Nigerians have been likened to the bad Samaritan who did nothing to help a neighbour in need. Painting the fictional picture of a woman who was being harassed by a police officer, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole said, often times Nigerians look on as evil grows in and around us.
She made this statement during her presentation at this year’s edition of the annual Platform Democracy Day event, which held in Abuja.
Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, a Former Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Ease of Doing Business to the President said, “we are often quick to disparage for example the Nigerian Police Force or to throw shades at the Government, the elite and corrupt leaders. However, I doubt there is any of us who will honestly say we have never looked the other way in the face of injustice even in our own homes.”
She identified the disinterest or inability of Nigerians to bring perpetrators of justice to book “whether perceived small ones or significant ones. For example, our place of work.”
She says, Nigerians struggle with the idea of taking responsibilities. “Someone else is wrong. Someone is to blame. Someone else is to change.” She indicated that in the course of her work as Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Ease of Doing Business, where she has engaged Nigerians in the diaspora, organised private sector and the media, NGO, development partners and financial institutions not once has anyone accepted to have contributed to the ruins of Nigeria.
“Interestingly, in the course of our numerous stakeholder engagements and interactions, negotiation reforms, preparing reports, receiving viral messages and comments that come our way directly from concerned commentators or through our report channel, reportgov.ng feedback portal, not once in all that time have I met a single person who has ever admitted even to the remote possibility of playing a negative part in any way, shape or form whatsoever with regards to any of the challenges in our business climate today.”
“From our engagement no one admits to demand bribe, receive bribe, extort money or offers inducement to circumvent the system in anyway.”
She asked Nigerians to rise up to the occasion and have an honest conversation on moving the nation forward. She admits that there are challenges but states that this is the time for Nigerian to work collectively to rescue and revive the nation.
“We all want change but we want someone else to change not us.”
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