skills. For example, one industry that has been growing a lot in recent years in Nigeria is fashion design. The corona crisis will continue to impact the industry negatively but professionals in the industry can use mobile apps or browsers on their phones to promote their fashion design for sale in Nigeria via a free ads website. Many Nigerians are already taking advantage of using several free classifieds in Nigeria to advertise their clothing sale online in Nigeria. In Lagos many people with little education are selling cheap cars in Nigeria online, while others even in highbrow areas are using classifieds to promote their cleaning services in Lekki, tiling services, plumbing, and so on.

Lastly, IT specialists who do not have full-time positions or are not interested in full-time jobs can pursue freelancing jobs through classifieds in Nigeria or foreign websites like upwork, toptal, and fiverr.

Debo Onifade

Engineer and Entrepreneur

The post IT Jobs in Nigeria 2020 appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, elites are groups of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence. They are usually regarded as the best of a class or the socially superior part of society. In Nigeria, people have different definitions for the elites but in this article, I define elites as highly educated Nigerian government appointees or external critics that are good with problem analysis but often detached from reality and the Nigerian masses.

The Nigerian elites are usually not politicians, and even when they hold high government office or run for office, they often prefer to be called technocrats rather than politicians. While many of them are content with foreign and local media accolades, international awards or donations, as well as social media celebrations or rants, some elites are vocal critics mainly to get government attention for appointments.

Full disclosure – I am generally biased on the side of the poor in my Nigeria arguments and writings, and I am not apologetic about this. Also, I identify mostly as part of the Nigerian masses and my views are mostly different from the elites’. So I feel very bad anytime people lump me with the elites just because of my education, state of residence or medium of expression. Though I believe some Nigerian elites genuinely want to fight for the poor, they really need to humble themselves to learn from some traditional politicians how to better identify with the masses instead of just playing to the gallery.

Let’s take a look at two articles that were published recently – https://thenationonlineng.net/how-cbn-can-boost-production-and-investment-by-tinubu/ and https://www.pulse.ng/news/local/oby-ezekwesili-china-must-pay-africa-for-not-being-transparent-about-the-coronavirus/54ts7q0. The first article was written by an influential Nigerian politician (Bola Tinubu) and it focused on realistic solutions that can improve lives in the country. Whether you agree with this politician or not, his article nicely focused on solutions that many educated masses can relate to. Even if we do not understand some of the technical details, we can understand the suggestion that lowering interest rates will help small businesses.

I have heard from a few Central Bank officials in the past that Nigerian banks have the capacity to lower interest rates and still be very profitable, but the greed and complicity among regulators and the bank owners will not make this happen. So if an influential politician is writing publicly about this, it is a good reference point or business news for Nigerian small businesses and electorates as we may be able to seek related action from him or other politicians in future.

The second article was written by a popular Nigerian elite (Oby Ezekwesili) who chose a theoretical subject that appeals more to the foreign media than educated masses in Nigeria. She is asking China to cancel Africa’s $140b debt because of the allegation that the novel corona virus started from Wuhan, China and the country irresponsibly managed the crisis. But most educated Nigerian masses view this as a typical academic story from a Nigerian elite. The reality is that China will not cancel the whole of Africa’s debt. In fact, China may experience recession this quarter because of the covid-19 crisis and cannot afford such largesse. But singling out China at this time that virtually the whole world made mistakes is appalling.

I did an extensive google search for any locally published article where Ezekwesili clearly articulated what the federal and state governments should do to improve distribution of palliatives, how to mitigate the impending economic quagmire due to corvid-19 or how certain Nigeria jobs can be preserved during this crisis. I was surprised not to find any of such articles because I thought these are discussions that matter more to the Nigerian masses now than an academic argument with China.

If the elites really want to collaborate with the masses to start defeating traditional politicians in elections from 2023, they need to humble themselves to learn from traditional politicians. They do not need to learn evil characteristics like rigging or violence from traditional politicians, but the elites should learn how to better communicate and relate with the masses in their articles, interviews, social media comments and speeches. It is very easy to blame election losses on rigging, bribery and violence, but have we genuinely researched why many honest educated masses don’t even vote for the Nigerian elites that run for office?

