BEFORE I PACK MY BAGS…

there is a problem. A brewing problem. Before long, if untamed, the problem will amplify, causing this country to implode; consuming everything in its wake. For somebody nurtured in a very “Nigerian” home to contemplate leaving his family and earlier aspirations in search of greener pastures in another man’s land with the possibility of starting from ground zero, there is a problem. An individual hitherto possessed by a fiery and blind love for my country, i have made an antipodal decision about my future in this country. it will take more than mere words to change my course of action.

Nigerian parents should gear up for another wave of mass migrations. Your babies of yesteryears have become adults bursting with ideas and energy, filled with high expectations and ambitions, hopeful and willing to work. Unluckily, they have been let down consistently by the society they were born into. One where they always envisioned a greater tomorrow but where hope has always encountered disillusionment. Now, many have been hit by the sudden realisation that there is not much this country has to offer them with the current condition of things. Always easy victims of unfair admonition, “children of this generation” have consistently remained the target of a society that has invested little or nothing in them. Despite little or no mentorship, it is easy for adults to sit on their high horses and pontificate to young adults about seizing opportunities that abound in this country. “Agbalagbas” (elders) can be so idealistic sometimes making one wonder how come the degradation of the fabric of society occurred during their time. they were partakers of the better days and did little or nothing to maintain the values prevalent at the time. the complexity of the current Nigerian society now is in no measure, comparable with the rudimentary form it assumed back in the day. After all, we heard stories of how in the days of yore, traders would leave their wares in their trays and go about other businesses while customers would pick what they wanted and pay for what they bought. we also heard of how big political office holders after many years of meritorious service might not have houses of their own because they did not amass wealth or convert official residences to private use. it was also said that parents could put their wards on trains and bid them farewell as they proceeded on long journeys in pursuit of education in remote parts of the country and nothing would happen to the children. Nigerians opened their eyes and watched the beautiful thing God had given us rot to the extent that the stench now threatens to exile the so-called “leaders-of-tomorrow” to strangers’ lands.

Once upon a time, kidnap was a concept best understood when we watched movies. Of course, there were sporadic stories about abductions (gbomogbomo) which increased with time. Nevertheless, incidences of kidnap were much less than today. At transition from military rule into democracy; the entire country was enveloped by the optimism of greater things to come. Unbeknownst to us, the spate of kidnapping was to increase gradually to unprecented levels. the Niger-Delta suddenly became unsafe to go for foreigners and even locals. then it spread to the South East where i served. we were instructed in my orientation camp to be austere in the way we lived, talk modestly and be security conscious at all times due to growing cases of abduction of youth corps members in the state. indeed, before i returned from my NYSC, two people had been kidnapped on my street. i was lucky to have passed out by the time the police blocked entry to and from my compound where it was discovered that one of the kingpins of the kidnapping syndicate lived. the situation got progressively worse, finally snowballing into this giant monstrosity where one day Nigerians heard that the mother of a minister had been kidnapped. thereafter, the President’s uncle was kidnapped. if the President’s uncle could be captured, then we were on our own. Unfortunately, nothing surprises Nigerians anymore. we have become numb. Numb to the anomalies in the society. Numb to the insecurity that bedevils this country. we are plagued by armed robbery, ritual killings, rape, bombings, domestic violence, piracy and almost every imaginable vice. Security which has been scant for most of our history has ebbed further because our security agencies are either disillusioned by lack of proper welfare, training, structure or are just suffering from a chronic lack of values which should influence the way they carry out their duties.

