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Education gone rotten

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Any decision to shutdown twelve thousand so-called illegal schools recently ‘discovered’ by the Lagos state government will most certainly jeopardise the future of their 1million pupils. To reach such a decision goes beyond the ridicule that followed this discovery and whilst the state authorities are still blushing in embarrassment, one could proffer some suggestions; it is a deplorable situation indeed for the state of our national education system particularly with private primary and secondary schools. No other state in this country boasts of a larger concentration of such private schools than Lagos State and this comes with great anguish to parents whose children’s future are threatened by the system’s attendant decay. Commercialism and bottom-line are forces driving the motivation of most private school owners. This sector is flooded with entrepreauneurs who have little or no motivation, as expected of educators, except to advance their business interests to the detriment of our children.

Against these backdrop therefore, I wish to bring to the attention of our education policy makers in both the state and federal levels of these pertinent developments;

 

  1. Nigeria is in urgent need of a curb on the pratices of owners of independent secondary schools with boarding facilities.It is therefore necessary to recommend as follows;

 

  1. There should be regulatory inspections on boarding facilities provided in schools with emphasis on them attaining required health and safety standards in the areas of health & safety; adequate and drinkable water, hostel ventilation, secure protection against mosquitos and harmful environment; provision of hygenic and safe cooking area; washrooms and toilet facilities built to stardard requirments; stand-by medical access 24/7;  provision of power supply within reasonable limits per night; rubbish removal facility approved by local council; fire safety equipment and routine drills approved by local councils.
  2. Parent Teachers Associations are to be enforced to endorse that these standard requirments have been met by their schools and same forwarded to the State departments of education for final approval each year of new intakes to the schools.
  3. State approvals are to be published by schools and displayed publicly within the school notice boards for all interested parties to see. The State approval must also be presented as soon as requested by any parent or interested party.
  4. All interested parents are to be allowed access in to boarding areas at an arranged time for purposes of viewing firsthand such facilities as has been provided by each school before admission of wards.

 

  1. Henceforth,  I recommend all schools be mandated to publish all fees alongside the sale of application forms. My research revealed that school managements are reluctant to make available to parents of new wards, an eloborate explaination on their shcool’s fee structure. It is both sad as it is underhand for any school management to refuse availing parents of school fees figures whilst making application forms available for sale. In the light of the foregoing, I recommend;
  1. Information as to any decision reached by a previous PTA meeting should be disclosed to new parents prior to any admission letters being signed for the intake of their ward/wards
  2. Parents must be notified of any levy only after it has been deliberated upon by meeting of the PTA and such a levy can only take effect in the succeeding session.
  1.  Many parents in Lagos state are bewildered at the constant change in the content of textbooks whilst the national curricula had remained unchanged. It is a great puzzle to all concerned why at the end of every 9 months of  a school year, texbooks become suddenly obselete and parents are forced to purchase new books.

It is a wonder, as it is of pertinent concern, why currently we allow a system that makes it imposible for parents to project their meager resources and pass down books used by a simbling when all are under the same school system.

I, alongside most parents, do not believe in the necessity to make changes in the textbooks within nine months and therefore view it as both a conspiracy and deliberate ploy between publishers and owners of private schools to make money out of parents by exploiting the inherent loopholes within the school system.

I recommend most urgently, to both state and federal authorities in education as follows;

  1.  
    1. Immediately institute an inquiry to the constant changes made by publishers of textbooks within our school curriculum.
    2. An educational books publishers regulatory body to monitor the activities of the sector as it relates to educational books particularly with quality and rational behind changes being made yearly on educational books.      

 

I hope all authorities responsible for ensuring effectiveness in our educational system, especially in the primary and secondary school levels, view in serious light these concerns. It is important to address them with the utmost urgency they truly deserve if we are to uncover the shroud of secrecy in the operations of many private school owners and save our children and, especially the parents, from suffering silently.

A PRESIDENT-BOKO HARAM & PROJECT NIGERIA

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No matter how heavy hearted, a king never bows his head or slumps his shoulders in public. Grace, once lost is not easily regained.  If a man chooses to place his life on the platform of opprobrium, one rule, both cardinal and fundamental applies; learn to hide your imperfections. I wish Mr President were reminded of these rules in public life because when he cuts a picture of melancholy in the face of a national pogrom-courtesy of some out-of-control-lunatics  without any apparent cause -except to put to question the rationale behind this nation remaining as one. Rather than feeling reassured, he subjects his populace to an entrapment of crippling alarm.

