Nigeria of My Dreams by Asiya Muhammad Bara’u

Nigeria of My Dreams by Asiya Muhammad Bara’u

POLITICS DIGEST- Anytime we recite the National Anthem and come to the statement “The labor of our heroes past, shall never be in vain”, I always stop to reflect deeply on that phrase because if you look at the current situation Nigeria has found itself, it will be safe to agree that the labour of our heroes past has indeed gone in vain.

Our previous generation of leaders, our heroes of the past, leaders like Late Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Sir Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Obafemi Awolowo, and so on have suffered immensely to see that Nigeria had become a country standing on its feet from utilizing its abundant Natural and Human Resources. But immediately after their demise, Nigeria is back to ‘colonialism’ – this time colonized by its irresponsible and corrupted leaders!

I wake up every day with a heavy feeling in my heart. A feeling of longing and sheer nostalgia. Nostalgia for something that seems so close and yet, far out of reach. I keep thinking and praying, God until when? When will my country start utilizing its natural resources? When will the insecurity cease? When will the education sector develop? Can the health sector ever be reformed? How do we improve the economy of the Nation? When shall we be shortlisted among the none corrupted countries of the world? Will Nigeria ever see the potential of its human resources?

Firstly, Nigeria is a blessed Country seating on abundant Natural Resources like Gold, Iron Ores, Lead, Gypsum, Granite, Bitumen, Cocoa, Dolomite, Limestone, Coal, and so but refining these Resources and tapping from its vast potential has always been an issue for my fatherland. Taking crude oil, for example, the World can not boast of natural crude oil without mentioning Nigeria.

According to a compilation from the United States Energy Information Administration database for the 2021 calendar. Nigeria produces 1540991bpd (barrels of crude oil per day). Nigeria along with 13 other countries that form the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produces 37.7% of the world’s crude oil supply. In 2022, Nigeria has the highest quota of crude oil production in Africa. This amount to 1825000bpd (Barrel per day). However, Nigeria keeps exporting unrefined crude oil daily only to be refined and imported back at a much higher price rate. This is despite the fact that Nigeria possesses three Crude Oil Refineries located in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna. These three refineries were established to produce a total of 445,000bpd. The products the refineries make range from Liquified Petroleum Gas, Premium Motor Spirits, Dual Purpose Kerosene, Automotive Gas Oil, Low and High pour fuel oil, Aviation turbine kerosene, to linear alkyl benzene. Taking the proportion of crude oil production and refining, Nigerian refineries if they all work to their full potential can only refine an approximation of 24.4% of the crude oil it produces per day. This disparity is very gross. Yet, Nigeria has never refined up to the said capacity! The capacity of the three refineries pales significantly when compared with the nation’s required consumption because Nigeria’s rate of importation is over 80% of its consumption.

However, Nigeria needs to expand its refining capacity by Utilizing the available refineries to their maximum capacities. Internship vacancies should be made available to Nigerian graduates in these refineries, youths should be empowered and offered scholarships to study oil refining at Universities and polytechnics, and Foreign help should be employed in training Nigerians to perfection in these aspects if need be.

Production of more refineries is needed to effectively maximize its refined crude oil product supply. These will in turn help in not just cutting down the expenses of importing back refined oil but also in creating massive job opportunities for Nigerian citizens, boosting the country’s economy, and going a long way in deterring poverty in the country if not eradicating it. Also, adequate securities should be deployed to Crude Oil Mines to prevent theft.

Secondly, Nigeria used to be a country of utmost peace and tranquillity. It was devoid of all kinds of insecurities. It used to be a country that appreciates its ethnoreligious diversity and celebrated harmony among its citizens. But Nigeria has insidiously become a war territory today. It has been fire-burning itself with ethnic and religious crises.

Gone are the days when one can freely travel in this country without having palpitations. Parents can no longer send their wards to boarding schools or even school field trips and excursions due to the fear of possible abduction. Newly married couples are forced to forfeit the idea of going on local honeymoons to security. Centers for tourism like Obudu Cattle ranch, Yankari Game Reserve, and so on are gradually losing their importance. Massive wastage of Human lives has become the order of the day. Unfortunately, Nigeria has become a haven for banditry and terrorism and a burial ground for both its military and civilian populace.

The insurgency of Boko Haram in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria has shaken the placidity of the country. Taking away its sense of serenity. The insurgency has led to a massive loss of lives. According to a report by Premium Times Nigeria on 28th June 2021, The United Nation Develop Programme (UNDP) confirmed, in its report released on June 24, 2021, that “national data” showed that “Boko Haram conflict has directly resulted in the deaths of 35,000 people in the states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe as a result of battle or one-sided violence since 2009″.