I am sorry to say that I believe most vocal Nigerian elites align a lot more with the oppressive ruling class than the masses. In fact, many credible Nigerian journalists that I have spoken to, agree with me that there seems to be a tacit conspiracy among a significant percentage of the elites that suggests selfishness, greed and lip service to Nigeria’s liberation. But because I am usually a solutions person, and I strongly believe that the masses require significant support from Nigerian elites and some repentant traditional politicians to wrestle power from the oppressive ruling class, I will continue to preach collaboration among the masses, elites and traditional politicians.

The two recent stories about the secretary to the federal government (Boss Mustapha) – https://www.thecable.ng/extra-we-may-ask-madagascar-to-send-us-a-plane-load-of-herbs-to-treat-covid-19-says-sgf and https://www.premiumtimesng.com/health/health-news/387036-i-never-knew-nigerias-healthcare-infrastructure-was-in-such-bad-state-sgf.html portray an example of an elite in government. He had corrected his earlier statement about not knowing how bad our healthcare system was, by explaining to us that he was not an “ajebuta” (a Yoruba word referring to an affluent person). But it is amazing that he made a subsequent remark about Madagascar herbs at a time that Nigerian herbal professionals had been talking about covid-19 herbal solutions for several weeks. Indeed, a prophet is not honored in his hometown. Mustapha needs to identify with the masses and learn that it makes a lot more sense for Nigeria to seriously explore its local herbs before seeking help from Madagascar.

Of course there are several other elites in the current federal government, including the minister of health (Osagie Enahire) who told the house of assembly that he was not aware of Nigeran doctors’ hazard allowance (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/04/health-minister-says-hes-not-aware-if-nigerian-doctors-are-paid-hazard-allowance-for-covid-19/). Simply put, elites usually do not get it. Remember when former president Goodluck Jonathan’s government officials (including Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi) reportedly told us that public transportation in Nigeria were usually run with diesel, not petrol. Some of them did not even know that most of the small buses and taxis across Nigeria were fueled with petrol. This is the way most of our technocrat elites in government reason. They are usually very detached from reality and I am happy that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (now former Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II) later said that becoming an emir helped him better understand poverty than he did while he lived in Lagos and Abuja.

Because I don’t believe in criticizing without proposing solutions, I provided my humble suggestions regarding Nigeria’s revival and covid-19 solutions in my recent articles: Covid-19: Nigeria must prioritize homegrown strategies, Covid-19: It’s time to discuss universal free healthcare for all  Nigerians – https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/03/covid-19-its-time-to-discuss-universal-free-healthcare-for-all-nigerians/ and Revolution in Nigeria. I also explained a lot about this subject in my recent book on Nigerian elections.

Many people may ask, “Debo Onifade, are you exonerating the corrupt political class and blaming the elites instead?”. Absolutely not! I hold our oppressive ruling class fully responsible for Nigeria’s failure, but we must also begin to hold our elites accountable for focusing too much on grandstanding rather than the actual fight for freedom. The fight for freedom includes learning politics and relating better with the masses to stand a better chance of defeating our oppressors from 2023.

Finally, my vision is to politically enlighten, organize and influence five million voters by 2023, and twenty million voters by 2027. That is my objective for writing, and I wish to remind us all that Nigeria can only be liberated when a greater number of good people win elections across the country. Good people must also always remember that they cannot win elections without collaborating with some traditional politicians, and that they require votes from both good and bad people to win elections. The elites that genuinely care about the masses should stop the showboating, connect, and communicate better with the masses, and move from theoretical analyses to realistic politics and policies.

Debo Onifade

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The post Politics in Nigeria: The conspiracy of the elites appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

When I read the leaked Governor Nasir El Rufai’s memo to the president a few years ago which indicated among other things that Kyari must have treated El Rufai with some contempt in the past, I wondered the source of their issues. But based on Nasir El Rufai’s utterances and actions in the last few years, I can clearly guess why the older and highly educated Kyari seemingly did not trust or respect El Rufai. I do not believe the issues had to do with a perceived presidential ambition by the Kaduna state governor, but attitudes that many young people have come to witness in recent times.

I used to admire the governor, exchanged email with him once in the past and actually almost met him in Boston, United States several years ago. After he got close to Pastor Tunde Bakare and pastor said many nice things about him, I developed even greater admiration for him. I saw him as one of the reformists of our time and part of the new breed politicians that I described in my book “Liberating Nigeria: A Guide to Winning Elections and Reviving our Country.”

