Your Excellency
President Muhammad Buhari
Aso Rock
Abuja
Dear Excellency,
May the peace of God abide with you.
I hope and pray that this letter of mine meets you in a state of absolute peace of mind, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
I lay claim to nothing. I know I am even not qualified to write this letter by virtue of everything considered. However, I am encouraged to put pen on paper because I am a bona fide citizen of this country and I am deeply worried at the state of under-development of Nigeria. I am also enthused to write because we owe the entity called Nigeria a duty and obligation to correct things perceived as wrongs being done to the mother land. I don’t have any other Country to migrate to. Even if I do, I am not prepared to be subjected to the inhuman treatment Nigerians are made to go through because of the poor image we have created for ourselves. I am just an ordinary citizen who prays and feels people who are in authority should be called upon to reflect on happenings in the country they claim to be leading.
A sage once said:” If you see a wrong doing, correct it with your hand. If you cannot, then correct it by words of mouth. If you still cannot do that, then condemn it with your heart. Though, that is the weakest of faith”.
I am writing this piece hoping and praying that Almighty God will reform our hearts and make us to be compassionate to the hapless Nigerians who suffer untold hardships in a land God has blessed with unquantifiable milk and Honey and citizens should enjoy first class standard of living and not live or wallow in abject poverty.
INTRODUCTION.
A nation is meant to be developed by leaders who are in position of authority and who have been given the mandate to harness the country’s resources and redistribute the resources so harnessed to foster progress, development, harmony, and satisfaction, fulfilment of dreams, peace, equality and social cohesion. The leaders are expected to create an enabling environment that will make the citizen grow and deploy their potentials to the benefit of the society while security remains a priority; fairness is made the rule of the game, equity is the watch word, integrity is allowed to flourish, truthfulness and honesty are embraced, mediocrity is discouraged, theft and robbery condemned, favourable policies are developed to grow the economy, the citizenry is motivated to be industrious, enduring legacies are bequeathed to the young and unborn generations in areas of Health, Education, Employment, social value, Agriculture, efficient and effective management of the economy.
WHERE IS NIGERIA SUPPOSED TO BE?
It will be a statement of fact that cannot be faulted that Nigeria does not deserve to be a poor or an impoverished country whose economy will be import dependent. The Currency of Nigeria does not deserve to be so lowly and poorly priced at the international money market the way it is.
Nigeria should rank shoulder to shoulder with first class Nations like Canada, Britain, United States of America, Germany, Dubai, etc.
Our Agricultural enterprise should engage millions of Nigerians while the Agricultural products should dominate the world market. This should fuel our economy through earning of foreign exchange. Is it not a sign of total backwardness and loss of focus that we export unprocessed Agricultural produce even in the small quantity that they are?
Our crude oil should be processed and exported to other countries the way others are exporting their refined products to us. We should not be exporting crude oil at cheap price and import at exorbitant OPEC determined price when we know the power play at the international oil market.
CORRUPTION AS OUR BANE
It was late Obafemi Awolowo that said that he did not oppose people or individuals who pursue wealth to acquire food and comfort to live a comfortable life. But when pursuit of wealth is done illegally and public fund is embezzled, it will lead to social disorder and people will be eating people.
Elders of the land also say: “Cowards die many times before their death”.
The statistics below are too staggering to be swept under the carpet. They are like the Northern star that shines forth and beams its rays on our shameless faces both as leaders and as followers. They point to the fact that we are a generation of mindless spenders, wasteful managers, greedy and selfish leadership, retrogressive in thought and myopic insight.
This humble and insignificant writer of this letter feels, we all need to sleep and think deeply and remember the day we shall die and consequently be left with our deeds which would either be virtuous deeds or vices.
SOME FACTS
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Transparency International rated us as one of the most corrupt countries in the world when they scored us 26% in corruption index and counted us 147 out of the 180 countries of the world, way back in 2016. This means we were one of the most corrupt nations!
