As Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari meets with President Paul Biya of Cameroun, it should be noted that Nigeria has had 10 Presidents since Paul Biya became President of Cameroun in 1982;
1. Shagari
2. Buhari
3. Babangida
4. Shonekan
5. Abacha
6. Abdulsalam
7. Obasanjo
8. Yar’Adua
9. Jonathan
10. Buhari
This has been my biggest discovery moment politically in a very long time. You see, folks keep saying “Nigeria has made no progress” but could this really be true when you compare our political history with that of our neighbour, Cameroon?
Some would also tell you, “It doesn’t matter, Cameroun is a more stable country than Nigeria,” even though they are not likely to seek a visa to go live there.
In the wake of President Barack Obama leaving Africa and warning African Leaders not to extend their terms in office, how would this fact of Nigeria’s political history, vis-a-vis, other African countries, look like when properly placed in front of the US President who has never hidden his low regard for Nigeria.
Yet, Obama goes on to visit Kenya to meet with Uhuru Kenyatta, the president who was just recently let go at the International Crimes Court (ICC) for charges arising from “the loss of 1,000+ Kenyans during the post-election violence of 2007” and the new prime minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, who came into power via a flawed election process.
This begins to buttress my position. The world’s diminished perception of Nigeria is because the elite of Nigeria sell our country short, it has little to do with what our political leaders do. For example, in Kenya, the intellectuals in the country largely insisted that Kenyatta and his deputy Ruto had no case to answer at the ICC, given that they won the election in question. The Ethiopian elite also pretended not to care about the elections, just to receive Obama to their country.
Contrast this posture with that of Nigeria, where our own President Buhari goes to America to ínform Obama that, “My predecessor and his team have stashed away $150 billion in your country; help us collect it back. One has to wonder why Buhari would not explore diplomatic channels to surreptitiously retrieve stolen funds from the United States. He also goes on to publish an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he essentially describes Nigeria, the country he leads, as a country of thieves, reinforcing the negative stereotype in the world of Nigerians.
I-too-know syndrome is afflicting Nigerians. Period!
This is the reason the world looks down on us, despite the greatness of our country. Despite all we have achieved as individuals on the global stage. We suffer the self-inflicted cancer of a bad reputation.
Another example is the manner in which South Africans buried the FIFA World Cup $10 million bribery scandal. As a matter of fact, Dannie Jordaan, the man who headed the hosting bid committee for South Africa, was named Mayor of a prominent Nelson Mandela Bay as the news of the scandal made headlines. South African’s effectively told the hold world, “We don’t give a f**k, we love him and you can’t taint our reputation.”
Had this happened in Nigeria, Nigerians would have been all over the world publishing articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNN and other prominent global media to blame the ”PDP government for the corruption in Nigeria.
So, my countrymen, the next time you are mocked outside Nigeria, remember how you contribute to your own global index of shame ranking.
Favour Afolabi is a political commentator who runs fbablogs.
The opinions expressed in this mail are solely those of the author.
