The Renewed US Interest

Since independence till date Nigeria has been in deep comatose with little hope of regeneration. Its political, social and economic institutions have lapsed into a state of despair. Instead of accepting its shortcoming, our nation keeps boasting of its size, the vastness of its resources and, of course, its population.

The self-styled “African Giant” has suddenly realised that it is not making progress as a nation in spite of its God-given endownments. It now resorts to blaming the West for its woes and other factors such as colonialism which the West foisted on the country.

Recently, our resolve to practise constitutional government was tested when late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua took ill and was flown to Saudi Arabia for medical attention. Section 145 of the constitution which empowers the Vice-President to act in the absence of the President was not put into effect. The failure by the late President to effect that section of the constitution led to a controversy which forced the National Assembly to declare the “doctrine of necessity” that ushered in President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President (as he then was).

Prior to the dream of Yar’Adua, the Western nations particularly the United States of America, USA, did not show much interest in the affairs of Nigeria because they perceived the late President as a product of a flawed electoral process. It was for this same reason the US President, Senator Barak Obama, boycotted Nigeria during his visit to some African countries which included Ghana. This did not come as a surprise as the US President began to make negative utterances about the way certain African countries were governed soon after his election.

Truly, Ghana has worked very hard to earn its current reputation. Both Ghana and Nigeria share the same antecedents. Apart from the fact that both countries participate in similar history of long military dictatorship, they were colonized by the same master. I have consistently failed to see the reason Ghana does well but Nigeria does not. And because the government and people of Ghana have shown a high level of probity in governance and the management of election, they now reap the dividends in economic growth. The Ghanaian case is a typical example of how good governance and a transparent electoral system could translate into economic growth.

The decision of the US not to have dealings with countries that do not practice real democracy does not foreclose on any other country to utilise the opportunity to be on the good books of the world’s largest democracy. And so those leaders who sow conflicts or even inflict economic pain on the citizens of their respective countries will be judged by their people at the appropriate time. The Nigerian government must know now that what will bring peace, stability and development to the country is when the people exercise confidence in their leaders and when votes count. Indeed, the case of Ghana has shown that democracy delivers basic services.

That is why I want the Nigerian government to take advantage of the renewed US interest in the affairs of the country,. That interest was demonstrated when Dr. Jonathan had a four-day visit to the US for the Nuclear Security summit which held in Washington. During the visit, the US government charged Jonathan to work towards the redemption of Nigeria’s image. The US also showed concern about human rights abuses, economic development, corruption, electoral fraud, constitutional law and the incessant conflicts in the country. The US government then promised to work with Nigeria in those areas and others to ensure stability.

Nigeria has come to a central stage in US. interest because of its critical position in Africa and the rest of the world. Though there are some Nigerians who rather than applaud the US move, term it an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. Those are the people that want to perpetuate the old order.

Our country has to heed the clarion call by the US to embrace sanity and not think that the world cannot do without her. If we think that we have oil and gas and so can afford to ignore the right way of doing things and become a laughing stock to the rest of the world, then we may realise that many countries are today discovering oil and gas. If we don’t harness our resources through good governance, we might be out of relevance in the next few years. The truth is that Nigeria can be much less relevant to the West.

The opportunity and responsibility to be great are here with us. We have to decide whether it happens or not.

Arnold Alalibo