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Transparency International was co-founded by our own ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and Oby Ezekwesili, hence they have no reason to castigate us but tell us the truth!
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They claimed since independence, the staggering sum of USSD 400 Billion had been stolen by corrupt public officers. A minister was busy recently saying we were going to borrow USSD 3 billion from the Chinese Government.
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Bandits are having a field day everywhere even in Katsina and hundreds of souls are being lost. The youths in Katsina a couples of days ago demonstrated and called for the resignation of their own Baba (The President of Nigeria) whom they felt was not handling issues very well.
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Roads across the country are in bad shape and lives are being lost in hundreds and thousands every day. Goods and services get abandoned and spoilt on the roads rendered impassable due to lack of maintenance.
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Kidnappers have taken over and the vice is spreading like wild fire even among the youths.
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Ritualists are killing innocent men, women and children for selfish reasons even after collecting ransom.
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NDDC claimed it has spent N81.3 billion in 6 months in a country where millions are hungry.
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Minister for Humanitarian affairs claimed it spent N583 Million to feed students who were on lock down and within 6 months. She also claimed everybody in the country got palliatives for Covid!
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SERAP recently called on the Senate and House of reps leadership to publish the outcome of all the public hearings on corruption and to tell Nigerians how many corrupt leaders have been prosecuted.
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ENERGY GENERATION: Nigeria is endowed with large deposit of crude oil estimated to be 25 billion barrels reserve, natural gas estimated at 3.4 trillion cubic meters, coal estimated to be 2.7 billion tones, hydro, wind, Solar , wood, tar sands resources capable of generating 12,522 megawatts(MW) but we have not risen above 4000 Megawatts. The basic energy needs by the population is put at 40,000 megawatts. Due to Federal Government ineptitude at managing the energy needs of the country, households and businesses resort to purchasing generating sets to power their properties and about 6,000 megawatts of energy is generated. Why? What was the outcome of Billions of USSD purportedly budgeted and spent on energy during the 1999-2007 presidential tenure? Many Artisans turned to commercial motor cycle riders when there is no energy to power their machines and accidents become an everyday occurrence with thousands of lives lost. Yet we have a Government.
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EDUCATION: The literacy level is dwindling. UNESCO recommends a minimum budgetary allocation of between 15% to 20% for Educational Development in the developing countries. In 2017, Education got abysmal N398BN, IN 2018, education was given N605.8 billion and in 2019, N620.5 billion (7.05%), in 2020, it was N671.06 BN (6.7%) was allocated to education respectively. The 2018 budget was later slashed due to virement to make provision for INEC to prepare for the next election. Apart from the abysmally low budget allocation, corruption by way of diversion to private accounts, settlement of those vested with authority to approve the budget, poor policy implementation ends up making the fund to be used for wrong purposes. Year in, year out, billions got diverted and yet we have hundreds of lawmakers charged with oversight functions and yet we are draining, waning and ebbing and we can no longer compete educationally with fellow developing African countries. Nigerians send their wards to neighbouring African countries. The super-rich send theirs to U.K, USA, Germany, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. Yet we have a Minister and a Ministry of Education. The private school owners who are to be seen and assisted as PARTNERS IN PROGRESS are seen as enemies whose schools should be shut down. Various State Governments demand standard that are not found in the public schools from proprietors.
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What is the student: teacher ratio by UNESCO? What do we find in our public schools? We have cases of between 120-130 students in a single class with streams of classes in some states. The facts are there.
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Apart from the merit list, how do students secure admission into universities now in this country? Private Universities charging thousands and millions of Naira from students rose up and started feeding fat on the poor masses while the children of our leaders get admitted into foreign universities using our public funds. The students from indigent background without support end up not achieving their potentials as they are forced to learn a trade. Where is the fairness and equity? Where is the justice required of a government? Is it not a shame that Federal Universities are even charging thousands of Naira as fees to be paid? Where are the infrastructure required of universities? These ill-equipped Universities produce Graduates who are not computer literate and who do not have laptops or desktops which kids and toddlers play with in advanced countries as part of learning process and yet we have what is called a Government. Catchment areas and quota system are two other primitive policies where students with higher marks are denied admission whereas low marks achieving students who came from another part of the country are granted admission. Why do we have different laws for people who are under the same government and in the same country?
