It’s 2am and I’ve never caught myself so drained and saddened by what I see Nigeria gradually decaying into. When I close my eyes, I see the Nigeria of my dream, the Nigeria where candle lights are remembered only as instruments for romantic dinners and not alternative sources of light, a Nigeria where my son grows up not to know what a generator is. A Nigeria where even when it rains, we know when we are at the beach and when we are on the road. When I close my eyes I see the most desirable nation on earth, but these days, that it’s 2am and my eyes are still open, the realities that my eyes see in the 20 plus hours that I am awake are making it difficult to hold the dream of less than 4 hours.
My clarion call goes to all able bodied Nigerians above the age of 18! My clarion call goes to the criminally silent enlightened elites! My call goes to the spiritual leaders who exist as islands of prosperity in a poverty stricken country! My call beackons to churches who find nothing missing in the rate at which manufacturing companies are closing to provide them with warehouses to store the hopeful souls of irresponsible citizens! My call goes to all who are comfortable in Nigeria, who have done well for themselves and don’t think long enough to know that the society that is unelightened will ultimately burn their houses. My call goes to you and I, who have been more accustomed to talking than doing, who have lofty ideas, puritan ideals and score woefully in political participation. My clarion call goes to all who think themselves too clean, too sacred, too neutral or too important to be involved in the polity of our nation. My call goes to you in diaspora, you who know the answers but remain dislocated from the questions! My call goes to all of you, we need all of you. We are bashed as a nation, buttered with shame on both sides, but our ego is intact and incorruptible. We’ve been too proud to beg, I beg you all, let’s come to our rescue, before this titanic collides with the sure iceberg ahead and doubtless sinks!
Let’s be clear about one thing, Nigeria has gone from manageable to bad, to worse, to worst and is fast approaching an opportunity for English language to create further superlatives. We are in a free fall, and except we do more than business as usual, all the kings men and horses will not be able to put our country-dumpty together again! It is good that we have done more than talk, at least we have been involved in Charity work – helping stranded patients, giving to orphanages, helping the oppressed and the perishing. At least we have been involved in sponsoring bright but financially challenged students, oh we have been involved in community development, enlightenment, re-orientation, e.t.c. We’ve gone to secondary schools, tertiary insitutions and churches. In the places where the minds need to be reoriented, we’ve been there more than any minister of information since we can remember. So trust me when I say to you, this is NOT ENOUGH. this is scratching the leaves to cure the root, it’s not working, it will not work!
What will work you ask me? MORE, I respond without thinking! Before I tell you more of what however, let’s have a look at some of the current icebergs contesting our sourjourn currently.
1. Niger Delta!
Head Lines – a. Militants handsomely renumerated, almost at par with Senators. b. Petroleum Minister completely disconnected from national issues – pends Petroleum Training Institute to upgrade Kaduna College of Petroleum. c. Kogbara – The only Niger Delta in the Rilwan Lukman led Oil and Gas Implementation committee, resigns.
The Niger Delta is asking for the same thing all Nigerians should be asking for – True Federalism. MEND and PRONACO have the same objectives, but different means. If the MEND approach seems to be working, what is the nation requesting for? Is the goverment losing control?
2. Northern Killings
For the first time since I can remember in Nigeria, Islamic fundamentalists in the Nortlh are not fighting christians, but fighting the government. They are killing and being killed because they believe that the country (or their part of the country) should be islamised with stricter laws. In a news article summary of their activities, they simply want to take over the Federal Government. They are tired, and going for it. Even though their objectives do not serve the greater Nigeria, at least they have an Agenda they are implementing. Do you and I? With over 300 people dead, is the government in control?
