25 YEARS: NIGERIA’S FAILING PROMISE?

Joshua J. Omojuwa contends that not much progress has been made because of lack of vision and purpose

Since 1999, in terms of economic growth, the period 2003 to 2007 stands out. Whilst Nigeria and that government could take credit for what happened then, it is also the only period in modern human history that every country, bar three, saw respectable growth. Not to experience a major growth at that time was to be deemed the exception. Fiji, Zimbabwe, and Congo stood out for being that exception. 

Outside of that early 2000s global growth miracle, Nigeria in 25 years has danced on the brink of mediocrity, toyed with petrol-fueled growth, made itself ever susceptible to the whims and games of global politics and has to date lost even its edge as a petroleum dependent economy. We can’t pump it up like we once did.

The hope that dawned in 1999 has remained just that at best, hope. “Renewed Hope” won the last election. The promise of a better Nigeria has mostly delivered failings and nightmares and whilst rosy retrospection inspires a return to the military days for some, democracy for its relative guarantee of freedom and fundamental human rights, remains the best option of the lot we could return to or experiment with.

Democracy it is. However, we cannot hide behind democracy to pretend our failings are on account of the type of government. They are not. We have failed because our political culture, whether under democratic norms or military systems, is given to waste and a lack of purpose, vision, and direction.

Every country in the world had their challenges in 1999. Here in 2024, that is also what they all share. The presence of problems is not the marker of progress or lack of progress for countries, territories, and people. Problems are an essential part of the human experience. Our brains would probably self-destruct if we woke up from bed every day and did not have to engage it at creating a pathway to fixing one or two challenges. That Nigeria continues to have numerous problems and challenges today is not a reflection of its failings, that it continues to battle the same problems after almost three decades is.

The greatest reflection, for an individual or a group of people, that progress has not been made is not when you continue to have problems to deal with. We will always wake up to a world that is constantly asking questions of us. Our answers to those questions is the propulsion we need for progress. The greatest reflection that progress has not been made is when you spend decades as a person or people still battling the same questions and finding no solutions in sight. Power? Justice? Security? Education? Food security?

A person that used to be poor in 1999 who is not poor today is not without challenges. That person only has challenges that come with their latest economic status. When one person is praying to God to be able to meet their rent and their children’s school fees and another is praying that they should be able to find investors for their company or make sales to clients abroad, both prayers are challenges that both intend to meet. However, both aren’t at the same level. One day, the one praying for rent and school fees hopes to go past that level so that they’d rather be praying for their business to expand across countries or grow from say a millionaire dollar enterprise to five million.

Nigeria’s prayers have not changed from that subsistence level since 1999. “Government officials became progressively indifferent to propriety of conduct and showed little commitment to promoting the general welfare of the people and the public good. Government and all its agencies became thoroughly corrupt and reckless. Members of the public had to bribe their way through in ministries and parastatals to get
attention and one government agency had to bribe another government agency to obtain the release of their statutory allocation of funds.” These are President Olusegun Obasanjo’s words from his inaugural address on May 29, 1999. What part of that sentence is not true today?

We have taken some steps forward of course. Several of them on account of the rest of the world dragging us along with it. We had years where commercial planes dropped from the skies like birds in a plaque. Whilst challenges remain on that front, 12 years of safe skies is worthy of note. Phone lines have gone from being a privilege for the rich to being the norm for everyone. We could be better by making most of the phones we use though. Our cultural influence in Africa and around the world have reached heights never seen before. Amidst our challenges, we continue to be a country of proud and hardworking people.

Negativity bias suggests that it is easier to recall negative things than remember positive ones. However, even at that, I spent quite some time trying to pick out the progress we have made over the last two and a half decades. Where one to reflect on our failings, it wouldn’t be so difficult. Even more so when most of those failings were the same failings our elected officials met with in 1999.

“I shall end this address by stressing again that we must change our ways of governance and of doing business…This we must do to ensure progress, justice, harmony and unity and above all, to rekindle confidence amongst our people. Confidence that their conditions will rapidly improve and that Nigeria will be great and will become a major world player in the near future”. This was the hope that was reflected in the presidential address about this time in 1999. You could copy and paste these words into any presidential speech today and it’d fit just perfect.

Different times, same problems. This shows you that in many ways, we are where we were in 1999. 2049 is 25 years away, however, there is no guarantee of progress by then. Every country must earn its progress or be doomed by its failings. Because the United Nations cannot equalise prosperity.

 Omojuwa is chief strategist Alpha Reach/BGX Publishing