History is like a web pattern, every events leading to another, rise and fall of empires. For a country like mine, whose history is written in bloodshed and condemnation which is capable of making strange thoughts build up in a man's heart against another but then, that isn't what this post is all about. As a child whenever I sit amidst the adult and watch them discuss about the challenges and tribulations currently facing the country, they always seems to have a mouthful of it and it never ends. They speak about the issues of tribalism, corruption, political party dominance and all sort of things but one thing that baffles me is that they always seem to believe that once we elect another president everything will be alright but it has never been.
Every time we conduct an election, all sort of promises are made through manifesto but it seems they become irrelevant immediately anyone emerges as a winner, my country being the type of country that finds it difficult to hold our leaders accountable for their actions. We find ourselves in the same spot every 4 years, discussing about the same problems, everyone pointing fingers at the new elected president for not being able to deliver on his promises, those who didn't vote for the president condemn those that did by throwing shades at them, while there are some that would say something like "even the past adminstration that we claim to be worst is better than now" sadly this seems to be a reoccurring statement, it makes it seem like the future we are gearing towards will be a lot worst than our past.
I once heard of a time when ₦1 equals $1, now it is just history. At least I couldn't complain about that because I never lived in that time, you can't miss what you never had but then I lived in a time when with just ₦10 your lunch box will be filled with all sort of goodies, a time when reality was still a lot bearable. I still remember my grandfather's words, he would tell us stories about how he built his first house for less than ₦5, he would brag about his first salary because he was a retired civil servant. Till he died he never seem to have anything good to say about the present administration but in those days we never really cared because we were fine with what we had at the present, if he was alive now, I wonder what his expression would be like looking at the situation of things.
It has always been a controversial subject whenever the need to discuss about the source of several civil unrest that occurs within my country. My country is made up elements that defines every other country which are, geographical location, population and sovereignty. Among many other features, these three were the obvious ones being taught throughout elementary school but as we grew older we realise it wasn't so simple. There were other things that exist within our own country that makes it different from many other countries out there. Compared to most countries with less complex populations my country's population is made up of many tribes and factions with different sense of nationality and perspective about governance.
Ever since Nigeria became a republic we have been ruled by 16 head of state including military government but same issue still persist. Everyone with the perspective that when a specific person from a specific faction of our society emerges as the president things will be different but it is only getting worse. The source of this is quite simple, we hold election every 4 years to elect a new democratic president, different aspirants show themselves in streets campaigning and making all forms of promises. At this point what is expected of every citizen is to put our differences aside and vet this aspirants one after the other and vote the most capable among them but it is never a matter of capabilities but tribal differences.
What pops up in most people's mind whenever they see an aspirant contesting is to make enquiries about which tribe he/she is from, which means most people prefer to be ruled by one of their own. It might be comforting to know that a specific aspirants is from their tribe which means he/she would have their best interest at heart when they emerge as the winner, this might be true in the local and state level but in the federal level based on the evidence we have seen, we all suffer equally from the president's inadequacy regardless of tribe. I mean if we don't even care to check the history of our past democratic presidents why can't we learn from the past two administration we have experienced.
This issue doesn't exist only among governors and presidents, it is also the same in the national assembly, among public servants and civil servants. People choosing to put certain individuals in position not because of meritocracy but mediocrity. I chose not to mention any names of any president or governors to prevent a conversation of "We" vs "Them" in the comment section because that is not what this post is all about but I strongly believe that based on the tribalism factor in considering specific individuals for governmental positions and it's influence in deciding important matters throughout the history of my country is the major reason why we are experiencing all sort of chaos in governance.
We all see cases of kidnapping, banditry, corruption, terrorism rising every single day which is an evidence of a failing country but instead of us to come together and tackle this issues all we see is tribal differences. The south-west and south-east blames the north for banditry and terrorism while the north and south-east blames the south-west for political dominance, embezzlement and dishonesty, then the north and south-west blames the south-east for propagating division and treason.
This list goes on and on throughout the history of my country and whenever a specific adminstration fails to fulfil their promises instead of holding the person in power accountable we prefer to blame their tribe. The solution is not that difficult to decipher, it all begins with everyone setting aside tribal and individual differences and working towards the greatness of our dear country but then it is easier said than done.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "A little history" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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