Gabriel Delano: Ghost Workers, Ghost Government and Ghost Towns

Nigeria is a land endowed with tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of ghost workers. We see the news reports flying around everywhere. Like this one about 9,258 ghost workers in Kebbi uncovered last week or this one in the international media about a new-born baby ghost worker.

BusinessDay on November 12 carried the headline, ‘Abia govt’s battle to rescue LGA funds from ghost and fake workers’. The funniest thing about the headline is the fact that the government is speaks of; the Theodore Orji government in Abia is also a ghost government. A ghost government is one that after being rigged into the office, disappears into thin air, along with its promises, manifestos and responsibilities. Roads not fit for a zoo or an Animal farm are the order of the day. In fact, we all know for a fact that there are better roads within animal farms in saner climates.

Only today driving around in Lagos, a traveler must have noticed several anomalies that make one wonder where is the government. A people must first goven themselves before they can govern others. We are stuck with rulers who cannot rule us because they cannot rule themselves. We feel their absence in our lives, they are like ghosts. They haunt our headlines one corruption or political scandal at a time.

Nigeria is a ghost town. There is absence of everything patriotic and binding here. Absence of love for neighbor, love for country and love for duty. Young teenagers celebrate their departures to other countries in order to acquire an often worthless university degree. From Vancouver to Dundee, Nigerian youngsters are everywhere. They are ghosts to their country and countrymen, present only on BBM, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Haunting all our collective DPs, Tweets, PMs and DMs.

Yoruba folk singer, Asa captures it best in her fire on the mountain chant.

There is fire on the mountain

But nobody seems to be on the run

Most people are scared of ghosts, nobody is running, but perhaps soon they will be.

The alternative is to fix Nigeria now.