“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.” – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
To the People Deceiving People and the People, Deceived People:
I know you don’t know I’m a donor. Once, I donated blood. At times, I donate money. In times like this, I donate common sense. There’s common sense in uncommon sense and “there’s plenty of sense in nonsense sometimes, if you wish to look for it.” Today, I wish to remind you they want change and to warn you they won’t change.”
When the foundation is faulty what can we do? A federation is a country of individual states or regions that have control over their own affairs but give some power to a central government for national integration and international diplomacy. But when a country is a banana republic, “Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay” is your “guide to help you decide whether to stay in or get out of your relationship.”
Past heroes begot sectional leaders leading the misled from crisis to crises. God forbid things fall apart and until the centre cannot hold, we may continue to treat the symptoms of an ailment whose root is continuously being nourished by a pool of structural defects.
The 1999 constitution is an offshoot of Nigeria’s root problem. A handpicked few drafted the 1999 constitution to protect “THEY, the ruling elite” to the detriment of “WE, the people.” THEY are few, WE are many. THEY are bad leaders, past and present. THEY are the same of the same yesterday and today. WE are impoverished citizens held down by ignorance. WE are ordinary Nigerians deeply divided by ethnic and religious sentiments. WE are the common people who have common enemies but no common sense.
The devil is in the detail and from time to time you see devil’s tail in detail – a mix of ethnicity and tribalism; a mixture of religion and the State; an admixture of good, bad and federal character; and a remix of regional and ethno-religious politics. Nigerians are deeply religious people, ungodly and very corrupt. It is divide and rule by the government to continue to sponsor religious people from underdeveloped native land to ‘holy’ foreign lands. Those who benefit from the chaotic odd sorts won’t let go, manipulating a large following of ignorant fools.
Think Nigeria! Think the Nigerian church! There is a church denomination that has some God-fearing formula for sharing tithes and offerings between the local church and the parent church, unlike some rogue company church of god that are eviler exploitative than even the Nigerian government. The federal government sucks the wealth of nations while millions of Nigerians in rural communities languish in abject poverty. Parents provide for their children according to needs and means. Children, when they become adults, mind their own business and care for their parents. Nigeria has come of age and it’s late in our national life we allowed each people mind their business and every people contribute to common national interest.
Had former President Goodluck Jonathan failed woefully in his belated attempt through the national conference to restructure Nigeria, there wouldn’t have been any reason to beg the new administration to please consider and implement the reports of 2014 national conference.
Children are the leaders of tomorrow if the youth of today are the leaders today. The youth are fed up to the ear hearing endlessly that children are the leaders of tomorrow. Children in solidarity with the youth are fed up, to say the least, listening to empty rhetoric from rotten politicians. Today’s youth, yesterday’s children, are harmed to the teeth and fed up to the back teeth. Nothing for boys and girls follow expired men whose mates retired timely to hell. Old mates may join their mates peacefully or face a fiery squad.
There are three arms of government. Corruption, corruption and corruption! One Arm last term was diagnosed with Clue Deficiency Syndrome but thumbs up with fingers crossed for one-man army for a temporary relief and non-executable body language. Long Arm long time has been in a coma for the umpteenth time every time due to a protracted adjudicating miscarriage before marriage and is allergic to quick therapy. It’s a pity Leprous Arm with swollen legs won’t respond to treatment due to late cancer in its long throat.
When they buy their way to the National Assembly, it’s time to eat and have their cake. They know how to mind their business and none of our business. Sooner than later Nigerians will get to figure out with or without commas monies congressmen grab with both hands, their women front to back behind closed doors oversight out of sight of constituency projects public hearing committee to pass budget to probe Ghana-Must-Go corruption scandal after constitution amendment bill to give immunity to lawbreakers.
When they are doing nothing, they would say they are working. When they are busy doing rubbish, they would say they are civil servants. If you blame them, they blame the system and the leaders for their predicament. They’re right, they’re wrong! Their take-home pay cannot take them home and most of them cannot even afford a decent home. Their annual salary is their colleagues’ monthly salary in sister agencies. Salary they receive late is daily earning of counterparts in the private sector. If I may ask: in a country where nothing works, which work politicians do to claim the lion share the ‘national cake’? Extreme inequality is jungle injustice and wickedness under the sun! This is Nigeria where contemporaries in the national assembly collect jumbo wardrobe allowance. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
Impunity loves immunity and sycophants befriend mediocrity. Wicked governors provide for the people mediocre medicare and call it world class. But wicked governors and their relations would abandon their own ‘world class hospital’ for world-class medical treatment abroad. They say they steal because we never stone them. We’re sorry we never stone them. It’s about time and when we curse them, God no go vex. By the way, God commanded us to say to the wicked it shall not be well with them.
Love your neighbour as yourself. Love those politicians and their pastors whose permanent home address is hell. “Stealing is not corruption!” Who is a thief? Who is not corrupt? Do not judge so that you will not be judged. Do not probe so that you will not be probed. I feel pity for them. Rivers of blood! Wicked, desperate politicians kill to win election and after go to church for thanksgiving service. Surely there is no peace for the wicked.
