Nigeria: The Truth Obasanjo Told

Leadership (Abuja)

22 June 2011

editorial

Ever since the Nigerian economy took a plunge, informed commentators and soothsayers have prophesied that a bloody revolution would take place in the country one day. But none of the prophecies has carried as much weight as the one made last week by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Geneva, Switzerland. During a panel discussion at the 100th session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Obasanjo warned that unemployment, if unchecked, would trigger a revolution that would leave no hiding place for African leaders including himself.

Every impartial observer of trends in Nigeria would agree with Obasanjo. As he explained at the Geneva event, there are more than 200 institutions of higher learning churning out more than 600, 000 graduates every year in Nigeria. On the other hand, he said, “we are not creating 100, 000 jobs every year for graduates of our tertiary institutions; that is a tinder box on which we are all sitting and the fuse can be ignited anytime”. Social justice, the former Nigerian leader added, is impossible in a country where a half of the citizens are unemployed or underemployed and where the rule of law, democracy and popular participation are absent.

Revolution is a good thing, except that a violent one often leaves behind blood, tears and sorrow for both the oppressors and the oppressed. Almost always, it is triggered by injustice, unemployment and hopelessness. For the revolutionaries, it is an opportunity to rise against their oppressors. The French Revolution of 1789 has been a reference point.

Nigeria, as Obasanjo stated, now has all the components that could set off a revolution. Many children are unschooled because their parents are unable to feed and send them to school. The education system has collapsed, producing unbaked and half-baked graduates that seek non-existent white-collar jobs. In the midst of the poor, the few rich display their ill-gotten wealth to the envy of the former. Those who work hardest cannot earn a decent living while loafers like politicians steal incredible billions of naira. Young Nigerians are growing angrier because of these inequalities and social injustice.

We do not wish for a bloody revolution in our country. But to avoid the calamity, we must begin to do what is right and create jobs for the prosperity of the teeming masses. The rich should be taxed. Corruption has to be fought to a standstill. (At the Geneva summit, Obasanjo also rightly testified that there was no political will to fight this monster.) Ill-gotten wealth should be seized and returned to the public treasury while the thieves serve their punishment in jail. Government must get the power sector right. The use of direct labour in gigantic construction projects like housing, railways and roads will create millions of jobs. Also, the judiciary should be reformed: justice should be delivered to both the rich and the poor.

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