Sowing the seeds of change

Nigeria, a young growing democratic country, is celebrating its 53rd year of independence in its 14th year of uninterrupted democracy.

An increasing number of Nigerians, those aged 15 years and below, those born in 1999, Nigeria’s democratic contemporaries, are greater in number than those who lived through colonial and military Nigeria. These mostly-urban, informed, social media savvy, juvenile democrats will be eligible to vote in 2016 but will have to wait till 2018 to cast their first vote.

A new generation, the seedbed of Nigeria’s future, is growing. The planting season is now; we need new models of development, models that are not based on the calculus of pecuniary or political utility. They will reap what we sow, individually but more importantly collectively. We need to sow reconciliation, pursue the path of truth and justice, love and peace.

However, change and reform don’t happen in an instant. Time is needed, to lay the foundations of real effective change; persistence is required to start and see through a process whose effects will be realised long term.

Take electricity, for example. In 1972, the now defunct NEPA was vested with the incredibly complex process of generating, transmitting and distributing electric power to millions of commercial, industrial and residential customers. This 41 year experiment has been a spectacular failure. Nigeria’s energy poverty is a paradox: a land teeming with oil and gas and yet lacks constant electricity – an energy deprived economy that earns a significant amount of its revenue from oil and gas.

Today, a groundswell of change is occurring in the power sector. This change can be best described as an underground seism, that is, an underwater earthquake, also known as tsunami. Tsunamis can be caused by an undersea earthquake, undersea landslide or undersea volcano. Frequently, tsunamis are caused by undersea earthquakes – setting off a series of concentric waves that speedily travel hundreds of kilometres with a devastating impact, far away from where it emerged.

We are confident that a privatised power sector will have an overwhelming effect on the economy. We are convinced that electricity, one of the bedrocks of the technical revolution, will have positive impact on the socioeconomic life of Nigerians. We are optimistic that the electricity sector will lead to an upsurge in light manufacturing activities that will provide jobs for Nigeria’s teeming youth population.

We worry, however, that many Nigerians doubt whether this shift is for real. They will only be convinced when they see electricity to power their appliances and the unnerving, recurring decibel of generators recedes. The first and foremost challenge of reform is the wrong perception of the intent of the reform.

Most Nigerians are unconvinced of the tremendous ripple effect of the power sector because experience, the best teacher, has taught them that a cynical disposition is the best defence mechanism.

Is this cynicism of Nigerians abnormal? Nigerians, personally, believe their future will be better, an optimism that defies the daily lived experience of insecurity and pervasive poverty. However, when it comes to government our default reaction is distrust. This is a coping mechanism that decades of broken promises have helped reinforce.

Nonetheless, Nigeria has witnessed significant reforms; hard choices have been made to untangle government from the telecommunications sector.

Similar disentangling is in progress in agriculture. Dangote Industries, owned by Africa’s richest reckons that the “administration has helped create and maintain the enabling environment that has enabled [Dangote] to invest over $6 billion in the Nigeria cement manufacturing industry in the last seven years.”

However, President Jonathan Goodluck’s commitment to reform lacks conviction. The darnel of political corruption can kill the few seeds of reform. A deficit of vision tainted by short-term political agendas and the tedious work of implementing reform can dissuade the best of intentions. More effort is required to uproot weeds so that the good seed of reform can multiply and benefit all Nigerians.