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By Abdullahi Yunusa
Fellow countrymen and women, I choose to wrap up my literary expedition for the year 2013 with this letter to ordinary Nigerians of different classes, status, backgrounds, creeds, tongues and ideological leanings; especially to those commonly called ‘Ordinary Nigerians’. Dearly beloved, this is my own humble gift to humanity, ordinary Nigerians in particular, as we bid farewell to 2013. While we are already basking in the euphoria of the yuletide, I charge us to take out time and reflect deeply on issues raised here. We are not new to writing letters in this part of the world. Even though technological advancement is fast displacing conventional letter writing with more easy and instant communication methods, some of us cannot just detach ourselves from writing letters.
Without doubts, several letters have already been written and addressed to those at the corridors of power, their cronies and establishments. I have lost count of the number of well-written, thought-provoking and soul-piercing articles I personally authored and addressed to those in power, high-profile personalities and government establishments. As usual, such articles were basically targeted at ensuring that our leaders don’t veer off the lane of commonsense, resist the temptation to promote personal interests and constantly remind them of the sacredness of the tasks in their hands. A number of such articles have appeared in both the conventional newsprints as well as reputable online news sites. Whether such letters have produced desired outcomes is a different thing altogether. Even though issues raised in such letters are still left unsolved or have assumed alarming dimensions, I personally find soothing consolation in the fact the letters truly got to their destinations. I’m sure their Press Secretaries or Media Aides must have reviewed and analyzed the content of such letters for them to read. It was former President Olusegun Obasanjo who once said that he has no business flipping through pages of local newspapers, according to him, “they don’t report facts and are always sensational”. An average Nigerian Big Man or Politician only applauds the media whenever they portray them in good light or publish materials that seek to promote his interests.
Several letters, laced with indisputable facts, unambiguous content and written in easy-to-read manners have been left to gather dusts on the shelves in most government offices. So, sending them more letters, without corresponding action, is tantamount to attempting to fetch water in a basket! I rather choose to speak directly to those I can see, relate with and possibly, influence their behavioural make-up. Those in power call those on the order side, ordinary Nigerians! They label them ordinary Nigerians not because they can’t afford three square meals, pay their bills or clothe themselves, but simply because they are not holding political positions. Or simply put, because they don’t belong to the class of the thieving elite.
Fellow countrymen and women, I m very sad and worried. I’m alarmed by the way we allow our appointed or elected representatives to choke us with practices considered very harmful and detrimental to our lives and that of our dear nation. No nation grows in an environment where laws are breached with impunity. No nation attains greatness in an environment where a negligible percentage of its population bury themselves in affluence, while a large chunk of its population still live from hand to mouth. This is a country where social and economic rights of its citizens are serially abused by those in authority. We, the citizenry allow so many ills to go unchecked. Through our unified silence, we have indirectly endorsed some ill practices. In extreme cases, we even offer support to these leaders to further impoverish, insult and shortchange us with impunity. Like sheep without shepherds, our leaders have led us astray into dangerous lands. We have groped in the dark for too long. Our leaders have since realized that we are too fearful, too naïve and not daring enough to question their profligate disposition, ostentatious lifestyles, greed, avarice and primitive accumulation of our commonwealth.
Undeniably, most Nigerians are nowhere close to what could be termed comfortable living. Even though Nigeria has what it takes for its people to live like kings and queens, our leaders pray fervently for it not to happen. They don’t want those on the lower rung of life’s ladder to overcome their challenges and live comfortably like them. They dread seeing the less privileged rise above their limitations. With the abundant human and natural resources God has blessed us with, we have no reason to lack the basics of life. Water, shelter, clothing, education, food and amenities like road, hospitals, electricity and schools should no longer be seen as luxuries, but what should be in place. This is where I tend to disagree with those who often thunder that we should pray for our leaders instead of throwing stones at them. God is more than fair to us. What is it that He hasn’t blessed Nigeria with? Arable land, clement weather, productive human population, mineral resources etc are some of God’s priceless gifts to Nigeria. Regrettably, instead of harnessing the aforementioned gifts to better the lots of all Nigerians, we are rather agonising and languishing in search of hope and direction.
It appears we have become so used to the mess that our country has become. Nothing seems to bother us anymore. Many have lost interest in the project called Nigeria. This is very sad. Ideally, as citizens, we should all be benefiting from the nation’s wealth. As citizens, irrespective of tribe, creed and political persuasion, we have equal stake in the sharing and allocation of Nigeria’s vast resources. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that our leaders have cornered the resources to serve their interests and those of their cronies. This gross injustice is so obvious to be left unchallenged. Challenging them doesn’t imply taking up arms or inciting others to attack our leaders. It’s about reminding them of the need to redistribute the resources among Nigerians. It is about telling them of the consequences of their actions. A hungry man is an angry individual. A victim of injustice is a potential time-bomb. If nothing urgent is done to address societal injustices, then we are giving room for violence and other crimes. If the country appears handicapped or not interested in addressing certain injustices meted to its citizens, such citizens would seek for ways of avenging the injustice done to them. This is why serious governments across the world ensure that rights of their citizens are not violated for whatever reasons. In cases where such rights are denied, such governments quickly work out modalities on prompt compensation.
The word legacy doesn’t exist in the dictionary of our leaders. All they know and do is to amass wealth, loot the treasury and gather enough wealth to cater for their families. To them, public office is an avenue to enrich themselves and not to offer service. This is chiefly responsible for why they engage in unimaginable things just in their quest for power. The only time they pretend to care for you and I is before and during elections. As usual, when elections are over, their doors are shut against those they claim to be representing. It is high time we realized that our leaders careless about us. We must all rise and take our destinies into our own hands.
Strangely, we, those often called ordinary Nigerians tend to defend and hold brief for leaders accused of graft. Instead of naming and shaming those cornering our collective patrimony through contract splitting, kickbacks, contract inflation, misappropriation, we often rise to defend their action for very stupid reasons. It is sickening to see ordinary Nigerians rise in defense of leaders found to have abused public office simply because such a leader shares blood or certain affinities with them. I recall with pain how some young men in Imo state took to the street to defend Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah who was alleged to have directed heads of parastatals under her supervision to get her two bullet-proof cars with funds not captured in the budget. In all, the entire saga was reduced to an ethnic issue, with a few Igbo brazenly defending their ‘own’.
This is not how to build a country. We have stayed too long on the wrong path. No matter how far we have gone on the wrong lane, we can still retrace our steps back to the drawing board to start again. Let us begin the year 2014 on a promising note. It is no longer going to be business as usual. Fellow ordinary Nigerians, I wish that we could all take our pride of place in how this nation is governed. We were once blind, but we can now see. Do have a hitch-free festive season and a prosperous new year in advance.
Abdullahi Yunusa wrote in from Imane, Kogi state.
[email protected]
Source: SaharaReporters
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