Yesterday was quite a full day for me, it was a day in which many things simply came to a head. I had deliberately refused to comment on a number of issues for a while, hoping that in the period of my silence things will bounce back to normalsy. The more the days pass however, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that we are approaching a failed state. Optimism is good, if it is bound at the bottom by reality, at the top by faith and at the sides by work. Baseless optimism is a cancer, it’s false hope and mere lies.
Rather than confront our issues and do what we need to do to save our nation from a head on collision course with failure, we tell ourselves it’s all going to be well, God will do it, we make God out to be our slave. In the face of unconstitutional behaviour, in the face of  televised dishonesty, of forgeries at the highest levels, of being labelled as terrorists, of no power at home and a vacuum in the seat of power, the elite in Nigeria have not heard the drums of war. We pacify ourselves with phrases that show that even if we lose all, we still have something. We are voiceless in our own country, slaves where we should have been princes, our young sons and daughters flee from our shores preferring to be slaves abroad than at home, and our elders have nostalgic memories of when they were slaves to colonial masters. This house is falling, and those who exercise the power of faith limit it to their words and are slow to back it up with action.  My brothers and sisters, if we continue to fold our hands we will soon have them cuffed. History is replete with trends we can learn from, the distance between our current state and people seeking refuge in other nations as refugee is not as far as we have been deluded to think. The time to have a stand and stand for it is now!
What philosophy exactly engages the mind of our elite that makes them sit still? I have tried to comprehend it but perhaps I’m not as bright as the average one of us. I have analysed it from different angles, wishing that even I could have that complacent philosophy that will make me sit still and have the opinion that my voice does not count, but the reasons constantly elude me. I need someone to help me here, give me a reason to not feel moved or touched by the realities that bedevil my nation. Does it make sense to you that rather than face our issues we celebrate how great we could have been? Or what potentials we have? While by arithmetic or geometric progression our nation is heading down, we constantly behave like we are not touched. The elite is comfortable in the possibility of being an island of prosperity in a quick sand of poverty. Mark my words however, danger looms, what’s on ground is beyond being political, non partisan or partisan. If you are not relevant to the future of this nation… relocate now, before you lose it all! There is a time for peace and there is a time for war. We are in those times, when we must turn our agricultural instruments into weapons of war (Joel 3:9-12). It’s time to use that skill that you use to feed to fight.
They say questions are the answers, well, today I have loads of them. Are we safe? These people who have the leadership of this country as their puppets, are they sane? Are they value driven? Are we in the hands of equitable and fair people? America ranks us as a terrorist nation, is that all of us? Is it some of us? We have moved from being a threat to ourselves, to becoming a threat to the world, are we aware? Does it make sense that almost 50yrs after we started extracting oil, we are still queuing for fuel and having scarcity? Are we sane as a nation, when our leaders spend over $200million per annum on treatment overseas? Are we normal when these overseas hospitals are managed by Nigerian doctors, nurses and cleaners, with only the equipments being foreign? Are we fair when we put an El-Rufai on excile and allow a James Ibori to walk free? Are elites existing in a nation that banishes a man that refused gifts from all who intended to woo him, and free right of way to one who would be arrested if allowed to travel? Can you and I make our president the CEO of a company we have investments in? Is he desirable as a staff in your company? Or is it not our business? Am I asking too many questions, don’t I have the right to ask? I hear we now all have a locus standi, true? Are we relevant to the world as one country? Or is it in the best interest of the world that we are split into unsustainable units? Are the people of a country normal whose president is unseen and inaudible for already more than 10% of a year?
The elders say that when the elders are at home, the head of a new born will take shape, are there no elders in our land? When will the elites  – the educated middle class in Nigeria get angry and enlist in this silently developing war? Do we have to wait until we are denied visa to every country because we are terrorists? Who needs to die for Nigerians to get angry enough to act? Does pharoah need to lose the firstborn of all his subjects and himself before the people are let go? In the revolution that looms, who will be spared, and why will they be spared? Are our brothers  in diaspora free of all these? Do they need to lend their voice? Or are they untouched by the appelation of terrorists? Are they not also getting full body massages at international airports?
Follow me for a little while more on this illogical reasoning, pardon me, the sun and powerlessness do have their effects. Â How many Mutallabs do we need to change Nigeria? Do they all need to be trained in yemen or does the south south have concentration camps that can convert decent men into living explosives? I heard this morning that the US has revoked the VISA’s of a few high ranking government officials, former governors e.t.c. Can they please add the current Governors, Lawmakers, ministers and members of the executive council, past and present? Can they please add our Pastors and Imams as well? Wait for the big one, can they send our people back home? Won’t it help if we all lock ourselves in this country and sort it all out? Can they help us send all the ones in America, in Europe and even Asia? Can the world please send our people home and give us a 10yr break so we can resolve our issues? I’m not saying anything oh, I’m just asking questions :), abi? Am I being too harsh on our brothers overseas? Is it not because our America’s Ambassadors son raped someone in the US and was sent parking that Obama doesn’t have anyone to relate with on what actions Nigeria has taken on the terrorism case? Is it also not because Yaradua’s phone number has been barred for not being in touch for more than 30 days that he couldn’t be reached? Are we not a country of comedians and jokers?
I think the axe is already at the root of every tree, and the future will tell. This country will be better, by fire! I see a New Nigeria, a country that will flourish again and become the most desireable country to live in in the world. A Nigeria that is so good today looks like a cruel joke! Between now and then however, there are sacrifices to be made. Â What sacrifice are you williing to make today?
Please join us in Abuja on Tuesday (Jan 12) Â as we match together to make our voice heard. We need leadership, and we will not manage our current circumstances. Details will be coming up shortly.
