Why Do We Have to Suffer So Much?

As I start to write this column today, a television set is on in the background and what I hear on Channels Television is a story on the Benue killings. An ex-Military man now a security expert invited as a pundit for the program, starts by begging the President to help with the Benue situation before moving on to expressing anger at the lack of attention being given to the issue of killings by Fulani herd’s men. After his commentary, a senior clergy man comes on to also beg again.

My question is, why do we have to beg for what is obvious? Why are we meant to suffer so much as a people? Why do simple things with no complexity become very difficult to tackle? It’s crazy and people are dying slowly every day because of these seeming simple challenges. Many examples abound.

Let’s start from the airport. I traveled in December, came back and learnt we now had to take our luggage to the car park which is via a very unfriendly and crowded walkway. The walkway is rickety, not properly cemented or tiled, so navigating it is challenging. Many people who have no business being there clog the walkway and there is a big gap between the walkway and the car park with no covering. The question I asked was, if it rains, how will travelers be protected? This is because there is no way, they would not be exposed to the elements. Of course, I got no answer and the matter has still not been addressed.

The car park is also not managed efficiently. After parking, you have to go into the excruciating task of queuing up to pay for parking. I am sure you would have been able to create an image of how stressful this whole situation will be for a traveler just coming into the country after also going through the chaotic immigration process, where our infrastructure is grossly inadequate for the number of travelers who come into this country.

So, that’s our welcome to Nigeria. When I compare this situation to the countries around us, which I have been privileged to visit in the past few months I cringe and shake my head. The airport in Dakar is akin to any first world airport, same with Abidjan and others. These are countries that are not as affluent as us and are mainly agrarian, but they have been able to make agriculture viable and used its proceeds to build their infrastructure.

We leave the airport and get to the roads, and the surrounding infrastructure. An apologetic situation! Why is it that government and all stakeholders involved are not paying more than lip service to infrastructure development in this country, knowing that achieving human capital development is crucial to the growth of a country’s economy? The lack of these basic infrastructural requirements is shortening the lives of Nigerians.

Today, the US, with its advanced infrastructure is agitating for an upgrade of its infrastructure. This was one of Trump’s campaign promises and he is doing everything to ensure that he gets funding from Congress to implement this promise. Now, this is a country with very good infrastructure, clamouring to improve on what it already has. I guess, they strongly believe in John F. Kennedy’s saying, about the crucial role infrastructure plays. John F. Kennedy said, “America has good roads, not because America is rich, but America is rich because it has good roads.”

According to the World Bank, every 1% of government funds spent on infrastructure leads to an equivalent 1% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in Nigeria, there is no meaningful correlation between infrastructure development and economic growth. Why we cannot achieve this, even with the various funds like the Sovereign Wealth Fund government has set up is sad.

It seems the Yuletide season has been designated a time to suffer now in Nigeria. This past Christmas was especially harrowing. We had no power, no fuel, most houses with no power and fuel, had no water because we generate our power and pump our own water for domestic use. I am not sure I have been to any country where the situation described above is the norm. But in Nigeria, we have learnt to accept this anomaly as normal.

However, this situation that is an anomaly in almost every country became even worse. In addition to the no light, no water, no fuel situation, we had no access to cash. The CBN says we should go cashless; banks encourage you to use ATMs and advise or discourage you from visiting their branches. It is evident that not sufficient homework was done in planning to ensure their networks were in good working condition and had cash readily available on a real time basis in their ATM machines. People had to stand in long queues and switch from one ATM to another without any guaranty that they would not go through the same disappointment they just encountered. This created a lot of frustration.

Many people had to go without cash after queuing up for hours at ATM machines. Stocking up for Christmas, which can be a heavy spending activity for most families or individuals was a harrowing experience because POS machines were not working.

Just yesterday, a friend told me Virgin Atlantic delayed flights for 28 hours without a plausible explanation except that it was due to operational issues. The question I ask is, would Virgin Atlantic give the same response if this situation happened in the UK or the US? Maybe this explanation was given because this is Nigeria and we are used to suffering.

Examples of how much we suffer are too numerous for my page to accommodate. My prayer is that this situation changes for the better in 2018 and beyond. We need to elect the right people to govern and straighten the numerous problems we have in this country. We cannot afford to continue like this! !

Examples of how much we suffer are too numerous for my page to accommodate. My prayer is that this situation changes for the better in 2018 and beyond. We need to elect the right people to govern and straighten the numerous problems we have in this country