Nigeria remains the sixth largest oil producer and the most populous black nation in the world today. Nigeria has made about $700 billion from her oil sales alone in the last 40 years to date according to financial records from international financial agencies. Nigeria's annual GDP stands at about $235 billion at the moment and its national economy grows at a rate of 7% per annum.
The western financial institutions also reported that the past and the present Nigerian leaders as well as the top government officials have stolen over $400 billion of that wealth with their cronies to date. Over 80% of Nigerians are now extremely poor and are living on $1 to $2 a day budget. About 30% of the national budget is used as monthly salaries and allowances for the 17,500 public elected officials at all levels and in the federal civil service. The country today has to continue to borrow high interest loans from international financial bodies to stay alive.
The presidential, state and local elections of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 respectively in Nigeria that ushered in our past and current public elected officials into power since the onset of the 4th democratic political experiment in Nigeria in 1999 have been heavily marred with either electoral frauds or with the highly credible allegations of massive vote riggings.
The Nigerian ruling political party, the PDP has been in power in Nigeria since 1999. The PDP has spent the Nigeria's oil and tax revenues that are in hundreds of billions of the American dollar for the last 13 years on the dirty politics, the rogue politicians and our corrupt public elected officials, instead of spending this money on Nigerians and to develop the Nigerian nation.
The PDP has refused to expand and to modernize our outdated educational systems into the 21st century global standards. The PDP has also refused to use the people's money to develop our inadequate social services and our outdated health care facilities that are not meeting the basic needs of the tens of millions of the ordinary Nigerians today.
After almost 14 years in political power, this nation's collapsing national infrastructures have not received any national upgrades nor any known physical expansions. This democracy has refused to adequately address the high unemployment rate amongst the millions of the young Nigerian college graduates that are presently jobless, unemployed, unemployable, helpless and hopeless.
This country under the rulership of the PDP continues to face national food scarcity and food insecurity, the national electricity crisis stays unaddressed to date, our nation's yearly foreign debt profile is rising, the value of the national currency is falling against other international currencies, the rates of the inflation of goods and services are rampant, the standards of living for most Nigerians are falling yearly, the insecurity of life and properties of Nigerians are the order of the day, the genocidal and the terrorism activities of the Boko Haram against the Northern Nigerian minority Christians go on daily as well as the kidnapping for ransoms, hostage takings, public lynchings of suspected thieves, political motivated killings, sectarian riots, ethnic cleanings, arsons, murders, official corruption and the mismanagement of state resources by our state officials.
Nigerians who will be voting again in 2015 have refused to ask themselves the most important question before they return the same PDP back to power again:Are we better off today 14 years later under the ruling party, the PDP than 1999 before the PDP took over Nigeria?
No comments:
Post a Comment