With the spate of incessant bombings, reprisal killings, assasinations, kidnapings, continous fall in education standards, deplorable state of power supply, corruption hearings and counter corruption allegations, it has become expedient for Nigerians to sit down and think of the implication of our present state of affairs and what this implies to the future of our children.
I did have a good laugh when a colleague of mine hurriedly packaged his Schengen visa application with a warning that "I had better get my visa ready, cos the nation is about to explode". He was amazed at my calm disposition and left me with a warning that "well, when it happens, I will remember that I told you so".
I did have another round of laughter about this, but I had a rethink later. Now, consider this, is it not amazing that many parents are sending thier children out of the country for a better education? Which parent does not want the best for his or her child(ren)? This is not brain drain, it is 'parental preservation instinct' at work. The enviroment is not safe any more.
I did have a chat with a very intelligent Director of a finiancial institution and he warned me to start saving in dollars and pounds for my childrens education. He was upset because we were trying to get a new Nigerian passport and the level of racketeering was appauling. He quoted a bible scripture to me "righteousness exhaults a nation" and He was of the opinion that a nation fails when mediocres and the un-intelligent people are at the helm of affairs.
This Director gave an example of the likes of Bill Clinton, Obama and David Cameron who finished from top class universities like Yale, Havard and Oxford while many of our past Presidents had little or no education until very recently.
I have great respect for this Director so I asked him, if he was to become the President of Nigeria today, what would he do to make things right? And he gave me the below 3 points:
1. Infrastructure: He would invest heavily in infrastructure- roads, water et al.
2. Power: The government has no business in the power generation business. What they need to do is open it up like they did with Telecoms. Get private investors to bid for power generation and supply in all the states.
3. Education: Revive the education sector by getting the teachers re-educated and re-certified, then increase thier salaries, welfare and also invest in the education sector ie schools etc.
This was interestingly too simple so I asked him if he had not forgoten the insecurity challenges. Guess what he said; "look, some problems are symptoms of greater problems. If you solve the power problem, jobs will be created and people will get busy."
I was impressed.
Things may not look good, but atleast we can hope for a better tommorrow. Beyond prayers, we must now act. If you love this country, then rise up and demand for accountability, stand against 'block headed mediocratic leaders' that adorn the high echelon's of power. Enough of 'politics of sentiments'. If he or she is not good enough, then they have no business leading us. 2015 is near by and the election songs are being hummed. My fellow country men. Arise oh compatroits! Nigeria's call obey... lets salvage what is left, atleast for our children's sake.
I do hope somebody reads this and implements these ideals. I refuse for this country to explode. I love my country and I hunger for an oppurtunity to do something to change it.
Whoever is reading this, please get an education and make up your mind to affect the Nigerian nation possitively cos there really is no place like home.
Till we meet again, keep winning.
David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka
