THE NIGERIA I HOPE FOR IN 2016

THE NIGERIA I HOPE FOR IN 2016

I have found among other things that one thing is common among most Nigerians. Even though there are few exceptions here and there, you will find generally that not many Nigerians will let you go scot-free if you decide to take on their country. No matter who we have become in the eyes of the world and how we have been painted, Nigerians are proud of their country. We all only want to wake up someday to find that the country we are so proud to defend, is also ready host us. We want to ascertain that this country will meet our needs with the very abundance that it has been blessed with.

It is in accordance with this hope that we decided to vote out a government that we believe was not going to preserve the heritage that we so cherish only to empower another that lacks clue as to the realities of the economy nor indeed seem to know in which direction to steer the course of the ship of the country. I know I sound like broken record, but I know Nigeria is not cursed. Am I certain about that? Well, I really don’t care about certainty, hope is enough.

And I have hopes.

I hope to have a Nigeria in 2016 with a leadership that is gifted with new mind. Leadership that does not pursue past “corrupt” leaders only because they have not flipped their loyalty or party affiliation; Leadership that does not care only recovering looted funds with only to store up the funds for re-looting purpose; Leadership that knows that it is possible to handle more than more thing per time; leadership that grows the economy as it does the purse of the central bank.

I have hope that in 2016, Nigeria’s leadership will be gifted with a new vision that sees the perplexity in the land, and the suffering of the people. Leadership that knows that a litre of petrol in the same country that produces it, now sells for more than 250 naira as against the approved 87 naira; leadership that will not act like it is not seeing what is happening or doesn’t give a damn how many days people sleep at the filling stations wherever they are lucky to find fuel to buy.

I have hope that in 2016, Nigeria’s leaders will be gifted a new tongue, a tongue that knows when a lie is a lie and not a political statement. A leadership that will tell only the truth and not something to make everyone hail their efforts, everyone except those who are the direct sufferers of their lies; leadership that will not tell the citizens that in a matter of few days, fuel scarcity will be a thing of the past when indeed it knows that the suffering is just starting; leadership that will say the truth, leadership that will apologize when it errs and will truly be sorry for leading wrongly.

I have hope that in 2016, Nigeria’s leaders will be gifted a new mind, a mind that cares to think about what they are doing; a leader that does not steal the public money and put it in an account somewhere in the world where the thief himself hardly can access the funds; leadership that cares to ask why they should steal such amount of money that leaves the mind numb; leadership that dare ask, do I really need to steal? Leadership that uses the commonwealth of all for the common good of all, leadership whose conscience is no longer dead.

I have hope that in 2016, our lawmakers will be gifted a better desire for the people, that they will take less breaks and work more, or better still run a part-time legislature. I have hope that they will sponsor bills and make laws that will impact on the people not laws that seek to punish people who dare to air their views on the social media. I have hope that when they get funds for constituency projects, they will do constituency projects and not fund the pockets of other politicians. I have hope that it will be an all-inclusive government and that there will be less nepotism, sectionalism, and all other similar …isms.

I have hope that in 2016, the military will be gifted a new mind, a mind that thinks before cocking the gun; a mind that does not enjoy killing human beings just because they have been provoked; a mind that makes being on the street needful only for security reasons not for the extortion of the people; a mind that makes the society worth living in.

I have hope that in 2016, those who carry arms against the state will be gifted a new mind, a mind that makes them think about what they are thinking about; a mind that prefers living in a structured society rather than the forest; a mind that thinks the human life is important and the Creator didn’t leave it in the hands of another to take.

I have hope that in 2016, our youths will be gifted a good mind, a mind that knows that whatever other country they are running to was built by someone; a mind that does not grow along polarized lines, a mind that wants to contribute her own little to making the society better not a mind that is “waiting for my turn to share the national cake”.

I have hope that 2016 will indeed be the year that the reason for which this new government was voted in will become a reality, and that I will not have to write this kind of thing for 2017. I really hope so.