Is Nigeria Cursed? By Cosmas Odoemena

I ask: should someone whose father
is king be a pauper? No. Should
someone who has milk drink pus?
No. Should someone whose country
has one of the largest arable lands
in the world lack food? No. Should
someone whose country is the 7th
largest crude oil exporter in the
world depend on imported petrol?
No. But it is only Nigeria that
answers yes to these questions.
I ask again: should a country that
has many rivers and even bordered
by the Atlantic Ocean lack portable
water? No. Should a country that
calls itself the giant of Africa be
dwarfed by other African countries’
success stories? No. Should a
country that endured a civil war not
learn from its own history? No. But it
is only Nigeria that answers yes to
these questions.
But another that will answer in the
affirmative is a country that is
cursed.
Why can’t we get things right? Why
can’t we have regular power
supply? President Goodluck
Jonathan came up with the power
sector reform ably led by Prof Barth
Nnaji, to the relief of many Nigerians
who have suffered years of darkness
and heat. But now we hear that the
power reform is under threat
according to The Punch newspaper,
as the ministry of power and the
labour union in the sector have not
been able to settle protracted
disagreements. And to make
matters worse it was reported by
The Guardian that Nnaji has said
that the 760 megawats Kainji Hydro
Power Station in Niger State has
been shut down due to excessive
water leakage in the dam. Already
the light supply has deteriorated
even further. Perhaps the hope of
Nigeria having regular power supply
is chimeral. Even with someone as
celebrated as Prof Nnaji heading the
power sector!
The word cursed is a strong word
and it is not what anyone will wish
for their country, but nevertheless it
gnaws the consciousness of many a
Nigerian. Nigeria seems not to be
getting better and ironically even
good luck has eluded it. God is no
longer a Nigerian. Ask the super
eagles. Be worried. Be very worried.
Something must be amidst.

This is
not superstition. What other nations
have succeeded in doing we can’t
seem to pull off. We thought years
of military rule were the problem so
we embraced democracy, yet we
have continued to march
backwards. We thought it was when
we have university graduates as
president and vice president, they
will have the magic formula to
change our fortune, but our giant
strides backwards have continued.
We live like Tom and Jerry. Strange
bed fellows only united by
corruption. Now we have taken it a
notch further by being self-
destructive to unimaginable scale.
While other nations are moving
ahead, we have remained a nation
that looks back in years with
nostalgia.
When things follow a certain pattern
it gives cause for concern. When a
lot of negativities bedevil a nation it
is proper that we start asking
questions. And now I ask: is Nigeria
cursed? Oh, I forgot, the “curse of
oil”. Maybe there is more. Did our
forefathers kill some white
missionaries or colonialists who then
placed a curse on the country
before their death? Aha, was there
after the Biafran genocide? What of
the blood of the many
contemporary politically
assassinated people who have
remained unsolved? Has the blood
of youth coppers who died that
Nigeria may go on added to
Nigeria’s troubles? And what about
the blood of the many that died
untimely from road traffic accidents
because of roads that were meant
to be repaired but the money for
their repair was embezzled? Many
ghosts are indeed crawling night
and day crying for revenge. Bang!
Another is added. Their numbers
are increasing every now and then.
There is no hiding place for Nigeria.

In nationhood journey countries
experience many ups and downs.
And it is nothing to be seen as
queer. But for Nigeria our downs
have become uncanny.
Happenstance has become
coincidence, coincidence has
become norm. Since after our
independence till date there are
many events that have made a case
for the cursed hypothesis of Nigeria.
Our founding fathers fought to gain
independence from the colonialists,
and succeeded in getting it in
October 1, 1960. But just 6 years
into enjoying the fruit of their labour
some of them were murdered.
We have always wanted a free and
fair election. And in 1993 MKO
Abiola won convincingly in what is
still termed the country’s freest and
fairest election till date. But on June
12 of that year the then military
leader Ibrahim Babangida
inexplicably annulled the election,
thereby making June 12
synonymous with shattered dream.
Even in sports the seeming curse
still hovers. In 2007, Nigerians had
hoped that Coach Yomi Tella after
winning the FIFA under-17 World
Cup would be automatically
appointed the coach of the Super
eagles, for him to perform the same
magic he did with the junior team.
But alas, just some six weeks after
achieving the big feat, the coach
succumbed to the battle he was
having with cancer of the lungs.
About seven years ago Nigeria
secured debt relief from the Paris
Club. The Debt Management Office,
DMO which manages Nigeria’s debt
portfolio estimates Nigeria’s
domestic or internal debt to be $
34.09 billion and counting. The
external debt is put at about $
5.63billion. Only a recidivist or a
cursed nation will want to keep
piling debt after debt, after the
trouble it went through to extricate
itself from the previous one.
In other countries when it is said
that the economy is growing, it
means the people will be improving
economically. But in Nigeria the
economy has been said to be
growing by 7% and instead
Nigerians are getting poorer and
poorer. What hope for a cursed
nation!
Trust a cursed country not to be
spared by diseases. Polio, cholera,
meningitis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, Lassa
fever and their likes have continued
to take their tolls on the economic
carcasses of Nigerians. Recently, in
Owerri there were reported strange
mosquitoes. I have also noticed
them here. I am sure you have.
Children continue to die and
pregnant women join them. The
burden of a nation!
When Nigeria was operating
regionalism it was considered our
best moments. Eminent Nigerians
and well meaning Nigerians have
been calling for a return to true
federalism but the people in the
helm of affairs have turned deaf
ears. Nigerians have said let us sit
down in a Sovereign National
Conference (SNC) to know how we
will continue our existence; those in
charge have continued to play the
ostrich. Let those who have ears
hear. But what hope for the
accursed?
But as they say, every problem has
a solution, not least a curse. What
Nigeria needs now perhaps is a spell
that will remove its curse to bring
about a national rebirth and
renewal. But it will take an
unblemished leader. It will take
courage. It will take vision. It will
take wisdom.
Who can lead a national exorcism?