Today, Education is not free and Healthcare provision is out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians. In a country so rich in mineral resources, ordinarily, these programs would have been of easy reach by every Nigerian, but due to unbridled wastage of our oil wealth and the massive fraud in high places, healthcare and quality education are foreign to Nigerians. It has been so since time immemorial. While acquisition of private jets is presently the vogue and a N9 billion house proposal for the Vice President has disturbingly taken a center stage in national discussion, President Jonathan, Ministry of Niger Delta, and NDDC are yet to develop a blueprint on how to link Yenagoa in Bayelsa State with Port Harcourt in River State by a modern highway system.
The IBB Government built the Third Mainland Bridge mainly through water and swamp. He did not waver in his resolve to link Lagos mainland with the Island. His government was conscious of the fact that, given the enormous flow of Petrodollar, financing the project, no matter the exorbitant cost, would not be difficult to execute. Similarly, the same IBB Government, followed by the Abacha's regime, expedited the relocation and finalization of the construction of a new Federal Capital. Also, they both knew that the flow of Petrodollar will make the realization a forgone conclusion.
You may want to argue, if you wish, that the FCT project was accelerated, because IBB was certain that remaining in Lagos City was strategically inadvisable. No matter your conclusion, you will no doubt, agree with me that today, Aso Rock, presently being occupied by an unexpected visitor from one of the minority tribes, belongs to no one in particular. IBB stepped aside, and Abacha is no more. And the Federal Capital Territory has become a City that we can now proudly say; we built with our own wealth and sweat. It is about taking action.
Mr. President, you have the time, and you have the Petrodollar, as well. You have no excuse to give, if your administration cannot link the Niger Delta with the rest of the country with modern highway system that will stand the test of time - rain, storm, wind, and flood.
Indeed, the topography is swampy, porous and precarious. If our Federal Government and Oil Companies could construct oil pipe-lines throughout the same swampy and muddy water of the Niger Delta to the main land of Nigeria, why can't the same Federal Government in collaboration with Oil Companies build for Nigerians and the people of the Niger Delta, a highway system that we can proudly leave behind for future generations?
You may want to argue, if you wish, that the FCT project was accelerated, because IBB was certain that remaining in Lagos City was strategically inadvisable. No matter your conclusion, you will no doubt, agree with me that today, Aso Rock, presently being occupied by an unexpected visitor from one of the minority tribes, belongs to no one in particular. IBB stepped aside, and Abacha is no more. And the Federal Capital Territory has become a City that we can now proudly say; we built with our own wealth and sweat. It is about taking action.
Mr. President, you have the time, and you have the Petrodollar, as well. You have no excuse to give, if your administration cannot link the Niger Delta with the rest of the country with modern highway system that will stand the test of time - rain, storm, wind, and flood.
Indeed, the topography is swampy, porous and precarious. If our Federal Government and Oil Companies could construct oil pipe-lines throughout the same swampy and muddy water of the Niger Delta to the main land of Nigeria, why can't the same Federal Government in collaboration with Oil Companies build for Nigerians and the people of the Niger Delta, a highway system that we can proudly leave behind for future generations?
Mr. President, that is a question you must start to answer. You have the Ministry of Niger Delta, NDDC, Your Honorable Self and Your Highly Esteemed Office. What else can a people possibly ask for in a country? I will repeat a line I used elsewhere on this Blog - a line that I memorized in my Economics class in my Grammar School days: "Money is not needed for it material composition, but what it can purchase."
The late Professor Ambrose Ali initiated, and, in fact, started the construction of a State University in his village, Ekpoma. Today, it is a national institution and it is named after him. Without equivocation, I am proud to declare that I am a worthy alumnus of the institution. And there are thousands Bendelites and Nigerians like me who would not have gotten their bachelor or graduate degrees, but for that institution.
What do you want to be remembered for, Mr. President? Identifying, arresting, and indicting public funds embezzlers and bogus petroleum marketers, without the audacity and strategic legal mechanisms to convict them and recoup our stolen wealth? It is one thing to indict and arrest, but it takes more to convict and recover the loots. That is where your administration is failing badly. Time will tell. But now, time, is certainly not in your favor.