But in the last few years, I have realized that El Rufai is part of the establishment and certainly not a new breed politician. He is in fact very similar to the old politicians that many young people deride. I thought he would declare and publish his assets after becoming governor, but despite multiple pressures from different groups, he refused. While his opponent, Shehu Sani did publish his assets and impressed many new breed politicians, El Rufai did not care about any criticism in that regard.

After El Rufai became governor, one of the first projects he commissioned was a brand-new taxi cabs scheme. His “London Taxis” launched in Abuja in 2004 failed woefully, so I was extremely disappointed that El Rufai would consider such elitist and wasteful project again within his first year in office as Kaduna governor. For those of us that have visited Kaduna several times, we do not need to have a high school diploma to know that a brand-new taxi project is by far less important than most pressing needs of Kaduna residents.

El Rufai publicly criticized many people and leaders in the past, but never tolerated criticisms from Shehu Sani. In fact, despite the fact that we all know that direct primaries reduce the possibility of vote buying and is a more democratic election style as is done in the United States, he aggressively and successfully pushed for indirect primaries in Kaduna State in 2019 in order to secure easy victories for his candidates. And this helped him to replace Shehu Sani with his godson, Uba Sani.

While many governors who were traditional politicians were pushing for indirect primaries, I thought the Kaduna state governor would distinguish himself by pushing for direct primaries (which allows all card-carrying members to vote) especially since he said Senator Shehu Sani was no longer popular in Kaduna, but he did exactly the same as typical traditional politician governors who would like their appointees (delegates) to be the primary voters.

Though it is obvious that Christians in Kaduna do not have the numbers to influence who becomes governor in Kaduna state, previous governors selected Christians as deputy governors to pacify the largely marginalized southern Kaduna people. This is consistent with the principle of zoning at the federal level (which El Rufai just recently said he supported). But El Rufai for the first time in a long time went ahead with a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2019, publicly saying on Channels TV that since choosing a Christian deputy governor would not earn him votes from the Christians, he decided to select a Muslim candidate based on merit. Of course, the previous governors also knew that a Christian deputy governor was just a kind gesture to a marginalized community and that the decision did not necessarily influence election. To El Rufai, election was priority and he did not need to pacify an unhappy community.

When people complain about southern Kaduna killing, instead of the Kaduna state governor taking full responsibility as the chief security officer of the state and expressing sympathy and reconciliation tones, he chooses to remind us that same violence happens across the north, sometimes gives excuses like reprisals, criticizes southern Kaduna leaders, and threatens law suits against anyone that criticizes him. He spent years criticizing presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, but it shocks me that he never wants to be criticized. It almost seems that he is surprised that people make too much noise about southern Kaduna killings despite multiple killings happening in other parts of the country. Governors should focus on their state issues and not get busy with comparisons.

Just today, I read that the Kaduna state government has arraigned an Anglican bishop in court for criticizing him in 2019. El Rufai has repeatedly blasted Christian leaders in the past and I do not recall anyone taking him to court. I tried to find explanations for him years ago when people like Apostle Suleiman made funny statements about him, but it has now become a pattern that El Rufai enjoys combative postures against Christian leaders. I am still curious to know why Pastor Tunde Bakare has not yet openly rebuked El Rufai for these actions.

Governor El Rufai likes to defeat everyone that criticizes him, and I was very happy he finally met his match in the NBA lawyers that successfully got him disinvited as a speaker at their forthcoming event. Because of his influence, the NBA leaders ordinarily would not have disinvited him, but their outgoing chairman stated that he could not overrule the position of the majority. This same NBA just recently voted for an underdog non-SAN candidate. They are bringing political inspiration to young Nigerians and sending a clear message that when young Nigerians unite in spite of religion or ethnic differences, they can peacefully snatch political power from the powerful elites.

My Fulani friend tells me that El Rufai is not a bigot because some of his closest advisers are Yoruba Christians, and that his utterances are merely political. I recognize that politicians need to make some compromises to win elections or hold on to power, but when it becomes a governor’s pattern to blast Christians and try to defeat everyone that criticizes him, that represents the same old politics of oppression that most young people are against today.