3. Teachers’ Strikes
For the first time since I have also been aware of it, ASUU is staying of work for a just course. It’s no longer the selfish manipulations of the government by lecturers for salary increases, it’s negotiating a bigger investment into education. ASUU is asking the government to investing in educating the minds rather than providing amnesty for them when they have become irreparably damaged. ASUU is questioning why Reps and Senators get to earn more than $2,000,000
The case of the Kogi teachers is also troubling. The students became teacherless 6months ahead of WAEC and the teachers gave them the opportunity of sitting for it. Last year, 13% of students passed WAEC with credit in maths and english and 3 other subjects. What will this year be? These warehoused generation of students caught in the no man’s land of between Secondary Schools and Universities, there older ones trapped in between NYSC and getting a Job, and the many who are trapped within the tertiary institutions without really being there. With these many frustrated, and unhappy youths, and a country that pays so well for militancy, can we say the Government is in Control?
4. Lingering Darkness
Just last week, TELL Magazine featured Nigeria as the Darkest nation on earth! That’s ahead of Somalia, Zimbabwe our leaders in Failed State Status. Manufacturing company’s are working at 4% of their capacities, In a country where having light is a miracle, can we truly say that things are in control?
In the light of these icebergs and many more lined up ahead. We need to do much more than we have ever done. It’s time to put our hands on the plough and not look back. It’s either we take ourselves and our chidren out of the country today and relocate them to Ghana while we still can, or we stay around and be useful. If we do nothing, our children will meet nothing! If this nation fails further, in a few years, many of us may begin to seek refugee status in other countries. Our lack of sufficient points in refugee status seeking is what is keeping us as not worse than 15th on the table of failed states. We are all involved in politics, many of us have voted with our silence, and most of us have offered our silence as tools to people who have an agenda for this country. Silent or Loud, we are all involved in decision making in this country, not making a decision is a decision, and politics is how decisions are made.
Here are a few things we must begin to do.
1. Daily Political Round Tables: Accross the nation and the world, small cells of 10 people must begin to form that will have daily political round tables and turn ideas together on what to do to save our Nation. These groups must grow and break in the same way that our body cells divide to give us growth. Talk doesn’t solve it, but it all starts with thoughts, moves to words and then action is birthed. This is the same fomular the world was created with. It’s the same format that Martin Luther King Jr used. Small groups of people must engage in daily demanding discussions about our history, about how future and about next steps. These are the birthing place of ideologies. We need to get all our discussions in sync and regularly be updated about concepts and strategies from all sides. We will coordinate this from Lagos. The future movment site, www.thefuturemovement.org/register will also house a forum soon so discussions can happen online for those who are physically incapable of meeting currently. If you are intersted in leading any of the roundtables around the nation and world, please reach out to us from here. We are starting off from my office in Lagos, 5:30pm daily for anyone on mainland. We have also secured a venue for the Island, Leaders Needed. There is also a place in Ibadan, Leaders needed.
2. Weekly Political Congresses: Once a week we need to pull a bigger conference where we share ideas, and share progress. Martin Luther King Jr. had a church that served this purpose. He lamented bitterly about churches around becoming irrelevant social clubs. We need to gather weekly some of us constantly, some of us frequently. It also needs to be sustainable. I’m proposing 4pm on Sundays.
3. Forthnight Press Conferences: We must constantly be heard. Silence is Criminal, and those who will have no part in our future are irrelevant. Our constant public expression will release us from the possibilities of resulting to violence.
4. Monthly Rallies and Freedom Walks: We must gather together monthly per state and once in 3 months as a nation do do a match, a rally or simply a conference where we again review and deliver our objectives for the next period. We cannot kid ourselves that we have time, being surrounded with enemies of national progress that are satisfied with our current deplorable state. Our collective enemies are those who prefer to take care of theirs and not ours. Don’t decieve yourself, we are our greatest enemies.
When you do not know the details of what happened before you, you are forever a child. We must learn from the past and be free to live in the future. We must decide today if we are better off relocating of if our staying can add value! We need to mobilize people and funds as we go, we do not have the luxury of time.
I have to stop before I write an article too long to be understood. I’ll be back!
Chairman,,God ll continue to grant u wisdom.Am really confused about myopic nature of our leaders.Inspite the numerous problems we are facing,nigeria is still given out money to other country..God ll save us.
