NIGERIA - A HEART OF DARKNESS

 

To:     The Right Honourable Nigerian President Hon. Muhammadu Buhari

From: Athinarayanan Sanjeevraja

Date: December 22, 2020

RE:     Nigeria – A Heart of Darkness

Suggestion:

Hon. President, let me start paying my respects to you and through you to. Nigeria is a great country in terms of geography, tourism, untapped minerals and many other aspects. Nigeria should be managed by very reliable system of government, it necessary police and armed forces. When I watched several documentaries from various international Medias about Nigeria, one of the most populous black African majority nation and most diverse nations on the earth with about 500 different ethnic cultural language groups so devoid of hope and so divided. I have never seen a country in utter sadness from a wasted opportunity in all areas. I am not reinforcing the stereotype as Nigeria is a failed country. Nigeria has so many challenges. “Petroleum Industry in Nigeria reported that in 1960 a total of 847,000 tonnes of crude oil was exported”. Yet most of Nigerians live in poverty, without access to adequate infrastructure, healthcare and education. Many of Nigerians are still impoverished and have not made any tangible improvement to the lives of ordinary Nigerians over half a century. Nigeria is a heart of darkness and abominable failure since its independence. Today, I realise that Nigeria independence has been an unmitigated disaster. If the British rule continued that could have resulted in a better living standard for Nigerians or if the British installed a Hong Kong style administration, Nigeria would be a better place today. If Nigeria acknowledged at least administrative legacy of the British and African heritages it could have developed organically.

Hon. President, Nigeria’s real problems are tribalism, religion, linguistic chauvinism that motivates violence rather than positive political and cultural changes and thus weaken the Nigeria’s identity. But positive political and cultural changes are depends on one’s political and cultural beliefs. Meanwhile unbelievable corruptions, brazen lawlessness, absence of institutions, military dictatorships, inability to govern, unfettered waste of the oil, mercantile capitalism, Boko Haram insurgency (Ethnic sectarian conflict between Christianity and Islam), local extortion destroyed every fabric of Nigeria and make things even worse. Nigeria is not able to govern itself over half a century. If I am not wrong, Nigeria’s fundamental obstacle to reform and change is misplaced optimism. Nigeria’s only hope is to impose responsible government that would be willing to enforce the rule of law, building public infrastructure, leaving the oil wealth in a sovereign wealth fund, tackling Boko Haram, maintain and respect democratic institutions and maintaining price stability that create an open and truly competitive economy for the Nigerian people. For that Nigeria needs complete restructuring.

Hon. President, whenever the tribal and the linguistic divisions were too much to contend with, there must be religion. Southern Nigeria is predominantly Christian while Northern Nigeria particularly Chadian border is predominantly Islam where people speak Arabic. The gap between South Nigeria and North Nigeria is too vast and their relationship with each other at worst antagonistic. The Nigerian government failed to bind multitude of ethnic groups together through institutional framework.

Hon. President, According to Global Terrorism Index in 2015, “Boko Haram was ranked as the world’s deadliest terror group. According to Global Terrorism Index in 2019, Boko Haram was ranked as the world’s second deadliest terror group. Deaths from terrorism in Nigeria are now 83 percent lower than at their peak in 2014. Despite this decrease, the number of deaths attributed to Boko Haram increased by 25 percent from 2018 to 2019.” I highly appreciated that your government shown by actions and works in the area of security where your predecessor failed. Your government has stepped up its terror attacks are grossly limited compared to previous governments. Your government is doing the right thing for your nation and society against terrorism but it is not enough.

