Opinion: What Parkison’s law of triviality tells me about Nigeria

by Hemenseter Butu

Passengers For River Boats, Onitsha, Nigeria

Youth Corp members have been known to go missing, beaten, kidnapped, die in accidents but never bombed until April, 2011 in Suleja and I said surely today is the day God has ordained it. No one petitioned, few demanded better leadership. Even fewer demonstrated. Doctors didn’t strike, ASUU didn’t, NANS did nothing.

Cyril Northcote Parkinson, in 1957, postulated that “Organizations tend to over flog trivial issues.” In Nigeria however, to be fair, we over flog every issue, but therein lies the triviality. After much is said, nothing is done.

When putting out articles, I’m like a man with anger management issues. I hardly ever begin fights, I don’t even respond to glaring taunts, then all of a sudden…. The volcano bursts and my rage, if ever measured, might surpass international records for the most devastating earthquakes. But this is not about me, it is not just even about you. It is about the innocent, naïve and mostly unwilling offsprings we will some day bear into this world who would live in their day’s Nigeria, POSSIBLY looking like today’s Zimbabwe.

I had planned to avoid ranting about the multitude of problems that we so effectively create as a society. I planned to avoid ranting on the months of issues I have held worthy but never fully erupted over. I planned to avoid telling you how unsustainable using 25% of our budget to pay the NASS is. How no country attained a working democracy by having a youth population that refuses to vote. How seeking change just for the purpose of variety MIGHT be our worst mistake.

I planned to avoid ranting at all lest I be sending out a hypocritical message.

Oh no! But that’s exactly what you need to hear. One final rant; a calling that says in lay terms “This is the twenty first century and we must find better ways to force good leaders out of ourselves.”

I pray earnestly that the rage expressed here lends destruction to our mediocrity and the selfishness that is endemic in us; citizens.

We are often derailed by those in power referring to us as unpatriotic, but I tell you, Patriotism isn’t about embellishing truths, it isn’t about protecting failure. It actually is about feeling love towards one’s nation. In Nigeria it’s about sharing a sense of belonging with a fellow national who isn’t privileged enough, someone who isn’t opportuned to eat a billion Naira’s worth of meals (backed by the Senate).

A Senate (which I hold nothing against as an institution), passed the supplementary budget in 3 days but can’t pass viable laws that provide goodwill to ordinary folks. What does the man in Aba, or Agbor, or Potiskum benefit from most of the laws passed by our senate. Say the ban on homo sexuality (even though I detest same sex “sexual” relationships).

I have always been a strong advocate for a revolution, and I saw numerous events that if it was within my power would spark one.

Sticking with the red chamber, numerous blogs have tried to approximate the take home of our senators and representatives regardless of political affiliations. Sums were in tens to hundreds of millions. No nigerian muscle has twitched.

Youth Corp members have been known to go missing, beaten, kidnapped, die in accidents but never bombed until April, 2011 in Suleja and I said surely today is the day God has ordained it. No one petitioned, few demanded better leadership. Even fewer demonstrated. Doctors didn’t strike, ASUU didn’t, NANS did nothing.

The military massacred Nigerians severally, Odi to Katsina-ala to Baga this year. Killing innocent residents, some even in cold blood. The international community cried and we followed passively. Nothing happened and we shutdown gradually. Like they expected and always will.

Let me not even mention the issue of GSM service providers who have an agenda Patrick Obahiagbon has described as “irritate Nigerians till they like it” and oooh aren’t we enjoying it!

More recently Ms Stella Oduah or is it Mrs (thanks to our “free press” you always get conflicting news) allegedly purchased two cars worth N255 million, or is it N225 million (again thanks to the “free press”). That’s not the issue however, it is how hard the federal government will try to cover it up and slide it under the rug that is the issue. More troubling is when the time comes to kick out this government of committee setting and corruption pace-setting at the polls, over 50% of our youth will prefer to sit at home, shrug and offer one of those pathetic excuses that gives our politicians the power they have.

I have come to the conclusion that Nigerians will not “spring”. But would we rather be “sprung” to our current crop of leaders? We need to revolt come the polls in 2015. That is our only option.

Hypothetically, perhaps mathematically, I’d say its impossible to rig an election where majority of our voting population participates in.

Let’s do the maths.. Nigeria has a population of over 180 million (2012 estimates) and over 70% of this is votable population. That gives us 126 million eligible voters. Let’s factor in real excuses, ailments, the extremely elderly etc. Shave off 26 million and have a whole figure of 100 million going to the polls. I tell you not even the US marines or North Korea’s 1million man strong army can rig such an election. I stand to be corrected.

Our children will see worse for the precedence we’ve set is: “Do whatever you want. Nigerians will tweet, petition (lightly), rant and you’ll still have your job regardless.”

This is where the optimist or should I say the religious man in me says- May this not be our portion in 2014 and beyond.

While we argue, wish, rant, petition (weakly & strongly), tweet and retweet, we hardly offer sustainable solutions to the problems we criticise, and, more importantly, while we’re stuck on the unimportant “bike shed”, we never get to build our “atomic reactor”.

Happy Twenty-Fourteen

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Hemenseter Butu tweets from @HemButs

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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