There is fire on the mountain, everybody must be on the run now (we must start taking actions) or else very soon the river will overflow and there will be nowhere to go, even though Deolu has been mentioning Ghana i’m sure they will close their border against massive relocation of Nigerians similar to what we did to them years ago, so i believe that “Hard Way, is the only Way”, we have to tackle our problems now and profer solutions. The sin of negligence and silence is criminal ……… i feel these words heavily.
Sir.
I almost lost my senses when thinking about how bad Nigeria as become. I almost cried when i tried to think about how Nigeria is falling each day…
We must rise up and talk and work out what we believe…This message must be rooted deep within us.
We don’t want sweet mouths that offers no solution. We want committed people.
I may be silent and don’t talk a lot but what is going on in my is more than only me can bear..
Every step counts! Let’s go!
Well said Deolu;
The death of quality education, which is the foundation of the future, is very appalling; given that we are led by a set of lecturers. The cost of any kind of quality schooling right now is beyind the reach of 98% of Nigerians, and no one is listening. We can send our kids to Covenant/Whatron but this is a SOCIETY, and if we have 2% professionals and 98% under-educated, the former will feed the latter – and not willingly too.
We need to start talking and pushing new ideas. Somebody needs to get programs like ‘Patito’s Gang’ back on air and spawn many others.
Our Ministers should stop begging S-A to treat us better and start realizing that the value of your nation determines how others will treat us. We dont need re-branding, we need a product to start with!
Nigerians arent asking for much – just functioning power, safe transport and education. We’ll do the rest ourselves. The clowns up there are fighting Lagos for being a state that has created and funded new LGAs legally, claiming victory over militants while oil facilities get bombed daily, taking up multiple-point agendas and ignoring a smart CBN Guv’nor whoa sked for few….the amount of cerebral mediocrity on display is absolutely galling!
God save our dear country.
I still believe in Nigeria.
I love the statement “We cannot kid ourselves that we have time….”, the truth is that time is running out very fast. Sometimes I feel challenged by what I would tell my unborn son when he asks me what I did to save Nigeria. This is a powerful and unstoppable move. It is like a mustard seed, smallest of seeds but grows into a big tree and provides shade and support for all. It is like yeast, small in quantity, but permeates and converts the whole dough.The strategy dates far back in history, even Obama used it. It is the only strategy for REAL societal change. I am encouraged, where there is a will, there is a way.
@Peter…there is indeed fire on the mountains o…Desperate solution requires desperate measures.
http://adesojiadegbulu.com/fire-on-the-mountain/
Sir, a country has serious challenges yet the president can afford to go to Brazil on a three day visit? we have obvious challenges, yet the president is concerned about the number of local government in lagos state that her citizens are not complaining about.
if it must be, its up to us. Count me in on this train.
Hi Deolu, Thanks so much for this write-up, I think we have kept too quiet for too long that it became like the in-thing for everyone. You can hardly find a house in Lagos without generator, gone are the days of “I better pass my neighbor”, everyone in the neighborhood are now blessed. Years ago, the explanation for darkness was “insufficient level of water to generate power” and then during rainy season, we enjoy light, but these days, with all the rain(s), it is still darkness all the way. The President mentioned a “cartel” and I am wondering what he meant by that. I am a leader in a department (not so many people though), but I can not imagine me saying there is a group of “untouchables” under me that I cannot manage, where is the leadership skill in this equation?
I think we have allowed our destinies to be mortgaged in the past, but we can stand for what is right and the responsibility should be on our spiritual leaders, who are so content with their “jeeps” and “airplanes”. Life is much more than what we eat or drink today. What will the generation coming meet? chaos, created by this generation or they will say God bless our generation. May those children coming not decide to kill us for ruining their own future. It is time to stand and STAND WE WILL.
God bless NIGERIA
Am one of those criminally silent nigerians and you certainly captured me in the category of those who seek their personal goals and take no thought for the nation albeit to their own eventual peril. I take this position cos I rationalise that any attempt at change is futile cos of the enormity of the problem.
Well, dats my way of talking since you say we must talk.
Hmmm, clarion call indeed – very provocative and inspiring. I see you becoming the Martin Luther King Jr. of Nigeria. Perhaps maybe this whole situation was orchestrated for your emergence so that you can fulfill your destiny. The nation has a lion’s heart, go ahead and inspire us all to give the roar!
We are responsible for whatever this nation turns out to become. We need to rise up, take charge and cause the needed change our Nation deserves. We can and we will. Another man’s land cannot be as our own land. We all need to fix this problems and make Nigeria the most desirable Nation in few years to come. I believe in Nigeria, I believe we’ll all mak it happen.
@ Odedeyi,
I believe in Nigeria oh… but we must stand up and be counted. God has answered our prayers, but I cannot guarantee that it didn’t enter many of our voice mails.
May God heal our land
I classify a lot of social advocates as ‘empty heads who likes the sound of their own voice’ – blame it on my frustration, blame it on my critical way of thinking. Deolu i have a feeling you are kinda different. what do you do in a nation where everyone knows whats right to do but simply and deliberately would not do it. and i aint talking only about young citizens. i always put it this way- ” what we fail to do – a much more younger generation will come down the road and get it done, and excellently well. They will remember to wright in their books (for posterity) of the nameless, faceless, irrelevant and shameless fore-fathers whose were so narrow minded, they could’nt even plan well ahead for there own kids”
Chairman, this is great move and i will love(must) to be a part of it. I love my country so much. and i believe NIGERIA would become one of the greatest places to live in very soon. However we must make sacrifices, and i am willing to give whatever i takes to support the progress of our nation. AMERICA is enjoying the sacrifices of their fathers, it is time we stand in GAP for the next generation. THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH
@Tosin,
You are welcome to my brother, our silence is has not made things better, it’s rather made things worse. Our optimism is useless in thinking Nigeria can be better if not matched by optimism that we can and we must win he hearts and hands of our people and steer them towards change.
@Soji,
I think you are right about my type, in away, but I think we’ve just bought into a system of thinking that is extremely limiting. We are the young citizens, we are here! The reality is that in any system where change will happen, the hearts of the sons will be turned against their fathers.
PLEASE, SEND DETAILS OF HOW WE CAN START A MOVEMENT ON OUR CAMPUS.
@ Bayo, Grace and Niyi,
I feel you on this, we must stand and be counted. Our voice is not our voice when all we do is stamp a pad and jam our thumb prints. Our voice is voice, when before the election we count.
One popular phrase i use to hear when i was back home in Nigeria, was that ” e don tey wey i hear say Nigeria go change”. Most people that used this cliche assume that when it is their turn to be in power, they will swallow the resources of the land for their own bebefit. I always pause and silently walk away thinking why things are like this. I weep time i think of the prevalent situation in Nigeria and now i cry as i read this article. As i bow my head and think, i remember Nehemia and just wished i have all the powers of those powerful comics like X-men, superman etc joined together. What an amazing wish…Oda D, please i have read and am thinking of all the steps you mentioned about. I am going to make a CD of the some of the voices here on certain issues in Nigeria. Please tell me how this can be utilised and what can be done with if we start forwarding some of these CDs to Nigeria. This will form my own mini group of ‘ the non silent intellectuals’.
God bless you.
Praise God all i think we need in this nation is prayer for each person and not for the country… We should just bear in mind that we are pilgrims.
Hmm! Honestly Chairman, I have had time to think about this, and I am sure this is the time for change! Honest, real and proper change. I am a believer!
What exactly will be our contributions as “diasporians”? We need to talk! I will give u call sometime this weekend.
We are already headed in the right direction! God bless Nigeria!
I believe in the necessity of change. I also believe the time for change is now.
The strategy is good and time proven. Let’s make it work. Good thots Deolu.
We are the enemies of ourselves, if we succeed as individuals and fail as a state, we have failed in totality.The die is cast and it’s up to us to realise that we are the agents of change this great country has.They used to call us the giant of Africa but are we still there?If u look @ the map of Africa, it is shapped like a pistol and NIGERIA my beloved country is the trigger. LET US CHANGE THE STATUSQUE and get this nation to where God desires it to be.If we do not stand up to it, we will not be able to tell our children that we were not the cause of a failed nation because they will ask u dad/mum what did u do?How many of us have voters ID cards? how many of us believe in NIGERIA? I believe in Nigeria, we can make it if we try, I believe the streets could be safe so the kids outside can play, I believe education is the greatest legacy, I believe (I believe)… (culled from Isaac Rowlands of blessed memory when Christ Embassy launched Reachout Nigeria with Rhapsody of Realities in 2007). I love Nigeria and I BELIEVE IN NIGERIA!
All these comments and considerations need to be put in place. All who commented here need join the revolution that has already started. We must rise with one voice, a voice that has effect due to the number of people involved.
Join the revolution here http://www.thefuturemovement.org/register
I refuse to be quiet. I refuse to be another statistics of how bad Nigeria is. I refuse to the numbered as a people living in a failed state. I refuse to be counted among the number of people who has a low human development.
I must talk the talks and work the works
The New Nigeria chat holds Aug 2 @ 1500GMT! Follow the hashtag (#NewNigeria) to participate (http://www.roomatic.com/#NewNigeria). Topic is SHIFT! “Shift!” means to transfer from one place to another, one position to another, one person to another etc)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The blunt truth has been spoken, please also use this medium without waiting for perfect conditions to air your positive contributions. Too much analysis brings paralysis.I will meditate once again and come up with suggested solutions.
our country is really on the red alert. this shows how the government has lost its hold in ways more than one. is it power, niger-delta,increase in poverty and corruption,killings of citizens by extreme islamic group, or disobeying the rule of law? the police said that the leader of this group was killed in a shootout with the police but later on, bcc showed pictures of the guy in prison so it actually meant that there were people who killed the man because they knew they will be implicated if he did talk.
sir, i am so confused. one mind is telling me to leave Nigeria with all of her problems while i still can, the other mind is telling me to run as fast as i can because things will never get any better.hmm, i dont think we need prayers now, we need a miracle. i will ensure i contribbute my own quota but lets really be sincere with ourself;where can we start from?
well, 2011 is just around the corner but the truth be told. if we are really tired with all thses negative news coming from our country, we have to do something about it. i did not vote during the last elections and i dare say that i am also part of the problem because of my silence. i think what we have to do is big time publicity. let us tell anyone that cares to listen about 2011 and the power of our votes. lets us go to media houses, lets organise seminars and enlighten those who have lost hope. lets strat now because the future isnt about a time to come, because if it is so, there is a tendency it will meet us accidentally. let us with this holy anger, do something for a change. i am the first volunteer!
Wherever we are is probably where we want to be. Any nation that converts its factories to places of worship surely deserves to flounder.
Deolu, alarming as your post sounds, it doesn’t seem to proffer real solutions. I for one am tired of all these sloganeering campaigns – like the Re-brand Nigeria, Light Up Nigeria shtick – let us do something concrete but something positive because I believe that the challenge right now is to redirect the energies floating around.
We can mobilize and gather but to what ends? Are we to await an inspiration? It may be difficult to manage the energies that will be unleashed from such an exercise because it will be massive.
There should be an agenda no matter how imperfect.
Maybe we are here because this is where we really want to be irrespective of what we say with our mouths, our hearts are probably very far away from the ideals we spout.
Maybe we are all just waiting for our own chance to man the till and steal to our hearts delight. Just like those before us have done.
Maybe we just want to rant about our ‘leaders’ who are not doing what we should be doing. To have somebody to blame for our collective failures.
Maybe we just like to sit around and talk about our problems. Probably waiting for Deolu to tell us when to talk and when not to.
Any society that converts its factories into places of worship is definitely not serious about economic development.
I, for one, am tired of sloganeering campaigns – viz Re-brand Nigeria, Light Up Nigeria etc.
Let’s have an agenda, no matter how imperfect.
To my belief ,is only God that can put our country to the rightful path. I left the country before i came to realised that all our leaders are damn too corrupt due to self enrichment,greedy ,not put entire citizens to consideration. The future of a country is determines by the governance .
