Post by Kennedy (@Yibin)

"The good old days." I do not think there is any country in the world that uses that cliché as we do in Nigeria. I was just going to my photo archives, and I stumbled on one of the photos I took while on a training retreat to Obudu Mountain Resorts, a.k.a. Obudu Cattle Ranch. Upon arriving at the resort, the haunting beauty I saw in that facility remains etched in my memory like the thick, cool fog that greeted me on that fateful day. This was me standing on those heights in 2011, surrounded by a mist so dense it felt like walking through clouds; there was a profound sense that I had found Nigeria’s best-kept secret.

At that time, the experience I got was not only refreshing, but it was also transformative. Transformative in my mindset that yes, Nigeria is working, and we can get things right. I am not exaggerating; the air was crisp and clean, which was a sharp contrast to the humid heat of the lowlands I was coming from. Everything in the resort felt alive and meticulously cared for by hard-working and always smiling personnel. The streetlights cast a warm, reliable glow against the evening fog, and the pathways were clear and inviting. It was a place where the infrastructure actually matched the majesty of the nature that surrounds it. I wished the training never ended; I wished I could stay much longer.

All of that is now in the cliché of the "good old days." Returning to those thoughts now, it is difficult to reconcile that vibrant memory with the current state of deterioration. What was once a premier international tourist destination has suffered significantly from years of neglect. Unfortunately, the Nigerian factor has happened to it; we can only talk about the majestic beauty of Obudu Mountain Resorts in the past. This has kept me wondering on how we are wired not to appreciate things that are working and to be very comfortable in watching things deteriorate. We comfortably watched the Nigeria Railway Corporation collapse; we comfortably watched the textile industries collapse; we comfortably watched the NNPC collapse. Right under our nose, the newly revamped railway is collapsing. What is wrong with us as a people?

Back to the Obudu Mountain Resort, I learned from those who have visited lately that the cable car that was once the pride of the resort and the most breathtaking way to ascend the mountain has been plagued by mechanical failures and long periods of total inactivity. The reliable lighting seen in years past has been replaced by frequent outages, leaving the mountaintop in a darkness that feels more lonely than peaceful, leaving you to the mercy of the owners of the forests (bandits). The guest rooms and common areas, which used to feel like a high-altitude sanctuary, now often show signs of wear, from dampness to failing plumbing, reflecting a lack of consistent investment.

There is a deep irony in seeing a place of such immense natural potential lose its luster. Obudu hasn't lost its soul; the mountains are still there, and the clouds still roll in across the peaks, but the bridge that was built to reach that beauty is crumbling. It serves as a somber reminder that without good, responsible, and forward-looking stewardship, even our most magnificent treasures and assets that we are building now can fade into a ghost of what they were meant to be or once were.

I hate the Nigerian cliché "the good old days." Good days have no business being old. We should have memories of good days every day; today should be a good day, tomorrow should be a good day, and the day after tomorrow should be a good day. I do not want my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to be talking about the good old days; it will mean my generations have failed to put systems that can make their days better than my days. A "Good day" should be passive, not active. A "good day" shouldn't be a thing of privilege obtained by a few corrupt elites who have amassed our commonwealth for their future generations.

Our leaders must be committed to building a future that is forward-looking, not one that is backward and retrospective-looking. If we commit to making the days ahead better, the next generation will not remember the old days as "good" but will be thankful because we made their days better than the old days with the decisions and actions we make today.

We cannot continue with the attitude of watching our national treasures and critical assets crumble like we do not care about the future generations. Nation building is an intentional continuum that guarantees "tomorrow will be better than today and yesterday."

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