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HEALTH: Do we have 774 standard hospitals in this country to cater for each of the 774 local governments we have? How many new General or specialist hospitals were built in the last two decades? COVID 19 came and the rich and powerful could not go to the Public health provider but they all started running to a private hospital called First Cardiology Consultant Hospital, Ikoyi. The Prime Minister of Great Britain tested positive and was admitted at a public hospital and was discharged from there after testing negative. Billions were raked in to set up testing centres which we were not prepared for.
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INSECURITY: Despite billions of allocation, Boko HARAM members are becoming more daring, attacking a sitting governor in broad day light with about 1,181 strong army presence just 5 kilometres to Baga. It is being speculated that the military is not doing enough. They were asked why they have not rid Baga of Boko Haram despite the huge financing and no tangible answer was forthcoming. Are people feeding fat on people’s lives? The Nigerian Defence Budget aimed at fighting Boko Haram SINCE 2010 is as follows: 2010 –N826.3b ($1.99bn), 2011-N920.3bn ($2.38bn), 2012- N924.8bn($2.32bn), 2013-N923.5bn ($2.42bn), 2014-N920.9bn ($2.36bn), 2015-N934bn ($2.07bn), 2016-Nbn ($1.72bn), 2017-N564.87bn($1.62bn), 2018 –N654.4bn($2.04bn) 2019-N ($1.6bn, 2020With all these huge budgets, there is no record that fighter jets were bought or helicopter and no new weapons. They wasted our money and wasted the lives of men of valour, our gallant soldiers. Is this a country? Yet we have campaign promises. And we think the Creator would not ASK us on the day of judgement.
17.) AGRICULTURE: There are so many Agricultural institutes in this country, e.g. IAR&T, NIHORT,IITA, National Research Cereal institute, National root crop Research Institute, National Horticultural Research Institute,, Nigerian store produce Research Institute (NSPRI), Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN), Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research( NIFOR), National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), National Institute for Fresh water Fisheries, National Institute for Oceanography and Marine (NIOMR), Research and National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services. The question is; what major breakthrough has taken place with all these Institutes? Why do we have all our lands over grown with bush? Why is there no deliberate policy to assist the farmers? There were a couple of River Basin Authorities some years ago, which one is existing and fulfilling its mandate now? None. They have been run down and all assets carted away by greedy and selfish leaders. All countries are talking about food security, food sufficiency, but where are we? We are extremely blessed beyond proportions in fertile Agric lands compared to countries like Israel. Even if one has a land, can one cultivate it using rustic, old tools when other countries are going mechanised and pushing out products that are exported because of massive production? Government should be able to buy Agric tractors, tillers, cultivators, growers, harvesters, etc which should be made available to farmers to produce food for over 200 million people of this country but we have heartless politicians embezzling the public funds meant to develop the country and her people. Audu Ogbeh, a former Agric Minister addressed the National Assembly and cried out loud the billions of funds we were using to import food from other countries. We import Juice, wine, champagne, etc. He mentioned the billions we spent importing tooth picks! Why are we like this? These Politicians visit other countries and see the mechanised farming there; why can’t that be encouraged in Nigeria? India with her billion citizens has maximised the use of her land. Everywhere from Delhi to Qadian is taken over by farm land. This is how they feed their population. You will not see a plot of land empty or unused. Take a journey from Lagos to Ibadan, Benin, Auchi and then go to the far North; between Bauchi and Kano, Kano to Sokoto. Expanse of uncultivated lands dot Ilorin through Mokwa to Kaduna. Hundreds of kilometres of land. Yet Billions are budgeted for Agriculture. They have wasted our resources and mortgage the future of yet unborn generation. When serving Ministers are having private jets! From where did he get?