God save Nigeria least we perish, let us save Nigeria or what are we going to tell our children is our contribution at this crucial period even if not for ourselves, let us do it for them.
the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for men of honour to keep silence.go tell it to the mountains,everywhere,that a revolution is on whether they like it or not.
@ N.I.M.M.O.
We have an Agenda… This is what we discuss in our meetings. We are perfecting the Grand Master plan. And though our agenda has a 16yrs goal – 2025. Our first trial is to attempt building a movement that has the capacity to deliver correct political leadership and enlightened followers who are easy to govern, difficult to rule and impossible to enslave.
We are moving past talk and campaineering as you call it, our eyes are set on key milestones and deliverables. Nigeria is our collective responsibility.
I agree with you 100%. The time is now; less talk more action.
God bless Nigeria
Nigerian Stories sell best outside Nigeria, and then we stirve to read them. Phillip Emeagwali, a scion of the Rebrainding Nigeria initiative- How much education did he have here. Wherever the train goes, i’ll follow as far as it is to CHANGE the Nation of my Birth and the NAtion of my death. I stand up today to say
ARISE O COMPATRIOTS,
NIGERIA’s CALL OBEY
TO SERVE OUR FATHER’s LAND……
Let’s all remember those words. we echoed them throughout Primary and Secondary schools. Dig them out of your heart. Write the vision, make it Plain that he that readeth may run with it. The vision is a NEW NIGERIA buoyed by sincere, genuine, transformative and reformative politics. I’m Game on this.
It is time to mobilize, mobilize, mobilize. We need to galvanize the youths of this nation using every available technology – Twitter. text messages, facebook, websites, picketting and so on.
Oga sir, I feel so strongly in my heart that these articles should come up on National Newspapers so that many Nigerian can read it and we are sure of wider coverage. This is really evaluation of the deteriorating stage of Nigeria. We need to speak out the time to be quite is gone, we need to shout like the blind Bartmius in the bible, even we there several situation around that is shutting our mouths.
We need well meaning Pastors and Leaders to voice out now, may be the campaign can start from churches and mosques. We need voices like Dr. Tunde Bakare now, people that will not mind being arrested for speaking about bad governance. Jesus in His days did not only preach the kingdom of God but also influence the governance during His time. Our religious leader stand a good chance, the pulpit is a good platform for a revolutionary leadership and birthing change. Gospel is about a changed live, changed people, changed society. We need to arise now and earnestly act, let’s do something. I have so much to say but I need to stop now.
Oga, I didn’t see this picture before, I just saw it, this is bizarre. where did this happen? Nigeria? I am really burdened for a quick and last change in Nigeria.
I want to request that this article and some other ones like “Sin of Negligence” should be published in the National News Paper. Let’s speak out, we deserve to be heard….. Nigerians have began to embrace the truth and now we can evaluate our leaders by their impacts and policies. The Elites are gradually rising up, some have began to speak up… we have a voice in this country too. Deolu, Let’s speak out, let’s go public….I’ll be expecting.
So pathetic is the condition this country is in. Everything seems going worse by the day. It’s all been our fault, anyway. We have sat down and watch long enough, now we are ready do take back our stolen right from the thieves of national destiny. Whoever wants his name to be written in the books of history of this nation should join the league of change agents now.
Thanks for this, oga Deolu! We will all see a better Nigeria.
Dear Deolu,
May the Almighty God continues to give you wisdom to motivate and inspire our generation to do great things for our nation. This article is mind blowing, i pray that all of us will not be only the reader and hearer only but to be a participant in this future movement.
This is a call to action!
Collapse like every others countries will. You can not print phantom money out of thin air, backed by nothing and expect it to hold. Especially now with all this massive debt we have built up by allowing central bankers to monopolize money supplies.
I have always been a fan of folding paper particularly making paper airplanes. I started with a software called The Greatest Paper Airplanes published by Kitty Hawk. Unfortunately the software is no longer distributed today. It teaches how to fold 50 different paper airplanes. It’s a good place to start learning origami.