One need not go too far down the annals of history, though they are replete with examples, to discover pointers to what true leadership qualities demand.  A recent indicator is the calamity of 9/11. President Gorge W. Bush, a man with zilch military experience and an equally nada attribute of a strategist, was visibly stirred but not shaken as he had the news whispered to his ears by an Aid whilst on a time out with a bunch of kindergarten kids.

Rewind, to a US response to this calamity, Mr President, Gorge W. Bush of course, after taking stock of the extent of damages with his advisers, in his next public appearance, is in a brazen military-styled jacket rippling with what seemed like a six-pack muscle definition acquired overnight. The average American and the rest of the world were instantly apprehensive that something was about to happen. A man often hitherto caricatured by opponents with military background, as a lame duck suddenly stupefied everybody with a display of spine.  Today terrorists of any hue and creed remain dazed by what became a stern and deterrent reaction.

Fast-Forward, to a Nigerian government response to the terror of Boko Haram, I see a President who cuts a posture of a man if left unchecked, might for the first time in Nigerian political history at all levels, cut short his tenure and throw in the towel. This is how reassured I am by his body language!

I recognise that Mr President appears trapped in a catch 22 situation. On one hand, if he were to move too fast, he would run the risk of paying the price of haste considering that, he a man, with no military training and experience, has to negotiate his way through a political landscape filled with interests that are potentially as hazardous as landmines. On the other, should he continue to fidget, whine and posture while Nigeria burns, he is regarded as nothing short of a lame duck.

Do we then rely on a police service, an institution we have watched grow into the proverbial bee, which has delicately perched on the crouch. Strike too hard in the form of a purge of a corrupt structure and you risk total impotence. As the newly appointed Inspector General of Police fires off his first salvo of warnings to these scoundrels, one wonders where he will find the men to match his words with actions. Are we to wait for some conscripts or some rookies from the police academy? If  Ringim could not do much, what changes have we seen in preparation for  Abubakar to turn on the pressure on Boko Haram.

An even more depressing scenario, one, which is uniquely Nigerian, is; should Mr President turn to the military to rescue Nigeria from Boko Haram; how and when are we ever to rescue Nigeria from the military?

 These events are a test to the nature of the man at the helm of the affairs of this great nation. This country at this crucial time is in need of a President such as you.  Find the strength to fulfil your destiny. As is often said, when destiny throws challenges unto our path it is not because they are hard and we have no confidence but because they are hard and we lose confidence. Nigeria as both a nation and people is a complex kettle of fish. Do not allow your authority and constitutional powers be limited by your perception of the magnitude of our problems. Any leader pure in heart, with purposes and vision devoid of greed and lacking in the willingness to yield to corrupt practices will find the leadership of this country a most daunting and frustrating task.

This is why yours truly firmly believes that no politician with pristine intentions for the future of this country would want a third term. Worst still are the ones who declared to make this country ungovernable should they lose the mandate to rule us. They certainly qualify for our blacklist from ever making it to the presidency of this nation. If these fellows were hurled before our courts on charges of treason, as they rightly deserved, perhaps this country will not have to contend with the menace of Boko Haram.

I imagine Biafra Leader Late Dim Ikemba Odimegwu Ojukwu, a graduate from some of the best English institutions, will disregard his decorum and find good use for his middle finger as he tells us from the other side to stuff it! It is sad though that a man who resorted to war , lost and afterwards expressed his fears ever so  vociferously to alert  a particular part of this country of the dangers in contracting the infections of a ‘jaundiced colonial contraption’ appears vindicated by current events. In the wake of his demise accolades are being showered albeit posthumously and from most unlikely quarters, such irony! Ikemba will most certainly be at peace now in the knowledge that, after all, his arguments then for the rationale behind the civil uprising of the 60’s were right. While he was alive, there seemed a conspiracy to disagree with him. Now that he is dead, the nation is awash with a unified agreement over his vision.

However, events have since overlapped to put to question the argument of secession now. It is too late; apparently, we are resigned to one uncertain fate as Nigerians. The deadly disease has contaminated us all and as Siamese twins conjoined at points that are of the most precarious and delicate in developmental interdependence, any attempt at severance could lead to a total collapse of all life support.