18.) How does a patriotic and self-less leader feel reading through the list of companies below: Nigerian airways, Iwopin Paper Mill, Jebba Paper Mill, Aluminium Smelting Company, NNSL, Ajaokuta Iron and Steel, Dunlop, Michelin, Kaduna, Eleme and Lagos Refineries, ASSEMBLYING PLANTS OF Volkswagen, Peugeot, Exide battery manufacturing plant, Cylinder Manufacturing plant, Tractor manufacturing plant at Bauchi, Nigeria Sugar Company, Bacita, the textile industries , dealdey, oyapay, gomyway, Efritin Showroom.ng, etc. These companies were once operating in Nigeria with thousands of employees but today they remain buried and investors lost their investment for those that were quoted on the NSE. What of the family men and women who were rendered unemployed? The buck stops at the table of leaders. No responsible leader passes the buck when wrong doings are happening in his domain. A leader with integrity will throw in the towel, but in Nigeria, that’s when we would be spreading tribalistic missiles, religious bigotry and all what not. When would it not all end? What history and legacy are you leaving behind? The law of karma remains. What goes around comes around. We cannot continue to deceive and cheat the people for long.
19.) OUR BRAND OF DEMOCRACY: One is tempted to ask if truly what we are practicing in Nigeria is democracy. Can a very sincere and honest skilled young but poor man get elected into a position where he can change things? Can Dr Adeshina of ADB become president of this country? Are there party ideologies? Firstly it is very costly to run. Why was Mr Pat Utomi not voted for? How much was squandered by politicians before Prime Minister was chosen or elected in the Great Britain? That’s our colonial master. We spend billions in this country to elect leaders. How does a clean man get there? We have bastardised all the good things the colonial masters left. Our kleptomaniac tendencies made us steal all resources for personal benefits. The Groundnut pyramid at Kano, the cocoa produce of the west, the palm oil and rubber plantation of the east, where are they now?
20.) Why are we political whores who do not feel any scruple dumping our party because our opponent has won? It shows we lack principles and integrity and are myopic. Many APC stalwarts today came from PDP when the latter lost power. If PDP won today, many APC leaders will decamp and move from APC to PDP. Why don’t we know that what differentiates political parties are ideologies? Is one a socialist or a capitalist? The rightist or leftist. You don’t abandon your ideologies because an opponent party is ruling today. What makes a Nation to grow its democracy is when there is a strong political opponent. Who will watch closely and give constructive criticisms of the bad policies of the ruling party? With a strong and virile opponent, a ruling party’s maladministration would be checked. If party A wins and all members in party B moves to join party A to loot, they are killing the country because the party A will be too formidable and too powerful as the opponent has become too weak. It is said that “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Many looters in the ruling party today are left untouched because they are now with the ruling party. An incontrovertible video went viral about how Ekiti was rigged which involved the then Minister of State for Defence. Billions illegally exchanged hands. It was thought justice would be done. The Minister involved crossed carpet to the ruling party and it has been silence since then. Are we in the animal republic or the Animal farms of George Orwell?
Also, that a God-father has been able to handpick some powerful individuals in Government does not mean there is corporate governance. Indeed, it is anti-democracy to hand pick. But because our brand of democracy is the “chop I chop” type and a kwashiorkor democracy, we would easily tolerate a former post holder to dictate to us who succeeds him; aberration and abomination of the highest order! Where lies the will and choice of the people? Because our democracy is the “Blackman democracy”, the man people would have loved to be there cannot get there because he won’t have the financial muscle to compete with the money bags who have emptied our treasury and converted common wealth to personal wealth would stifle him out. They would rather prefer a compromise who would not ask them of all their wrong doings while in office. God fatherism is an evil affecting this country. Can anyone ask the former Governor of State of Excellence how he got all he has? All the choice lands. Wife also becoming a Senator as if she is the most intelligent or result oriented woman in the entire state. This leads me to Pension for former office holders.
