I read the subject article and found it very thought provoking. I wish to commend Paulinus Okonkwo for the courage to write this piece, for it takes sheer courage to write such in this very ‘’Godly’’ environment called Nigeria. Concerning the issues raised in your article, God does not make any man a leader to loot the resources of the followers. Leaders emerge from the followers. The followers of yesteryears are the leaders of today. The point here is leaders definitely don’t fall from heaven they are product of the very followership over a period of time.
I read the subject article and found it very thought provoking. I wish to commend Paulinus Okonkwo for the courage to write this piece, for it takes sheer courage to write such in this very ‘’Godly’’ environment called Nigeria. Concerning the issues raised in your article, God does not make any man a leader to loot the resources of the followers. Leaders emerge from the followers. The followers of yesteryears are the leaders of today. The point here is leaders definitely don’t fall from heaven they are product of the very followership over a period of time. The popular quote by Karl Marx best describes our situation in Nigeria. ‘Religion is the opium of the masses’ or poor as more commonly used. Nigerians have yet to cast away the shackles of the ‘’missionaries’ both Xtian and Islam.
As a people, we look unto God or Allah to return to solve our problems. It is pertinent to mention that Allah / God has given man the resources to overcome his challenges. Nigerians have gotten more than enough resources natural and material to surmount the present predicament but we have instead follow the path of illusion by believing Allah will return like an Angel or whatever form to sort things out. God truly exist, cares and assist but why can’t man use the God given abilities to atleast combat the obstacles. It is in Nigeria that things go wrong but majority keep quiet. Every Nigeria probably wants a better country but none is bothered to ask for change. The few that bother to ask for a change, use the attention thereof to secure invitation to partake in the looting (settlement syndrome). Is it not absurd what we hear and see in Nigeria? Looters dictate who to appoint as judges, ministers, the police boss etc. Public infrastructures have gone totally bad. Worst of all, policemen are turning to counsellors of dooms.
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You walk into police stations to lodge complaints and the DPO who is the district law enforcement officer tells you to count your loss and accept your faith. No mention of the need to investigate or find the offenders. Because they are not interested in honest men palaver. But they will gladly take up a fraudulent man’s cause because they will be well compensated. The total collapse of law and order is ever visible on the Nigeria roads. This is where thousands of good Nigerians get killed yearly due to myriad of reasons. Can we ask ourselves? Where did we get it wrong? We can say as a people, we got it wrong from the various homes. What values did we inculcate in the generations before and generation now? Most other nations unlike us, do not need a pastor/Imam to tell them lying is wrong. We Nigerians must travel from Calabar /Kano/Maiduguri to Lagos Ibadan Expressway to be told lying is wrong. Our moral values are inappropriate. We place emphasis on making money without regard to the source. Much as someone is rich, the source does not matter. We steal from the government, we commit 419 and smuggle cocaine to make money and legalise the money at the churches, mosques and traditional institutions.
Tell me, which nation condones such and witness any positive development. We have all accepted it and coined the saying ‘he don arrive’. Arrive from where? Somebody please tell me. Arrive with the loot of crime to be celebrated? Nigerians who still live with the illusion that a saviour will appear with all solutions to the country’s problem had better understand. It’s not going to be. They better understand that the battle for the soul of Nigeria is been waged between the soulless corrupt and powerful elite and innocent (not particularly honest though) ordinary Nigerians who are deprived of the common good the country is blessed with. This struggle is not about religion or ethnicity. The struggle is about power and money. Why don’t we hear of irreconcilable differences between the powerful Nigerians especially politicians and military politico lords in Nigeria?
The goodies is for them, managed by them, and shared amongst them at the expense of the common Nigerians. Why has it not occurred to the rest of us that as far as the petrol dollar has not ceased, these men will fight amongst themselves but will remain united in the common agenda to plunder our resources? They are the bold Nigerians who can assert their will while the rest of us are the timid, and coward ones who cannot define our position. In simple terms, they are the dominant character while we are the weak ones. No wonder the country is a reflection of their character, ‘me, myself and I’. Without flogging issues, let it be known to us all that our destiny lies in our hand. We must be ready to fight for our independence from the hand of the ruthless greedy few who have not only monopolised power but the resources. Do you not notice that their offspring’s are been gradually introduced to continue the legacy. Nigerians must learn to fight for what they believe in. We must organise ourselves to confront these men. Organisation is the first step to actualisation. We must have various groups dedicated to fighting at various fronts. Recently, the FOI bill was shut down by the corrupt national assembly despite the publicity the press accorded it. The issue is, the rest of us left it for the press men to fight like it was their problem.
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A progress loving people would have mobilised and protest such flagrant incapacitation of the bill. The bill was incapacitated because it has the tendency to expose the greed of these people, ridicule them and probably pave the way for their prosecution. Finally I leave with this message; religion is the opium of the fools. The holy men of these religions now openly frolic with the corrupt politicians in spite of clear evidence that most misfortunes their adherents pray to overcome in worship places were actually the handy work of corrupt politicians. The holy are just equally are interested in big money, power and fame. Some holy men accepted import duty waivers from the corrupt politicians and abused it. They invited politicians to birthdays and took pictures with men who should not be seen among men with conscience and clear sense of good and bad. The politicians have asked the holy men to command us to pay taxes and the holy men have obeyed like errand boys of Adedibu beclouded by amala and gbegiri.
It is very doubtful the holy men and the corrupt political class pay taxes or pay correct taxes on their incomes. Even the taxes we pay, to what good use has it been put to. Isn’t the taxes been used to award contract to their own companies at very outrageous over inflated rates? Please this is too much to bear but our brothers and sisters in the journey for emancipation are yet ready to confront the evil. I hope, sincerely hope that they will ever be ready for the battle. And I ask, ‘’what is left for Nigeria to rejoice about?’’
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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