Your Excellency, i write this from the
bottom of my heart with utmost sincerity of purpose, hoping that somehow by
miracle, this piece will find its way into your view. Knowing that your aides
who hitherto continue to shield you from the people you govern and lead, thus
cutting you away from the present day realities, will also want to shield you
from this piece.
Mr President, our roof is on fire, and
it's only a matter of time before it caves in if not attacked vehemently with
innovative and strategic development mechanisms. As the saying goes, one's
house cannot be on fire, while one pre-occupies themselves with chasing rats in
the same building. Mr President, going by the events of the past couple of
weeks, it appears you are completely oblivious of the fact that, our roof is on
fire. Even more disheartening, is that you appear not to even be chasing any
rats, but instead, are simply sitting and watching the fire engulf the
building, though it is so obvious even to the blind that there are rodents
everywhere eating up the very fabric of our nation.
A country like
Nigeria, with over 150 million people; and home to the world's richest black
man and woman, a wealth of enormous resources, both minerals and human
capacity, yet still continues to languish in the doldrums of obscurity. A vast
population of our citizens living in abject poverty. The gap between the poor
and the rich is widening by the minute thus extinguishing the middle
class. Our people are dying like flies
from lack of decent medical facilities. Our roads have become death traps... We
have no business being the country we have become today. Sir, this is totally
prepostrous and unacceptable.
Mr President our
roof is on fire!!! How do we explain the rationale in 3 of our governors
receiving medical treatment abroad, for various ailments? A number of our
Ministers and leaders so to say are also contributing to enriching hospitals
abroad for ailments that are often treated by Nigerian doctors in the various
countries worldwide.
A few days ago, Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State was
involved in a ghastly road accident involved
in a road accident on a road he could have fixed as governor of the state and
had to be rushed to Abuja for treatment. While I do not wish anybody death,
there are 3 things to draw from that incident:
1) He as the
Governor ought to have fixed that road and reduced the dangers of accident.
People die in accidents regularly, due to the deplorable state of that road. He
did not have to wait till it happened to him, before realising the road needs
repairs. How long shall we continue to make excuses for the poor performance of
our leaders? What does this also say about our party, the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) after thirteen years in power if we are unable to
deliver ordinary roads to our people?
2) In the whole
of Kogi State, is there no hospital good enough to treat the broken bones of a
Governor? What then, is the hope of a common man as regards medical
treatment?Quite shameful is the paradox of a rich man who flies his family
abroad for the slightest of headaches, only to die on one of our roads from a
small cut sustained in an accident simply because there were no good hospitals
around him.
3) Corruption
and neglect of infrastructure, has a way of consuming us all, somehow. Some
might attempt to shield themselves by flying instead of driving, ride in SUVs
instead of saloon cars, receive treatment abroad for appendicitis or migraine,
instead of building or repairing our hospitals; but at the end of it all, it
catches up and we all get consumed by the bad state of things in the country.
Mr President
something drastic has to be done. We cannot continue like this. Mr president
our house is on fire!
Mr. President, our roof is on fire. It is disgraceful that a
country like Nigeria described as having one of the largest
and richest crude deposits in the world is importing petroleum products.
Next-door Ghana has built a refinery and so has Niger Republic, some of them
owned by Nigerians. What is wrong with us? Worse still is the fact that we are
suffering scarcities and buying petroleum products at ridiculously
unprecedented prices compared to other oil producing nations of the world. Haba, Sir! How much can you expect your
people to take. The hardship and suffering, is what we are seeing materialising
in the kind of bizarre things happening in the country- boko haram, kidnappings
and other negative vices. Your people are broken, Sir! Our psyche is
shattered!!!!
Mr. President,
our roof is on fire and a lot of people are clamouring for fasting and prayer
sessions, i totally disagree, as I do not believe that fasting and prayer will
quench the flames of our sufferings as a nation. i believe God gave us minds of
our own so he can rest. Most developed countries of the world are not half as
spiritual or religious as Nigerians, yet their lives are better off. Europeans and more recently, the Asian Tigers
did not build their countries on night vigils and prayer sessions.
It is sad that
while other countries suffer natural disasters, what we suffer in Nigeria are
self-inflicted disasters. We are blessed not to suffer natural disasters on the
scale other countries do, but our disasters are man-made. Fixing our country
will not take rocket science, Only the right vision, willpower, careful
planning and foresight can take us to the Promised Land.
Mr President,
our roof is on fire! As reflected in the last elections, you are perhaps, the
1st Nigerian President to benefit from the love and enormous support and
goodwill of your people. But, in the twinkle of an eye, you appear to have lost
it. Your Excellency, you have the opportunity to etch your name in gold in the
annals of nigerian history and permanently engrave it in the hearts of your
people, if only you will take my “kobo kobo” advice as respected Thisday
columnist Dele Momodu once put it, re-evaluate and begin to make the needs of
your people a priority.
Mr President,
our roof is on fire!!! There is a saying that only a fool talks about problems
without possible solutions. Above, I highlighted a couple of flames in our
roof, Mr. President:
1. Our roads and infrastructure;
2. Health care
facilities;
3. Petroleum issues, which spill over to power and energy.
Like many, I
would like to blame many of our woes on the charlatans you surround yourself
with, in the name of advisers; who instead of telling you the truth about
situations shroud you in lies, and as a result, detaching you from the
realities we face in Nigeria. But, you were once one of us Sir, you walked the
paths we all walk today, you travelled our road, you walked to school without
shoes like many of us have, you came home to no electricity or water. How can
you forget so soon, Sir?
Mr President our
roof is on fire and it's time to engage upwardly mobile,smart, articulate
Nigerian youths who think deeply and strategically and have their future ahead
of them. Please do away with the present crop of old folks and recycled aides
whose only aim is to line their pockets. The Youth are the ones whose future is
at stake here.
Mr President pick
one issue every year and in 3 years Nigeria would have gone from zero to hero
and by implication you would have secured the presidential ticket for 2015.
Your Excellency, it is time to stop playing politics with your life, our lives
and the lives of our children. Otherwise, this corruption will end up consuming
us all.
I continue to
pray for you and our dear Country. Do the right thing Sir and let posterity
judge you kindly.
God bless us all
God bless The
Federal Republic of Nigeria
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