The Poor Cinderella Of An Average Nigerian -By Dominic Ezih

Nigeria is a country blessed with rich with human, natural and various resources, hence the country is too rich to be poor. But the tragedy is that most Nigerians are living or replicating the story of Disney’s Cinderella. The many Nigerians who are not opportune to hold top governmental offices have been turned into slave in this great country of ours. This should not be the case. Whatever position we find ourselves in Nigeria, that position should be seen as an avenue for selfless service towards our great county.  The moment the few Nigerians who are opportune to serve the nation in various governmental platforms see their positions as avenues to enrich themselves and their immediate families, they have turned the remaining Nigerians into the poor Cinderella whose father was a wealthy man but she was made a slave in her father’s house by her stepmother and step sisters.  We have everything needful to become a great nation, but the greed of some of the few has deterred the progress of Nigeria. It is a pity that as Nigerians some of us have been made slaves in our father land. This slavery we have fought against right from the era of colonialism, we are regressing back to it.

Most of our youths are unemployed and they have nothing doing. With the current rise in the awareness of entrepreneurship by governmental and non-governmental organizations, most of our youths have diverted their attention towards being an entrepreneur. But the question is, are the systems working, do we have an enabling environment? Majority of these things are not in place. Electricity is a major necessity for any nation that wants to thrive on entrepreneurship, but the reverse is the case. The electricity situation is nothing to write home about. Good roads are lacking, security is not in top notch. These are issues that can be addressed only if there is sincerity among our leaders. Cinderella could have triumphed and she would have been better but the enabling environment was not available. She was starved; she was made to live in an unhealthy environment. This is similar in our present Nigeria. Our country cannot be entrepreneurship driven if the system is not functioning properly.  The current trend that is going on in the various media platforms in Nigeria is the issue of recovered moneys without owners. These things can easily trigger the other side of someone and make someone do something that is not ethically right. It is very painful that most Nigerians can hardly eat three times a day, some are dying as a result of hunger. Some have died as a result of various medical issues for fees as low as a thousand naira. The amounts been recovered are mind bugling and if you are not strong enough, you might just die from a heart attack.

These issues have made some Nigerians wish that they could just have a fairy godmother that could just change the present situation we are facing in this our country. Surely, we can have a fairy godmother like the one that appeared to Cinderella and changed her life. That fairy godmother needed in Nigeria presently is effective leaders in any platform we find ourselves.

Encouragement of exportation and less dependency on importation in Nigeria. We need leaders who are effective and are willing to encourage exportation in Nigeria. There is need for these leaders to realize that Nigeria cannot grow if she wants to rely on importation. We need to embrace exportation and we will experience growth in our economy. Also, the necessary environment should be provided. Various governmental parastatals like the Customs, immigration, Developmental banks etc. should realise that their unity is paramount for the functionality of exportation in Nigeria.  Hence, they should all see themselves as contributors to Nigeria’s economy and they should be synergy among all these parastatals.

Provision of basic amenities. We need fairy god mothers who will realise that no nation can thrive in an unhealthy environment. We need good roads, good healthcare facilities. We need leaders who will ensure the workability of our research centers and this can be achieved if there is provision of good research centers. We want leaders who are vision oriented and not leaders who are not vision oriented. Also, we want leaders who will listen to the needs of those who they are leading just as the fairy godmother listened to Cinderella’s needs.

We need effective leaders in our families. We do not want leaders who are not upholders of good values. We need leaders in our families who realise that the family is the microcosm of the society, hence, they should shun at deviant acts like stealing, corruption and others. Also, we need family leaders who will shun at the get rich quick syndrome that has eaten many youths badly. If most family heads had effective leaders, we cannot but wonder at how ideal our society would have been.

The need for the diversification of the Nigerian economy. We need fairy godmother’s that will realise that the recent one sided economy that is going among our youths is a potential time bomb in Nigeria. What we realise that the attention of our youths have been diverted only to entertainment. Majority of our youths wants to be entertainers. They want to be singers, dancers, actors. We are not saying that we should not encourage our youths to go into entertainment, but we need to diversify this trend. Everybody will not be entertainers. We need future Dangote’s, we need future inventors like the likes of Charles Darwin, Boyle, Billgate, Albert Einstein and so on. What we see is that most of our youths are just dropping out of school, because of the wrong misconception they have inculcated. Entertainment is not the only contributor to Nigeria’s economy.

If and only if we realise that there is need for fairy godmothers in the various facets of the Nigerian system, we will have an ideal society. There is more room for improvement in Nigeria. If our potential fairy godmother’s wake up from their slumber and give their own impute into the growth of our great country Nigeria. Then we would live happily ever after just as Cinderella lived happily ever after with her prince charming. When this is done, the sudden rate of poverty in Nigeria will drastically reduce.

Dominic Ezih is a writer. Email douglasm001001@gmail.com.