By Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq
It is difficult to wrap the head around how Nigeria’s leadership lines up its priorities. On a day when the President should give account of his 1-year stewardship what he opts for is to take Nigeria back to its old anthem- a colonial relic that abrogates an anthem written and compiled by a Nigerian.
If you read that as neo-colonialism that may be one tangent to view it but for those who read the Holy creed, it is reminiscent of the Israelites craving for the
garlic and onions of the land of their oppression in exchange of the Promised land.
The stats are even more dire when the facts run up to the President's action:Nigeria’s inflation rate now stands at about 35.20%, the U.S. inflation is 3.36% yet their citizens are screaming hoarse.
Dollar to naira in 1999 was $1: N88. In May 2023 when President BAT took over it was $1: 460.72. Today it is $1: N1400.
Nigeria’s Human Rights record is nothing to write home about. 735 Mass abductions have occurred in the past year and an estimated 4,777 Nigerians have been kidnapped since President BAT’s assumption to office.
In this moment, the National Assembly has not done enough to demonstrate the checks it is putting up against the Executive to ensure the people get their due. The Judiciary is regrettably struggling with judicial independence and multiple conflicting orders.
The Bill to return Nigeria to its old colonial anthem is one of the swiftest to be signed into law. In other words, the President deemed it ‘more urgent and primary ‘ than security of lives, addressing human rights violations, stemming down inflation or judicial independence.
There are many things we could have gone back to:
- Better human rights record post 2009 where there were no terrorists bandits or kidnappers.
- Better economy, quality of education, national integration, health care, power supply that does not polarize the people between bands A-E.
If it weren’t so sad and unfortunate, it would have been bizarre.
Olusola O’sola Fapohunda puts it to a case of a landlord whose house has leaking roof, blown off electricals, septic tanks spewing and smelling, decking, doors and windows off with an emerging storm threatening to crash down the house but who drives by and sits in his air conditioned car, inspects it and recommends the house be painted as the fix.
My cerebral learned friend Fidel Albert Esq puts it even more graphically when he said: the cancer patient rejected chemotherapy and opted for BBL.
An anthem change does not fix an ailing nation. National symbols do not shape a country. The intentional policies and actions of leaders in nation building is what builds a nation.
Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq is the C.E.O. House of Justice. She may be reached on gloriaballason@houseofjusticeng.com