NIGERIA OF MY DREAM II

Nigeria of my dream as told by OMANO  EDIGHEJI

I dream of a prosperous country where every
Nigerian will live in dignity. I dream of an end
to high levels of poverty, inequality and
unemployment in Nigeria. I dream of a Nigeria
where the rule of law will prevail and where
there will be observance of human rights.
I dream of a Nigeria where governments at all
levels will prioritize human capital
development, and industrial development. I
dream of a country where governments will
ensure that citizens have access to quality
healthcare; and where the rich will patronize
local hospitals rather than go abroad for
medical treatments, for the locals would
provide same quality healthcare as their
counterparts anywhere in the world. I dream of

a Nigeria where people die in the presence of
loved ones rather than in lonely foreign
hospitals. I dream of Nigeria with reduced
infant and maternal mortality rates. I dream
of a country where the rich invest in the
health sector – build world class hospitals –
rather than waste money to place adverts on
obituaries of loved ones, most of who die
because of the poor state of the Nigerian
healthcare.
I dream of Nigeria where every Nigerian child
has access to quality education; a country
with some of the best universities in the world
that parents will see as the first choice for
their children. I dream of truly world class
research universities in Nigeria. I dream of an
era where there will be no strikes by academic
and non-academic staff in our higher
education institutions. I dream of students
unions that will truly prioritize the welfare of
students. I dream of an end to cultisms in the
Nigerian campuses. I dream of Nigeria where
lecturers will not seek sexual favours from
students, and where lecturers won’t pass off
the work of students as theirs. I dream of a
country where admission to higher education
institutions will be on merit.
I dream of Nigeria where every child, including
the girl child, will have access to quality
education at all levels; a country where the
girl child is in schools rather than being
married off; and a society where the girl child
has the same rights as the boy child.
I dream of a united, stable and peaceful
country. I dream of a Nigeria where ethnic and
religious militancy will be a thing of the past;
and where there will be no basis to reward
ethnic and religious militants with amnesty
and juicy government contracts.
I dream of a country where freedom reigns. I
dream of a country where citizens will reclaim
their humanity. I dream of Nigeria where
citizens will stop worshipping the god of
money. I dream of a country where people
worship the creator – the real God and not
“the Nigerian god”. I dream of Nigeria where
everyone will be defined by the content of their
character rather than their religious and ethnic
backgrounds, or by state of origin. I dream of
a country where our common humanity and
citizenship define us.
I dream of Nigeria with well equipped police
force, where officers do not have to use their
personal resources to furnish their offices, and
where they do not have to use their own
mobile phones to carry out official duties
because of governmental neglect. I dream of a
police force that can protect the lives and
property of citizens. I dream of a police
service that will serve our people and one
whose officers do not solicit or accept bribes.
I dream of a country where our navy protect
our waters and not outsourced to so-called ex-
militants.
I dream of an efficient and effective aviation
sector, where there will be no air disasters and
no flight delays; and airlines like Arik will
ensure that their flights are on schedule, and
if there are delays the airlines will tell
passengers the exact reasons rather than the
nonsensical “operational reasons”. I dream of
a society where customers will be queens and
kings. I dream of an aviation sector that will
be planned for a growing population. I dream
of a country that renovates and builds
airports for today and tomorrow. I dream of
the day when it will take passengers at our
international airports less than 10 minutes to
go through immigration. I dream of a
functional rail system and motorable roads,
with the resultant decline in road accidents.
I dream of a country where public servants
will be servants and not lords over citizens. I
dream of Nigeria governed by decent people
rather than criminals who parade themselves
as politicians. I dream of a country where
politics is a second profession; and when a
politician doesn’t win an election , s/he goes
back to his or her primary means of
livelihood. I dream of Nigeria where public
service is not a means of primitive
accumulation and of a society where public
officials will not loot the national treasury
and our commonwealth. I dream of Nigeria
where those that attempt to dip their hands
into the national purse become outcasts in
society, and not rewarded with traditional and
religious titles.
I dream of a country that rewards hardwork
and excellence, where entrepreneurs and not
politicians are the richest. I dream of Nigeria
where the politicians and other public officials
are not the richest among us. I dream of a
society driven by politics of ideas rather than
godfatherism, and ethnic and religious
considerations. I dream of a country where
gender equality is practiced in all walks of life,
including the political sphere. I dream of
development and governance, and
consequently public policy, based on scientific
ideas, hence evidenced-based rather than on
myths and superstitions.
I dream of Nigeria with purposeful leadership
that will put national interests above
individual and sectional interests. I dream of
leaders that will develop the productive
capacities of our country, including human
capital. I dream of a country with strong
industrial base, that will export rather than
import finished products. I dream of a country
where manufacturing of commercial products
and innovations/inventions take place in every
corner rather than religious houses sprouting
in every street corner. I dream of post-oil
Nigeria where the manufacturing and service
sectors contribute more to exports,
employment and GDP.
I dream of Nigeria with leaders like Lee Khan
Yew who will transform our economy from
primary sector dependent to high value-added
manufacturing and high service sector based.
I dream of a president who will inspire
Nigerians to actualise their human potentials.
I dream of Nigeria with moral icons like
Mandela and Tutu. I dream of a day Nigerians
will have leaders that are unifying figures and
who command moral authority. I dream of a
country with true statesmen/women.
I dream of the day when every Nigerian will
experience uninterrupted power supply. I
dream of a country that will take advantage of
our natural environment to generate
electricity. I dream of green energy as one of
the main sources of power supply in Nigeria. I
dream of Nigeria where oil companies will
observe the international standards of
environmental protection.
I dream of the Nigeria with free and fair
elections, where politicians will not be experts
in writing election results to change the will of
the people. I dream of the day when genuine
losers of elections will accept the results and
move on until the next election. I dream of
Nigeria without electoral thuggery. I dream of
a country where our very best, both morally
and professionally, will dominate the political
space. I dream of Nigeria where elections
periods will not be cycles of politically
motivated killings.
I dream of Nigeria inspiring the African
continent and the black race to become
important players in the international
community. I dream of Nigerians heading
major international development bodies like
the World Bank and the African Development
Bank, not because of acts of charity, but the
strengthen of its economy.
I dream, I dream and I dream of a better
Nigeria. I dream of a brighter future for our
children. I dream that all Nigerians work to
make these dreams a reality.

Omano Edigheji, Ph.D, is a Senior Researcher
at the Centre for Policy Studies,
Johannesburg, South Africa (http://
www.cps.org.za).
Courtesy: premium times