THURSDAYRAPAROUND: Season Of ‘Collapse’ In Nigeria

By Michael Ayotunde

Is there anything still standing in the country as of today?

Beyond the persistent rhetoric from the government quarters, state of things in the country is suggestive of a nation adrift.

Oil sector – in total collapse
Power sector – National Grid collapsed
Infrastructure – horrible state
Economy – on life support
Governance – in a parlous state
Security – in the doldrums
Social cohesion – non-existent
Health – on flight mode
Justice – for the highest bidder
Roads – no longer safe; no thanks to kidnappers, bandits, terrorists, ritualists etc.
Aviation – in total dilemma over Jet-A1

However, in the midst of these uncertainties, the only area that appears to be making some waves is the political terrain. This is because political gladiators are gearing up for 2023 and as such, they are spending fortunes to keep the information space aglow – for unsuspecting members of the public to believe that all is well. Of course, that is their modus operandi – always appearing like a sepulchre; a beautiful apple but rotten at the heart.

Obviously, with the negative indices all over the place, the country is critically on life-support. Prices of commodities are beyond the reach of common man; household items are on the high side. In fact, the failure we are witnessing in infrastructure in the country point to the lack of focus on the part of the leadership, relevant authorities and also lack of quality control mechanisms.

We are now beginning to see the collapse of new and existing structures and infrastructures across the country; we have been found wanting from the point of design to periodic assessment and maintenance. There are no integrity tests on our infrastructure. Where they are recorded, they are done for cheap political gain. In the past, there were special body on that to monitor for quality control and integrity. We don’t seem to have them anymore or they have abandoned their jobs.

We are seeing buildings, roads, and other private and public infrastructure collapse easily in the country. Why is this so? It is because there is a total system failure. They are part of the same system; not isolated. So, once the entire system is faulty, it is automatic, other aspects would naturally be affected.

Do we actually have a functional system? Do we drive integrity test in the country? How strong are our institutions to really combat issues in their respective fields? This is not only about roads and buildings; as country, our oil and gas infrastructure, power infrastructure have issue; this is a general problem that cut across sectors of our economy.

Look at the power sector for instance where it was announced only recently that the national grid may collapse. And before we could say – Jack, the system has gone bad, leaving the country in total blackout. There would have been signs all along but either deliberately or otherwise, these signs were ignored until the eventual collapse. We failed to conduct integrity test to ascertain their state of health and if they are viable or demand repair. We usually wait for disasters to strike. This is a major problem and the government must be serious to put a functional system in place.

There is need for a policy that will compel every private and public institution to comply with quality control mechanism. The new structures that are failing before they are even completed are evidence of the poor system and failure of even the professional bodies, who should advice the government. Most of the time we do not even test materials and soil before construction and sometimes when we do, we ignore the actual plan and cut corners. So this is where the failure comes from.

Either Mr. President is truly aware of the situation of things in the country or not, his aides have quoted him to have apologise to Nigerians and with a promise to arrest the situation. The fact still remains that we have heard a lot of such promises. It is abundantly clear that situations at hand require more than apology, promises. Apology will not fix the economy; it certainly won’t put food on the table of the man on the street.

Actions they say speak louder than voice.