Ball A. Akinterinwa
“Nigeria, We Hail Thee” was the first national anthem of Nigeria, the words of which were written in 1959 by Lillian Jean Williams and the music of which was also provided in 1959 by Frances Berda. The anthem was followed as the national anthem of Nigeria when Nigeria acceded to national sovereignty on October 1, 1960. But for various reasons, adding the desire to advertise the indigeneity of assets and also motivate Nigerians, the anthem was replaced in 1978 under the direction of General Olusegun Obasanjo’s army, with “Rise up, compatriots. ” Inspiring Nigerians and making sure public trust and support, especially after the reckless killing of Murtala Mohammed on February 13, 1976, a new anthem of the type “Rise up, countrymen”, have become a desideratum in the mania of the former Soviet Union, which replaced its national anthem twice: “The state anthem of the Soviet Union was the national anthem of the USSR and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991. “Before that, was “The International” and was replaced by the Second World War to motivate all citizens to war.
In comparison, Nigeria’s 1960 national anthem had 3 stanzas, while the 1978 national anthem had only two. Again, while the 1960 anthem regarded Nigeria as a “homeland,” the 1978 anthem sees Nigeria as a “homeland. “The preference for the fatherland can be explained through the policy of “tropism” of the leadership of Tafawa Balewa who protested France’s opposition to the use of ‘Nigeria’ unless it is in the context of ‘The Federation of Nigeria’. be called “Nigeria”. In other words, Nigeria would have asked why “Niger” and “Nigeria”. , leadership and determination to succeed at higher heights.
More importantly, the opening words of any of the hymns are remarkable. The 1960 anthem reads “Nigeria We Hail Thee”. The 1978 anthem reads, “Arise, compatriots. “With “Nigeria, we salute you,” the anthem writers simply declared Nigeria’s positive attributes in terms of tribal and linguistic diversity and unity through resolution. But those attributes aren’t smart enough to build sovereignty. country, hence the last sentences of the 3rd stanza: a petition made to the God of creation to kindly “grant this request, help us to build a country where no one is ‘oppressed’ in the hope that such a country will free itself from oppression will announce peace, abundance and engender divine blessings for Nigeria.
As for “Arise, compatriots,” it was assumed that a Nigerian country already existed and that the country slept or slept, thus emerging to serve the motherland. In serving the country, God is asked to guide and consult Nigerian leaders, to help “our young people know the truth, grow in love and honesty, and live with justice and truth, reaching wonderful heights. . . Unfortunately, however, any of the anthems were absolutely bastardized in violation of the anthem’s goals and gently destroyed on a daily basis, creating a long bleak road for Nigeria.
Gently greet and kill Nigeria
Nigeria We Salute You’ was an anthem of patriotism, greater days ahead and a special expression of gratitude and a call to Almighty God for a more self-reliant Nigeria. Even though the anthem had been replaced, it is stated here that before it was changed, its essence had been absolutely neutralized. For example, the word “even though we may differ in tribe and language, in brotherhood we are” has lost its meaning with the crises of 1962 in the then western region, the coup of January 1966 and the subsequent counter-coup in the country, as well as the civil war of national unity of 1967-1970. In other words, there was no such thing as brotherhood or a genuine goal of building a Nigerian country. All that was done was more the promotion of ethnic politics and self-preservation. General Yakubu’s 3-Rs (Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation) theory, and specifically the statement that there was no “winner or loser,” meant nothing, as the court cases and commotion obviously show. from the other Igbo peoples by a separate sovereign republic. that building a Nigerian country has been more of an aspiration. Nothing is done to build a country, not even with the advent of the NYSC program in 1973 after the end of the Civil War.
In fact, with “Arise O Compatriots”, whose lyrics were composed by Ben Odiase, the director of Nigerian Band, it is Nigeria that calls on all Nigerians to obey Nigeria’s call and serve the homeland. Go out and serve? Chief Obafemi Awolowo is known to have regarded Nigeria as nothing more than a geographical expression. Is Nigeria no longer a geographical expression? Indeed, rather than obeying and serving, it was Nigeria’s slow destruction that came to characterize Nigeria’s political government with a specific emphasis on institutional corruption.
First of all, what is the exact number of liters of Premium Motor Spirit (oil) fed daily in Nigeria?Lately, the figure is causing a lot of controversy. As asked through Colonel Hameed Ali, Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, during the hearing on the medium-term spending framework (2023-2025) before the House Finance Committee, how does the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) put the daily intake of PMS at 60 million liters and 98 million liters are removed daily from the warehouses?
In this regard, he disagreed with the NNPC’s claims that gas contributes especially to the amount of money that goes into subsidies. In his own words, “the challenge is not oil smuggling. . . If we consume 60 million liters of gasoline a day according to their own calculations, why on earth would you allow 98 million liters a day to be taken out?. . . So how do you get to 60 million each and every day?If you say that this oil is contraband, if you refuse 98 million liters , and then we use 60 million liters, the balance will be 38 million liters. How many trucks will bring 38 million liters? Every day. There are almost 500. What path do they follow?(Vide Canales Televisión report, September 1, 2022).