As if the Boko Haram insurgency was not enough, the North-Western part of Nigeria was struck with another ravaging calamity where bandits are widely dissipating their evil tentacles laced with havoc and nuisance. This exposed the country to different varieties of crimes ranging from kidnapping, highway, and railway arm robberies, attacks on military installations, raping of women, massacring innocent children, and crumbling of rural communities. Premium Times reported on 24th April 2022 that about a hundred groups of bandits with over thirty thousand militants are operating in the northwest. The Center for Democracy and Development for West Africa reported that over 12,000 people in the northwest region had lost their lives and about One million people had been displaced due to the violence of banditry. Nigerian Borders are so porous that smuggling weapons and controlled drugs have become an easy task.

Moreover, there is a need for the whole security system of Nigeria to be overhauled. Government should organize tonnes of workshops and seminars on security systems reform that will aid the military personnels, police officers, civil defense officers, and so on in strategizing on different ways to deliver unfail attacks on the above-mentioned terrorists. Sophisticated weapons should be made available to the various security parastatals. Bulletproof cars, machine guns, RPGs, and so on should be provided to them to ease their operations and reduced the risk of losing them to untimely deaths. The forests in which the terrorist resides should be burned down to ashes. Survivors should also be prosecuted mercilessly in the eyes of the public to sight as examples to others with similar heinous intentions. A strategic teamwork approach between Army, Navy, and Air Force should be employed in carrying out such operations. The use of advanced technological equipment should also be employed. Government should make provision for CCTV cameras and drones for security surveillance as well. Google Maps, Satellites, GPS trackers, and phone number tracking applications should also be employed in uncovering such criminals and their locations. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) specialists should be employed and the State Security Service of Nigeria (SSS) and the Department of State Service (DSS) should be
made to infiltrate the criminals to be able to gather useful security intelligence information for planned crimes and attacks. The families of any security that lost their lives during an operation should be generously compensated. This will serve as a reassurance to other officers that their loved ones will be catered for after their demise and it will also promote patriotism among them. More Customs and Immigration officers should be employed and efficiently trained. Security around the borders should be tightened as well. Vigilantes and Volunteers from the community should be considered and be efficiently trained. Security along the border should be immensely tightened. A thorough check-up of any container coming into the country should be carried out to prevent the illegal smuggling of weapons. Individuals and families should be encouraged to report any suspicious activity or person to the police for further investigations. Education should be carried down to the bottom root for most of the criminals are illiterates.

Thirdly, Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu in 2018 said “Education is the bedrock of any country’s development, and any country that does not educate its populace is bound to fail”. Yet, According to a report by Central Scotland’s Association of World Citizens (AWC) published in 2018, Nigeria has a lower than expected level of education. Nigeria which is popularly known as the giant of Africa now harbors 70million illiterates. This shows that 30% of Nigerians can not read or write. Nigeria despite having 117000 primary schools, 27042 Secondary schools and 170 Universities is still ranked 161 out of 189 countries in the United Nation’s Development Index in terms of education. It is also worth noting that Nigeria’s current Literacy Rate is 62.02% which is a significant shortfall from 2006 when the Literacy Rate was up to 70.20%. This indicates that Nigeria’s standard of Education is going down the drain. The factors affecting the education system include poor physical facilities, inadequate sanitation, lack of textbooks and teaching aids, insecurities, and a high number of unqualified teachers. Lack of infrastructure in rural areas also plays a major role in crippling the education system. Recurrent strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) and other related Unions have become another ravishing monster that is preying on the sector. One can spend 7years in University studying a 4years course despite having a good intelligent quotient due to such Strikes.

Furthermore, Government needs to work hard in upgrading our education sectors. A committee should be set up to diagnose and properly address the problems of this sector. The members of the committee should work honestly and diligently. The standard of public schools should be improved. Frequent seminars and workshops should be organized for school teachers. The teachers should be supervised on regular basis. A penalty should be designed for non-compliance by teachers. More schools should be built in said areas. Comfortable Staff quarters with good water and electricity should be built for the teachers to cut down the expenses of going to and pro from urban area to rural area every day. This will help in curbing the rate of absenteeism and late coming as well. Their safety and security should be ensured. Parents should be encouraged to send their children to school. They should be enlightened on the benefits of sending their wards to school. Good roads should be constructed from urban to rural areas to ease transportation. Textbooks and teaching aides should be provided for students and teachers in both Urban and Rural schools. Government should play a major role in curbing union strikes by fulfilling the promises they have made to the unions rather than suing them to industrial courts. The establishment of a revitalization fund wallet for schools should be considered. Effective dialogue, Round table discussion, and boycott of information should be considered as alternative ways of communication between the Government and Unions rather than strikes. A policy should be put in place in which teachers’ and lecturers’ salaries will be oftenly reviewed to avoid unnecessary strikes.

