Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Letter To President Goodluck Jonathan

My dear President Jonathan Goodluck, if you recall correctly, I wrote you a letter some months ago. Therein, I expressed my fears on the gathering anger among the young people of Nigeria!


Then, I am sure, your advisers waved it aside, as unfounded, and a way of getting attention for myself! I am constrained again to write you another letter, in the light of fresh developments in North Africa, and the Middle East!


What was hitherto unheard of, that Arab youths would sack a strong government, has happened twice. They are not just contented with that, they are now going after the monarchy as well in many countries!


I do not want you to dismiss the concerns raised as improbable! You are probably emboldened by the knowledge, that there is no real opposition to the People's Democratic Party! That is true!


What it also implies is that if our youths,disgruntled as they are, decide to take matters into their own hands, there would be no one to negotiate with! The scenario is a scary one, it bodes us no good! Can you imagine protests in the major cities of Nigeria, and there is no one to talk to, or to negotiate with? It could lead to the disintegration of Nigeria as we know it, and allow the wishes of those who wish us ill come to pass!


I know you have been trying to solve Nigeria's myriad problems, but I disagree with you on your means of solving them! Nigeria's problems cannot be solved by money! We cannot throw money at our problems, and hope the money would scare the problem into surrendering! We need to understand what our fundamental problems are. 


You asked the national assembly, some weeks ago, to approve a 50 billion naira job creation fund: recently, I observed that your government was planning a 500 billion naira auto industry bail out fund! These are good intentions, but they are sincerely wrong Sir! 


To start with, you need to understand the fundamental problems choking life out of this gifted nation! 
I will mention a few, to make my point.


We need to solve the problem of power, I know you are working hard on that. Power is the independent variable around which every other thing revolves! Power is not one of the problems you need to fix, it is,if I must say so, the problem you need to fix, to fix Nigeria!


You are probably aware, that you are not the first to attempt to solve our power problem; I pray you are the last! But for that to happen, you need to understand that it is not transmission lines, and hydroelectric projects that need addressing, it is the cartel that feeds fat from the inefficiency. It is the generator importers, and the other leeches, who are sucking Nigeria dry! You need to identify them, and decommission them!


If we have regular power, our car assembly plants can function: if we have power, our textile mills would work full capacity! Right now, our productive capacity is not optimum. It costs too much to provide infrastructure like electricity, water, and roads to manufacturing concerns!


The second major problem which I see, is that people have lost hope in Nigeria! They do not see Nigeria as a venture worth sacrificing for. Many proclaim their hope with their mouths, but their actions negate their confession. This manifests in the actions we see daily in all spheres of Nigerian life! People cut corners, they break the law when they think no one is watching, they even brazenly do it when people are watching! 




If there is no concerted, and sustained, effort by all of us to do the right thing, this country would continue to be underdeveloped! There is a culture of impunity that has taken hold of us, people in government offer leadership in lawlessness, and impunity, it then becomes easier for the followers to take their cue! As a result, no matter how much effort, and money we spend, Nigeria continues to die, slowly!


Nigerians need inspiration! People have said inspiration can never come from politicians, and that is true, it can only come from statesmen! 


Will you be that statesman sir?


Will you seek the highest good of Nigeria, even if it costs you your political career? Can Nigeria depend on you to take the hard decisions needed, for her emergence as a truly global power?


It all lies in your hands sir, and wherever you lead, we will follow!




MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!

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