On May 2nd, 2024, I was bored. The day before, on May 1st, there was a power outage around 2 p.m. While, as Nigerians, we might not have 24-hour power supply, in Nigeria's parlance, the power supply delivered to my house could be classified as enjoyonce. So, of course, while waiting for NEPA to magically restore the light 20 or 30 minutes later like they used to, I logged into my social media accounts, scrolling through X and wasting valuable battery that could be useful to me later.
Anyways, the power supply was, in fact, not restored that day as expected. Instead, I had to sleep in darkness, accompanied by the hallelujah chorus of mosquitoes.
The next day, around 10 o'clock, my phone died. Seeing that without my phone, I was a nuisance, my elder brother offered to help me charge my phone someplace. Bored to death, I decided to search for something that could serve as my source of amusement. Naturally, I enjoy reading books, but since I got my phone, I had abandoned the old-fashioned hardcopy books for Wattpad.
However, having nothing else to do, I reverted to my old ways. While searching for a book to read, I came across Chinua Achebe's book titled The Trouble with Nigeria. As someone who respects Chinua Achebe, especially because the first-ever 'adult book' I read, so to speak, was Things Fall Apart, I picked up the book.
In the book, Achebe briefly summarized the problems of Nigeria. Published in 1983, 42 years later, this book still holds water in addressing the challenges plaguing Nigeria.
Opening to the first chapter, Chinua Achebe put it bluntly: "The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership." He went on to boldly say, "There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility."
Achebe went on to state that the challenges facing Nigeria have become a topic of gossip, popularly called "small talk." In fact, whenever people meet, they simply talk about the challenges facing this country.
Well, he is not wrong. In the era of social media, our small talk is taking place on the internet, with us Gen Z-ers covering up our hopelessness about the situation by turning it into "cruise."
Achebe boldly addressed the elephant in the room in today's generation, which has hindered the unity of Nigerians—tribe. According to Achebe, "Tribe has been accepted at one time as a friend, rejected as an enemy at another, and finally snuggled through the back door as an accomplice."
Of course, tribalism has wormed its way into our institutions. I was asked to produce a copy of a "letter of origin" from my state in order to enter a federal secondary school. My question is, why should a Nigerian born and bred in Nigeria be required to state their state of origin before being given admission? What happened to the birth certificate, or isn't that enough?
This, and many other things, have proven that tribalism is institutionalized and has been used as a weapon of warfare by our so-called politicians seeking power.
Achebe, while talking about tribalism, used the story of when he was to fill out a form for a student seeking admission into a university in the USA. According to him, the form boldly printed: "Please make no statement which would indicate the applicant's race, creed, or national origin."
Of course, we all know how we like to emulate the US, Dubai, and other developed countries. In fact, recently, when there was a flood in Lagos (and Lagos floods every year), a government official pointed out that since Dubai had also experienced flooding, it was okay for Lagos to experience the same. But of course, I think the official failed to mention that even with the flooding, Dubai still had electricity—unlike Nigeria, where just a small wind can cause a power outage!
Chinua Achebe also pointed out in his book that Nigeria has a sense of false praise for itself. He compared a statement made by the then Chancellor of Germany, who said, "Germany is not a world power; it does not wish to become a world power." The same year, the then military head, General Olusegun Obasanjo, said: "Nigeria will become one of the ten leading nations of the world by the end of the century." Of course, guess who is way better off today? Don't worry, you can try guessing—I won't spoil it.
Achebe, of course, brought it down to the very foundation of Nigeria's leadership, starting with Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo. Nnamdi Azikiwe, in 1937, boldly stated:
"Henceforth, I shall utilize my earned income to secure my enjoyment of a high standard of living and also to give a helping hand to the needy."
Obafemi Awolowo also stated: "I was going to make myself formidable intellectually, morally invulnerable, to make all the money that is possible for a man with my brains and brawn to make in Nigeria."
What is wrong with these two statements, you might ask? Well, it's the fact that these two, who were supposed to be leaders of Nigeria after we gained our independence, talked solely about themselves and put themselves above Nigerians. Zik said, "I am going to use my wealth for my enjoyment and then give to the needy." He did not state how he wanted to create an environment where the needy could make their own wealth for their own enjoyment; rather, he wanted to be the one feeding the needy with crumbs.
Of course, in the 21st century, we can see where that has led to, with politicians content with sharing bags of rice, garri, even buckets, pails, and someone even shared a tire! Rather than empowering the people, they would rather prefer giving them crumbs. In fact, both Awolowo's and Zik's statements have shown why there is a deep divide between the elite and the poor.
Well, of course, I do not mean to bore you with much talk, especially as the trouble with Nigeria is glaring and needs no explanation. "Corruption, leadership, and even Nigeria's problems" can be described as some of the many troubles with Nigeria. The author of this book is late, but the troubles remain.
I write other things too:
