"Evil is always unspectacular and always human. And shares our bed...and eats at our table." W.H Auden
Hi guys, this is a sombre one. I’m in my room and the only true connection that I have to happenings in Nigeria is the internet. I have seen some horrible and distressing pictures of protesters that were murdered in broad daylight by the police (people employed and paid to protect the citizens of the country). Then I also saw the picture of a burnt individual said to be a Hausa man in Benin. He had tyres around his neck. So at the same time that protests against the oil subsidy are on-going, people fear that reprisal attacks for Boko Haram’s actions in the north are on-going.
Now what boggles my mind is how did we get to this point? A point where human life literally means nothing. Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world. Almost every street in the country has either a church or a mosque or both. In churches, we shout the loudest and sing the loudest but where are the results of these? What do we have to show for it? The different religions in the country all claim to preach and practise peace as well. As a Christian, the bible that I read really does preach peace. We are told to ‘love our neighbours’ and even expected to ‘bless our enemies’. So are majority of the population phony? Do we merely use religion as a cover and not believe what we preach and scream about?
How can so much hate exist in our hearts? From the government to the people that voted for them; from the so called ‘wealthy cabals’ to their fellow citizens; from one citizen to another citizen. Why can we not have different opinions and then learn how to work with each other? Is it for greed, money or fame or a combination of the three?
As individuals, we need to work on ourselves and teach ourselves to believe in humanity. We need to start looking at others with compassion and seeing beyond our own selfish needs. I know that human beings are naturally selfish and it takes the right upbringing as well as commitment to work on ourselves to change that. Personally, my spirituality and Christianity helps a lot. In that light, I think we all need to connect to ‘our God’. Whatever it is you believe in, whatever gives you inner peace, connect to it and learn to treat others better. That way, when we get into authoritative positions, we can make a difference.
We cannot go on with being known for fraud, corruption and violence. We can be better.
@payme_my2cents
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3 comments:
This situation was well foretold by former President Olusegun Obasanjo & other people including the Americans. Revolutions are happening all over the world such that citizens of various countries are becoming more enlightened & informed making their voices heard.
Its obvious that Nigeria's President election & selection should not be party-based, personality-based, history-based but through rigorous mental gymnastics & demonstration of a perfect understanding of the needs of Nigeria.
GEJ's mistake is his approach & timing though his cohorts are not helping too. The most important decision now is rigid austerity measure with respect to cost of governance in all the 3 tiers of government at all levels. We will save much more from austerity & anti-corruption measures than from subsidy. After which, he has 4 major interconnected issues 2 tackle namely; corruption, power, oil & gas stability, & security. These are the determinants to our next level though security pose the greatest challenge now of which he has woefully failed. Oil subsidy removal is inevitable but he must have attained certain milestones.
The first milestone is to tackle the corruption in the oil & gas sector by cleaning up NNPC, persecute the so called cabals who are members of the economic team & sole financiers of GEJ campaign (I actually wonder with respect to the possibility of that). Then also ensure we have working & efficient refineries. Lastly, he should ensure no fuel tanker have access to west African countries.
The second milestone is power because our economy's power needs come majorly from PMS (petrol) and then other fuels like diesel, kerosene etc. Any negativity to PMS or petrol affects the economy negatively causing untold hardships.
The third milestone is the necessary infrastructure needed to drive the economy. At this junction, the subsidy can be removed because this stage is quite lengthy. This milestone will grow together with the subsidy removal positively.
GEJ has the sole opportunity to be the best president Nigeria ever had but he is on path of squandering this rare chance.
I pray the good Lord help Nigeria more now than ever. Amen!
Vox populi vox deu!!!
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