#BabaItIsTime..

#BabaItIsTime..

It has been an impatient and long wait since March 28th to finally heave a sigh of relief that the people's General would be transforming into the people's  President in only a matter of hours.

This seemingly endless wait to sack incompetence only falls short in my opinion of the wait for Clark Kent to fly in the fantasy series Smallville. The underlying necrotizing fascitis caused by uninhibited corruption has finally become apparent, exposing the severity of the wound dealt to Nigeria by reckless and incompetent stewards in the name of economics and solidarity.

Nigeria has been hemorrhaging for years now both internally and externally; she has been continuously forced to dance naked and dragged towards the cliff of irreversible economic ruin by quacks and vandals. Like a chronic toothache, the symptoms of extremely poor management have been manifesting as recurrent pain and some sleepless nights. Nigeria has repeatedly been denied quality treatment; she's been forced to apply "touch 'n' go" or "battery acid" to provide temporary relief for the toothache with the associated complications completely ignored.

It is time to press the reset button of this potentially great nation called Nigeria. The time has come for us to start doing normal and regularly things which prosperous countries do. The things that make a nation great are not necessarily of rocket science proportions. There is absolutely no point seeking to land a man on Saturn when human beings enough to populate some nations are left homeless, jobless, diseased or deranged enough to destroy themselves. Those who still feel persuaded to continue singing the adulterated praise of the outgoing president should visit an average fuel station and observe the tragedy that the Nigerian race has become.

The proliferation of petrol kegs and a few captured scenes of violence at and around fuel pumps indicts the outgoing government and exposes the fraud behind the cosmetic repackaging they have wasted the resources of the country on. Nigerians now practically commute carrying varying sizes of vessels filled with petrol like such contained apple juice. A first-time visitor would be forgiven if he/ she thought that empty jerry cans was part of our repertoire of fashion accessories. This is however just scratching the surface of the surface as revelations from the oil and power sectors of the nation's economy could trigger ventricular tachycardia in most and even more grave complications in the faint hearted.

It is high time we chopped off the second and third heads of those who think and act like they are superior to others based on any perceived economic, intellectual, religious or socio-political advantage. Just like the incoming president has said repeatedly; it is time to liberate the judiciary and truly empower the law enforcement agencies. Nigerians need to learn what contentment means; we need to do away with our toxic arrogance and negative ethno-religious default settings. The hour has come to believe in the viability of the Nigerian project and also to work tirelessly and wholeheartedly towards making this dream a reality. It will be difficult to excise from our hearts and minds the clamour for independent or breakaway nations from this albeit forced union. None of Biafra, Arewa, Odua republic or Lower Niger can halt the persistent clamour for ethnic representation because the struggle would only get broken down to extended and immediate family feuds that will never end. We already have a nation, let us make it work with the same kind of solidarity Nigerians in diaspora exhibit.

Before now, parents have been eating their fill before the children smell the food. It is time to reverse this trend and secure the future of even generations unborn. We are a multitude with sufficient potential to power the entire African continent and the surrounding oceans; the time to harness has come. The days of self pity and running fìlà in hand are over; the solutions to our peculiar problems lie within our human resources. We should and will put our best foot forward; our very best team will always be selected devoid of any infantile considerations and sentiments. As genius as Lionel Messi is; I can wager that he would never take a potentially world cup winning penalty kick with his right foot. This is Nigeria's world cup and grand slam. Our chance to win and reign is here.

Baba got the mandate of a few scores of his military peers just over 30 years ago. He went about the business then rather very aggressively and those who installed decided to hijack the rudder. They could not afford to end his life then because they needed him alive and unscathed to gain some legitimacy from the people they claimed they were saving from his perceived hard and uncomfortable rule. I do not think it is a mere coincidence that General Buhari is still around today when it could have been ended that day in August of '85. Nigeria seems to have remained in a hypnotic state since then, brainwashed of the fundamentals of nationhood and spiraling down into the abyss of self destruction. It is time for the General to preside and show example again but this time empowered by the mandate of the people who have hitherto been held bondage by ineptitude and a culture of waste. The jinx is over, the spell is broken and the jails are beckoning.

Baba put on your agbádá, your cap and that your black rimmed glasses. "Prof" is good to go and so are your people. There is a nation to resuscitate and run effectively beyond the expectation of naysayers. In the interim, the hustle for petrol is very important so that I can watch the inauguration.

The complete package.  newsrescue.com

Baba, it is time!!!. 

THE LETHAL SILENCE.....

THE LETHAL SILENCE.....

So Nigeria is facing an energy crisis and those in charge of the federation are busy watching "telemundo" while Nigerians prepare for the World jerry can hustle championships across the land. 

How is it that Nigerians are not deserving of any explanation(s) for the acute on chronic fuel shortages/ absence?  Is there also no explanation for the associated electricity blackout spanning most states? Is it that difficult to comprehend that a simple explanation could help douse tension and allow for reason to prevail?  We used to hear of low water levels unable to power the hydro plants during the dry season;  these days the default message is gas pipeline vandalism. 

