By Edith Jibunoh
I woke up to horrible news this morning and I’m angry. John has worked for my family for years. I’ve known him since I was a little girl when he used to take me to school every morning. This is an African story. The one big happy extended family that blends employees with relatives, where birthdays and holidays are celebrated together.
This morning John’s wife died during childbirth. Now she’s just another statistic you hear from Nigeria, a country that produces two million barrels of oil a day but where one in 18 women, or 144 women a day, die during childbirth because there aren’t enough doctors, nurses or equipped hospitals. What number is John’s wife in that list of 144?
My family has an electricity generator that provides us with light when there’s no power from the national authority (this is most days). We drilled down miles to create our own water borehole to provide us with consistent water because the water authority has not provided water in years. My sister and my brothers’ wives all fly to the UK or US when they are about two to three months away from giving birth so they can be attended to by capable medical staff, in an environment that almost guarantees the safety of mothers and their babies.
Nigeria is unlikely to experience the birth that comes after the rage against injustice, similar to what is being experienced by our brothers and sisters up north. We too have bottled up our frustrations for decades. Our survival instincts have made us self-centred and led to apathy in our expectations from governments and institutions. We have created our own little havens of sanity, insulated ourselves from this harsh world and the failures of our government. Meanwhile corruption continues to thrive, health systems have collapsed and education decays. It’s in this decay that we find the minds of most of our population. Where no-one demands services any more because they don’t know that they can. Without education how can my people know to demand electricity, health, water or roads. My people are more likely to believe a hex was put on John’s wife by an evil neighbour than blame the government for this tragedy. Churches have replaced community centres and with limited access to the internet, organising capacity is extremely low. So, a North African style revolution is not coming to Nigeria. That’s not our story.
Instead, our story will resemble a quieter change that will only come about when we start thinking beyond ourselves. When we recognise that these walls we cocoon ourselves in are actually made of glass, and when those that can, start doing more for communities, our extended family, for John. Solutions for countries like Nigeria lie in our hands. And this story doesn’t have to be about building another hospital or other such daunting projects that you and I are unlikely to take on. It can just be about distributing mosquito nets to pregnant women in your community to tackle malaria, Africa’s biggest killer. Or it could be exercising the strength of your voice by advocating for women to take advantage of prenatal care in their communities. Our quiet revolution will only follow the demand for and real address of the poverty that has chained people’s minds. Our quiet revolution will mean rejecting corruption in all forms because we cannot fight poverty if we are corrupt ourselves. If we stay silent we are just as complicit.
We have all heard this story.
I am angry and I refuse to be silent. Can you really stay silent? It’s a long road to change but we must begin the journey to create our new African story.
Edith Jibunoh, based in Abuja, Nigeria, is a development economist and the senior manager of African Outreach for the ONE Campaign. Edith manages the organisation’s relationships with African policy-makers, NGOs, the media and academia and also project manages the annual ONE award. She is actively engaged in African debates on democracy, corruption and governance.
I think (nay – believe) that one of the main reasons why more Nigerians cannot honestly and unilaterally fight (using this term losely) is because ‘we’ all know that given the chance we’d do exactly the same thing(s) those in power are doing – raid the national treasury, inflate infrastructure contracts, and turn the other way…! Afterall, we’d think “its now MY turn to have MY share of the national cake”.
SHAME! We (Nigerians) have the nation and government we all deserve! The change we seek starts from within …from the man/woman in the mirror!
I weep for you and will post this on my links
I wish all South Africans would read this. My eyes have ben opened up wide to these issues recently, thanks to my employer bringing in a few Nigerian colleagues. However, I am glad that S Africans are inclined to complain and revolt against service delivery, and I’m pleased with the recently demonstrated strength of the opposition. A strong opposition is crucial for the success of a democracy.
A desperately sad admission which clarifies a possible similarity in SA, where many so-called previously advantaged people wonder why so-called previously disadvantaged, but now advantaged people appear to care so little for those who have been unable to throw off the chain of poverty. When I was was severely criticised last week for saying that I do not know what more I can do to apologise for living within the previous regime, I realised that the three gentlemen concerned are probably black, doubtless have jobs and can probably all afford to buy themselves suits (one was photographed in his) and homes in the suburbs. I cannot afford to buy my son a suit, although I don’t lose sleep over it. It occurred to me that 17 years down the line, my time for apologies is over. It’s actually their turn to apologise for having when so few around them do. It’s their turn to do something about it. I do wish that some would open their own publishing houses and write books in their first languages, would take bright children from their communities and coach them in Science and Maths after hours, would show some reparation for their sin of benefitting when others around them don’t. But as you have said, perhaps they and others like them are merely biding their time and waiting their turn to garner untold wealth. I wish I did not have to think this.
its sad and very sad.I am also a Nigerian who lives and work here in SA.What Edith is saying is a true reflection of the everyday live of an ordinary Nigerian,unnecessarily wallowing in abject poverty and lack in the midst of plenty just because the leadership have refused to lead.Nigeria potential in the comity of nations have merely been reduced to dreams.lip service is the order of the day.
My impression is what Edith has just shared is a common knowledge, even to the Eskimos,when writing about Nigeria.
She is vague talking about not keeping silent.
Writing alone will not do much considering that she has accepted the fact that few of us have access to the internet to be able to galvanise us to her goal of speaking out.
I think its time for “action movement” to work in the direction of our desired goals.
I would suggest we be more involved in a movement that walk the streets enlightening our people the way the politicians deceive us when its election campaign time.
A lot has being said, Lets ACT!!!
High-sounding thoughts Edith but you must begin with your self. John has worked for yous for ages; you are obviously comfortable with your fancy NGO; your family members jet off to USA or the UK for care during pregnancy.And John’s wife dies during childbirth!!!!!!!
Where have you been during this awful story?????
Please re-read your first paragaraph. We must care for one another OURSELVES more in Africa(one to one)BEFORE we write or talk soaring stuff.
And exactly like Ursula laments above, we have the governance we deserve in Africa.Take a look at Ursula’s reaction just above. We are corrupt as a society in Africa.We are a disgrace in the world stage as Africans these days.
Abdi.
Coming soon to an African country near you!
If we blindly keep supporting the liberators and do not hold them accountable; this too will happen in South Africa.
I’m glad that my article is generating a variety of comments because that was my intention. We all have to start facing up to hard truths and this is a major challenge I face myself. I do not believe Nigeria suffers from a lack of credible leaders but the incentives that drive us into leadership on this continent are all wrong. Until our own self awareness levels are raised to the extent that we are fearless enough to walk the talk we are all to be held accountable.
I do not apologize for being born into a “have” structure while many still suffer, but I do apologize for being silent in an environment that promotes inequity in access to opportunity. This is what we should all be standing against.
Nigeria’s social structures are badly fractured and we therefore face an uphill task in building that social cohesion that promotes brotherliness. Now my prayer, is that other countries in Africa, that today seem to have it right, don’t eventually have to go through the same struggle.
No North African style revolution in Nigeria? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_Emancipation_of_the_Niger_Delta
“It must be clear that the Nigerian government cannot protect your workers or assets. Leave our land while you can or die in it…. Our aim is to totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil.” – MEND message to Shell