By Ade Alabi.
The ongoing arguments and actions on the pronounced “Revolution Now” protest anchored by one of the former Presidential Aspirants among the newbie political parties have pinned one down to meditation on Nigeria state of economy.
My dear fellow Nigerians, if you are privileged to know a bit of what transpires within our so-called leaders and their level of atrocities, their mindset on continuity of evil, their comfortability with the degenerated and abyss state of economy in our country, you’d be less sentimental.
Last week, I was in a meeting in Abuja with a sitting Governor, who at a point started dishing out realities on ground with sincerity of purpose (because they do so occasionally when conversing with people who seem close to them). He said many of us leaders play all kinds of cards; political affiliation cards, religious cards, tribal and ethnic cards and many other cards until they will run out of cards one day!
That tells us that our Political leaders know what they are doing with the destiny of Nigerians.
This is not about love for any personality now but a matter of patriotism and call to compel our leaders to braze up and do the needful, and if they are not ready, we should rise up to do something now that its needed than ever!
When will Nigeria change? In some countries of the world, their prisoners live better off than an average Nigerian who has laboured in peril to get himself out of school hoping to be a figure of succor to their immediate and extended families.
In some other countries, even with comfortable amenities in prison, most prison workers have lost their jobs because prisons are being closed down for acute shortage of prisoners. Policemen are retraining and changing their jobs for absence of crimes and shortage of criminals!
This should touch the souls of our political leaders. With all these unending pains and hardship in the land, I dare to ask: Is something generically wrong with Nigerians?
Here, our political leaders still celebrate with pomp and pageantry, the building of prisons, the recruitment of citizens to police and prison service, instead of opting for deeds that would prevent people from going to prisons, or even putting conducive environments in place for quality education, provision of roads that will make traveling pleasurable for road travellers, quality infrastructures, etc. Foolery and grand deception everywhere with no hope in sight.
At what point are we going to wake up as Nigerians to end all these comatose prevailing in the land?
At what point will our political leaders stop using public funds to feed politicians and for self enrichment?
At what point are we going to have political reforms void of parochialism?
At what point are we going to patriotically engage in sincere blockade of financial leakages in the corridor of governance?
At what stage are we going to stop the mentality of ‘winner takes it all’ in governance and recycling of old economy portfolio holders with serial records and profile of failure at the expense of engaging technocrats who will go on restoration mission to give Nigeria what Nigerians deserve?
At what point are we going to put a system in place where all forms of corruption will automatically be checkmated and fissled out?
At what point are we going to have a system in place, such that will be higher and stronger than any public office holder irrespective of status?
I strongly believe the time is now for us to begin to do something, think out of the box and begin the struggle of freedom to give a strong signal to the clueless, non-ideological, position seekers occupying seats of governance across board in our dear country and send them parking legitimately!
I also appeal we pursue our struggle under the purview of the guided law of the land while we expect the security agencies not to be seen as playing out the script written by any party affliation
or people in authority. Nigeria is for all of us and we have the right to Freedom of Expression and of Citizenship. They should remember.
Nigeria will be great again.
Ade Alabi, ANRP Chairman, Kwara State, writes from Ilorin.
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