Take your mind and attention off 2015 and make the best out of now. 2015 will take care of itself, if all is well, and if and only if you stay on the side of the people and do the right thing. You should be content with the fact that the resentment of PDP (your party) by Nigerians does not translate into acceptance of the present leadership of the opposition parties by Nigerian voters. Be that as it may, absence of credible opposition does not in similar vein translate into a victory for PDP in 2015. Any thing could happen. (Guys, take your mind off disintegration; that is not happening, and is not what I am talking about here)
Granted, Nigeria is not a monolithic society culturally and socially, but hunger and starvation, joblessness and hopelessness do not know color or regional boundaries. They speak the same language: Mass Revolt. So, no one should take the loyalty of the unaffiliated Nigerians for granted. Mr. President, you have three years from this very moment to make significant or radical changes in our political system and take power back from the stranglehold of special interests and the old-school and the young-school political careerists who are wrecking havoc on our political system.
The late Professor Ambrose Ali initiated, and, in fact, started the construction of a State University in his village, Ekpoma. Today, it is a national institution and it is named after him. Without equivocation, I am proud to declare that I am a worthy alumnus of the institution. And there are thousands Bendelites and Nigerians like me who would not have gotten their bachelor or graduate degrees, but for that institution.
What do you want to be remembered for, Mr. President? Identifying, arresting, and indicting public funds embezzlers and bogus petroleum marketers, without the audacity and strategic legal mechanisms to convict them and recoup our stolen wealth? It is one thing to indict and arrest, but it takes more to convict and recover the loots. That is where your administration is failing badly. Time will tell. But now, time, is certainly not in your favor.
Take your mind and attention off 2015 and make the best out of now. 2015 will take care of itself, if all is well, and if and only if you stay on the side of the people and do the right thing. You should be content with the fact that the resentment of PDP (your party) by Nigerians does not translate into acceptance of the present leadership of the opposition parties by Nigerian voters. Be that as it may, absence of credible opposition does not in similar vein translate into a victory for PDP in 2015. Any thing could happen. (Guys, take your mind off disintegration; that is not happening, and is not what I am talking about here)
Granted, Nigeria is not a monolithic society culturally and socially, but hunger and starvation, joblessness and hopelessness do not know color or regional boundaries. They speak the same language: Mass Revolt. So, no one should take the loyalty of the unaffiliated Nigerians for granted. Mr. President, you have three years from this very moment to make significant or radical changes in our political system and take power back from the stranglehold of special interests and the old-school and the young-school political careerists who are wrecking havoc on our political system.
The death of Governor Yakowa and Retired Security Adviser, General Azazi, sad as they are, must be an eye opener to you and the numerous wealthy Nigerian private jet and helicopter enthusiasts, to wit it might be faster in the air, but it is no longer as safe as it is on the ground. Give us good roads, and the rickety and dilapidated archaic aircraft whose history and air-worthiness no one can readily vouchsafe will become a thing of the past. And Azazi and Yakowa would still be alive today.
Indeed, God knows best, but if General Azazi and Governor Yakowa had traveled by road - a supposedly one hour ride - chances are that they would not have gone so soon the way they did. Enough of projects that do not benefit Nigerians. This is not about Vice President Sambo. The truth is that he does not need a N9 Billion house. It doesn't matter whether we have the Petrodollar to finance it. What is disconcerting is that the project is what reasonable minds think it is - a massive investment of spurious value. Nigeria deserves better.
Presidential jets are not for keep. And Aso Rock is not a permanent abode. You will need that road in no distance future. Ask Obasanjo.
Merry Christmas, Mr. President, and a 2013 of limitless prosperity.
Presidential jets are not for keep. And Aso Rock is not a permanent abode. You will need that road in no distance future. Ask Obasanjo.
Merry Christmas, Mr. President, and a 2013 of limitless prosperity.
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