According to the Cable, Anglican bishop of Zaria – Abiodun Ogunyemi, who is being arraigned in court by El Rufai’s government on charges bordering on criminal defamation, injurious falsehood and criminal intimidation, had reportedly said in his 2019 statements that El Rufai would not become president in 2023. Though the Kaduna state governor has always denied presidential ambition, the fact is that even if he decides to run, he does not have broad support that can win such elections. He rode on Muhammadu Buhari as godfather to become Kaduna governor, and he knows that will not be enough to clinch presidency in 2023.

Finally, I wish to highlight lessons and action plans for young people and new breed politicians. When you criticize leaders, it is important to be committed to acting differently when you get into power. My fear about young Nigerians has always been that majority are the same or worse than the current traditional politicians. We cannot change our country by being exactly like them. We should learn politics from them, but we must not act like them when we get into power. The incoming NBA chairman – Olumide Akpata represents a symbol of new breed politicians coming into power. He learnt and worked with several senior advocates of Nigeria and it was nice that some of them silently backed him. But now that he has got power, he needs to change the NBA and let it work more for the masses instead of the elites. The NBA must be a voice to the voiceless. They should collaborate with the government to fight corruption and support peaceful political movements to end tyranny in our land.

New breed politicians need millions of first-time voters to turn out in 2023 in order to win some elections. They cannot rely on the current crop of voters to defeat traditional politicians like Governor El Rufai. This is why our vision at www.liberatingnigeria.com is to enlighten, organize and influence 5m first-time voters by 2023, and 20m by 2027. We are doing this by giving voice to the voiceless, and publishing regular opinion articles, video interviews and 9ja news. Let us liberate Nigeria by learning the required politics and politics, and ensuring we, our families and friends start voting en masse from 2023. Nigeria will surely flourish again!

Debo Onifade

Author of “Liberating Nigeria: A Guide to Winning Elections and Reviving our Country” with foreword by Femi Falana SAN, available on Amazon, Delon.ng, Rhbooks.com.ng, Glendora – Ikeja City Mall, Patabah – Surulere Mall, Booksellers – Ibadan, Abuja, Abeokuta, and Latter Rain Assembly Bookstore – Ogba.

The post NBA, thank you for disinviting Governor El Rufai appeared first on LiberatingNigeria.

Since the year 1960, the Nigerian nation which was birth as a result of the amalgamation of both the Northern and Southern protectorate, a nation of over Two Hundred Million inhabitants, the most populous nation on the African continent, Nigeria has within its shores over 250 different ethnic groups speaking approximately 500 languages.  A multicultural as well as multi-religious society with the existence of three major religious worldviews which are Christianity, Islam and the African Traditional Religion which has necessitated the need for its government to adopt a secular approach to dealing with its populace in order ensure peaceful and harmonious co-existence among its people which spans across its thirty-six states of the Federation.

Considered the Giant of Africa, a tag which many believes has been lost to the claws of the past, the Nigerian economy was once considered to be one of the fastest growing economies of the world in its earliest years, with its rich and blessed natural and mineral endowments, coupled with its abundance manpower and brilliant brains, the nation upon independence soared on the back of its agricultural wits, as it was able to successfully exploit the various agricultural benefits that nature earth had bestowed upon it, Cocoa. Palm Oil, Groundnuts, Cassava just to mention a few gave the nation a huge economic face-lift as it was able to turn itself to an exporting country where it was able to exploit the international market with its huge agricultural products. Many of its earliest infrastructural projects were built on the bank of money made from agriculture, the discovery crude oil in the year 1958 Oloibiri Rivers brought in immense hope for the nation as the nation Nigeria saw to a huge rise increase in its financial lots as the nation joined the rich list of the oil producing nations of the world. The Niger Delta area became an instant goldmine for people, as business men, expatriates among many others made their way to this oil rich zone, making millions of money for themselves, the nation while also leaving the Niger Delta zone desecrated and exploited as they have nothing to show for it. While it’s the hope of many Nigerians as it was of the founding fathers of the nation to see the nation grow and thrive into a viable economic giant, political maturity and a united federation of states, it is however saddening that the nation Nigeria failed to match up to these earnest expectations and hope. Its solid agricultural base was deserted at the first sight of the oil boom in the Niger Delta, unaccountability and corruption saw to it that a large chunk of its wealth saw itself in private foreign accounts of greedy politicians who had etched themselves into the political scene of the nation, adopting the biblical lines of the devil, “for the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy”