Another burning and serious issue that should have consumed this country but which has been taken as the norm and nobody sees anything wrong with it is the corrupt and shameless conversion of public funds to fund elections. A sitting Governor or President will deploy State resources to fund his second term election campaign. I met a campaign convoy of a former Ogun SATETE Governor when he went to campaign at the town of former president Obasanjo. We were stopped for them to pass. I was strategically at the point where their vehicles were coming out, the junction and I counted 57 vehicles with many of them carrying the Ogun State Government plate numbers. I did not believe it. I told people with me inside the vehicle that I counted 57 vehicles. We were opportuned to recount the vehicles again when they turned at Ifo to face Abeokuta. Then they have released us, we started counting again and the number of 57 was confirmed. The public fund used to fund these vehicles alone was enough to turn around the life of a graduate. If the aggregate or average cost is calculated for the entire duration of the campaign, assuming each vehicle was fuelled with an average cost of petrol costing N50,000. This does not include the wears and tears and repairs. For the 57 vehicles, we would have had N2, 850,000. This is a very conservative estimate. Should Government official fund his election campaign using the fund of the State? Is this what advanced democracy do? Is it fair? What of the opposite camp or the opposition? Are they not Nigerians? Are they not entitled to the same treatment and privileges a sitting Governor is giving himself? For us to get it right, there has to be a differentiation of public fund from private funds. The opposition who does not have access to the public fund is at a disadvantage. The Legislators who are expected to ensure this does not happen are themselves culpable and work hand in gloves with the perpetrators and embezzlers. Why are Government functionaries not held accountable for the misdeeds or for funds allocated to take care of the people by way of infrastructure. Why the family of a Governor or President should be using public funds to travel within or even outside the country. Are they the ones elected? Can’t the Governor, President, Minister, Commissioner Use his private allowances to foot the bills of his family who are doing their own private business? Why are we so perfect in imperfection in this country?
Nobody in Government is trustworthy. Permanent Secretaries are stinking billionaires depending on the ministry. The Directors, Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors, etc all have ways of illegally taking care of themselves. What usually happens to the unspent budget towards the end of the year? Frivolous foreign courses would be organised. They would go to Dubai , U.K., U.S.A, Canada with estacode. Despite all these, their kleptomaniac remains unabated and greed remains insatiable. Yet the Government would want us to believe that the tax payers’ money being used for the EFCC, ICPC, Police, DSS, is justified. Nobody steals the commonwealth of the people and goes scot-free. There is serious repercussions for every act of injustice against the people. Was it not Professor Wole Soyinka that wrote “” No act of inhumanity against humanity goes without repercussions; if not now, surely later””. I read something like this a long time ago when I was in secondary school.
21.) PENCOM ACT:
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The National Pension Commission came out with the Pension Reform Act of 2014. Part 2, section 3, and sub-section 2 states inter alia’’…….The scheme established under subsection 1 of this section shall apply to ALL employees in the public service of the federation…….’’
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The rate of the contributory pension is spelt out in Section 4 subsection (1) states that a minimum of ten percent by the employer and a minimum of eight percent by the employee”. The list of exemptions stated in section 5, subsection (1) (a) did not include Executive governors, Legislators, etc. What of the brazen and day-light robbery of democratic principles for an Executive Governor to lobby his state Assembly to pass a law that allows him to continue to earn his last salary in office with perks such as two houses in places of his choice and buying of two cars and furniture every two or three years. This was not approved by the pension Act. Is the PENCOM Act selective in its application? Most governors took this as a template and hamstrung their Houses of Assembly to pass the law ceding such a humongous severance package for them. Not forgetting the fact that all these people have stolen billions while in the office for eight years. They also got security vote! Barrack Obama just bought a house three years after leaving the office as president of America. In Nigeria, Councillors and Local Government chairmen become instant millionaires immediately they assumed offices. The rot goes on and on and at a higher magnitude as you move up the ladder, legislator at the State house of assembly, commissioners, and state governors, Haa! The Senators and Members House of Representatives who take 25% of our budget. The Chairman, senate house Committee on (all the committees)….demands graft from the MDAs they are overseeing before they recommend the approval of their budget. Many have been told over the news. Education, NAFDAC, etc. Why and where are we taking all the ill-gotten wealth to?
