Vision and delusions

By Liborious

A vision without a corresponding mission will end up as a mere delusion. Welcome to vision 2020. Years ago, we set national goal and we named it vision 2020 to be among the first most developed nations on earth by the year 2020.

The discerning knew then we were up to our usual jokes. Those were the words of my Senior and mentor, Jide Ogunyi.  But how do we expect to attain such a height, when there’s no legal framework to deal with negligence in our professional endeavors like, medicine, law, building engineering and even the government, apart from, leave am for God?!.

How can we achieve a vision for the Nigerian education, when it is not good enough to educate the custodian of the same educational system? When they would rather send their kids abroad. How can one translate a vision of making a country, a medical hub, when a world class hospital built by a former governor wasn’t found good enough to treat the same former governor’s minor bruises sustained in a motor accident?

How can a nation, whose pastors are the richest in the world with a congregation of the poorest people on earth achieve greatness by mere vision without corresponding effort and mission?

We must be joking. Our manufacturing companies are being bought over by churches and would rather build a 13km auditorium than build a 10 km expressway or a 5km juice making factory, despite the abundance of natural fruits. Let someone shout hallelujah!

Who do you want to achieve such a huge feat, when the worst of us are the ones ruling over the affairs of the best of us? Which country can achieve greatness when its government officials would rather invest in properties in Dubai than set up businesses that would create employment opportunities for the teeming youths?

Dubai had a similar vision 40years ago. They created a mission to actualize same, and today, they are one of the most visited countries on earth with 50 million visitors annually, including our politicians who go there to hold meetings, spending an average of $5000 per visit.

We mouth farming as if that’s all there’s to development. Until we realize that farming without value added, like transportation, storage and processing is poverty, if we like, let us close our borders for a 100 years, we will wake up one day find out that the world has moved on without us.

We celebrate a governor for tarring roads four times the cost price as though he spent his personal money and yet, we expect the realization of a vision.

A politician will rig an election or a close friend is given an appointment, and we troop out to churches and mosques to do thanksgiving, yet we expect them not to steal. A custom officer at our airport border control gateway into the country turns his duty post to a begging post, “oga wetin you bring come for us? Oga, your boys are here” without sanctions, yet we want the world to take us seriously.

Hear Jide again: “Since then the aimless sightedness, will continue to grope. It is clear we are not as serious as we often boasts. When the vision was set two wasted decades ago, year 2020 was a faraway landing post. Now the year is here, but we are in a deeper hole than the one in which we were many years ago.

Hurry, let’s set another vision based on divine hope, with no work, we’ll still reach our destined Eldorado. We need not plan or think to set new goals, after all, our rich land still spills the inexhaustible black gold.

My advocacy today is, until government and every one of us today in position of authority show selfless leadership by example, even if we set visions for eternity, without a corresponding mission, it will still end up a vision of delusional grandeur.