This government is sitting on a keg of gun powder. The Tunisian revolution that ignited other revolutions across other Muslim-African states wasn’t planned. The people just got tired; and some, bold enough, dared to challenge the status quo at whatever cost. They got something.
There’s a saying that people who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat mistakes made in times past.
The Nigerian government may not know, but I’m certain there are persons who’d gladly lay down their lives to push the case of the common man. We are being daily deceived. We are being lied to. We are daily being milked.
The youths want the power; good to know. Yahaya Bello is in his forties. He’s the youngest governor we have at the moment in this country. Do we see how he rules? He rules, not lead.
We want leaders, not rulers. We want men of character who wouldn’t compromise and neglect the common man; no matter what.
Fayose was the closest to leader we ever got pre-2019; but, at best, he’s a comic character. He’s also a ruler, who disguises his evil deeds by a seeming closeness to the common man. This man is a good ‘deceiver’. The other day, I saw a video wherein he claimed governors during his first term were forced to make donations to Obasanjo’s Presidential Library. That admission alone is enough to get him prosecuted in saner climes.
Corruption does not have to do with age. I agree with the youths; we should be given a chance. But, at what? Truth be told, majority of Nigerian youths are more interested in cyber crimes than in governance. I don’t entirely blame them. If you hear some tales they have to tell, you will understand why some do what they do.
But, that is not the answer. The Nigerian problem has to be addressed right from the root(s). A right approach is needed.
Love. I believe love is everything. If love finds her way into the heart of governance, every other thing will fall in place. Love will make a leader abstain from stealing the commonwealth of all. Love will make a leader reach out to opposition(s), and extend a hand of fellowship. Love will make the Executive enforce the laws of the land without favouritism. Love will see to it that the Legislature make good laws. Love will ensure the Judiciary rightly interpret the nation’s laws.
The day Nigeria chooses the path of Love is the day things start to work. No one Nigerian should be greater than the other. We all should be equal before the law. That’s the only way to address the many ills of this country from it’s very root.
My prayers are with Seyi Makinde. I pray as he has started well, he ends well. He’s making Oyo State live up to her ‘Pace-Setter’ slogan.
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” – Abraham Lincoln.
Love is God.
Aroso Akintomide
