Let’s tell this story properly - The Nation Nigeria

Olukorede Yishau

I borrowed the title of this intervention from Manchester-based Ugandan author Jennifer Makumbi. It is the title of the American version of her collection of short stories known as ‘Manchester Happened’ in the United Kingdom.

The titular story is about a Ugandan who died overseas. When his wife gets to Uganda for the funeral, she realises that the man has a family she was unaware of. The deceased’s family are determined to put her in the background before an acquaintance of the overseas’ wife says “Let’s tell this story properly” and she lets it be known that the woman from abroad was the deceased’s financial backbone. The house where the Ugandan wife and her children live belongs to the overseas-based widow.

Our country is one place where stories are hardly properly told. Things are swept under the carpet for varying reasons, one of it can be that “you do not speak ill of the dead” or some other funny reasons. Truth dies easily for pecuniary reasons.

Today is the anniversary of many a governor and President Muhammadu Buhari. It marks the fifth anniversary of the president and marks either the first or the fifth of some of our governors. This May 29 has come at a time the world is trying to get out of the holiday COVID-19 forced it into. But for the crisis we are in, states will witness parties and governors will pop the champagne, a sparkling wine the rich love to celebrate with.

It will be unfair to say Buhari has not achieved anything but is not unfair to say more has been left undone. If we have to tell this story of our democratic journey properly, we have to admit that there are steps untaken and when is it best to talk about them than a time of stock-taking such as this?

The Second Niger Bridge, currently under construction, is one major stride that successive administrations could not achieve. For decades, many administrations made broken promises on the project. Now, as one drives on the Niger Bridge, the new bridge is coming up and has left the realm of promises. This project was denied for a long time even after the Buhari administration had started work on it. Being a huge bridge, so much work had to be done underground that are not visible to the eyes so politicians denied its existence until the pillars started sprouting out.

The Owerri Interchange, a 1.6 kilometres bridge and 10.3 kilometres highway being built by Julius Berger at the Onitsha/Owerri road, Obosi junction, is like a cousin to the new Niger Bridge because there is a link.

The COVID-19 pandemic halted the projects. But they are two of the over 50 projects that will receive attention as we force our way out of the cul-de-sac that the pandemic pushed us.

I sincerely believe that the investment in agriculture has seen many smiling to the bank. We have never had more local rice in the market as we now do.

The railway lines are one infrastructure that I am waiting for. The Lagos to Ibadan arm of the project is ready and test-run was being done before COVID-19. The Ibadan to Kano leg is in the works. The rail lines will complement the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, which is said to be 61 per cent completed. The Abuja/Kano, Enugu/Port Harcourt and many others will also be to the benefit of our people. We will also enjoy the new terminals in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Lagos when they are ready.

To tell the story of solid minerals properly, we must admit they can do more than the N5 billion it was said to have contributed to our purse in 2017. These are resources that I have always felt we were wasting.

The country’s Social Investment Programme, which is the biggest in Africa, has on its bill 3.6 million households. This is one of the areas where we need to tell a proper tale. I believe we cannot have the best of this programme without knowing our population. Because of our lack of proper identification, we resort to a crude form of identification during polls. When we cast our votes, a black ink is poured on our hands to show that we have voted. With proper census linked with our electoral process, once you vote the system automatically captures you and there is absolutely no need for the barbaric ink.

Proper data base of Nigerians is priceless. I believe the political class has deliberately frustrated a proper census. We have not had one in over a decade contrary to international best practice. With proper data base, security will be better. With data base, there will be transparency in other areas such as judiciary, the legislature and others. Rigging will almost become impossible because we will know how many we are. What we do now is voodoo planning with data generated in offices than on the field.

Corruption has received bloody nose under this administration but this is one area where things will be better if only we tell ourselves the truth and also do the right thing. The Bank Verification Number (BVN) holds the key to ensuring corruption is reduced to the barest minimum, if only accounts are properly linked with BVN. Inflows will be easily traced and government funds and illicit deals can be detected and curbed. Lack of a proper linkage of accounts makes fraud tracing Herculean. The lack of data base, for me, shows that our government is not forward-thinking.

It is this lack of a data base that has made it impossible for us to plan any bank-based stimulus for the less-privileged. America easily paid stimulus to its people using the tax data. Data also makes it easy to trace traffic and other offenders. Here we carry all kinds of identifications that are not linked and, in essence, useless.

Telling the story of our political system properly is a painful one because there is no way to do it without one feeling sorry for generations next. In Nigeria, our democracy is patterned after the U.S. and the UK. It is a variant of what obtains in both nations. But that is where it all ends. In the main, our party system is unique to us, in an abnormal way. It is difficult to discern the ideology or principle behind our political parties. We are neither dogs nor cats. The only glaring thing is the desperation to grab power.

I have asked myself these questions repeatedly: Will we ever get our politics right? Will there ever be ideological bend to our politics? Will there ever be distinguishable conservatives or progressives in our political space? Will our elected officials ever obey the law as it concerns defection?

My final take: As the president and the governors celebrate today, we need to tell ourselves the truth: We are far, far and far away from where we are supposed to be. Yesterday’s men of power messed things up but today’s men have no excuse pointing to the past to justify where we are. We elected them to make things better and all we are saying is give us better lives.