Nigeria is easily one of the most unequal countries on earth. It remains a country where what is sauce for the goose is easily taboo for the gander. It remains a country where citizens and residents daily experience the mechanics of inequality go through its most forceful motions.
Every day and in many ways, Nigerians are quietly but quickly reminded of the fact that equality of citizenry is a mirage. This mirage is made all the more astounding because even before the law, many Nigerians do not sense equality. And if Nigerians are not equal before the law which should be the enforcer of equality, what hope is there for Nigeria then that someday equality will be taken for granted here?
An era of inequality
In Nigeria, poverty has continued to deepen, and with it the crippling insecurity, uncertainty and inequality which have become prominent features of life in Nigeria. Because society continues to watch on helpless as its values take a nosedive, money has become the measuring rod for practically everything. Nigeria has become a country where everything is measured in terms of money.
Nigeria has become that country where everyone and everything is said to have a price tag. Nigeria has become a country where one`s ability to live life with any measure of dignity, as well as escape the harassment of those who abuse power and authority to serve nefarious ends, depends mightily on one being financially buoyant no matter how one attains such financial buoyancy.
Nigeria`s difficult experiment with federalism has left Nigerians with a country that is as awkwardly structured as they come. The disastrous consequence of this remains the main source of the friction which continues to convulse Nigeria.
Across the country, especially in the last seven years, there has been the overwhelming feeling that all regions of the country are not treated as equally as they should.
In Nigeria, many people are left feeling frustrated at what has become their lot in the country. Nigeria`s staggering diversity is supposed to be a blessing. Of course, the country`s supreme law which is the constitution recognizes the need to pander to that diversity when decisions that affect the entire country are taken.
It explains why the constitution embraces the ‘federal character principle and provides that national integration and cohesion shall be given paramount consideration in national affairs.
However, it has been the collective experience of Nigerians over the years that the ‘federal character’ principle is deemed inconvenient and relegated to the background as much as those in power deem fit. This kind of ignoble practice used to hug the corners.
However, in the last seven years, it has assumed a frightening dimension. The outcry in Nigeria has been great within this time that appointments into key public offices have remained the reserve of not just a select region of the country but a select ethnic group as well.
The far-reaching consequences of this in a country where ethnicity and religion remain lightning rods has been more than obvious for all to see.
There is no doubt that until Nigeria begins to take deliberate measures to fix the inequality which run deep in its system, it will continue to corrupt the system for a long time to come to the detriment of the country`s development.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter: @kenobiezu
