A Letter to my Countrymen -By Hussain Kehinde Wahab

Dear Compatriots,

I’m writing this to you in an effort to stir you up from slumbering.

Undoubtedly, events that occurred in the first-six months of this year, as evidenced by our headlines, shows how we are always awakened by dismal news. No favourably good news, only tragedy; Nothing like goosebumps resulting from exciting news but horripilation. Our two-year-old children are familiar with kidnapping, banditry, killing, corruption and bad governance. 

Should I begin with the ASUU strike, which began in February of this year and has now lasted a whopping five months without even a hint of resumption. 

In actuality, 5 months is sufficient for a duck to lay eggs, brood, and hatch the eggs. And yet, everything appears to be going according to plan. 

Many students today have already given up and forgotten what they can gain from school and its extracurricular activities. 

Some people will draw the conclusion that “School nah scam.” 

This is no longer shocking because young people no longer recognize their own youthful greatness. Is it their fault?

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest,”  Benjamin Franklin once said. 

We have always criticized these quotations in Nigeria as she, the government ignores the cries of her proletariats (workers). The government views education as a threat to her growth. Much like in an undemocratic capitalism where the bourgeoisies (the capitalists) have the power to do and undo. 

As once said by Nelson Mandela (the late president of South Africa), “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Here in Nigeria, is education truly the most powerful weapon to change the world? You and I know the answer cannot be unfettered “yes”. Even if it’s, Our government doesn’t encourage such.

Sleeping no longer catches our souls, nor do our bodies and minds cling to rest as it is evident everywhere. Nigeria has experienced a lot of troubles in the past six months. 

Mama Wazobia was shocked by the kind of offspring she produced, many of whom were scent-impaired and sense-imbalanced. These  children are fighting for meaningless things rather than learning how to break free from the shackles of violence, kidnapping, banditry, a crumbling educational system, a broken political system, and darth leadership.

Even though they complained about their suffering and refused to deal with the situation, they did not take any appropriate steps toward their freedom because they regarded it as ‘Allah yakawo,’ a Hausa phrase loosely translated as God’s willing. They are like uncaged birds clamouring for emancipation.

For them, advocating for good governance is unacceptable, but ranting, maiming, and killing people over issues of politics, religion, or ethnicity is acceptable.

According to them, a franchise entitles adult citizens to vote and to participate in politics. However, the definition is incomplete and subjective because they neglected to include “one’s choice”  – My candidate may not be yours, and under our law, everyone has the right to association as well as choice. Then, what could cause the beefing?

In contrast, celebrities who should serve as role models in my nation are berating and cursing themselves because they backed different candidates. Do they yearn for a more favorable Nigeria? 

Undoubtedly, They are doing business, when the time comes, they will leave with their head abroad and anus at home(apologies to Dr. Umeh).  Our politicians are what Dr. Phillips O.C Umeh describes as ambassador of poverty in her poem, Ambassador of Poverty.

Similarly, despite these obstacles, religious intolerance still persists. Muslim-Muslim ticket is given more concerned than way forward.

This is a clarion call to the patriotic Nigerians, who have nowhere else to turn in times of war or peace — anything that will endanger our lives should be avoided. The use of our thumbs to revive and rebuild a better Nigeria should be our primary concern. It doesn’t matter if your six is my nine; that is the essence of democracy; to view things from a different but distinctive perspective.

To cap it all, we should pray for the Nigeria of our dreams and the election of the best candidate.

May Nigeria prosper.

Hussain Kehinde Wahab

wahabhussain323@gmail.com