Hon. President, it is unlikely that Boko Haram could operate for so long without some local support. They are good at exploiting local grievances for their own ends. It is also true that most of the terrorist groups or organisations do the same. There is need for your government to tackle Boko Haram. There is also need for political leaders of Islamic nations and Islamic religious leaders publically condemn terrorist groups, terrorist organizations and crime against humanity. I would recommend that Islamic nations should assist Nigeria necessary financial resources or manpower or both to defeat Boko Haram. Your government should provide humanitarian aid to the Boko Haram victims. Successful efforts to tackle Boko Haram have combined effective military and political action. Nigeria fails when her military fail. Over five decades, Nigerian army has performed extremely well in many peace keeping missions including bringing peace in Liberia through ECOMOG and Sierra Leone through ECOMOG. I believe that Nigerian army could annihilate Boko Haram if all forces work hand in hand. Sometimes drastic measures such as life imprisonment and death penalty regime do a good job that meet the exigencies of the moment constitute part of good governance idea. Sometimes severe punishments may serve some deterrent purposes if terrorism and/or criminal violence not addressed systematically. In that case, we need to address the underlying structural factors and sources of organised violence or crimes or terrorism in Nigeria, for instance, poverty, poor governance, inequality, questions of injustices in the allocation of power, statuses and economic resources, high level of unemployment etc. Unless these fundamental issues are systematically addressed, no amount of sanctions can deter from terrorism or crimes or violence. Thus, the most effective measures are not higher penalties but more effective policing. IMHO, the best solution was always productive negotiation leading to peace rather than stalemate or the kind of subjugation. I would be appreciated if reasoned solutions are proffered to tackle Boko Haram. High levels of organised criminal violence or terrorism has a way of slowing down economic growth. Socio-economic stability may not be far off if your government resolved Boko Haram conflict peacefully.

Hon. President, I have seen illegal oil refinery video, the whole situation is so bad that it needs to be taken as a parody and corrected to bring about sanity, prosperity and peace to the Nigerians. It has to be changed at the grass root level. Nigerians should work with the government, regulate refineries, make it to an industry and export oil worldwide. This what Middle East regions are doing in the 1940s. It is unfair Nigerian people are in poverty while government is signing deals with big oil companies worth billions of dollars and the people are left to die in poverty. The government of Nigeria is subjecting Nigerians to poverty. Nigerians need to eat, educate their children and prosperity. Where is the conscience of the government? The army spilling or dumping thousands of gallons of oil into the Delta River is going to affect Nigeria way more than the oil crisis 20 years from now. It reduces the sale of big oil companies and also hinter the wealth accumulation to some very little extent and also reduces tax income of government. If it continued, Nigeria will not be able to even grow a tree or crops, killing all use of fish for food and water will be all gone. Tax that oil and share the profits with Nigerians’s problem solved. Why not take oil to a refinery so that it could be properly refined and not add to pollution in the area? Or create a small oil refinery producer scheme and allow a platform for expertise, guidance in safety protocol and initial funding for these refineries to support Nigerians. It could work out well for both local population and the government instead of fighting their efforts to make a living.

Hon. President, the work and ingenuity of Nigerians and the natural resources of their territory are the sources of economic prosperity. Your government should not allow spilling or dumping thousands of gallons of oil into the Delta River that destruct to the environment. I fully understood that your government doesn’t want subpar products to make it into the market that will affect automobiles as well as nation dentity but spilling or dumping thousands of gallons of oil destroy the environment, you will make yourself dependent on importing food in the future. Your government should thinking of a solution now. If it continued, it destroys the environment and would catch on fire one day. This is our planet. Why are we allowing such destruction? The major problem is there are divided in multiracial ethnics in Nigeria so every those of tribe have different proportional allocation for the natural resource. Violence, inequality, environmental disaster, corruption, poverty, hunger, foreign intervention, terrorism is dark about humanity. The simple solution is economic development. Nigeria has been blessed with an abundance amount of resources. Proper development and management of oil with the fuel extraction process or fractional distillation will change everything and give the people of Nigeria what they deserve to earn. If your government built one refinery in that region and employ all those locals risking their lives with those crude methods you can put an end to poverty. Government that was intended to work is for the benefit of the people. The best we can do as humanity is respect individual rights and natural law. We need to teach it to our youth. I hope that your government that really want to change and make things the way they should be.               

Hon. President, when I wrote to Sudan Prime Minister Hon. Abdalla Hamdok I have been insisted that many African countries comprise people of disparate ethnicities who have little history of cohesion. All Africa continents have not yet reached its potential and the future lies in togetherness. I hope that your effective leadership to hold this country together. I also hope that your leadership not only passionate about reform and change but also tactful and self-sacrificing enough to deal with Boko Haram and remodel the hope of Nigeria and recreate a coherent country in future. Hopes are quite among Nigerians including me you can inspire this kind of leadership in your term. Nigeria has immense potential for peace and prosperity.             

Thank you very much for your kind attention Hon. President.

 

Respectfully yours,

Athinarayanan Sanjeevraja.

Athinarayanan Advisory Services Since 2009

 

NOTE: “My thoughts and ideas can only work when your government is with vision and not corrupt”