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At the time of reading this, the year 2020 Christmas may have come and gone with nothing to celebrate by a preponderance of the population. Yet, this isn’t the worst Christmas in the history of our nation. We have had Christmas while at war, bombing and killing each other in one of the bloodiest wars Africa has seen, and we survived it as a nation.
However, this Christmas is unlike any other Christmas. The pandemic, general insecurity and economic hardship makes it an unprecedented season but we have good reasons for thanksgiving to God and to wish each other seasonal greetings and a prosperous 2021. As we move into the new year with hope and optimism, we must gird our loins and brace up for the task ahead, knowing the country is in a mess. Everything is just screwed up no matter how you look at them. Whether you are looking at the political, economic , security, and social angle, the country is messed up. The people are in complete despair and there is genuine fear if we will survive this as one people especially in the absence of inspiring leadership and good governance. The safety, security, peace and unity of the country is under threat much more than it has ever been. The forces pushing to tear down the country are many and determined in their resolve. It appears like there is no Commander and no battle cry for a coordinated defence of our national unity. Those we trusted with leadership seemed to have abandoned the ship of state to fate and uncertain future. The President who few years ago while asking for our votes promised to lead from the front is now without action. We are told to turn to God. We are reminded that only God can police our borders.
Yes, we are God believing nation. We account for the highest numbers of pastors and churches in Africa. We account for the highest numbers of imams and black pilgrims to Mecca and Medina. We have killed and slaughtered thousands of fellow citizens in the name of God than any modern nation.
Yes, we must turn to God especially at this difficult hour and time. We must bow down in awe. We will look up to heaven and ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness, but Mr. President you just have to do something because the only way God will hearken to our prayers is if you do your work. Heaven they say help those who help themselves.
An old Roman dictum says ‘Laborare est Orare’ meaning ‘To work is to pray’. Show me your prayers and I will show you my work. Without doing our part, heaven will be too far from helping us. Our uncanny ability to do nothing to secure the country is a hindrance to God’s work. Almost everyone believes we are either a failed state or some minutes away from being a failed state. We harbour three of the most violent and notorious terrorist groups in the world. No day passes without stories of law- abiding citizens being killed in their sleep or at work by terrorists baptised with different names by our security agents . Whether, you call them Boko Haram ,bandits or Fulani herdsmen , the underlying factors are that these shadow groups are terrorists harming, maiming and kidnapping innocent people. Mr. President, everyone is wailing, your people in Katsina are wailing, the clerics in the mosque are wailing just like the clergymen are. No one is happy by the state of affairs. These terrorists of different shades causing insecurity are not faceless. The government and the communities know them. Governor Masari of Katsina State was unambiguous when he said “we know those who kidnapped the Kankara Schoolboys , we know the bandits roaming our forests and communities and we know their locations.”
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The governor cannot do more than lament to the world because the instrument of coercion to destroy this terror groups are under the president’s tight control; hence he must do something to eliminate the bandits out of our space and not to push them across Niger Republic. We can help God to police our borders by deploying more technology and more men as border patrol officers. We have millions of unemployed graduates who can be recruited for enhanced border patrols. You do not need to look for the so-called repentant Boko Haram members and repentant bandits who end up as moles to join our armed forces when we have millions of graduates unemployed and roaming the streets. We can recruit these unemployed graduate youths and train them into the best fighting force in Africa. With proper training and equipment, they will decimate the ragtag army of terrorists. The ping pong the Generals are playing with the terrorists is no longer funny to the populace. We are sick and tired of our people including our young officers being killed.
If the president is satisfied with their performance, we the people think their best isn’t good enough. If the best of the Generals isn’t good enough, please fire them. They are all above retirement age and presumably tired of both the job and the uniform. Call them and thank them for their gallantry and let them go. The nation will heave a sigh of relief if you sack them . We are not happy that you may have become a hostage to your own Generals. Do something about our general insecurity so that God will do his own.
Economically, we are in our worse recession in history. The exchange rate promises to go high again. Cost of living will escalate and the sufferings in the land will increase. It’s true you may have inherited a floundering economy , coupled with the pandemics but you have compounded the problems due to your very wrong policies. If you are in doubt by my assertion, just check the exchange rate , rate of inflation , cost of commodities , fuel pump price etc. and compare it with the period of 2015 when you were sworn in as President. Take a look at our national reserve and see how it has dipped. Please do something so that the economy doesn’t get worse. In fact, having a good economy is more critical than who succeeds you in 2023. Mr. President, nepotism under your government has grown from bad to worse. The country is deeply divided due to your nepotism which has even extended beyond our shores . We are baffled that at a time when most federal roads are in ruins , and when you are unable to pay salaries and contractors who have provided services for the state , yet you find billions of dollars to construct roads and rail lines in Niger Republic. Patriotism would have suggested to you that our priority ought to be Nigeria first. If we can get our country right , then we can play big brother to other African countries . Right now, we are a laughing stock amongst committee of nations, hence you must do something about our current situation.
I wish you good health. Being a president is not easy especially being a president at a time the whole world is in crisis. Not every nation will collapse under the weight of our current crisis but weak nations will . We are getting weaker by the day and I am afraid that if you continue not doing anything, we might get to a stage where it will become too late for us to ever get it right again. So, I beg you one more time to shun partisan political affiliation , ethnic and religious prejudice and do something that will be in the collective interest of Nigeria.