All political crooks everywhere they go from PDP to APC. APC – GMB + PMB = PDP. For your information, the devils we know have the credentials to frustrate efforts to fight corruption. The battle
line is drawn and the enemies have taken positions to fight dirty. “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” Men and women of goodwill should rally round the president; President Muhammadu Buhari should act proactively; the Nigerian masses must come together right behind their president; and with my lord in the temple of justice, those enemies you see today, they shall walk free scot free no more.
Man in the moon, a man in honeymoon to bring noisemakers as ministers from Mars. The introduction of the card readers in 2015 general elections, a precursor to electronic voting come 2019, was ‘one small step’ for INEC and ‘one giant leap’ for Nigeria. When it became clear to Jonathan’s PDP that, with the card readers, it wasn’t going to be rigging as usual, Jonathan’s PDP tried frantically to discourage the deployment of the card readers. But the then opposition APC, realizing that the power of darkness is the absence of light, backed INEC to use the card readers as planned. And it came to pass the APC rose slowly above the horizon to Aso Rock. Unfortunately, Nigeria may witness the eclipse of the ruling APC cast a shadow on e-voting.
Proper use of technology can boost efficiency and transparency, and is beneficial for driving institutions and processes toward quality of service delivery for the common good. Unfortunately, our rulers see ICT as good and useful tool to loot – failed national ID projects; $470 million non-functional CCTV cameras; NCC’s N6.1 billion SIM cards registration; craze for biometric verification in situations where a modest staff audit would suffice, and trying to justify huge expenditure by reporting bogus ghost-workers discovery without recovery even as they always fail to uncover no culprits.
Past leaders’ indifference to ICT was responsible for the belated creation of the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology. Today, most government Ministries and Agencies do not have ICT departments necessary to interface with the ICT Ministry. And the personnel in charge of various ICT portfolios across the MDAs are mostly not IT professionals. The ICT Ministry should do more and collaborate with the Nigerian IT professional bodies to reposition the ICT industry for accelerated socio-economic development in Nigeria.
Biometric data are only one dataset, not at all everything big data. National Identity Management is not National Archives and Records Administration. And if Debt Management Office, why not Data Management Office?
There are two groups of countries in the world today – countries that have security as top priority, and countries that have no future. It’s a privilege to own a gun in some countries; it’s Dylann Roof’s birthday toy in the United States. They’ve got plenty of sense but no common sense for gun control. For crying out loud, there’s common sense in UNcommon sense, for goodness’ sake. If it is commonsensical to oversee overseas non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, it is commonsensical to back back home non-proliferation of small arms and light weapons. What is righteoUS for the “Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons” is righteoUS for the “Arms Trade Treaty” if they focUS on global peace and security.
The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Needless to say, insecurity is one reason the Nigerian state faces a bleak future. State governors collect security votes and pretend they are chief security officers of their respective states. But God knows the thief security officers in every state; terrorists, kidnappers, armed robbers everywhere; and human beings under the rain between the reign of devils and free rein of evils. In countries where lives matter, states do have own state police and communities like a university campus or a local district reasonably do have
district police. It’s long overdue the states were empowered to own their police to tackle familiar crimes. A decentralized police is change we need. Federal police and state police and local police and community policing we pray!
Our fears, our nemesis! They think upside down that no need for state police because state governors could abuse “the privilege.” Maybe we should do away with the national security because presidents themselves sometimes do abuse their power. At any rate, I do not think a country of 36 states would be so unlucky to have in government 36 lawless governors. Moreover, when we get serious we can import security architectures and protocols to checkmate governors, ordinary governors.
Let’s talk about our greatest fear – one Nigeria. Methinks that the life of one Nigerian is more precious than one Nigeria. Of what use is one Nigeria to one Nigerian If one Nigeria cannot protect one Nigerian? Today in Nigeria, no place is secure and no one is safe. It is alarming innocent lives wasted daily across the country. It is sorrowful to know that fellow Nigerians perish everyday due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery, ritual killing, assassination, militancy, cultism, religious riots, ethnic violence, jungle justice, violent crimes by armed gangs, motor-park touts, area boys et al. Crime is everywhere in the world, and there’s no time and nowhere on earth crime will disappear altogether. Nevertheless, if we as a people would do the needful, Nigeria will become a peaceful country where people can live in peace and leave in peace. May the souls of the victims of one Nigeria rest in peace!
President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption and the corrupt are crying witch hunt in advance. Corruption must give way for Nigeria to move forward. However, winning the war against corruption is not the end. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth by creating light, water, plants, and the rest. Government can at least do the ordinary by providing potable water; universal healthcare; all-round education; affordable housing; good roads; stable electricity; broadband Internet; decent jobs; security and social welfare, and all that they promised the Nigerian people.
Bureau de loot, out. Bureau de change, in. On a final note, beware of pigs and be wary of foxes that fraternise with any government in power. Change is not free. But when things get better, our lives get better at no extra cost. The ‘good’ people of Nigeria must change for good and things will change for the better.
My brothers, things will change for the better
My sisters, things will change for the better
Let’s come together
Let’s think together
Let’s make Nigeria great again
Things will change for the better
My brothers, things must change for the better
My sisters, things must change for the better
Let’s go together
Let’s be together
Let’s make Nigeria great again
Things must change for the better
I pledge to Nigeria my country
To be faithful, loyal and honest
To serve Nigeria with all my strength To defend her unity
And uphold her honour and glory So help me God
Let’s work together Let’s grow together
To make Nigeria great again We must change for the better