Sixty years after the independence of the Nation, nothing really has changed as the nation Nigeria has hovered in circles as its watch other smaller nations around it arise from the Oblivion making things happen for themselves and their people. The Nigeria community with hope every four years walks to the election booth with the hope of making the right choice that will see the nation grow and attain greatness, however these hopes and aspirations are often thrashed and shamefully destroyed by the rocks of political manipulations and permutations.

In seeking a viable way out to these various hurting realities, various Nigerians in times past have often call for various solutions to be enacted as the only way to see the birth of a new nation, one that can be set on the right path of greatness. Solutions like restructuring, national dialogue, revolution, re-branding, secession among many others have been on the lips of many Nigerians as a solution to the woes and ills that has plagued the nation since inception.

How do we resolve the ills of the nation Nigeria if we do not critically and objectively understand the various roots of the nation’s diverse woes? A common saying goes thus, if we do not understand where we are coming from, going forward will be a problem.

Before we start pointing accusing fingers at different factors which we think might be responsible for these woes, before we start proffering solutions to the various challenges which the nation Nigeria is facing, it is quite important and pertinent that we take a pause and re-examine who we are as a nation, how far we have come, and how much of ourselves that we are willing to commit for the sake of national restoration.

There is no doubt a continual journey in our current lane will lead us nowhere but an unstable society, one with an unclear future and plans for the future generations.  Taking a clue from the lives and times of our founding fathers, the likes of Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, and Anthony Enahoro among many others, these are individuals that counted the cost and willingly gave their all for the birth and survival of the nation Nigeria. A number of unfortunate incidence has rocked the nation Nigeria, the years of its civil wars which led to a depletion of the eastern part of the nation, several years of battling militants from the Niger Delta areas, the onslaught of the terrorist group, Boko Haram which did lead to the death of thousands, destruction’s of lives and properties, hindrance of even growth and development of the affected nations, the call for secession from the   Indigenous People of Biafra, the nation has been lucky to have survived these various ordeals, while it may seem that the boats of national turmoil has been rocked to sleep a little, there are still other little foxes that can ruin the garden, some small, minute factors which might seem insignificant but are behind the curtains ruining and destroying the nation’s chance at national restoration and growth. It is in this light that I seek to explore these various little foxes which are capable of bringing immense damages to the nation.

Lack of Ideological Structure– the lack of a clear cut national ideological structure has led to the nation Nigeria without no viable collective national growth. Within the Nigerian structure are federating units which needs to be fully harnessed for effective development. The nation Nigeria in the last two decades has been run haphazardly without no proposed plan for the future. A fire brigade approach has been used to sort and solve most national challenges. It is important for any progressive nation of the world to have a viable plan for its citizens and projections for the future. This can only be achieved when there is a collective national agenda which is built on a progressive national ideological structure. When institutions are built on a solid ideological structure it to a very large extent streamline the direction at which its political and economic policies are built.  Using the case of nations like China as a vivid example, China was a nation that was regarded as a growing economic with no viable economic strength to challenge the world blocs, however within the last decade, China has risen to be an economic giants with immense national growth and development recorded within its shores. This was made possible because the nation China was noted to be a nation built on certain ideological structure. Its communist ideals and structure saw to it that the nation remained committed to walking the path which they had designed for themselves over the years. Their growth was an intentional and conscious one.

For the Nigerian Nation to grow and thrive, it must on solid ideological structure, one that is objectively accepted by all its federating units make viable plans and projection for its future, its structure must be a defined one which has the ability to also influence and dictate the flow of national activities to its various component units. The re-branding Nigeria project was one in recent times that came close to achieving this, but however the nation lacked the discipline and commitment to see to the fruitful end of this agenda. There was also the Project 2020 which did not see the light of the day.