Let us now begin to consider as a matter of urgency what we can do for our country Nigeria and not what Nigeria can do for us. This is because corruption taints both our ideas and their implementation. Let us not be parochial in our views of the bigger picture. Those who cry out for secession at this stage of our national existence are like good liars who always mean what they say until they say it. The talk of secession reminds one of King Solomon’s solution in the biblical story of two women contesting for one baby. Hold it up, slash it in two and hope before you do the truth will out as to which tribe, region or religion feels marginalized the more! Indeed, do you agree with those whose arguments against secession hinge on their vast financial investments all over this country? Alternatively, do you go with the sentiments of the family members of victims of Boko Haram or swayed by the angst of the wider populace who are obviously lost in the argument on the long-term benefits of fuel subsidy?

The reasons for secession ring hollow and any attempt at this route for a solution to the malaise of this nation amounts to cutting off the nose to spite the face. Nevertheless, the reasons for secession should not be disregarded entirely just like the reasons against secession should not be consumed both line and sinker. The devil as always is in the details. One argument could present a solution from its opposition. In the final analysis, we will discover more reasons why we should remain as one and less of why we should part ways. Only an open and candid insight into the issues from all sides of the debate can proffer this solution we so desire.

Largely, Mr President must and should preside over this matter, from a position perhaps akin to a devil’s advocate, which ironically requires the Wisdom of Solomon.

Bottom line; for us as a people to get the best out of any dialogue to move project Nigeria from its current position of perpetual work in progress, the western states must put away hypocrisy and the northerners less greed whilst the easterners should endeavour to find their head, which they lost since after the civilian strife of the ‘60s.

Soccer Lesson 101 aka Barca

Over the past few years Jose Marinho redefined my love for football. I saw myself following a coach instead of a team. I have remained loyal until tonight. Barcelona's win over Manchester United proved something I have always secretly believed; equalize your opponents strengths and their weaknesses will become more apparent.
An added edge to the head-to-head was that whilst one team came to enjoy the game the other was fixed on a mechanical approach which at times make European style of football predictable and boring. Tonight we all saw what difference this can make to any game and I am sure Sir Alex will agree ...quavering hands and all!

Good Luck Mr President


So Mr President you finally made it to your seat through a popular vote. You have outsmarted the cabals of Nigerian politics, surprised pessimists like me and silenced doomsday prophets like Atiku to become the first non-controversial, transparent, truly internationally accepted elected civilian president of this potentially great nation called Nigeria. There is no rebranding better than events currently unfolding in this country. Mr President it must be divine intervention combined with a generous dose of good luck. It is also the efforts of a majority of Nigerians who raised their heads from their personal problems and decided to take control of what is happening to their country. It is this singular effort by a united Nigerian populace to once, since independence, take responsibility for the failings of this country. This singular effort has put the fear in all politicians involved in this very political process.

Mr President Sir, it is not on record that you ever postured as an astute administrator. It is also not on record that you were ever an egghead in school. But in a country like Nigeria astute administrators and eggheads are bound to fail. Beyond your unusually genuine smile for a politician, you have demystified our democracy by bringing to your post simplicity and unparallel honesty many politicians will find very hard to duplicate. It is these qualities that has endeared you to the hearts of many Nigerians and even convinced northerners to vote for a man with an Igbo name! Who am I to disagree? Give Nigerians an honest man who will do what needs to be done, than a fly-by-night astute administrator or egghead who only empties the national treasury... brilliantly!

I thank God for these political and corporate trends which appear to be taking shape in Nigeria. We are slowly loosening the future of this country from  the grip of a certain click of so-called political and corporate stalwarts whose era have contributed nothing to the growth of this country except to loot and ensure the stagnation of any form of development and progress of this great nation. Such clicks come in the manner of astute administrators and eggheads far more are of the ilk of ex-combatants or direct or indirect beneficiaries from the aftermath of the civil war of the late 60’s.

Mr President at this stage I must emphasize to you that I am not a PDP party faithful still savouring the sweet taste of success and preparing to gloat on possible opportunities. I am not aligned to any party. I have never been convinced to vote for any one when in this country but I voted PDP because of you. My choice for state governors may disappoint you. You may be handed a shortfall in PDP gubernatorial seats but not to worry Nigerians are solidly behind you. Quite frankly I do not foresee a future for the PDP after your tenure.