Do they not realise that protecting such pipelines is not negotiable? It reminds me of Alison-Madueke's comment in defence of subsidy removal during the #OccupyNigeria protests.  She said the borders were porous hence the inability of the government to halt crude and refined product bunkering. The borders are still porous and yet the rate of unemployment is mind boggling. 

This leadership-followership disconnect is not pathognomonic to Mr Jonathan and his people.  Politicians from all parties who think that public office ought to benefit them maximally are equally culpable.  They acquire property with reckless abandon and many times build structures with complete disregard for all planning laws. The leaders who ought to defend the rights and privileges of the majority feed fat first leaving the crumbs and burnt "bottom-pot" for rest. 

How does one explain a multitude wrestling to fill their fuel vessels for hours only for privileged military and para-military forces to force their vehicles through the crowd to have their fill before scrambling away? How does one explain the the legislative government composed of a few hundred members command a budgetary allocation that far outweighs what many states get?  

The incoming president is far from perfect but one thing which is clear is that he is not the conventional politician.  We need to become unconventional and unpredictable citizens as well to effect change.  The outgoing dispensation succeeded in stereotyping us. They knew they could do anything in any way and get away with it.  They could manoeuvre us to purchase fuel at sinful pump prices and we would only whimper; continuing with our suffering and smiling. The black marketers know we would but 5 litres of fuel for 5000 and give testimony in church when we really ought to call their bluff and stare them down until they set the kidnapped fuel free.

We should make demands and set really  high standards; something like not negotiating with terrorists.  Those who have ensured that Nigerians suffered from fuel and electricity shortages are nothing short of a cartel;  bandits,  criminal gangs,  terrorists with weapons of mass disaster and diabolical creatures. We should be reasonable with our demands especially with the time frame alloted but it does not mean we should accept diesel locomotives with Nigerians hanging from windows and packed like "geisha" in this age of speed trains.  We should demand for quality and universal basic education for all and sundry instead of boasting about Almajiri schools; the kind we would never send our own children to. 

We should not tolerate this kind of radio silence ever in our country.  It is clear some information ought to be classified but fundamental issues such as internal security and energy cannot be shrouded in uncertainty and speculations. What if there was a warning of an incoming tornado or tsunami approaching bar beach? What if we had a nuclear reactor that experienced a leak like what occurred in Japan a few years ago?  This present administration have proven that such information would never reach the people.  They have perpetually lied about the economy,  security and the German multiple resurrections. 

Some things will be coded after Friday but there should be a limit to what we should tolerate from the incoming administration at every level.  Hopefully, the judiciary and law enforcement will become transparent and liberated.  We should not take any rubbish whatsoever from ordinary state law makers and local government chair persons not to talk of their family members and any reckless individual who assumes a privileged position because of some perceived proximity to power.  

That will be the true change;  when we seek for and reinforce justice,  righteousness and equity. 

UNDERSTANDING FOLLY

UNDERSTANDING FOLLY

Just imagine a father who operates a massive farmland growing all types of cash and food crops.  Imagine he works ever so hard and harvests his crops on a regular for onward sale to buyers everywhere.  

Imagine this heroic father sells all his yams, vegetables, cocoa and corn and makes a lot of money which his girlfriends collect and squander.  Imagine he spends the remnant which ends up in his pocket to regularly purchase "yamarita" and salad with plenty flavors of ice cream including chocolate from an expensive fast food joint for his 7 children to eat. 

What a great and caring father some people will say.  Those children will end up with dental caries and morbid obesity;  perhaps dying before their father. 

That is the sorry state of Nigeria some are immune to recognizing because they are directly or indirectly benefiting from the girlfriends looting the farmer.  

How can any sane human explain that a nation which produces crude oil does not save some of the gold to refine for local consumption for over 16 years now?  They will say the military caused this but we have had 16 unbroken years of democracy now and nothing has changed.  The Gowon administration had more than 3 years in turmoil at the beginning but still managed remarkable progress thereafter.  If Gowon was commissioning diesel train engines in 74/75 why on earth should a 21st century president who thinks he has a genuine phd be grinning ear to ear that he provided diesel engines 40 years after?  

No electricity for days to weeks; now no fuel to run generators in homes,  schools,  hospitals etc. Must we sleep breathing in carbon monoxide intoxicated air?  Must we endure untold clean water shortages and noise pollution? Must we buy petrol for 1kobo more than the stipulated pump rate anywhere in the land? 

What is most pathetic is the morbid silence of the accidental president who was busy firing and appointing the last few weeks like Christmas came early in Lagos. Now a cowboy has been so generous to set the ball rolling by releasing 13 million litres of fuel from captivity.  In what country are things like this done? 

I heard today from a colleague that Jonathan had proceeded on his terminal leave days ago hence the rudderless state of the union.  Please bear with him;  his reward is warming up. 3 to go and it feels like forever. 

God bless the federal Republic of Nigeria.