Re: On an old note

The youth of this great Nation have a lot to answer in the coming years about their in activity during these trying times in our Nation. As we move on in this so called democratic period of Nigeria I stop and wonder why there is so much acceptability of suffering and hardship by the youth in Nigeria. Is it that they do not know any better of the situation that they find themselves, I know experience is the best of teachers but does inexperience dull your senses into non recognition of what is ultimately good or bad? I recently came back from a trip to the southeastern states of Nigeria and as usual was depressed on the state of the roads that Nigerians travel on. There were at least 4 major collisions on these highways to death, and one wonders if there is no sensitivity on the part of our so called leaders. Men and women given the responsibility to manage the affairs of this country have decided that those responsibilities are not theirs but rather, the search for financial gain and power surpasses their obligations for truth to their fellow brothers and sisters. All I can say is that this cannot go on forever. Be it in my lifetime or not but there is a constant in this earth. Irrespective of religious affiliation, ethnic or cultural background there is a natural law that rules us all under the sun. That is the law of good and bad, you don’t need to be thought what good is and what bad is, it comes naturally and spreads its tentacles at any given opportunity. There is a need for individuals as a group or by themselves to rise up in this country and shout from their guts WE CANT TAKE THIS ANY LONGER! There is a need for sacrifice meaningful sacrifice that MUST be recognized by the people. Why do we keep on procrastinating about our present situation, why do we keep on wishing that a messiah will surface and everything will be alright, we do really live in a fools paradise if we honestly have not realized that our problems are ours alone and that solutions lies in our hands. In a country were there is claim of democracy yet there are no elections that support this claim, where there is declaration of the rule of law yet in the very streets where this rule is supposed to prevail there is so much chaos and abuse of simple traffic laws. Charity begins at home as the old adage says so does responsibility and the rule of law. How can you declare principles based on the rule of law when you run a heavily corrupt government that lacks transparency and there is decay so visible for the common man that stares from the outside? What are the parameters used to ascertain if the policies declared by this present government are actually working?
As I speak the country is slipping into a precipice, one that is so deep that crawling out will require unimaginable athletic prowess. Deregulation of the Oil sector is now been taunted as a major avenue to free up almost 600 billion Naira that is been spent yearly on subsidizing petroleum products. It’s amazing to think that that amount of money is been spent on subsidizing imported petroleum products but the federal government forgets to also give us details on how much it would cost to resuscitate our refineries. Refineries that have been unproductive because we are lazy, corrupt and very content on having other countries refine our natural resources. There is the argument that only when you deregulate that outside investors will find it viable and lucrative to invest in these refineries or even build new ones. But we forget that there are other sectors that are viable and lucrative that has not attracted these investors because we still lack the transparency and corrupt free environment that encourages free markets. And what if this money is freed up to be invested in infrastructure, education, health and nation


building as the government has suggested who takes responsibility for its adequate management? The same corrupt institutions that have been the crux of the problem?
We must look within and start solving these problems ourselves. And the only way is to insist in what is honest and decent for us and our neighbors.