 Having made my little effort to ensure you take your post, Mr President in the next four years my expectation of change are quite modest.  I, like many of my realist compatriots do not envisage an earth-shaking change in the scenario. I do however believe that rather than wait for God, you will finally provide electricity. I am also of the firm belief that the changes you bring will offer us the blueprint of leadership that we crave so much for. You will set a standard that all Nigerians will be willing and proud to lay down their lives to protect. Where will any successor find the courage to put us all back in darkness again after we have enjoyed the gains of constant power supply brought by your efforts?

As a returnee from the Diaspora I have come to the realisation that no matter how much of a Nigerian you think you are, you will face a culture shock on your return to this country. And in a variety of ways your reaction will bemuse, flabbergast or simply irritate friends and relatives depending on who is listening to your rants of complaints about how rotten the system has become. Your captive audience are likely to see the situation in a different light, perhaps with added sense of humour, preferring to acknowledge that our cup of development is only half empty and you the returnee, raging with anger and righteous indignation at poor folks being bombarded daily with a variety of injustices in all levels of their lives, will remain adamant that this cup has been left half empty for too long. Over and above constant power supply, an average Nigerian will always have indicators which assist them to measure the level of this cup of progress.

Mr President why in this country should an individual organise a birthday party or any private function for that matter, and deploy police personnel to man his gate and assist in crowd control? What happened to all the private security outfits licensed to carry out such jobs? Do we have so many underutilized officers that we now have to allow them abused as bouncers in a private ceremony? You can see your Excellency I am targeting what many will perhaps regard as trivial but Mr President the average Nigerian does not have the patience for untangling complex economic issues this is why they chose you to watch over those who do.  

 One slogan: -The police are your friend- you find in most traffic stops in central Lagos and around the rest of the country. I find this both ironic and ridiculous. A couple of weeks in the country brought me to this conclusion; in many countries I have sojourned the first resort to a dispute is to seek legal assistance beginning with the nearest law enforcement officer insight  but in Nigeria it is the direct opposite. People tend to run or avoid as much as possible involving the legal system in disputes. It is generally believed that once you take that route a matter spirals out of control and quickly becomes complicated for both parties. This is because you will have to dole out money to motivate the police to do a job they get paid for; lawyers who can quickly turn to money sucking leeches, and a suspect justice system entrenched in ‘who know who’.  Mr President as pressing as the need for electricity, we urgently request that you restore the faith in our justice system and bring back dignity in the police and other arms of our security service.  

Daily I get plagued with questions of why is this so, why should this be allowed to happen and, the more difficult it is to find answers, the more reasons I am tempted to agree with those who have chosen to stay further away from this country. Such whys are namely; an argument between a couple of motorists playing the role of judge and jury in a scene of any accident is all that is required to hold the most part of Lagos traffic or any part of the country for that matter, at a standstill for hours and law enforcement officers walk or drive by in their usual siren -blaring- motorcade, and do nothing to assist? Imagine the loss of many man-hours, and consequently millions of naira in revenue to both the state and individuals. The mayhem and lawlessness that is Lagos continues to be a disgrace to any rebranding efforts of this country’s image. The state remains the melting pot for the economic aspirations of the largest number of our population and it is no gainsaying to emphasise that the rest of the world see Nigeria through what goes on in Lagos. Fix Lagos State and the rest of the country will be in tow. It should not matter to you that Lagos is currently in the firm hands of ACN. On your next visit Mr President if you look around you will agree with the choice Lagosians have made. Lagos is just an example of how our political elite completely displaced our sense of infrastructural development. But as Governor Babatunde Fashola makes great strides to right as many wrongs as he possibly can we your voters Mr President, trust that you are sufficiently level-headed to complement where others will choose to sabotage.

 Sir, you have the onerous task of proving to all across the country who refused to tow party lines, and chose to put our country first, that a new democracy is here and here to stay. Mr President, this fact is what your people in the Niger Delta will be waiting for with great anticipation that real development will finally get to them. Slice it whichever way you want to; the situation in the Niger Delta was unfair and in the effort to attract fairness and justice many lost their lives violently. As you jostle with the big issues do not forget  those who were turned into cannon fodder by individuals within your party hierarchy .It is time for Nigeria to be fair she owes a  great amount of fodder to the cow she has milked all these years. Without denying other parts of the country an equal attention, it is indeed time to bring home the bacon for a people who have been glaringly marginalised. Oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico is as damaging as it is in the Niger Delta. Nigerians are aware of your efforts at compensation, training and reintegration of decedents but they may return to join the long queue of the qualified but unemployed. It will be forever to your legacy when you transform this Delta region into anything close to another economic melting pot for the people of the East and South of Nigeria in particular and for the wider populace. Another economic magnet for our industrious population located in and around the Niger Delta is a plausible alternative which will decongest Lagos State and the Federal Capital Territory FCT Abuja already feeling the pressures of over population. The Delta region is blessed with what it takes to, so make it happen.

