It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.– Charles Dickens.

A king with straight jaw and a queen with plain face sat on the throne. The praise singers and noisiest authorities sought to out-do each other with moon light tales that excite babes only.

Ages ago, seasons came and went; men and women married, reproduced, aged and died. Children grew up, married, reproduced, aged and died. Nothing changed as life unfolded in similitude. Century after century, people trekked, lived in virtual darkness. Suddenly, light and motion; thus electricity, automobile, rail, telephone, airplane and the internet emerged and every hour and day counted and no longer taken for granted or wasted!

A friend refurbished the house and the wife hinted I could miss it. It has been months since my wife and I visited them but that weekend, we called. For a while after we arrived, we were not sure we were in the right place. So, I called Madam to say we were outside. Then the old house keeper came and opened. One glance and the former bungalow had become a storey building with superb finishing. Wow, my wife and I chorused in unison as we entered the sitting room.

Transform your car and your family and best friends will not recognize it but when the truth hits home, the word that comes is wow! Anywhere there is transformation, wow echoes. Even opponents must acknowledge transformation with wow!

Nigeria is evolving with semblances of modern life here and there while some people feel it is smoke without fire. Yet some folks believe Nigerians should be dancing for some things have transformed: telecommunications and banking, for instance. Perhaps; perhaps not!

Howbeit, adults may want to deny your success but not children. Children will call you Uncle even if you drop from the moon and give them something real good! You wow kids and they wow you! Now, can Nigerian kids say thanks to GEJ, even without Chibok in their minds?

The military dominated Nigerian politics for decades but now are in the barracks where they belong. The PDP government prides self with the achievement and regales in Nigeria being the third largest democracy after India and the United States. And beyond politics, Nigeria is also the largest economy in Africa by market size, ahead of South Africa, Egypt, Ghana and Kenya.

Another fact, however is that this third largest democracy is among the worst in breaching good governance through human abuses, institutional and infrastructural decay. Indeed, the biggest economy in Africa has the largest poorest population in the continent.

Finance and Coordinating Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, believes Nigeria’s sad state of affairs; vis-à-vis mass poverty amidst vast public wealth is a metaphor! Haba, Madam Minister!

Nigeria claims overtaking South Africa as the biggest economy in the continent; and expects 4,000 megawatts of power which is below Johannesburg’s daily consumption. Nigeria was doing 4,000 megawatts before 1999 when the PDP took off. Now, doing 3,000 megawatts, bands are drumming with groups gyrating from city to city singing and insisting President Jonathan gets a second term given his outstanding performance. Lucky fellows! It can only be Nigeria!

Gathered under the banner of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN says President Jonathan is the best thing to happen to Nigeria and tick off his scorecard in agriculture, aviation, foreign direct investments, youth and women empowerment, containing insecurity, energy and infrastructural development and most importantly stabilizing the polity.

For recap, President Jonathan took office in 2009 and no one denies Nigeria’s challenges did not start then but it is dumb to say his hands were tied by forces beyond his control.

Cassava and rice productions have increased, we hear. But is Nigeria producing twenty percent of the food requirements? If we were doing fifteen percent and now we have risen marginally, is that transformation?

Imagine a child who used to score fifteen percent scoring twenty. Can the mother go dancing? Yes, if she is illiterate! But she knew 20 per cent cannot take him anywhere, she would hold her joy! No Nigerian university is among the top 6000 in the world or among the first 50 in Africa. Nigeria imports 80 percent food requirements. More worrisome is that millions are wretched and so go to bed hungry. Nigeria has done nothing in agriculture to warrant rolling out the drums.

Travelers on the business and moral wagons wonder why millions refuse to farm or engage in secure livelihood. That is debate for another day but the fact is that nothing great has happened in our agriculture, education, health or housing. Most Nigerians are hungry and angry, homeless, hopeless and streetwise. Is it any wonder that crimes keep growing; not declining!

One area government claims high success is energy, especially with stabilizing fuel supply. Most Nigerians use kerosene daily either to cook and or for light which energy business best presents Nigerian commerce and corruption indices.

Officially, kerosene sells at fifty naira per litre but is above N100 a litre at the filling stations. Over N1 trillion has been paid as subsidies in the last four years. What does this say of the government, energy and poor Nigerians?

This January marks three years that government and citizens battled over fuel subsidy removal. At the end, it turned out that over N1 trillion was stolen in one year in the name of fuel subsidy. The conmen and the figures they stole were listed. Some Nigerians were killed over the protests. But rather than prosecute and punish the swindlers, government treats them with kid gloves. Proudly, fuel subsidy looters champion Jonathan’s re-election.

Corruption, poverty, squalor, immorality and crimes go together. Whoever speaks of transformation in the midst must be dead to human feelings and dead for real. Many Nigerians are walking corpses. If there were governments that care, many lives would transform for good.

Rice is the commonest food in Nigeria. In Benin Republic, a 50 kg bag sells at N4,000 but here N10,000. So which government cares for the citizens: Nigeria or Benin? Visit Chad and Niger and the first thing that strikes you are the roads with no potholes. Even with containing Boko Haram, can Nigeria compare to Cameroun? There is no need picking sectors and our neighours.

Let TAN name two police barracks in each geo-political zone that a policeman who served there six years ago visits today and would shout wow; let them name one military base, one Unity school and one federal university in each geopolitical zone that anyone who lived there six years ago would see today and say wow! Surely, transformation cannot be hidden or denied!

Come to think of it, there are areas of national life we cannot but heave wow; how come? General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) said Nigerians believe his administration is the most rotten but he knows President Jonathan’s is the most corrupt ever. IBB is PDP chieftain and no Buhari fan!  

An adage wonders if a man takes a year to learn to be mad, how long would he practice the trade. The PDP and GEJ did not need two years’ planning to start serious work but everything is familiarly rustic and nothing suggests twenty years would mean anything to people who don’t give a damn as a matter of fact. And in the final analysis, no one gives what he has not.