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.
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