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Nigeria Will Rise Again! ( Part 1
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By Uzoma Ahamefule
Newsdiaryonline Nov 8,2011
President Jonathan
Nigeria is a great country with great people. A country endowed
with natural resources and blessed with educated men and women.
A country whose technocrats and experts in various fields are
respected and sought after in the developed world like the way
the US would instigate and sponsor a war in a country for their
own selfish interest as long as that country has got oil. Why is
it then that Nigeria has continuously in disappointment ranked
amongst the poorest countries in the world? Why is it that the
likes of Philip Emeagwali a computer wizard and Co. cannot stay
in Nigerian (Africa) and help their countries to grow?
In trying to find an answer to this I came to the reality
that the problem of Nigeria has become highly complex and
complicated that it is difficult and will not be correct to
point at one department as the problem of Nigeria right now
because of years of failed system and bad leadership. However,
statistics and events have narrowed it to a few major areas that
we must get corrected first while some other areas will follow
simultaneously and subsequently. Areas like bad leadership,
corruption, ethnic discrimination, religious intolerance,
nepotism, unpatriotic behavior and above all lack of functional
laws must be urgently addressed.
Since the independence of Nigeria from the colonial masters I
can sincerely and unequivocally say that President Goodluck
Jonathan is the first real practicing civilian president Nigeria
has ever had objectively speaking. I will not be beclouded by
the comatose or snail development in Nigeria and the state of
insecurity in some Nigerian states now as a result of a few
miscreants not to note that it is under this present government
that I have not seen much political motivated killings or
arrests in the annals of the Nigerian history after the British
protectorate. However, the dictatorial and tyrant style arrest
of the “The Nation” newspaper editors for publishing a letter
they said that had been written by the ex-president Olusegun
Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan was a shame that must be
condemned by every patriotic and progressive Nigerian. That
commando
like arrest was a national embarrassment, a disgrace and a big
stain for the present administration because it could have been
done in a more civilized method. And I still doubt if President
Goodluck Jonathan gave his consent to that arrest considering
his records till now, but only time will tell.
However, Nigerians are
not used to have presidents that follow due process in handling
disputes or civil disobedience like President Goodluck Jonathan,
rather presidents that give orders to shoot at sight at any
little civil disobedience. Consequently, for those people with
this mentality of kill and destroy approach of military,
President Goodluck Jonathan is seen as a weak man that is not
fit and capable to lead Nigeria.
I am not trying to hold brief for Mr. President but we should
know that to correct or confront any societal problem in a way
that is legal in the eyes of the law takes time not only in
Nigeria but anywhere in the world. Consequently, let us give our
president the maximum support in contributing his quota of
piloting Nigeria out of this shameful state and international
disgrace and be reasonably patient with him. I am not against
those criticizing the president after all I am a critic myself
but let our criticisms be positive because constructive
criticisms are very healthy and important in every society. In
the words of Mahatma Gandhi “Even differences prove helpful,
where there are tolerance, charity and truth.”
On this note Mr. President Sir, I would want to inform you that
my vote in the last general election was part of the vote that
brought you in as the president and commander in Chief of the
armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. My vote Sir,
may perhaps be the most expensive vote of all time records in
Nigeria because I flew to Nigeria on the last day of the
registration to Lagos from Vienna, Austria and went straight to
the local airport and flew to my state en-route to my village
just to get myself registered without any attachment like
monetary reward or political appointment but just to prove my
point to others about the way to have a change I have been
preaching. I left the village to Port Harcourt immediately after
the registration and having seen my mother, took the local
flight to Lagos and the next day I was back in Vienna, Austria.
The voting period proper was equally not different. In view of
this Sir, I would like to appeal to you and our supposed to be
honorable members of the National Assembly and House of Reps to
please take Nigerians in diaspora in cognizance and make it
possible that we can vote in the next general elections in 2015.