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22.) NDDC just mentioned the billions it spent within 6 months by an interim management committee. As said by late Pa Awolowo, people have started eating people. Aside this, legislators who are supposed to be the watch-dog of these MDAs are now taking contract from the MDAs they are to oversee. The committees demand for funds to travel overseas from these agencies despite the humongous budget for the two houses of Assembly. Names have been mentioned and amounts of contracts they cornered. What is the hope for the common man? Who is the saviour? Who fights for the down trodden? How do the labourers, poor drivers, peasant farmers, over worked farmers whose produce is poorly priced, the indigent students, the helpless retirees/pensioners, the street hawkers, road sweepers, voiceless teachers, etc survive this audacious and reckless rape and theft of common wealth? The future of the youths of this country seems mortgaged to me.
CONSTITUENCY PROJECTS: What are all these for? Who determined what the Community should have? How much is given and spent?
HOUSING: Governments of civilised countries build houses for their citizens. The Government has what it takes to provide housing at a far cheaper rate than any developer. All the resources/inputs required are available at the beck and call of the Government. Make all these materials available and just pay workmanship for the workers. You don’t need to hire or engage a contractor who would inflate and give kick-back to the officials. One of them said, it used to be 10% of the contract in those days; but now it ranges from 50% to 80%. And yet people want to enter heavens. Thank God, nobody can bribe Almighty Creator, the Omni-science and ever living just God.
The Vice President was recently quoted to have said “Government Agencies need to stop extorting Businesses”. Well said. So, the leaders are aware. Is it the entrepreneur who is struggling to get his products registered that would stop the corrupt Government officials or the leaders under whom these corrupt officials work?
22.) VALUE SYSTEM: We need to change our value system. The Nigerian youth has been misled by our avaricious leaders and fast finger rulers. All the youths want now is to get rich quick. Hardworking is not in their dictionary. Good name is not desirable. Integrity is for a stranger. Diligence is anathema. What is the government teaching the citizens when all that everybody thinks about those in Governance is corruption all the way? Why are we shameless?
23.) PAST EFFORT AT ECONOMY REFORM: What happens to Economic reformation that brought about Privatisation? The Banking sector was reformed and we had Merger and Acquisition plus recapitalisation. What has become of all these lofty schemes?
24.) Stock Exchange allowed manipulation of share prices and over quoted stocks were sold to the people who lost their massive investments at the end of the day. Many developed strokes and paralysis. Yet we have a Government.
25.) EFCC AND ICPC AND CODE OF CONDUCT BUREAU: What did all these government dogs achieved? Nothing palpable. A former President who got in almost penniless left the Presidency a stinking multi Billionaire, where were the EFCC, ICPC AND CCB? Do we have punishment for looters of public funds? Do we have enabling laws or pre independence laws that prescribes repayment of a small negligible percentage of amount stolen to enter bargaining plea? Is this enough as a deterrent? Why would code of conduct bureau not go after a president that came in penniless because of where he was coming from but left the Presidency a super multi billionaire?
26.) ELECTRICITY AND BILLINGS: Billions of Naira was wasted producing darkness! PHCN would raise estimated bills to houses not supplied with power. Yet we have Government. Is it too much to legislate that prepaid meters must be provided for all houses? Is it not just and equitable that you are charged for what you have consumed than being charged fraudulently for services not rendered, light not supplied? And some people claim they are in charge, they are in power. Delivering a judgement, an Ondo State High Court Judge sitting in Akure, Justice Olabode Adegbehingbe has declared electricity consumption billings in an unmetered building illegal, unjustifiable, arbitrary and wrongful. . This judgment was declared on April 23, 2020 in a case against Benin Electricity Distribution Company.
