Why we are poor

There is a saying that every country gets the kind of leaders they deserve. Looking at this statement recently I had an insight. In Rivers State there are youth leaders in virtually every community. These youth leaders have ruthlessness in common wether educated or not. Being a youth leader does not just mean responsibility, it also means the ability to make those hard decisions that are often lawless. Being a youth leader means you should be able to circumvent the law at any time. Obeying the law is not an option, your ability to break it is. When you move to the larger circle and look at our school unions where corruption remains the order of the day, you wonder what hope portends for Nigeria in future. Taking a look at the cliché that says, “The youths are the future leaders”. The issue gets even more worrisome when you realize that the best out of these horrible youths are the ones that make it to the national political level. These automatically raises the question wether democracy is indeed the best political platform for us here in Nigeria. Because if a country gets the leader it deserves I sure as hell don’t deserve these horrible people as leaders. But then even further questions are raised. Why for instance don’t morally upright, decent caring people with efficiency as the guiding principle to there life not aspire to political post. The answer lies in the principles we uphold. We as a people covet those super bold leaders, those that are able to stand up and criticize those that presently hold power, even though they offer little as solution, but nevertheless we admire them as they touch our imaginations. Making us dream of confrontations with those in power while we boldly tell them of what we think of them. But the truth is those qualities we admire also have there negative aspect. We wonder how a man can brazenly steal billions while living those he is to serve poor and impoverish. The answer is boldness. The fact is there was never a time that individual cared about the people around him, it was always boldness that motivated him never a need for service. Nigeria as a Nation today is nothing but a utopia; those in power see a different country from what the lay man out there sees. They can’t understand why people complain after all the country is getting better. They apportion billions of the people’s money to themselves but will fight tooth and nail to prevent you getting an N18, 000 minimum wages. You wonder why, but the truth is the answer is easy. Just like in the olden days there exist a master serf relationship between the rich and the poor. Or else how do you explain an organization wage bill that constitute less than 5% of net profit not even gross profit. At times I wonder why Nigeria is like these, why the crave for materialism has totally taken control over us at the expense of our humanity, but then, maybe I am just a sensitive guy that needs to get less sensitive.