Nigeria and Public Service Delivery

Nigerians may be divided along ethnic and religious lines on so many issues. However, there are many other issues around which Nigerians find common ground. One of such issues is the failure of leadership. 

  There are many Nigerians who believe that independence came too early for Nigeria. The colonialists who had no choice but to give in to the tide of independence that was washing across Africa certainly thought so too but had no option but to leave for their countries. When Nigeria slipped into the cauldron of a catastrophic civil war in 1967 and stewed therein for about three years, the colonialists must have knowingly nodded.

  The misguided military personnel who took turns in booting their way to power in subsequent years, trampling the country`s constitutions and institutions before 1999 also thought that they could whip an errant country into line. They certainly deluded themselves enough to be convinced that they could bring stability and security to a country badly shaken by atrocious civilian administrations.

 Whether they ever meant well for the country, or whether they only saw an opportunity to help themselves to the spoils of a looted country is a question that history is yet to fully answer. However, the fact that corruption was practically institutionalized during the Babangida regime and the staggering scale of sleaze under the Abacha regime leaves little doubt about the answer that history may yet give.

  At the heart of   Nigeria`s leadership crisis is a scandalous failure of infrastructure and institutions. That these are not in place indict the men who lived in Nigeria`s corridors of power in previous years and those who now live there.  In many ways, it appears that a place that should have enabled men work to bring tangible results to Nigeria turned into a little more than a retirement home and a relaxation spot for many of them.

  Thus, in many aspects, Nigeria lacks the infrastructure that make for a great country.  If the country remains steeped in deep darkness today, it is because for many years, power supply has continued to prove an insurmountable challenge. 

 The darkness the failure of power supply is constantly emitting and seemingly affecting other aspects of Nigerian life.  Public education and healthcare continue to fail miserably; transportation remains a problem just as many Nigerians continue to go without clean water. 

 Many Nigerians remain poor just as the realization grows every day that the country is not built to withstand shocks. In many public schools in Nigeria, windows, doors and roofs have flown off classrooms just as reptiles have moved in to compete for space with students.

 In many government hospitals, the ear-splitting sound of generating sets deployed to make up for the absence of steady power supply is enough to wake the dead. In many government offices, the queues waiting to be served are often chaotic and querulous just as staff are unkempt and uncouth.  All these have continued to contribute to the biting narrative that Nigeria is a country fast running out of breath.

 Life has become increasingly difficult in Nigeria and there is only very little doubt about the direction the finger of blame is pointing. There is also very little doubt that unless something drastic is done by the government to improve public service delivery, the last shreds of public confidence will soon wither.

  Kene Obiezu,

 @kenobiezu