Corruption- this is a very major challenge which many people has come to see as a culture, as an identity as Nigerian. The International community which once regarded Nigerians to be one of the most industrious nation of the earth has been made to have a whole new different view of the nature of Nigerians. The new realities has seen Nigeria become a highly corrupt nation where people cut corners to attain stardom’s. The Nigerian political institution has become a new breeding ground for corrupt national leaders, while its teeming youths has taken to illegal activities such as cyber-crimes, stealing and other social vices to accrue financial wealth. Adding to this corruption in Nigeria as it is in other part of the world is more than just financial misgivings. It is one that has to do with a standard behavioral pattern. To be corrupt means to sway away from doing the right thing. The Nigerian Public and Private spaces has seen to it the emergence of people with no moral recourse to the outcome of their actions. A nation with the fangs of corruption eating deep into its fabrics cannot progress as it would always manipulate opportunities to advance the nation as a means to enrich itself. In one of the sincere submission of the Vice President of the Nation, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, he stated that corruption has become institutionalized in Nigeria, the deviation from the right thing to do to doing the wrong thing. The nation is built on a certain principles and values enshrined in the constitution, the constitution is supreme and must be treated as such. It is an outright violation of the constitutional provision when we abuse the tenets of the nation’s constitutional provision for personal self.

Marginalization– while many will argue that there is no marginalization in the nation Nigeria, we cannot however turn a blind eye to the little and various instances and evidences of marginalization in the nation. The national formula for wealth sharing must be visited, the Niger Delta area of the nation has in no doubt been marginalized as they are responsible for the buck of the nation’s wealth, however despite this fact, and their region has been left for the gallows as the crude oil exploration has rendered their lands inhabitable for their populace. The shouts and Screams for a national intervention which fell on deaf ears of the government led to the emergence of the Niger Delta Militants who took to arms to protest this marginalization and neglect. While we cannot entirely blame the woes of the region on marginalization as the recent case of the financial misgivings in the area has shown. The inability of their leaders to effectively manage and utilize the various funds channeled to the area by the federal government all because of corruption is another reason while the area has been under-developed despite the fact that it produces the wealth of the nation. It is also important to note that marginalization is not just in terms of infrastructural and industrial development, it can also be seen from the area of power sharing.  While certain ethnic groups have been heavily involved in the affairs of ruling the nation, there are other groups who feels left out of the equation. We must have it at the back of our mind that we are  a pluralistic society thus we must have a balanced structure that will see to the unity and integration of its component units.

Politics and Religion– the idea of secularism was to ensure that both do not mix together, however it is quite unfortunate that the Nigerian nation has failed totally to have a firm control and neutral stand when it comes to the issues of religion in the Nation. The constant use of religion as a tool to manipulating people for cheap political gains  have over the years set the nation behind in term so f peaceful co-existence. For the nation Nigeria to enjoy a stable growth and development, religion must be kept religion and it must not be used a tool to cause national disruption. The nation can only thrive on the wings of a united component units.

Continual Silence of the Elites– the continual silence of the nation’s elites has continue to mar the nation’s political system. Many have often describe politics as a dirty game which must be left to those who are ready to get themselves soiled. This notion has seen policy making been left out to thugs and vagabonds, people with no credibility and leadership acumen while the nation’s elites have taken themselves to the back stage choosing to observe rather than participate leaving the growth of the nation in insure hands.

Lack of Infrastructural/Industrial Growth–   the nation Nigeria has been rocked with the lack of viable industrial and infrastructural growth and expansion. This has created huge unemployment gap   in the nation as job opportunities has become limited with many school leavers with no viable option or means to sustain themselves. The nation needs to see to it that it resuscitate its moribund industries which are all over the 36 states of the federation. This to a very large extent will see to the creation of small and medium scale enterprise. This will also reduce the dependence on crude oil as it will generate more interest in Agricultural activities as raw materials will be needed in these various industries.

Way forward

The nation Nigeria is plagued with so many woes which if drastic steps are not taken will see to the end of the nation, as highlighted in this article, it is important that we take a very intentional and conscious step to correcting these ills, it is not enough to scream revolution with our first doing a personal revolution of our individual self, it is not enough that we shot restructuring without first restructuring our mind to accommodate and spearhead a successful national restructuring. We have seen in the years of this nation and its existence the case of several individuals who started the progressive struggle, bearing the tags of activists and comrades to later join the group of people they had earlier came to rebuke.

By Amudipe Marcus

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