SIR: What prompted my writing today is situated on my unwavering confidence in the welfare of Nigeria and Nigerians. Similar to that is the need for the career political jobbers of Nigerian extraction and their alien collaborators to voluntarily go into extinction regarding the governance of Nigeria.
Sequel to that, let the patriotic youth with vibrant agility take over the stage, and therefore a new Nigeria will emerge. Yes, a new Nigeria where loyalty to the hitherto deeply buried good reputation and national credibility rules supreme. Yes, a newly born nation where corruption and its proponents are punished according to the extant laws to the letter.
During my last visit to China in September 2013, the Chinese Yuan’s direct exchange rate was then N56 to Y1 while the Naira to Dollar was between N144 to USD1. That was about 12 years ago. Today, owing to the Nigerian currency flooding and the devaluation policy as enforced by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, the Yuan to Naira is currently exchanged at Y218.
Therefore, if for example, you have N1,000,000 to buy goods and services in Nigeria, the worth of that figure in Chinese currency is N1,000,000 divided by Y218 equal to Y4,587. Whereas in the yore years, you would have your N1,000,000 transferred to Chinese currency at Y17,857.
The fallout of these differences is that 1) Naira is devalued, not just locally but internationally. 2) With much Naira currency, you can only afford fewer goods and services in foreign lands. 3) The biting repercussions over there in Nigeria are that being a largely consuming nation rather than a producing one, inflation is the order of the commercial activities. 4) There are no rescue plans on the ground by the incumbent government, but rather misplaced strategic plans to win in the upcoming 2027 elections, painfully so.
Nigeria’s story is not a terrible or hopeless one. If at all it looks horrible, it only exists in the skeptical mindset of those naysayers who are like those cowardly soldiers who shoot themselves in the leg to be disqualified from being deployed to the battlefield. I hate this analogy. Nigeria’s story, if you don’t mind hearing this, can never be as seemingly horrific as that of (for instance) China of about five decades ago. The details can be weary but one of President Xi Jinping’s classic The Governance of China did justice to the topical issue.
Welcome to the world of possibilities and grounded prospects for the myriads of national ills bedeviling our blessed nation until now. Needless to continue to chronicle elaborately the situation currently unfolding in Nigeria – they are manifestly there looking us in the eyes daily. The one-stop remedy is not far-fetched or complicated at all.
Optimism, disposition to knowledge acquisition – willingness to learn, citizenry cultivating the self-development habits: these are prerequisites and resources when we think about a new Nigeria where the lives of each citizen matter.
There is virtually no ground for comparison between the states of nations like China and Nigeria. But about five decades ago, the rating could be at par. The rapid development which is entrenched in utter patriotism and consuming passion for nationhood and the pursuit of happiness and general welfare of the citizens by the Chinese political leaders is worthy of emulation. If you observe the orderliness in every aspect of China’s existence, it’s marvelous as it is fascinating.
Every step I make while my sojourn lasts here in China, what is usually preoccupying my lively mind is what can I do to export and establish this general system enveloped in excellence to my beloved country Nigeria? There’s a whole lot that Nigerians can emulate from the world’s second-largest economy – China.
Credit:The Guardian