? Are our so called laws in line and relevant with 21st Century needs? How do we see ourselves and would committee of Nations see us as a progressive or backward nation with these outdated laws? Are all the items on the exclusive list still supposed to be there or they should have moved to the concurrent list? If a State, e.g. Lagos State is capable of establishing an independent power supply to power the state for growth, economic development and attraction of foreign investors, what logic and economic sense is in it that whatever power is generated must be transferred or passed on to the jaundiced national grid where lopsided and unjust distribution would be made to satisfy a section of the country and the minority are left in perpetual darkness. Is this law progressive? Is this law not drawing back a state that has foresight and wants to make progress in line with her capacity? If you are reading this piece, take it upon yourself to ask when the last time light was or electricity was supplied to a town called Omuo Ekiti in Ekiti East LG of Ekiti State. In that town now, they use the electric cables to spread clothes because of seven years of lack of Electricity supply. This thought should agitate the minds of leaders who have conscience.
27.) SALE OF GOVERNMENT INSTITUIONS: Does a landlord sell his house when he has not built a bigger and better one? Is sale of property a thing of joy? NITEL, NEPA, TRANSCORP hotels, etc were all sold. To whom? Imagine a complainant being a judge in his own case. Why would a Vice President who was the chairman of privatisation be eligible to buy the assets? Is there no decorum and integrity? Arm’s length relationship should be one of the conditions. But because everybody is interested in what they can grab, hell was let loose and corruption was allowed a free day. Yet, some people were in power.
28.) POLICE KILLING AND EXTORTION: A daily occurrence. Who dare fights a gun-toting drunken police man. It is only in this country police drink on duty. Yet there is an IGP. What sort of training were these police exposed to? What is their response ability? They extort hard-working drivers and passengers by just standing on the road. Stolen vehicles would pass by, ritualist and kidnappers would pass them by and no single breath-taking achievement have been recorded by our almighty police. They are never friendly. Very hostile and fiendish in conduct. A country cannot make progress when the law enforcement agencies are in disarray, ill-prepared for the job and thin on ground.
29.) UNEMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE: Hunger and poverty are twin evils that can lead a saint to crime. Countries that have good governance structure have palliatives for their unemployed youths. This will take them off crime as they have something, however minimal, to bite. Nigeria is a blessed country but with rotten and bad leadership, no welfare exists for a graduate. No scheme. Nothing. Yet some people would be asked by Almighty God, why did you pauperise the citizen of Nigeria on the day of Judgement? I wonder what your answer would be.
30.) Why are we not building institutions but we are proud to build individuals who would dole out stipends to beggars, neighbours and relatives. If the people are empowered and they have jobs, who wants to lose his dignity by asking for pittance from looters? A holy person said poverty is close to Godlessness.
31.) Nigeria was colonised by the colonial masters the same way they colonised countries like Malaysia, India, Ghana, Singapore, Republic of Benin, Beirut etc. What has happened to those countries now compared to our great Nigeria? Even Ghana is better and far ahead. Go and check the facts. Malaysia took palm oil from us and now they are net exporters of the product and we are losing grounds so fast.
32.) A writer on Facebook wrote: “” AN OPEN LETTER TO BABA GOD…………Dear God, May your Glorious Name be praised! I am writing you this letter in respect of Nigeria, the country you created more than a hundred years ago through Lord Lugard. Am not oblivious of your blessings on the country both humanly, naturally and potentially. Unfortunately, bad leadership has always been the bane of our national existence since inception. Almost 95% of our leaders are corrupt. They are a bunch of disgrace to the country. Please bless and protect the few ones that are sane who have good plans for Nigeria and the poor masses. As for the corrupt ones, let them stew in their own mess. Stealing our commonwealth under the guise of governance is beyond disgusting. If you could help us removed this fiscally irresponsible lot and replace them with financially disciplined ones, we the Nigerians would love you more…….” Other than the sycophants and your cohorts who hobnob with you and around you, no good Nigerian wish the leaders well. I have said on a radio programme that we did not elect you, you elected yourselves. The money you spent before you got there is the evidence that you were not willingly elected by the masses. You bought your election from the impoverished and pauperized masses. You lock them under the chain of poverty by allowing brazen stealing of public funds so that politicians can continue to use them in subsequent elections. God Almighty is watching.
