By Rotimi Fasan
DOWN the ages, philosophers have speculated on time as both an arbitrary and an artificial construct. Time for this class of people is a continuum which humanity has for its own convenience divided into time past, time present and future time. Otherwise, time has no boundaries. But dividing time into parts is one way through which people make sense of their existence, have some notion of how far they’ve come and what progress or lack of it has been made. So when at the end of a year people take stock of their life, it is time that makes it possible. Otherwise, human life could be one long night of darkness or slumber without a beginning, middle or end. Time thus give human life a sense of purpose. And just as time can serve as an instrument to measure individual progress, it can also serve as a calibrating tool for national progress. It is in this sense that we as a people must make sense of the strides we’ve taken as a nation. Have we moved, and if yes in what direction has our movement taken us- forward or backwards? Now 2015 belongs to the ages, what can we make of 2016?
All sorts of fortune tellers, star gazers and necromancers are already at work. These modern day futurologists, close siblings of Godspower Oyewole, Prof. Okozua and Nostradamus have been availing us of a peep into the immediate future. Even when the message from their books of fortune and crystal balls hints at hope and give a slight sense of national rebirth, the dominant tone of their message is rather underwhelming. Without any close reading of their reports the headlines say it all. They project a sense of looming national disaster with the usual caveat that things might turn around for good if certain actions are taken under certain conditions.
If at the end of December 2015 many Nigerians could not say when or where their next meal would come from, many more passed the holiday season not knowing if they would still be able to keep the same job they’ve had with no salary to take home for more than a year, with or without federal bailout- if the most reported news item and newsmakers were respectively the mindless looting of the national treasury and persons under prosecution for corrupt diversion of public funds for personal enrichment, if the last few hours of 2015 ended with the prospect of yet another breakdown in government/labour relations and possible worsening of the energy crisis that has lingered with us for many months- if these pictures of aggravated disruptions of normal existence defined the better part of last year, one wonders if any Nigerian needs a seer of whatever pretensions to tell them that 2016 would not be the same as taking a cup of kunu.
We will need to demand a lot from our leaders by insisting that they meet their responsibilities than is presently the case. This people would need to see public office not as opportunity for wealth accumulation and self-puffing but rather as a means to impact meaningfully on the economic and social existence of the vast majority of Nigerians. We would all need to keep these so-called leaders on their toes and demand that they fulfil some of the minimum demands of elected leadership – provision of jobs, solid health care and education systems among others. Those of them who see public office as a mere cushion from the hard living that their irresponsible and corrupt ways have imposed on ordinary Nigerians would need to be called out to account for their actions. It shouldn’t be the case that all our leaders would list as achievements are the number of carnivals they were able to organise in the last days of December and the number of their cronies sent on religious pilgrimage at public expense. A leader’s achievement should not be the number of Christmas trees they were able to erect during the holiday period or the number of free train or bus rides they provided people who would rather stay home than go out for recreation during holiday weekends.
But more than demanding a lot from our leaders, 2016 should be a year we demand a lot more from ourselves. We should be willing to take more active interest in our civic responsibilities. We should be ready to do more to make life better and more liveable for our fellow citizens. There should be no reason why we should leave the fight against corruption in public office in the lonesome hands of President Mohammadu Buhari who has promised to tackle it headlong. The level of corruption among public office holders should get us thinking. Corrupt persons should not be provided ethnic and religious cover among us. God has His place in our lives always but the greatest part of our problems demand personal will and exertions from us.
It is neither Buhari nor Bukola Saraki that hoards or diverts into the black market fuel meant for distribution across the country. Neither Dogara nor Gbajabiamila is there when a fuel attendant sells fuel above approved pump price. It’s ordinary Nigerians who engage in these activities; it’s they who make life difficult for their neighbours. We should be willing and ready to take responsibility for the injury we inflict on one another in the name of getting by. If we show ourselves to be responsible people in our own little corners and try to break the circle of corruption in the land, we may be able to demand same thing from those who in the name of claiming to be our elected representatives destroy the country in the name of everybody. We need no soothsayer to tell us that only we can make our country into what we want it to be.
Considering how much hangs on it, we must in this new year also be ready to take a second look at and finally lay to rest this bogey of fuel subsidy. Let’s all search our hearts and truly ask ourselves what real benefits come to us all from the so-called subsidy. Should our subsidy be only in words or should it be something we can all measure in real terms? What’s the benefit of pegging the fuel price at a so-called subsidised rate of N87, N86 or even N65 per litre when nobody buys it for anything less than N130 or more? Who benefits from this unhealthy state of affairs? In the event Nigerians have to do without ‘subsidy’ how do we ensure that the extra kobo that comes in goes into the right channel? Beyond the prophecies of doom these are the type of issues that should exercise Nigerians in this year. Happy 2016!
