When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up; and He shall save the humble person”-Job 22:29 A walk through the highbrow areas of Abuja will treat you to some names, mostly Nigeria’s famous names, who at one point or the other had been in the corridors of power, or wielded some sort of political influence or a celebrity of sort.
Maitama District, for instance, has a tableau of foreign names, which you easily know to be heads of state of African countries, or whatever name that can be conjured up by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory, and a rule to it is that it must be a name that has a ring of distinction, outside the class of common Nigerians.
That alone points to a more curious reality, and that is the fact that by design and temperament, Nigeria was meant to be a thriving haven for only those who have the means or clout to dominate the common space, or those who can at least be part of those who run Nigeria.
Not many people can.
For sure, a great portion of the Nigeria mass lies outside the spectrum of the nouveau rich; those who battle with fate every day and kick hard against so many insurmountable obstacles which stare them in the face; those who live in squalid homes and are angry and hungry, who curse their stars and swear to earth in the bitterest words for making them Nigerians.
They live in a thinly veiled social contradictions where their neighbours are notoriously rich, and in most cases can see wealth and opulence so close within arm’s reach, yet can’t have it.
Opportunities swing past them.
Some die of preventable health challenges or ailments.
They are scoffed at, mocked on end and they live as people who practically are classed as second rate citizens in a nation that supposedly belongs to everyone.
It’s so very unlikely that someone with this kind of experience with Nigeria can think and act in the light of a patriot.
But Nigeria is bound to change people in different ways.
To some, it’s a vanquished dream.
It’s a sticky feeling really that will not go away so easily.
But it’s an equally defeating mindset to keep sulking and pelting emotional stones on the depressing state of things in Nigeria.
The backdrop of the poverty, inequalities and hardship in Nigeria is bound to make people hate themselves, even hate others.
Such persons may soon become despondent and mean.
To this kind of individuals, Nigeria is a killing field in whose hands their dreams were felled and all they had hoped on came down to dust.
And they can’t just think they may ever find hope or any more worthwhile dream to live on.
Many people have found Nigeria a theatre of triumphant irony.
They got their big breaks in the unlikely Nigeria stifling environment.
Nigeria was the ironic opportunity for them to stay strong and revalidate themselves and strive with all their power to pull through.
In a nation that people must cut corners and falsify their data to even get a chance to any opportunity, some people chose to keep straight and bend no rules.
Positive citizenship is not about what Nigeria is, has been.
It’s an individual policy.
It’s a neatly cut-out personal doctrine.
It’s this kind of hard personal choices that instils the character that can confront the Nigeria conundrum and challenges.
Those who chicken away and out from fear and self-rejection will soon realise that Nigeria was never the problem but simply the odds they must step on to get to wherever they dreamt to get to.
One must prove that personal dreams and self-audacity will be far greater than the illusionary promise of a nation’s politicians or leaders.
A self-driven citizen rises above the tide of national disillusionment.
They are ready to pay the ultimate price of self-redemption.
They work hard, pray hard and do all they can to be ready to exploit positive opportunities whenever they show up.
They seek to create their own opportunities or align with those of others in their network of relationships.
They are neither bitter with their own nation or the people who could but didn’t help them.
Such men who rose and leapt out from the worst possible conditions to a niche place, willing and ready to positively contribute, even to an undeserving nation, will be good, tested hands to lead others and even their own nation to glory.
It’s not enough to tell out the wrongs and frightening gloom that had befallen our nation, but inspiring to know that there are yet enough people of noble substance who can make light with the spark of the visions in their hearts.
To such people, Nigeria will never dim their light! Orji writes from London, United Kingdom, [email protected]
Letters
Attention: President Buhari, agric minister, EFCC
The Kebbi state government under Governor Atiku Abubakar Bagudu since May 29, 2015 has continued to pay lip service to the real socio-economic development of its impoverished people who are mainly farmers and pastoralists.
Even worse, the Federal Government’s nationwide Anchor Borrowers Programme aimed at accelerating the production of rice and wheat for economic empowerment, employment generation and food self-sufficiency has clearly been hijacked for purely partisan political purposes.
By derailing the noble scheme, Governor Bagudu has not only deprived his largest constituency of a great need but also betrayed President Muhammadu Buhari who appointed him to chair the Presidential Task Force on Rice and Wheat Production.
In a recent brief on the “Programmes and Challenges of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources” signed by the commissioner in charge of the ministry, Garba Muhammad Dandiga, the state government claimed that from 2016 to date, over 70,000 farmers were supported in rice production and 9,000 farmers in the production of wheat.
For this, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allocated N17 billion to Kebbi state.
Similarly, a memo titled “Anchor Borrowers Special Intervention” signed by Governor Bagudu and dated March 27, 2017, directed the release of N3 billion to support the CBN-funded Anchor Borrowers Programme.
In it, the commissioner argued that the payment was necessary “to bridge the vacuum of confidence that exists between the state and the CBN”.
Government’s own records show that only a total of N274,541,700 was disbursed to the over 70,000 rice farmers as at 2018.
Independent data indicated that no more than 5,000 rice growers benefited from the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Kebbi state.
Even these few lucky ones were severely shortchanged.
For instance, instead of receiving N210, 000 for the cultivation of one hectare of rice, they were paid N75,000 each only.
The 65,000 other purported farmers must be unknown family members, friends or just fronts of those at the helm of government, may have received more funds but certainly did not invest their share of the intervention fund into any visible agricultural scheme anywhere in the state.
The big question is: where is the balance of over N16 billion allotted to the state? A bigger question is: why was there a vacuum of confidence between the government and the CBN as alluded in the memo quoted above? According to a source, the payment of N3 billion from the state treasury to the CBN in the guise of repayment is to justify the alleged disappearance of the over N16 billion not disbursed to the farmers.
As concerned stakeholders, we are calling on the Federal Government and the CBN to order an administrative and financial audit into the Anchor Borrowers Programme in Kebbi state.
This critical intervention fund is being exclusively administered by the governor, commissioner for agriculture, the permanent secretary and about seven other handpicked persons outside the ministry and departments of agriculture in the state.
Meetings of the group are held in undisclosed locations and without any formal records.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should also investigate how and where funds for the programme were allegedly laundered and by who.
All the above facts are easily verifiable even by serving public servants and stakeholders who have been excluded from the programme.
Farmers of Kebbi state in general would also testify to the neglect of the sector by the incumbent administration.
Another questionable agricultural arrangement is the so-called Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Kebbi and Lagos state governments for the former to increase production and the latter to be the off-taker of the produce such as rice, wheat, soya beans, vegetables and livestock.
To date, not a single farmer in Kebbi state has benefited from the deal.
The so-called Lake rice is just packaged and supplied to Lagos state by Labana Rice Mill Limited.
No farmer was involved or benefited anything from the MoU.
Kebbi state is endowed with vast arable land, large rivers and highly favourable climatic conditions suitable for the production of diverse food and cash crops.
Agriculture provides 80 per cent of all employment with the youth constituting the majority of citizens.
There is no option for accountable and purposeful agricultural administration if our state is to achieve its socio-economic and political objectives and contribute to Nigeria’s food security.
Musa Alhaji Shehu, Kebbi State Youth Vanguard, No.
22, Granepa Road, Birnin Kebbi; 090 6618315