Your Excellency a reflection of the votes suggests you are held in high esteem across the country so, regardless of party affiliation, you can hold the whip on any state governor who fails to perform. Make the noise and Nigerians will support your call to kick out inefficient state officials because we have the faith in you to cry wolf when there is truly a reason to do so. We also have the faith that on a national level you will appoint your subordinates based on competence and not tokenism or settlement.

Finally, Mr President, I appreciate the fact that you have been voted into Aso Rock without a head spinning list in your campaign manifesto. Thank God you have not made so much noise about stamping out corruption. That would have been a tall order and could have cost you the election. Now that you are in ‘go softly softly catch monkey’.  I have often challenged many a Nigerian that if they gave me one reason to love this country I will offer them 5 more why they should not. Focus on the above and a few others -it will take more than an administration to do all- hopefully, prayerfully you will reduce the odds.

 

Points to ponder

POINTS TO PONDER

As you read certain books, over time you may forget the whole story but words...words ... they have a way of lingering in one’s memory and tend to shape one’s perception of life.

Here, I share some of those words, a few are actually mine; you may agree or disagree but surely cannot ignore.

·         In The Quest for Authentic Power (Berrett-Koehler) by G. Ross Lawford, the author suggests that an ounce of intention is better than a pound of perspiration. In other words, take time to clarify goals and motivation before starting on tasks. “You’ll find that the conversion of intention into reality requires much less effort than you are accustomed to exerting. A thought is powerful in its own right.”                                                 

·         Sealed lips and listening ears retain wisdom. Do not speak in haste, neither do you at the risk of being misunderstood. Perception illuminates the words of wisdom for a mind darkened by ignorance.

·         In any endeavour, be it in business or in matters of the heart, do not invest more than you are willing to lose. People are not always what they seem. Adopt a cautious acceptance to that personality which each individual presents by ensuring you protect yourself from whatever part they have chosen to hide.                

·         Loving someone is fantasy but living with someone is a reality which demands work. If you are not up to it, you are constantly on the move chased by your own inadequacies and in search of that fantasy. Marriage does neither a good man nor woman make; it only perfects that which is already in you, for the better or for the worse.                                             

·         Marriage is like a choice from a menu. You are satisfied with what you have up until you look into another’s plate

·         Is it not pure joy to be poor and debt free?! There is no real happiness in being rich but saddled with problems your ‘wealth’ may not repay. It is indeed a curse to be poor and in debt. God forbid!

·         I would rather lend my money to a man who seeks help in dignity than to the one who comes, despondent and wallowing in self pity. The man with pride, for fear of losing face will invest well to repay but the one who has lost his dignity in calamity may be content as a charity case. Therefore to the former lend, and to the later, help.                                                          

·         I feel safer to deal with a man of proven integrity, regardless of his religious affiliation, rather than a self professed born –again Christian.          

·         You can keep your eyes shut to dream of your vision but you will have to keep them wide open to see your vision lest it remains only a dream.                                                       

·         Parenting is a road filled with twists and sharp turns with frequent riddles you have to figure out as you go along. Answers are usually found at the end of the road and are only for those who have the dedication to see it through.

·         Infidelity is a thrill not for the victim. Just like a joke is funny depends on who is laughing

·         The height of a man is best measured by when he is standing on his wallet. Another author wrote ;‘the human measure of human life is its income ; and surely  the divine measure of human life is in its outcome.’

·         What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

·         When the forest grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable.

And finally the lines that spoke direct to my heart and that which reminds me of certain experiences I would prefer to forget.:

·         I wish heaven had a phone so I could hear your voice again. I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake from which I'll never part..God has you in his arms. I have you in my heart♥.

Under Construction

Under Construction

Yours truly has been engaged for several months with matters equally close to my heart. In the past few months this site has received over 2000 hits and 194 emails 76 of them not very flattering over my comments on Nigeria. To those denialists(sic!), the events of the past couple of months have vindicated my stand on these issues and I say to them eat your hats out!