DOWN the ages, philosophers have speculated on time as both an arbitrary and an artificial construct. Time for this class of people is a continuum which humanity has for its own convenience divided into time past, time present and future time. Otherwise, time has no boundaries. But dividing time into parts is one way through which people make sense of their existence, have some notion of how far they’ve come and what progress or lack of it has been made. So when at the end of a year people take stock of their life, it is time that makes it possible. Otherwise, human life could be one long night of darkness or slumber without a beginning, middle or end. Time thus give human life a sense of purpose. And just as time can serve as an instrument to measure individual progress, it can also serve as a calibrating tool for national progress. It is in this sense that we as a people must make sense of the strides we’ve taken as a nation. Have we moved, and if yes in what direction has our movement taken us- forward or backwards? Now 2015 belongs to the ages, what can we make of 2016?
All sorts of fortune tellers, star gazers and necromancers are already at work. These modern day futurologists, close siblings of Godspower Oyewole, Prof. Okozua and Nostradamus have been availing us of a peep into the immediate future. Even when the message from their books of fortune and crystal balls hints at hope and give a slight sense of national rebirth, the dominant tone of their message is rather underwhelming. Without any close reading of their reports the headlines say it all. They project a sense of looming national disaster with the usual caveat that things might turn around for good if certain actions are taken under certain conditions.
If at the end of December 2015 many Nigerians could not say when or where their next meal would come from, many more passed the holiday season not knowing if they would still be able to keep the same job they’ve had with no salary to take home for more than a year, with or without federal bailout- if the most reported news item and newsmakers were respectively the mindless looting of the national treasury and persons under prosecution for corrupt diversion of public funds for personal enrichment, if the last few hours of 2015 ended with the prospect of yet another breakdown in government/labour relations and possible worsening of the energy crisis that has lingered with us for many months- if these pictures of aggravated disruptions of normal existence defined the better part of last year, one wonders if any Nigerian needs a seer of whatever pretensions to tell them that 2016 would not be the same as taking a cup of kunu.
We will need to demand a lot from our leaders by insisting that they meet their responsibilities than is presently the case. This people would need to see public office not as opportunity for wealth accumulation and self-puffing but rather as a means to impact meaningfully on the economic and social existence of the vast majority of Nigerians. We would all need to keep these so-called leaders on their toes and demand that they fulfil some of the minimum demands of elected leadership – provision of jobs, solid health care and education systems among others. Those of them who see public office as a mere cushion from the hard living that their irresponsible and corrupt ways have imposed on ordinary Nigerians would need to be called out to account for their actions. It shouldn’t be the case that all our leaders would list as achievements are the number of carnivals they were able to organise in the last days of December and the number of their cronies sent on religious pilgrimage at public expense. A leader’s achievement should not be the number of Christmas trees they were able to erect during the holiday period or the number of free train or bus rides they provided people who would rather stay home than go out for recreation during holiday weekends.
But more than demanding a lot from our leaders, 2016 should be a year we demand a lot more from ourselves. We should be willing to take more active interest in our civic responsibilities. We should be ready to do more to make life better and more liveable for our fellow citizens. There should be no reason why we should leave the fight against corruption in public office in the lonesome hands of President Mohammadu Buhari who has promised to tackle it headlong. The level of corruption among public office holders should get us thinking. Corrupt persons should not be provided ethnic and religious cover among us. God has His place in our lives always but the greatest part of our problems demand personal will and exertions from us.
It is neither Buhari nor Bukola Saraki that hoards or diverts into the black market fuel meant for distribution across the country. Neither Dogara nor Gbajabiamila is there when a fuel attendant sells fuel above approved pump price. It’s ordinary Nigerians who engage in these activities; it’s they who make life difficult for their neighbours. We should be willing and ready to take responsibility for the injury we inflict on one another in the name of getting by. If we show ourselves to be responsible people in our own little corners and try to break the circle of corruption in the land, we may be able to demand same thing from those who in the name of claiming to be our elected representatives destroy the country in the name of everybody. We need no soothsayer to tell us that only we can make our country into what we want it to be.
Considering how much hangs on it, we must in this new year also be ready to take a second look at and finally lay to rest this bogey of fuel subsidy. Let’s all search our hearts and truly ask ourselves what real benefits come to us all from the so-called subsidy. Should our subsidy be only in words or should it be something we can all measure in real terms? What’s the benefit of pegging the fuel price at a so-called subsidised rate of N87, N86 or even N65 per litre when nobody buys it for anything less than N130 or more? Who benefits from this unhealthy state of affairs? In the event Nigerians have to do without ‘subsidy’ how do we ensure that the extra kobo that comes in goes into the right channel? Beyond the prophecies of doom these are the type of issues that should exercise Nigerians in this year. Happy 2016!
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