By Lois O. Adams & Chris’ Oboh
Without much ado in the expression of deep and sincere feelings, it becomes imperative to appreciate Nigeria and Nigerians who have staked their lives to do ordinary things in extraordinary manners towards ensuring that the name, Nigeria can survive, stand the test of times or compete favourably amongst the comity of nations, particularly those already in their socioeconomic pinnacle with regards to development.
But have their impacts on the country been felt in the past the six (6) decades? It may be a rhetorical question whose answers is also very subjective and relative. The oppression of those who actually mean well for our great country, irrespective of their status, religion, culture or political affiliations, is a cancer which has also eaten very deeply into the fabrics of the nation’s political and economic pedestal.
Due to the number of gluttons voraciously depleting our collective patrimony, and hiding under the guise of politicking, those whose intentions are noble in ensuring that Nigeria becomes great and greater, are either sidelined or annihilated politically.
Gluttony is life-threatening, for example, an obessed individual is likely to be vulnerable to all manner of ailments and die untimely, while those who eat moderately and carry out physical exercises, tend to live longer and healthier.
This is the situation of Nigeria since it’s inception. The leaders and led milk the treasury, they get over-fed, instead of them to shake it off to next neighborhood by channelling these resources towards Education, Health, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Human capital development etc, and this has chocked the fabrics of the country, and made us, as a nation to start dwindling down on a yearly basis, and subjecting us to serial borrowing from other countries.
Most Nigerians have eaten more than they can carry, and the country is in life support machine, that was built by only those who staked their lives to save the country, and the country is in dire need of a highly responsible leadership
Being over-fed has made us as a country lost patriots, we have lost good friends and family members to hardship, we have lost colleagues to stress of corruption, we have lost our identity, we have lost integrity, respect, businesses that would have galvanized the nation into a developed one, have been crumbled, we lost the right to association irrespective of status, our title, ” The Giant of Africa” had been rubbed in the mud.
Politicians have lost so much self-esteem, they make it a duty to kill well- meaning citizens to grab power and hit political stardom, because of the taste for gluttony.
At 60 Nigeria is choking, who will rescue us, who is bold enough to pay the price and get the prize, because a price has to be paid for our dear country to be overhauled for the good of every citizen and not a few over-fed individuals.
This is not the Nigeria of our dream, but I take solace in the resilience of some of us who have the firm resolve that, “Nigeria Must Rise Again”
God Bless Nigeria.
