National Issues
When The Time Comes -By Dr Tio
The history of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a shady one that comes in patches and reported speeches. But the truth is that many alive today, were first hand witnesses of the injustices in our society. The arrogance and cruelty that have led us to where we are today.
But as always, time is the universal healer. When the time comes, secrets will be made known, those who owe will pay and their generations will inherit the wages of their sins.
Nigeria at 58
I remember the last independence; I remember the lack of festive feeling in the air. One could recall
Those who force them upon us are even worse because they have no respect or concern for the lives of Nigerians. I have often said that every country has ruling powers that operate behind the scenes. It’s just that in Africa, the ruling powers are made up of selfish and arrogant men who have forgotten that man’s greatest virtue is his respect for the equality of life.
At 58 the question nags in front of every one of us, how long can we continue to kill innocent citizens? How long can the decaying infrastructure last? How long can the flimsy law and order keep the peace that is tethering on the brink of collapse?
In about 20 years of democracy, we are still waiting to reap the dividends of the said democracy. Children are uneducated, the educated ones cannot find means of livelihood. Yet we go to the mosques and to churches diligently to get hyped promises of paradise after death for going through hell on earth. What kind of creator would want that?
From colonialism and mental tyranny to truth
The truth is that the labels don’t matter. The tribes and cultures, religious sentiments are the divide and conquer mechanism that we fall for time and time again. It is a classic military strategy. The Bible and Qur’an exist so that everyone can read the contents for themselves.
One common theme of both of them is the Ten commandments of Moses. That truth applies to every one of us, no matter whether you stand, kneel, bend over or lie down to pray. The central admonition that the life of every human is precious, and that helping others up is the way to build a progressive society.
The system we operate is one of colonialism and mental tyranny. Designed to enrich and uphold a few people at the expense of others. As long as you don’t belong to that few, you are not regarded by the system. It is obvious in the level of poverty across the country, the brazen impunity with which our leaders operate and the constant imposition of rulers.
The system has remained lopsided from inception, what we need is a new system. One that takes into account all our individual strengths and tries to build everyone up at equal capacity.
The way forward
One of the things I have advocated for is not new leadership. All the promises in the world can be made by any aspiring Governor or President, but under the current system, they are being set up to fail. We need an overhaul of the system. We need to re-strategize and come up with the best way to revitalize our infrastructure and also manage our resources.
On or before next election, we should vote on the way forward, either to restructure along geo-political lines or to divide the country into parts based on a referendum by the people.
Democracy is defined as a government for the people, by the people. Under the present dispensation, we are very far from that definition. Gone are the days when we didn’t feel like we deserved better. Now everyone knows we should and can have better.
Now is the time to take action, don’t think you cannot do anything. You are a Nigerian first and foremost and your duty is to your country first. Spread the message of oneness, but more importantly it’s time for us to come together and decide or we let the greed of a few men consume all of us.
This post was written in 2018.