33.) VISION 2020: We have been made to appear as a visionless country by our leaders. Nigerian leaders are eloquent speakers and good writers of write ups, but extremely deficient, by virtue of deep seated innate corruptive tendencies, of self-formulated policies. Why are we like this? Is this the vision of those who fought for independence? Can anyone who is honest and fears God say that we are better off compared to when we were being ruled by the colonial masters? If they had continued to rule us, would we not have been a better nation? Your answer should remember how many Nigerians prefer to go for self-enslavement by finding all means to go to U.K, USA and Europe. Many perished on the seas while going. Why are we like this? Who is envious of the leader who stole our money very cleverly and made a giant construction company to build how many rooms mansion for him on mountain top somewhere in Minna , he nullified a well conducted election, just because he wanted to hold on to power; what has become of him today? Why are we like this?
36.) Katsina youths protest and demanded for the resignation of the president, there was “”Revolutionnow”” demonstration in 5 cities on Tuesday 4.8.20 and Nigerian leaders don’t think this is gathering momentum and nobody knows who will be consumed. It is the clueless and dumb guys that are stealing public funds and hiding dollars and pounds in soak away pits. Very gullible and ruthless.
Professor Jide Olajulo said:” Nigeria! A country where well educated fellows acknowledge illiterate fools as their leaders because of crumbs”. Food for thought. Nitel sold, NEPA sold, and someone kept jewelleries worth 14 billion Naira in a box, Nigeria airways grounded but Ethiopia air survives. ASUU strikes unending woes and dash of hopes of Nigerian future leaders USSD 2.1 BN fund meant for boko haram fight was diverted to private pockets by chiefs and over 30,000 people died, scammed immigration screening and the death tolls, 28/36 states could not pay salary of workers, yet this is a country.
How can 371,000 police men take care of a land mass of 923,000 square kilometre and a population of 200 million. Police recruit social misfits and criminals. The belief is a thief is best to arrest a thief. Headlines every day is terrifying and scary; despite 2000 soldiers, bandits sack Katsina communities,, Southern Kaduna killings confirm U.S terror alert, Buhari orders security rejigs as CAN, Sultan raise the alarm, outrage, condemnation trail police invasion of Edo Assembly, poor leadership causing low morale in Military- Gumi, it cannot continue like this forever. Leader like you hate to hear the word REVOLUTION. Can it be prevented when everybody has lost hope and feels there is nothing to live for?
What of the NSITF looting of about N60 billion by a single woman. Another eyesore was the former Petroleum Minister, a woman that bled the country dry, stole billions of dollars all in an attempt to live a luxurious life that would end before she is 100 years old. What does a human being need such an amount for?
Dear President, what can you do about all the above mentioned points? You probably see them as over whelming. They have to be because the Augean stable needs cleansing.
The above should serve as food for thought and should enable you to self-assess your performance.
My dear President, you can still write your name in gold if you address the above points. Your name was like Gold before you won the election but if you end your second term with a lack lustre performance, you will be remembered for past glories and nothing new would you have achieved because we are feeling the pains now more than before. You just increased pump price of petrol. You forgot the multiplier effects it would have on the commuters who are already sapped and depressed and drained by Covid 19. Only God knows who your Advisors are.
No man is an Island and no single tree is a forest. Do away with sycophants, the praise singers, boot lickers and try to prepare for how to enter al Jannah . I know you know how.
We pray that Almighty God should continue to assist you because it is not a daunting task to rule a village talk less of a complex country like Nigeria with its diversities and complexities.
Yours sincerely,
Abbas O. Iromini