This Corntry: Agbado Series 3

 


As I'm writing this, PBAT is in France on a "working holiday". Whatever that means. Oh, lest I forget, he had a "working lunch" with embattled France President Emmanuel Macron last week in Paris.

Many Nigerians have questioned PBAT's penchant for travels to France and UK. They ask: why France or UK for working holiday, why not Obudu or some resort in Nigeria?  How many western leaders visit Nigeria for ten days for working visits?

Before I digress, how many times has PBAT run out of the country without proper hand over of power to hi deputy. It seems PBAT is telling us "I'm the law!" After all, his deputy had entered into the cabal's b;ack book for ever nursing any ambition at all. He couldn't be trusted. That Fulani Man.


Now to Nigerians. We have been quite unfortunate with leadership. I'm not talking about pre and independence era leaders. At least we knew what Awolowo, Zik and the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello and their contemporaries stood for. Not until 1999 that we have seen the dregs of the society assume power and since then we have all been restive.

Woe Unto You oh Land.....

The Book of Ecclesiastes says: " woe unto you oh land of your rulers are children... if they eat in the morning... for drunkenness and not for strength...

It this not what we have witnessed in Nigeria since 1999? Rulers who seek short term pleasure for themselves and their cronies over the collective good? They do these while mortgaging the future of the unborn generation. Their lack of visionary leadership has brought Nigeria to her knees- bleeding from every side in spite of the human and natural resources.

Nigeria is blessed with crude oil- one of the best in the world- and even more natural gas resources. Not only that, we have gold, aluminium, steel, zinc, etc. We also have vast arable land with adequate rainfiall but we spend billions of dollars yearly to import foods we can conveniently produce. Rice, garri, palm oil, tomatoes, fish, egg, milk and what have you.


The rulers never truly cared as they and their cronies can afford to import fancy food such as Uncle Ben's rice in those days. They are notorious in foreign countries where they spend like money is getting out of fashion. They don't patronise local hospitals, which are more of morgues than places of healing. The state of public schools is another. Of course, their children school abroad while the children of the poor manage schools without basic amenities. It is so bad in some places that students study under trees!


Roads! Federal roads are in sorry state all over the country but the FG is more interested in a multi trillion naira coastal road. Commuters and drivers face hellish trips on decrepit federal roads and it's not better at the state level. The experience is harrowing, and yours truly had been part of it..


Can Nepal happen here? That was the question on the lips of many when the Gen Z took to the street and sacked the utterly corrupt government. The pompous government had banned social media platforms, which prompted the revolution.


I hope the government will learn a lesson from that anyways.

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