The point raised here is the fact of official institutional corruption. The NNPC is not being fair to publicly reported figures, especially in light of the arguments presented by the Comptroller General of the Customs Service. It is a manifestation of the comfortable assassination of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For the more affable Nigerians, the perception of Nigeria is no big deal. It’s still child’s play.
Second, there is incompetent government as a problem. Professor Jide Osuntokun noted that “our country is not mobilized for production and productivity. “employees, they do not pay taxes, and our country is almost exclusive in that sense. That is why we do not have a government that responds to the wishes of others, because it can exist ignoring others because it does not have their taxes.
Moreover, in Professor Osuntokun’s eyes, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) is basically challenged by insecurity, economic collapse and corruption, over-administration, too many states and too many local governments, centralization and concentration of too much force in the center, and the devaluation of the naira, all of which are “intertwined in complex ways. “What is remarkable about these disorders is not their lifestyle but their raison d’être.
Why their lifestyles in the first place? The lack of trust is largely the result of the program of fulanization and Islamization. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi made it clear to African leaders that there would be no peace in Nigeria until the country split into a Muslim north and a Christian south. therefore, it is not unexpected that wherever Boko Haram succeeds in occupying territory, it temporarily installs its flag of independence and sovereignty. Therefore, one of the goals of the Boko Haram insurgency is to make Nigeria an Islamic state and where it is difficult, to restrict it to northern Nigeria in the first place. This is why Sharia law predominates in the north and why there is a false impression of devotion in the country.
Regarding the Fulanization program, not only the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, revealed in interviews with Channels Television on September 16, 2019 and February 15, 2022 that Fulani foreign herdsmen would gain advantages from the federal government’s Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) program. and that Nigeria has many ungoverned spaces that can be occupied and exploited economically through foreign Fulani herdsmen. In other words, Nigeria will have to welcome all Fulani herders from West and Central Africa.
Given the AU’s continental integration agenda, there is nothing with accommodating each other in Nigeria, especially as a leading country in Africa. However, there is no terra nullius in Nigeria and therefore incoming Fulani herdsmen can only be forcibly settled in Nigeria. This is exactly what is happening in Nigeria: the forced acquisition of titled land from rightful owners and the transfer of land to Fulani herders. Once again, this is gradually and slowly ending Nigeria, whose long term can only be very bleak.
Third, according to Chatham House, citing “Catch Me If You Can, African Kleptocrats” from The Economist, nearly $582 billion has been stolen from Nigeria since 1960 and up to N11 trillion has been diverted to the electricity sector since 1999, while between 2011 and 2015 N1 0. 3 trillion of public budget was laundered. In fact, according to The Economist, Britain’s International Corruption Unit claims to have confiscated $117 million in loot from Nigeria since 2006, and “an additional £791 million has been frozen worldwide. “thanks to their work. ‘
Fourth, there is the dirty gas saga factor in which there is methanol in four gas shipments imported through direct sales and direct sales (DSDP) suppliers. “Under the DSDP contract, NNPC sells its crude oil to selected middlemen for subtle petroleum products. But the dirty gas saga contract showed that NNPC sold its crude oil to middlemen who sold the product to a foreign buyer, then made huge profits, and then received reasonable gas from some other refinery in Europe. “Unfortunately, the number of intermediaries is increasing, and they are determined to make more profit than the freight price and, in doing so, increase the expense of NNPC. Dealing directly with intermediaries and not refiners gently kills the Nigerian (Oladehinde Oladipo’s Dirty Petrol Saga. . . Business day, February 14, 2022.
Foreign participation
To be sure, Nigeria is on the path of national disintegration out of the internal turmoil for separation. Extra-Nigerian forces also appear to be aiding and abetting the dismantling of Nigeria. It is already known that France helped Boko Haramists, a scenario that sparked a public protest and outdoor demonstration at the French embassy in Abuja about two years ago. And more recently, a French pilot, Rémy Quignolot, was arrested in Nigeria with his helicopter allegedly belonging to General Abdulsalaam Abubakar. The helicopter was reportedly carrying food, ammunition, weapons, bandits, kidnappers, insurgents, herders and farm animal thieves. Therefore, the various manifestations of the slaughter in Nigeria can only continue to interest them to the highest degree. It can only be attractive to watch Nigeria’s murder and escalate.