I assure my loyal readers they won’t have to wait much longer for another instalment of a of my  mind over matters. In the mean time ...;

Democracy: Work in progress

So the Democratic Alliance (DA) is to team up with the Independent Democrats (ID). Great news indeed for South African politics and democracy in Africa. As the country continues to serve as the beacon of the true virtues of democracy on the continent, the ANC needs a formidable opposition, on one hand, to prevent its political appointees adopting a liaises fair attitude to issues affecting the grassroots and on the other, to ensure a readily available alternative should the wheels of dominance begin to show some wear and tear for the ruling party.
If you ask me, change is never a constant and democracy anywhere in the world is work in progress; a continuous effort at trial and error in both ideas and the party in power. No party can claim a monopoly of strategy in dealing with the needs of a people.

Predators amongst us

Of tricksters, battle of wits and lost dreams; are Nigerians trapped in a self-inflicted virtuous circle of repeatedly voting hooligans into power? Or are we a perfect example of what Lewis Hyde describes in his book ' Tricksters Makes This World'- simply preys in a deliberately hatched 'confounded polarity' by our political elite?
In any democratic dispensation the electorate has the trump card. It is a called a VOTE. But like hapless preys we have been, and still are, we have rolled many times over for our predators called political elite to feast on our resources. And now we sense a clear and present danger to our democracy. Our same old predators are out from their fortresses; awake from a short-lived political hibernation.They are on the prowl right now and making their usual and familiar noises, when they are hungry and desperate for power. 
These gluttons do not need much exerted effort at cunning reversals. A couple of wads of Naira notes always suffice to have us lured and trapped in yet another political aporia.
Through staged-managed and cleverly manufactured political logjams our ever so cunning and ever so voracious predators politicians devour our treasury, they also pillage our natural resources in both its human and mineral forms.
Thus over the years the Nigerian political waters have become so murky and shark infested requiring any aspirant with the remotest intention at patriotism to acquire first the sensibilities of a sly fox, the unforgiving memory of an elephant and the appetite of a hunchback whale.
Even sadder reality is the fact that these predators to our hopes and dreams remain the same clique of personalities. As we replenish lost resources we fail in collation by recycling these hooligans to our helm of affairs. And so like the present, they seek to return to feed some more, calling on their ilk to join in the frenzy.
Tricksters that they are, predators all the same, our political elite have hung around too long that they boast of a sharpened skill at 'blocking opportunity, confusing polarity and disguising tracks. Of course they claim to be well-schooled, masters in arresting all nuances we may attempt at wresting from their stranglehold. Hence we remain blessed with our Maradonas and Kingmakers of our democracy.
When an old guard steps aside, there appears what is likened a respite but these predators are never daunted, as they always ensure a conduit through which they yank the chains of change and or maintain a continuous siphon of gratuities.
This is where the similarities with Lewis Hyde's thoughts departs from the Nigerian equation. The predators in our polity are uncannily inventive at mirages of hope.They do not have to be in Aso Rock. Instead, having deployed subterfuge and its cousin entrapment, they create a very believable illusion that your vote has counted, a new head-of-state elected and or a mandate is politically correct. To our chagrin the status quo returns  in only a few months because there are special interests who benefit. It is these special interests cum predators who we the electorate need to urgently outwit at their 'character-tracking' abilities.
How do we go about achieving this, you might ask? Well, simple; never surrender your sense of passion for the advancement of Nigeria to greed. In place of nepotism and tribalism let your patriotic spirit reign supreme no matter how difficult and testing the situation or how many tricks our politicians pull at us.
If we are to turn our aspiration into reality then let us not allow our voices of decent be muffled by any attempts to stuff Naira notes down our consciences.
For how long are we to remain objects of ridicule by nations on our continent far less endowed in numbers and resources than we are? We are regarded as bulldogs and noisemakers of our continent who when occasion demands we rise to challenge the status quo, we cower with such embarrassing timidity, either in fear of our endemic predators called political elite or we succumb to the lure of their stolen wads of Naira notes.
For once in this piece, I cease to make allusions and throw down the gauntlet; let us stand together one and all patriots of Nigeria, a united force behind the current president Goodluck Jonathan. He is a politican cut from a different cloth. He urgently needs our support  as he sits meekly albeit precariously in Aso Rock, whilst the real predators to  our unity and resources circle menacingly. This is our chance to outwit the tricksters in our polity and chart a new course. If we let this opportunity pass us by, another luck as good as this may never come soon enough.