Change Nigerians are clamouring for, imminent.

However, the ruling party, in their campaign theme, says “change begins with me.” But the change they claim began with them never materialised and there’s nothing that has actually changed because of the corrupt practices in every sector of the country and simultaneously, at all levels both private and public organisations.

Change is constant just as they always say unequivocally but the true die-hard Nigerians living in the rural areas of the country cannot boldly come out to say they've experienced or are experiencing what the government proposed a long time ago during and after their campaigns before they assumed their offices.

There are a plethora of evidences, according to my feasibility studies – moving around locally, to attest to how majority at the grassroots level fundamentally feel as regards the way of life in Nigeria.

We cannot talk about change, using Nigeria as a case study, without talking about corruption on the flip side because corruption, in all spheres of life, is deterrent to the change we have waited on for years; yet nothing has changed. Heraclitus, in one of his writings, concluded that 'since the very nature of life is change, to resist this natural flow was to resist the very essence of our existence.

We can only resist the constancy in change but we cannot resist living as long as you breathe on this planet earth. Heraclitus made his point basic and straight to the point, unlike one of the great philosophers in the name of Aristotle that buttressed and emphatically emphasized more on what to know as regards change.

According to Aristotle, he defined change as “the actualization of what is potentially, qua potential.” He went further to explicitly explain actualization as “entelecheia” which may apply either to an actualizing (the process by which something is actualized) or to an actuality (the state of being actual resulting from such a process). The diminutive minded people cannot assimilate the misology Aristotle implicitly defined change as, but the educationally-inclined would relate from his point of view.

So many past leaders have failed Nigerians, especially the lower class wallowing in abject poverty in the rural areas because of how the funds mismanaged from the Presidency to the state level, down to the local government level; which the local government level, to me, is the most corrupt.

A local government chairman wants to inaugurate a toilet or to inspect a newly built toilet in a community where, at least, 250,000 persons are living and arrives in a convoy of seven vehicles because of the fear of unknown or should I say he is living above his pay grade because you cannot automatically cruise in a convoy without having drivers and ADCs in each of those vehicles, in case you are wondering what ADC means Aide De camp.

An ordinary local government chairman who is sane shouldn’t have more than a car to show a perfect example of transparency in governance. How then would we not talk about the councillors under the local government chairman, all yoked in corruption by living above their emoluments and that is why they cannot achieve anything meaningful after their tenure in their various wards.

The despicable acts of so many leaders never gave hope to anyone whereby they know most Nigerians are either of lower class or, at least, middle class and that they are hungry for food; which is why when it is time for election, the politicians come with a cup of rice and N500 (500 naira) to bribe their way into various offices because they know quite well the people would accept whatever gift is offered and their conscience is sold for another four years or thereabout.

When we go out of Nigeria situated in the West African region and talk about neighbouring countries and extended to North, East or the Southern African country, it will be of shock to you that there’s no exemption or maybe exception to what is being practiced in those countries: no development whatsoever at all levels.

That is the reason why modern slavery is still in motion today in Africa. Most Africans want to explore other continents of the world, seeking greener pastures because of the hardcore vibe-lifestyle they are experiencing in Africa. Only a few African countries are developed.

I no longer call them politicians but Poli-trickcians because they come up with ingenious polity by tricking the gullible of the nation into voting them to power with the promise of change that will never come. Their ingenuity traps the mind of the gullible because they know this class of people deep at the grassroots level and are uneducated and would cheaply fall for their gimmicks and antics. I coined to word ‘polity’ and ‘trick’ to form “politrickcian’ to qualify my statement not zooming out of context as it is being used.

Change begins unopposed from the grassroots and should be radically obtrusive even if it inconveniences the hierarchy in power but they have to do what is needed to be done. The citizenry at the grassroots are also detrimental to the development of the country; that is why there is no development. Even the woman selling rice at Oshodi market is using a false measure to sell rice to her customers because she wants to amass huge profit at the end of the day. This, and more reasons are why a new orientation by the National Orientation Agency needs to work on by doing what they can do to orientate the citizens of Nigeria to change from -negative to +positive approach to their daily lives so that the correction of what has been damaged in the country a long time ago will begin.

In view of what I have been talking about, the Presidency recently accused the state Governors of each of the states in Nigeria of corruption and exposed them, saying that after funds are allocated to them, they steal what they want and send peanuts to their local government chairmen and the local government chairmen, too, steal more than enough and send meager amount to their councillors. Now, then tell me how can there be growth and drastic development in the country when the wealth of the whole nation has been shared among wicked individuals for their selfish gains and go save it up in foreign bank accounts in foreign countries which continue to develop with the wealth of another, isn't that modern slavery? Yes, it is. But the wicked leaders we have in Nigeria would never admit that they are modern slaves to the white men.

Let's build ourselves and do it right; change will not start from the top but from the bottom. Happy festivities my dear faithful readers, I hope you'd find this piece insightful by changing your mindset towards life as regards our current ways of living in Nigeria.

•Mike-Nifty A.A is an ambassador for Christ and a public affairs analyst reach him via nifty.mics@yahoo.com or +234 706 337 3272

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