Fourthly, The Health care system of Nigeria just like other sectors is also afflicted with many challenges. The lack of enough medical equipments and diagnostic machines to carry out Diagnostic tests and other procedures is one of the major problems facing the healthcare system. This leads to a lot of misdiagnoses and also makes an adequate holistic approach to health care difficult. As a result of this challenges, some diagnostic tests requires someone to travel to other states in order to get it done. At times some tests can not be done within Government owned hospitals due to shortage of equipment. Hence, patients have to be sent to private hospitals or private diagnostic centers to carry out such investigations. For example, the whole of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital despite being the only teaching hospital in Kaduna State has one Magnetic Resonance Imagine (MRI) machine, whenever it develops a fault, patients have to be sent to 44 Hospital, Nigerian Air Force Hospital, or even Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano to carry out the said investigation. This hinders the early commencement of treatment which plays a significant key role in the good prognosis of the patient. Another problem with the Health Care sector is the shortage of Manpower and Brain Drain. Nigeria has trained hundreds of thousands of Health care professionals like Nurses, Doctors, Pharmacists, and so on. Yet Nigeria is still lacking these professionals. This alone is a very frustrating factor and it leads to burnout. They keep migrating to countries that offer them better opportunities, finer working environments, and handsome remuneration. According to a report by Daily Trust on 5/4/2022 The Nigeria Medical Association President, Professor Innocent Ujah Said “Nigeria has lost 9,000 Doctors to Countries like United Kingdom, Canada and United States of America between the year 2016 and 2018″. Another report by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria shows that “More than 6000 Nigerian trained nurses leave Nigeria annually to seek employment abroad, especially the specialist nurses such as critical care nurses, psychology nurses, and oncology nurses. This translates to 600 nurses leaving per month”. These reports are disheartening but it is difficult to blame the health workers for leaving the country given their present situation. The earnings of an average nurse for a single eight hours shift in the United Kingdom is more than what an average nurse in Nigeria earns in a month. The workload here is harder and the consolidated monthly earnings are negligible. The Nurse patient ratio in countries like Australia is 1:4 per shift. But here in Nigeria, a single nurse is expected to cater to 15-20 patients. The government keeps making empty promises to its civil servant. It is insulting that the Nigerian Government pays all of its health workers five thousand naira as hazard allowance despite the multiple dangers they encounter daily while other countries are providing life insurance to their workers. Lack of personal protective equipment(PPE) coupled with Brain Drain and Burn Out have left a lot of health workers victims of infectious diseases.

More also, The Nigerian Government needs to prioritize the health of its citizens. Adequate and sophisticated modern equipment, tools, and diagnostic machines should be provided to the hospitals. Public-private partnerships should be considered in our various hospitals. A law to cut down the rate of health workers leaving the country should be put into place. Our health care workers’ salary scales should be reviewed and adequately adjusted. Life insurance should be provided to Nigerian Health care workers.

The reviewed hazard allowance that was signed by the President of Nigeria in December 2021 should be implemented immediately. More youths should be encouraged to Study Medicine and Nursing to make up for the current shortage. Scholarships and student loans should be made easily accessible for the youths studying these courses. Personal Protective Equipment should be adequately provided in the country. Medical tourism to other countries by rich people and politicians must be discouraged. They should be made to seek health in Government hospitals. This will make them become aware of the challenges in the health sector. Hence, providing a better solution.

Fifthly, Corruption is the major problem in Nigeria. It is said that Corruption is the mother of all evil. It has embedded all the sectors of the nation. The public office holders embezzled public funds that they can not spend even if they are to live for ten generations. And the worst part of it is instead of investing it in their own country, they open businesses in other countries thereby boosting their economy and developing their nations.

Nigeria needs to design a strong anti-corruption Law. Government should see to the implementation of this law.

In conclusion, while Nigeria’s problem seems to be endless, there is no problem without a befitting solution. The Nigeria we all dream of, the Nigeria that seems so far, is in fact too close. I dream of a Nigeria free from moral decadence, drug abuse, and addiction among its youths. A beautiful Nation that is in full control of its economic system and curbs inflation.A Country that is free of insecurities, a sovereign country that treats its citizens with equity. A Country with able and responsible leaders for Responsibility without ability is a calamity. A Country where knowledge and health are easily accessible to the rich and the poor. A Country with little to no social stratification. A Country where school admissions and job opportunities are given per excellence not one that is bought by money or connection. A Country free from scammers, not a Country where its citizens are banned to enter other countries due to mistrust. A Country where wrongdoers are accordingly punished irrespective of social status. A Country where every child and youth has a secured future not just children of the elites. A Country where my Children and Grandchildren will hold their heads up high and beat their chests with pride when they are mentioning their Nationality. And I believe one day by God’s grace, sheer determination, and hard work from us, I will wake up to see all my dreams come true.

This is because just like me, there are other thousands of Patriotic Citizens in this Country that are ready to rebuild and uphold the honour and glory of Our Fatherland.

Muhammad Asiya Bara’u writes from Zaria.
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