"We really don't give a damn N***a"

Despite the fact that we face the same institutionalized corruption, nepotism, unchecked cronyism and inbreed ineptitude that is causing North Africans to rise up in anger, I know the same can never happen in Nigeria. We are too busy waiting for crumbs to fall from the plates of our masters to realize that we too could get a seat at the table. The chains that hold us down and keep us in perpetual servitude; they are all mental. We seem unable or unwilling to unshackle ourselves from an acceptance of mediocre and inept leadership.

The average Nigerian is indifferent to government corrupt and abuse of power. Elected or appointed officials act as if the national coffers are their personal piggy banks and somehow this is accepted as way of life. I guess the assumption is if you are fortunate enough to have attained this (most times) underserved position in life, it is expected that you will act with reckless disregard of the laws of the land. The rich and the well connected continue to confuse the poor and the simple minded with innuendoes centered around religious, cultural, tribal and regional differences while they plunder the country, systematically striping her of every single asset. Every true Nigerian knows that we almost never gather to express anger or disappointment about the affairs of the country but we will organize a quick riot and kill dozens of innocents to settle perceive tribal or religious slights. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US, CAN’T WE SEE? Is it too much to expect that the people we have entrusted to run the country will do so without enriching themselves first, second and last?

The fear I have is that anarchic is never the answer to anything but then neither is doing nothing. We have never had a capacity to see beyond our own immediate and individual needs. The collective good is constantly being redefined as “collecting everything that is good for me and myself” we never worry about tomorrow, we have always been too busy trying to survive today. Every generation grows up accepting that we will always have erratic power supply, that highway robbers are a fact of life, That all roads come naturally with potholes, that clean water comes in a sachet, that the governor’s son will be a spendthrift, that most of the richest people we know at one time or the other, either worked for the government or are connected to people that did.

We continue to recycle the same old tired cadre of leaders whose bad ideas, unpatriotic service, and embezzlement started us down this road in the first place. I know politicians are not exactly known for being shining examples of ethnical or moral standards but ours have taken the words “corrupt politician” and made them principles to live and die by. The governing class continues to live below our expectations, regardless of how much we lower it. There is a reason Africa has 19 presidents who have been in power for 11 years or more, it is because we have convince them by our own inactions that it is what is best for our countries.