PMB rightly believed that its RUGA policy regulation would “attract a lot of investment to Nigeria” and that “over the next five years, each RUGA regulation will provide no less than 2000 task opportunities. . . creation of tasks, access to credit facilities, security for pastors’ families and relief from the theft of farm animals. “However, PMB is contemplating the merits of its RUGA policy, it also ignores, unfortunately, that foreign investors can only have their own political-economic objectives, which would possibly come with the dismantling of Nigeria for apparent reasons: neutralize Nigeria, which has been the main leader in Africa challenging Euro-American hegemony in global governance. The West is not interested in having a strong African state capable of effectively challenging it in foreign relations.
Similarly, it is likely that only in Nigeria can we have a public institution, generating as much as N2. 54 billion a year and also spending the same amount on operating costs, which means that there is no advertising gain. It is also in Nigeria that around 90% of the profits generated can be diverted to a questionable oil subsidy, which many are also highly fraudulent. for election and winning. In other words, bad habit is not a challenge in electoral politics in Nigeria.
Internationally, observers do not like Nigerian-type situations. Airline operators withdraw their legitimately earned currency from selling price tickets, forcing them to threaten to leave Nigeria, a progression that has also led Nigeria’s central bank to offer a bailout of around $250 million. The foreign symbol of Nigeria cannot be helped in this situation. Indeed, the mere fact that EU ambassadors met last week with PDP standard-bearer Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to investigate the most likely trend of bilateral relations between Nigeria and the EU on the occasion of a PDP government in 2023, can only be an opportunity to outline the long term for Nigeria. This means that Nigeria will be under constant surveillance.
In fact, the challenge of foreign exchange shortages has severely affected the aviation sector. Domestically, airline operators have complained about currency shortages and the maximum charge for Jet AI. The federal government, as explained through Aviation, Minister Hadi Sirika believes that “the energy crisis is genuine and global. “also because foreign currency is scarce in Nigeria and the source of foreign exchange earnings has also declined. “The implication of this is that the Nigerian environment is hostile to foreign direct investment.
To be sure, Nigeria also has a lot of value to live in. Electricity and the cost of living are prohibitive, especially for the poor, while rich Nigerians lead bourgeois lives. For example, a Nigerian senator earns $2,183,685. 00 per year, compared to $174,000. 00 for a U. S. senator; $154,000. 00 from the Canadian Senator, $119,500. 00 from the German Senator, $105,400. 00 from the British Senator and $104,000. 00 from the South African Senator. Therefore, the Nigerian senator earns more. Nigerian political leaders hold their meetings in Europe, not Africa, let alone Nigeria. It is also to highlight the mentality of high society.
Perhaps more troubling is the artistic fallacy with which the public budget is misspent or misappropriated through public officials in Nigeria. It is a pleasure to consciously give in to investigations of irregularities. A popular case is that of the Acting Director-General of the Niger Delta Development Commission. There was a hearing at the NDDC on why Daniel Pondei deserves to spend money based on an overdue budget. It paid 536 million naira to an organization related to “Saving Lives in the Niger Delta”. He collapsed and hurried to escape further investigation. The current Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has been accused of wrongdoing through the National Assembly. He also accused the National Assembly of his alleged crime. The chairman of the hearing committee was forced to announce that additional discussions would then be held behind closed doors.
Again, and of utmost importance, is the case of the monthly payment of $33 million in execution of the Azura power plant contract with Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET). NBET unilaterally signed the agreement with Azura Power Plant and made the decision to pay the amount without official approval. The Chairman of the House Finance Committee, the Honorable James Faleke (APC-Lagos), stated that the contract was concluded without approval and against the advice of the Minister of Justice. In his own words, “As we perceive, this means that a government company here has signed an agreement with an investor for a constant amount of commodities, fuel for forced corporations, or electric power to be provided to Nigerians. ” In very undeniable terms, this means that whether the amount the company signs to take is taken or not, the company will pay that investor for the constant amount signed.
In essence, it is not clear whether PMB is up to the task of politico-economic governance in Nigeria. If so, questions about the NBET-Azura Power Plant contract deserve to be asked. Nigerians will want to know more about how a payment contract can be executed without the approval of the Federal Executive Council and against the recommendation of the Nigerian Minister of Justice. Monthly bills of $33 million to the investor to obtain fuel for power generation purposes and without a normal source of electrical energy is an expression of non-compliance with treaty obligations. In that sense, can it be true that there was no approval of the Federal Executive Council for the contract bills? In fact, the old and new Nigerian national anthems, “Nigeria, we salute you” and “Arise, fellow countrymen,” have not negotiated this kind of Nigerian deliberate fraud and political trickery. Saluting Nigeria in the 1960s and early 1970s was indeed for a greater Nigeria. Calling on Nigerians to build a greater Nigeria in 1978 was also to revalue the spirit of “Nigeria, we salute you. ” Nigeria has been on a slow killing spree since 2015 and that cannot be the purpose of the founding fathers of Nigerian fashion. Killing Nigeria softly therefore weakens Nigeria internationally, strengthens the foundation for disintegration, and paves the way for further jihadist terrorism in the West and Central African regions.
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