This is not the country that African nations should
be in partnership with. We need to build stronger
links with China and other emerging economies such
as Brazil, because they’re proving to be a lot more
civilised than America, and they also have much stronger economies too. I am not saying that we should
do away with America completely, because for now
they’re still a proverbial “necessary evil” .If Obama
was a Nigerian Politician he would certainly not have
my vote. Check the opinion polls and you would see
that the Majority of Americans are not happy with his
Presidency and they were many reports of electoral
malpractice (election rigging) during the last Presidential elections.
America has a long history of electoral malpractice.
I will never forget the fiercely contested 2000 Presidential elections in the USA. Al Gore, the democratic
candidate received more votes than George Bush jr,
the Republican candidate and yet George Bush jr became the president (work that one out).
I don’t know about you but to me that is a classic
case of the proverbial “the more you look the less you
see” syndrome. Why am I speaking like this? Simply
to show Nigerians that “corruption” was not founded
in Africa irrespective of what the western media may
try to project, but that the western democracies are the
true architects of political malpractice.
Obama spent $1 Billion dollars (N160 Billion Naira)
on his last presidential campaign. Where did he get the
money from? Large corporations and banks where the
ones that sponsored Obama’s campaign and they did
it for obvious reasons, and that was to gain political
favours from Obama as and when they need it. They
didn’t do it because they love America, but they’re
simply protecting their own selfish interests, end of
story.
So please, the next time you bloggers, tweeters and
social media addicts want to malign Nigeria and the
African continent’s political terrain, have it at the back
of your mind that the “America” that many of you
worship and hold as the flagship of true democratic
expression and the place where many Africans have
made their permanent abode, is in actual fact the mod-
18
ern architect of political corruption. Is Nigeria perfect? of course not, but it is still our country. Is PDP
flawless? Certainly not, but in my opinion it is still
the only political party in Nigeria that has a national
expression.
Is President Jonathan perfect, not at all, but he is our
President and he and all the Governors, Senators, Representatives, Ministers, advisors and LGC’s are working for a better Nigeria.
States such as Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Lagos,
Edo, Kano, Nassarawa and many others have seen tremendous economic growth and development. Can the
state governors do more, I am sure they can, but we
should still laud them over what they’re doing thus far,
all under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. If you
must criticise a leader for what you feel are his shortcomings, then please try and balance your criticism by
also citing the things he is doing right, surely this isn’t
too much to ask?
Nigeria isn’t developing fast enough to take advan-
tage of its economic potential, and the state Governors
and Ministers urgently need to seek creative ways
to expedite this deficit in infrastructural development. They need to come together and combine their
resources and develop a rail network that will connect the country. They also need to look critically at
nursery and primary education, because this is the
foundation of the academic crisis besieging our nation.
Healthcare is also a crucial and state governments
need to do more to address this sector also, especially
in the rural areas.
Our Nation endured a destructive civil war, a gru-
elling military era and a challenging transition into
democracy, but through it all our economy is growing,
and foreign investors cannot get enough of our robust
and extremely fertile investment environ. Nigeria’s
best days are still very much ahead of her and the
infrastructural and economic foundation that is being laid by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration will ensure that our nation will certainly be
amongst the 20 most developed nations in the world
by the year 2020. May God bless and strengthen the
Goodluck Jonathan Presidency and may God bless
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.