On the education front, fundamental errors afflict the sector. that most Nigerian adults cannot send their wards to their Alma maters is worrisome. On this premise, i can emphatically state that we have been cheated by the older generation of Nigerian leaders who squandered their opportunities to build on the legacies of the early missionaries who brought education into Nigeria. today, the plight of the Nigerian public school student is heart wrenching and the only other option is to pay heavily for private education. Somebody once made a joke about my attending a private university and how we did not experience life because we did not have to sit on the window ledges for lectures or bribe lecturers, or ‘squat’ for accommodation. it was funny to him that we had functioning cafeterias and running taps, cleaners for the toilets and gardeners for the flower hedges. Everybody laughed with him till i looked at them disgustedly and asked why they felt the ultimate schooling experience had to be one that projected the rot in the country’s educational sector. i asked why one should be proud that he did not sit on proper lecture hall benches or that he attended classes under leaky roofs in dilapidated auditoria. Regrettably, that is the reasoning pattern that has so deeply permeated the minds of many young Nigerians today. Young people will never know how excellent government-owned universities used to be and are only aware of the carcasses that exist today. we are at peace with strikes, riots and face offs between the police and students who should be reading. Lecturers demanding payments for hand-outs from students or bribes for marks or sex from students for good grades are now the order of the day, the new custom. Cultism reigns supreme in some tertiary institutions and transcends all levels from the security personnel to the professors. Laboratories are not adequately equipped to perform the most rudimentary science tests and so, our Nigerian scientists are more theoretical; many resorting to cramming everything when simple practical classes would have made understanding easier. teaching hospitals have become death traps. imagine the irony. Anybody who expects the best from Nigerian students under these wretched conditions is unfair because to whom much is given, much is expected.

in another vein, Nigeria is the only country where whatever goes up stays up, except salaries. in May, this government increased the price of fuel to N145 to a litre. Nigerians were too battle weary to put up any spirited fight in protest. During the presidential campaigns in 2014 and 2015, we heard various promises and declarations either from authorised or unauthorised sources about the pricing of petroleum products including statements that the subsidy was a hoax. we heard that the price of petrol could come down to N40 per litre in addition to many other promises. Nigerians were so battle bruised and ready to accept anything promising them a better life insofar as it was not coming from the crop of leaders that led us into this abyss in the first place. Fast forward to May 2016, transportation fares have increased and because virtually everything in Nigeria is moved by road, the effect is widespread. the cost of living of the average Nigerian has climbed and suddenly the average man has to pass a longer route to the Promised Land he was heading towards. Food prices have hit the roof and more people are unable to feed as more jobs are lost and businesses cut costs to stay afloat. in addition to this already dreary realisation, the cost of kerosene has increased, just as the electricity tariff, VAt, price of cooking gas, custom duties and many more have either increased or are about to increase. the common man is in for a dark and dreary future where he has to work doubly hard to sustain himself. As a net importer, the country does not generate enough foreign exchange to maintain its import bills and so prices of staples are increasing and the value of Naira crashing daily against the US Dollar. the solution to this quagmire is for Nigerians to produce locally. where is the power? where is the security? how do we access raw materials? how do we transport them? On our awful roads? in our scary airplanes now the exclusive preserve of the crème de la crème of the society? where is the technological knowhow? where are the warehouses? how export-centric are our ports? how easy is it for people and businesses to access loans? how fair are loans priced?

Let us consider the plight of the Nigerian worker. if the monthly pay of the actively employed Nigerian is not guaranteed, what hope has the pensioner? what incentive is there for me to sacrifice my youth to develop the country when in my old age, i will be left in the cold? Let us think deeply about these things. Personally, i am disenchanted with this country and the system. the kind of disenchantment that haunts someone who believed that the future held promise and that he should persevere. i have worked for quite a number of years but not closer to buying or building a house than i was in my first year of working. it is not for lack of the will to do so. Ours is a country where the individual assumes the responsibility of government by providing his power, healthcare, water, security, pension, and housing despite paying taxes. Still, he cannot access any affordable mortgage facility easily at his prime so that before he retires, he has fully paid up his mortgage debts. A country where we are cursed with leaders who do not care about the wellbeing of their people. Leaders who are more pre-occupied with budget padding, sexual harassment abroad and at home, false asset declarations, threats of rape and assault at official national functions to name a few.

these being said, i can now pack my bags. i will bid this country farewell. i have nothing to lose. i will get an extra degree/certification abroad. i will buy a house abroad and still build a house in Nigeria because the exchange rate will favour me. wherever i choose to go, i will not be perturbed by the need to buy a generator for my house, much less maintain or fuel one. My children will attend good schools with functioning facilities enough to guarantee international competitiveness. when i finally decide to come back to Nigeria to work or invest, i will be given a hero’s welcome and probably offered a highly specialised role in the government because my time abroad exposed me to experiences non-existent in Nigeria. these were never in my original estimation of the future. For everyone who i blamed for deciding to leave this country in search of greener pastures, please accept my apology.