Peter  Obi: Searching  For The Obvious

LAGOS MAY 8TH (NEWSRANGERS)-If you have  any grain of decency  or integrity  in your  DNA,  growing  from childhood to adulthood  in Nigeria  must be  a nightmare. Especially if you have done  a  little travelling outside  our  dear country. The name of  the experience is  ‘Horror movie”. Like a dumb weakling, you kept observing the actions  and evil machinations of  evil men  and women unhindered. Aberrant and obnoxious behaviours become the norm. You are dumbfounded, speechless and powerless. For real, they are too much for you.

They oppressed the poor and powerless, looted the public  treasury mercilessly and imposed  the  incompetent and visionless  on us.  Meanwhile our supposed protectors  are  terrified  shivering  with  tails  between  legs.  The result? ‘Garbage  in,  Garbage out’ as Americans  would  joke.

The  problem with Nigeria  is, management  failure  not necessarily  corruption  as many  would  profess. This management scarcity is  artificial. Corruption  always  bows  to superior  management. Acute, chronic or endemic corruption can  be decisively  dealt  with.  Expectedly it  recoils  and  back tracts into  its  odious  shell in cowardice.

How can  a country be  fielding  its  fourth  11 while  benching its  brightest  and  best . How  can the  blind  be leading  the  clear  visioned?  How  can  first class  graduates  be  walking  the  streets and  riding  ‘okada’ while  ‘let my  people  go’ graduates  are  on top of    Police, Navy, Customs, Immigration,  civil service  to mention  a few.  The  hallowed  academia  is  also mercilessly raped. Doctorates and  professorships  are to dashed to cronies,  politicians and  highest  bidders.  Who  suffers? Our youth forced to be  taught  by people  who have  no knowledge  themselves.

The  scenario has become  so  confusing  that  our children  have  embraced  reckless hustling  as a  culture.  To many, money  answereth  all problems. Whether  you read  or not  you can come  out  in top  grades  if  you can ‘sort’ hungry or  greedy  lecturers out. Twenty  year old boys  whose mothers  roast yam and plantain at the bus stop now drive RANGE ROVER jeeps .    Nollywood is a big  employer of  Nigerians    and a  money  spinner. In its present  form,  it is  causing  havoc to the  moral  fabric of  the society. Ritual  and ‘juju’ money  has been  promoted  out  of  proportion to reality. Our innocent, fragile, minds called  children swallow everything hook, line and sinker and even try to  experiment  with these thrash. The youth are vulnerable and  overexposed. Even  seven year olds, according to social media, want  to make  it at  all costs.

Our problems are  self-inflicted. Our dear Naira  is almost  N500 to one dollar. Dr (Mrs) Okonjo Iweala  for six odd years controlled  the Naira  to below  N150 to a dollar. Then we were not  exporting  aircraft, cars, computers or machine guns. Just  our God-given  crude oil.  Given to us  for nothing. No  strings  attached. At the  international market  dollar  is dollar. Whether  you are selling  Boeing  777, Lexus  Jeep, Gold,  diamond or crude oil, dollar is  dollar. Like  our late  sanitary  friend  joked  ‘shit  money no de smell’.

It is  inferiority complex, lack of  clout  and  confidence before the  international  community and  IMF coupled with  reckless borrowing  that is rubbishing  the Naira. Share lack of  political  economics  by those  who should  know and  understand.  Grandstanding by half baked officials  who don’t  even  understand  the issues  at stake cannot help. Imagine 200 million people  sinking  for  fielding  wrong people.  We are not  selling  less crude oil than under  Okonjo Iweala. Rebel skirmishes here and they granted, but  there is no war, earthquake,  tornado or drought.

Just  stabilize  the Naira to Okonjo level  and  fresh air will  flood  the nation.  No big talk or rhetoric. America, Europe, China, Japan still  rely heavily  on railway transportation. I wonder  what  would  have  happened  to China without  trains. On a trip to  China I  noticed  irrigation following rail lines  for  tens  of  thousands of  kilometers. Clinging to each other like  Siamese twins.  Killing two birds with one stone. Agriculture and mass transportation.

Agitation from the youths of the  Southeast, as  unpalatable  as  it is,  is worsened by obvious and evident exclusion from the  scheme  of things.  If  equity  and fairness  have  any meaning, it is  the turn  of  Southeast  to produce  Nigeria’s  president.

No other person  has the  pedigree,  character, tract record better than  Peter Obi. Ebenezer  Babatope said so recently and  I agree with him. But Obi is too good  a  man,  too gentle a citizen to do the needful.

Obi would  rather leave  the country  than challenge Atiku. So, he needs  help. Ohanaeze  Ndigbo and all well-meaning Igbo should  shelve pride  and  go and  beg Atiku  to  shelve his  life-ambition and  give  his  boy  100 per cent support. The  ‘boy’ go need both moral and financial support.

Welcome President Obi.

The  time has come and it is now.

  • Dr Emeka  Iwuagwu writes from Mbaise, Imo State

The Sun News

Short URL: https://newsrangers.com/?p=87373

Posted by on May 8 2022. Filed under Features, National. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Leave a Reply

Photo Gallery

Designed by News Rangers ICT Department