Is Nigeria a Failed State or A Failing State? (Part 3)

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While communicable and water-borne diseases remain a menace, there is hardly any urban or rural set up with potable water supply, thereby dashing the hope of eradication of these preventable diseases like diarrhea, enteric fever, dysentery, etc. People still drink from the same rivers and streams with cows and goats in some parts of the country when government could effortlessly provide them with pipe borne water.

Fake drugs litter the shelves of several pharmacy and patent medicine stores. The importation of fake and substandard drugs by some unscrupulous businessmen has put the lives of several Nigerians on the line. So many people have met their untimely deaths following the ingestion/injection of fake, injurious drugs. Some have even become paralyzed as a result. The high cost of living has made so many people depend on the sub-standard drugs imported from some Asian countries thereby jeopardizing their health.

Insecurity of lives and property is now the order of the day as Nigerians can hardly go to sleep with both eyes closed. The country’s just recovering from the era of militant assault when the Boko Haram insurgency started. Today, several people have been killed and many others maimed by this terrorist group operating in the name of religion. Churches are being burnt and bombed without provocation by these religious fanatics all in the name of Allah. The police, military, civil defense corps, etc. are obviously helpless in the midst of these spates of bombing and terrorism. The Boko Haram seems to expose the intelligence ineptitude of the security arms of government.

The judicial arm of government is also not helping matters as they are indirectly helping to frustrate the drive toward eradication of corruption in the country. Of the several cases arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), only an infinitesimal proportion has so far been convicted and punished in a manner satisfactory to the average masses. There has always been the excuse that there are no enough evidences to prosecute and convict the accused persons. The few ones convicted were made to pay fines reminiscent of being given a pat on the back for stealing. They pay meager fines and go back home to feed fat on their booties.

Sports (especially football) that has provided some consolation for the badly battered Nigerians in the midst of these colossal failures has recently become a source of disappointment and heartbreaks to so many sports lovers. Our football fortunes have nosedived to irredeemable level. For the first time in 27 years the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the Africa Nations’ Cup after they were eliminated by Guinea. The male U-21 team and the Super Falcons were both eliminated from the All Africa Games by the Ghanaian teams. The Super Falcons also got knocked out of the 2012 London Olympics by Cameroon. The last straw that broke the camel’s back came when our U-23 (Dream team 5) got eliminated from the 2012 London Olympics as well. The U-17 could also not qualify for the world cup in Mexico.

The question now is, is Nigeria a failed state or just a failing state? If it is yet to become a failed state, what should we do to redeem the fortunes of our darling state? Should we all watch helplessly while the country sinks into oblivion or should we do something to salvage the situation?

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