Nigeria- The Giant of Africa?

Having the inspiration and zeal to write does not often come easy. So what i do is that i surf the net to see what i should write about. 
I saw this interesting article in this day newspaper that i will like to share with you. Before you read it, let me ask- Has Nigerians come to accept bad roads, no electricity, bad governance, lack of infrastructure and lots more negativity as normal? Well i leave that for you to answer.
Nigeria as we all know is the Giant of Africa but the reverse is what we get as there is nothing good to talk or write about Nigeria as at now.

Here are the top 10 things Nigerians have come to accept as "NORMAL"

1. Electricity: Gradually, Nigerians now have accepted that it is normal not to have or expect electricity. So when the Power Ministry under Professor Chinedu Nebo, recently announced a drop of 2000 megawatts from the existing 4000 megawatts, no Nigerian even commented. Also, when the power authorities speak of strikes, everyone looks away, uncaring.


2. Bad Roads: What you do about bad roads is not to complain. The skill you must get is how to navigate the craters and gutters in a way to save your tyres the ordeal. Since one big man spent a whopping 300 billion Naira on roads without any visible change, Nigerians have resigned to fate, accepting their lot on the road of life (so painful).


3. Electoral rigging: That elections are going to be rigged is not the issue. You knew it was going to happen as sure as the sun sets in the East. What you don’t know is the latest methods. Rigging is now even transparent, free and fair. You knew the poll was rigged but exactly how, you haven’t the faintest idea. At the end, you accept the result as the people’s wish. May be the new system is to allow the people do the rigging themselves. Self-reliant rigging!- And also sharing of bag of rice by some politicians have become a means of buying our conscience and we accept it with other hands.

4. Corruption: Poor EFCC! They now pick every soft target they can find; quickly post their photos on the internet- just to keep the façade of waging a war against corruption. And they indeed are waging a war against petty thieves, leaving out the shot-callers and the well connected rogues who even run the anti-graft agencies.

5. Killer Convoys: You already know about that. What you don’t know is the madness of it all and why the big men choose to risk their lives and that of others in this manner. First, the convoys are a way of saying “look, we are different from you”. Then, it is the ultimate sign that you had arrived.

6. Lack of cash: Welcome to the era of cashlessness. I laughed when I first heard of the CBN inspired cashless policy. If you asked me, Nigerians did not even notice the fact that the policy officially took off on July 1, 2014. Why? Nigerians have been living without cash since the start of the current dispensation. The skills we have learn't as a people is how to have enough cash to keep you alive till the next money enters your hand. Even with the cashless policy, Nigerians still suffer- you go to the shop without money and cant use your card to pay because of the response you get ''sorry ma, our POS machine is not working''. And we keep quiet... we accept that nothing works well..

7. Violence: The other day, Miss Malala came to town. A foreign news medium said she was risking her life by coming to Nigeria as if it was here she was first shot at. But that is new reality! Our country is now in the same category as Somalia, Syria and the other demonised nations of the world. Even our media wasnt helpful as they all flogged their headlines with - Malala visits Nigeria. Excuse me, what will Malala say that the president haven't heard before?

8. Defection: Politicians now move around the political parties like some girls looking for where to shop for the latest Brazillian hair. There was a time when to defect from a party was the ultimate decision by a politician. It would make headlines. But now, you just yawn when you hear of it. Without shame also, they blast each other, rather than focus on the state of the Nation- shame.

9. Strikes: Strikes have become a comedy out here. In some climes, strikes are the biggest of crisis. But now, unions just get together to have fun – threatening and then backtracking! Industrial actions don’t have any value anymore. They are actions without a corresponding action from the authority that has learnt that after a while, the strikers would get tired and seek any kind of settlement. I sometimes ask myself, why can't Nigerians strike about bad roads, no electricity...? Question for another day

10. Skewed court judgments: No one even expect justice from the courts anymore. You only went there because you were either dragged there against your wish or that you went because you didn’t know where else to turn to. At the end, you are disappointed by the quality of justice dispensed, even if it was in your favor. Recently a young girl who was forced into marrying someone as old as her grand father was jailed for killing her husband and sentenced to death...you can imagine how screwed our system is... Politicians can kill and steal and yet still get Federal pardon, why cant this little girl? Too bad!!

What do you think of this list? Would you add or subtract? Do you think its true that we(Nigerians) have come to accept all these as normal?

Culled from This Day Newspaper.