THROUGH the normal passage of time, the year 2011 will, tomorrow, Saturday 31st December at 12 mid-night, inexorably roll into history yielding way to a brand new year 2012. In accordance with the spirit of the yuletide, we felicitate with the government and the people of Nigeria for surviving the daunting challenges of last year with all its twists and turns.The beginning of the year is most auspicious for Nigeria to reflect on the events of the past year. Patriotism is lacking amongst many Nigerians; the common interest is often sacrificed at the altar of personal gains. This must not continue to be the case. In the New Year, we urge Nigerians to show love of country in their daily endeavours; it is not enough to castigate the country's leadership. Individually, Nigerians must desist from conspiratorial acquiescence to corruption in transactions with government.Besides the elections, insecurity of life and property defined the out-going year. The Boko Haram's terror was pervasive in the North, kidnapping continued in the South and armed bank robbery attacks, everywhere. Though the security forces were not lethargic, yet solutions have not been found. Nigerians must not continue to bear the brunt of insecurity in 2012. Everybody has a role to play but government must take the lead, it should galvanise the security agencies to adopt new strategies to meet the increasingly complex security challenges.The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is continuing its strike action embarked upon last year. The frequent strikes by ASUU have led to a negative perception of the quality of tertiary education in Nigeria. Recently, the British General Medical Council has barred medical graduates of nine Nigerian Universities who qualified after December 2010 from practising in Britain. ASUU, with all the eggheads within its fold, should think out an alternative to strike action in handling sundry disagreements.The unemployment issue is massive. The rate climbed to 23 percent last year. Poverty is rampant as 90 percent of the population live on two dollars a day. Government's programmes to create jobs and to reduce poverty hardly yield the desired impacts. Things must be done differently this year; structures must be established to drive job creation and poverty reduction programmes for meaningful results.The country suffers from an amazing level of infrastructural decay. There is inadequate electricity supply, roads are dilapidated, and the railways are not functioning, et al. The infrastructural deficit is put at over N30 trillion. Infrastructural development is critical to all economic endeavours and also helpful to the country's quest to join the league of 20 most developed economies by 2020. Therefore the cheaper alternative of developing infrastructure through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) should be pursued more vigorously. In all these, however, transparency must be the watchword.Nigerians love sports, particularly football, with passion. The fortunes of football nose-dived last year. The national football team did not participate in the 2011 All African Games; it will not be at the African Cup of Nations in January in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and would also be missing in the Football event at the 2012 Summer Olympics Games. In FIFA ranking, Nigeria is presently ranked sixth in Africa and 43rd in the world, down from the fifth position in the world it enjoyed in 1994. The slide must be arrested. There must be organisational structures in place and more competitions organised at all levels to discover talents. Efforts must be reinvigorated to weed out age cheats from the age grade competitions; and stricter financial controls put in place to reduce corruption in sports.The debate on the removal of fuel subsidy has thrown up many perspectives; the populace is largely bemused on which way forward. However, the government had actively engaged Nigerians in consensus building efforts. Effects of the removal of fuel subsidy whenever it occurs next year will certainly resonate in all facets of life. Whatever happens, Nigerians must feel challenged to improve on their positive contributions and make 2012 a better year for all.We wish Nigerians a happy and prosperous New Year.
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