Having said this Sir, it
will be very important to say that your statement about the
untouchables in Nigeria which you branded “Goliaths” was too
shocking and frightening. According to you Sir, there are
Goliaths everywhere in Nigeria, very terrible Goliaths trying to
frustrate your government, Goliaths that can even kill their
father and mother and even their children in order to stop your
government. You added that every Goliath has an exposed forehead
and that God will expose their foreheads to your stone like that
of David. While I
say big Amen to that I must confess that I am scared to the
marrow.
Sir, if they are Goliaths that means they are visible and if
they are visible and a hitch to the success of your government
and a hindrance to the development of Nigeria, cannot they be
arrested, prosecuted and jailed or brought to justice following
due process of law? Sir, if you can dismantle these monsters
Nigerians will forever be grateful and people like me will
continue to hail you even decades after you must have gone just
the same way I will continue to hail Olusegun Obasanjo on his
decentralization of the Nigerian military. If Obasanjo had not
decentralized the military, Mr. President Sir, you would have
been toppled by a military coup immediately the demise of Musa
Yaradua even before you would have known that he was dead.
Sir, these terrible Goliaths are the brain behind the political
instability in Nigeria. These terrible Goliaths are guilty of
the death of so many innocent Nigerians including children and
women for so long. These terrible Goliaths are responsible for
the political assassinations in Nigeria including the deaths of
Dele Giwa and Bola Ige and most ritual killings. These terrible
Goliaths are the reason behind proliferation of arms in the
hands of the youths. These terrible Goliaths are the ones
sabotaging the efforts of the governments not to have given us
regular power supply all this years. These terrible Goliaths are
the reason why our roads are nothing but death traps. These
terrible Goliaths are responsible for the low standard of our
education. These terrible Goliaths are the cause why our best
known hospitals are not even up to the international standard to
be called consulting clinics. These terrible Goliaths are the
reason why the Nigerian Airways was liquidated. These terrible
Goliaths are the reason behind the unemployment of many of our
youths who have resorted into armed robbery, “yahoo yahoo” and
kidnapping etc. as means of livelihood. These terrible Goliaths
are responsible that Nigeria is one of the poorest countries in
the world. These terrible Goliaths are responsible that the
Nigerian International Passport has got no respect before the
international community. These terrible Goliaths and the result
of their actions forced many Nigerians both skilled and
unskilled into self exiles as hewers of wood and drawers of
water in foreign lands.
Mr. President Sir, deal with these Goliaths for the growth of
Nigeria otherwise they will mercilessly deal with you. Mr.
President Sir, deal with these terrible Goliaths or else we will
count you as one of those ex-Nigerian rulers that did not make
any significant change. While you deal with them, just be
careful and do not forget that as you are praying for their open
foreheads to throw your stones like David in the bible, be smart
because they are not only praying for your own exposed forehead
but also looking for your eyes and legs for destruction. Mr.
President Sir, do not be deterred by the distractions of your
political enemies because uneasy is the one that wears the
crown. We will continue to pray for you but remember, Nigerians
will not accept any excuse for failure because you have all what
it takes to succeed and also know that our patience is now in
question because of the insecurity in the country. Watch your
aids and ministers and if you have any iota of doubt where their
loyalty lies please fire them immediately so that our hope may
be restored.
As the Chief Commander of all armed forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria you are bigger than these Goliaths and as
such the leader of all giants in Nigeria. But if you continue to
sound like one without authority, figuratively speaking it would
mean that we the ordinary citizens are conquered animals that
are nothing but walking corpses at the mercy of the so-called
Goliaths.
These terrible monsters in the name of Goliaths are the virus
destroying the Nigerian immune system for too long and Nigerians
will be very happy to know them. Please name them Sir, and their
‘modus operandi’ and
your legacy will be eternity. Mr. President Sir, if you could
use all the willpower you could muster to get these monsters you
called Goliaths to submission, you must have established the
most fundamental ingredient needed for development to flourish
in Nigeria. If this can be achieved
Nigeria Will Rise Again.
Uzoma Ahamefule writes from Vienna, Austria
uzomaah@yahoo.com
+436604659620 sms only
Watch out for part 2
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