As a Septuagenarian, I cannot but feel concerned for the way our great nation, Nigeria is going. In my first decades on earth which were spent in Nigeria, I saw Nigeria as a country that I was extremely proud of as my motherland. Few months before I graduated from the University of Lagos in 1972, just after finishing my final exams and before my results were out, I already had six jobs from which to pick one to commence immediately after graduation. The practice then was that all the major companies and government establishments would have interviewed and offered employment to qualified final year students from the six universities in Nigeria existing at that time. Out of the six companies and government institutions that offered me employment, I chose to work for Total Oil Nigeria Ltd as an account manager-in-training. All these happened in my early twenties and that was the beginning of the story of my life.
These days, it is very disheartening that our graduates from the Universities and Polytechnics roam the streets and cities in Nigeria for several years without employment after working very hard in school to be great Nigerians. You can imagine the frustration and disenchantment facing such Nigerians who had very high hopes and aspirations in their country.
The above-captioned and the several millions of uneducated young Nigerians, and the quality of governance in our country had now launched our great nation into an incredible state of INSECURITY. In my early days, we had great times of having the normal luxury of sleeping with our two eyes closed. Unfortunately, as a result of recent insurgencies and insecurities in our nation, only a few Nigerians if any can brag about enjoying such luxury in absolute terms.
Recently, it was published that the General Medical Council responsible for licensing and maintaining the official register of medical practitioners in the United Kingdom licensed at least 200 Nigeria doctors between April and May 2021 increasing the number of Nigerian doctors in the UK to over 8,000. This is a very worrisome development. It is a confirmation that many Nigerians who otherwise are loyal citizens are no longer safe in Nigeria and therefore are no longer proud of their citizenship. This is not limited to only our medical doctors, the same is happening to many of our young professionals and non-professionals across the board. They are running out of the country to seek o9999shelter, prosperity, and protection of their lives. This situation that we have found ourselves in would only compound the very awful position of the inadequacies of experts in many sectors of the Nigerian economy.
As a concerned citizen, I want to suggest the following as my humble contribution towards abating the current situation of insecurity and shortcomings of our nation.
1. The Federal and State Governments should please call for an immediate three-day prayer and fasting session for our nation so that the Great Architect of the Universe can take control. The way things have escalated in the recent past should be a pointer to us that man is no longer in control of the situation in Nigeria. The Owner and Creator of heaven and earth is the only one we can call upon for an escape route at a time like this. We require a spiritual solution to our challenges or else we might be heading towards a state of war and collapse of the nation (which is not the wish of Nigerians for our nation).
2. I want to appeal in the name of God and the interest of peace to all those who are busy propagating disintegration of our nation to please look at how we can solve our problems as a nation instead of breaking away from a country that we have all built together. God has given us a good brand in Nigeria, the onus is on us to protect the brand and pray for the leadership that will get us to where we should be. In my humble opinion, disintegration is not the answer. Coming together to look for a solution that will make us a greater nation is the way to go.
3. It is now very urgent more than ever before for Mr. President to please convene an immediate meeting of the National Council of State where past leaders of this nation and other members can support him to offer solutions to the many problems confronting us.
4. The Federal and State leaders should please boost the morale of members of our security agencies because they have been losing a lot of lives in the recent past. There is a need to encourage them to fight and protect our motherland. If at all, we require support from other leading world nations in terms of security, it should be in an advisory capacity to train and re-orientate men and women of our security agencies. We need to also support them with adequate ammunition and resources to face our adversaries. Our forces in the past have always excelled in both local and international engagements, I do not buy into the idea that they are not capable to tackle our insecurity problems. There is a need for us to support, encourage, and provide them with the adequate tools needed to protect the nation.
5. My concern is that some people are probably benefiting from this insecurity of our land by diverting the resources required by our security agencies to face the enemy of the nation. Let me warn such people and all those who are stealing the resources of this country that if they escape the judgment of this world, they will not escape the judgment of the Great Architect of the Universe.
6. Nigerians should stop speaking evil of our country and show love in all ramifications to our motherland. There is a lot of strength in our tongues. We should not speak negatively about our nation because we are the ones that will feel the results in the long run. We cannot speak in negativity and expect positivity in return.
I am a strong believer in the NIGERIA PROJECT. God has endowed us with all that we need to be a first-class nation like the United State of America, the United Kingdom, etc., what we need is the leadership that will propel our growth and development. Nigeria is gifted with a lot of wonderful and highly cerebral and competent people and Mr. President should help us to the Promised Land because I know that he can do it.
I appeal to all our leaders to govern the country with LOVE, FAIRNESS, JUSTICE, FEAR OF GOD, and COMMITMENT to our nation. THE HOUSE MUST NOT FALL.