President Buhari: Nigeria @ 57, Time To Give Up?

Dear Compatriots and President Buhari, should I at this moment painfully announce to us, that I have lost hope in our great and beloved Country, Nigeria, overcoming and rising again, contrary to my firmly held conviction and campaigns for almost 30 years now of my adult life?

I was unjustly sacked from my lucrative employment with French multinational oil company, Elf petroleum nig ltd, on August 9, 2000; I was sentenced to Prison in year 2016, all because of my unrelenting peaceful campaigns for Nigeria must come first, overcome and rise again. But is it time now for me to give up on my beloved, country, Nigeria?

Yes, indeed, I should at this moment be expected to give up on Nigeria if what I personally heard and experienced during my television discussion with some very prominent government officials yesterday, October 2, 2017, on NTA Abuja, Good Morning Nigeria Live Programme, on reviewing Nigeria @ 57, is anything to go by.

During and after this TV Programme, my patriotic heart bled. It momentarily collapsed. My whole world did, also. I wept secretly. Oh, GOD! My beloved country, Nigeria, should I give up now on you after my years of sacrifices and hope for you?

My Hope and Dream for our Nigeria, overcoming all the obstacles our privileged but unpatriotic Elites placed and places on her path to growth, development and true Independence, since pre-1960 till date, vanished.

Why and how can top Government Officials come on air to publicly and without a single oita of guilt, misinform, deceive and lie to 200 million Nigerians that in the past two years the present Federal Government has reconstructed so many collapsed roads across the north and south of Nigeria, among other “good” things they claimed are now on ground for the benefits and happiness of us, all? Nigeria’s economy has recovered, they also said.

I could no longer hold my peace on the programme hearing that many roads have been reconstructed in Nigeria. I immediately objected to them by asking where these roads are in Nigeria?

I also reminded and informed them that 200 million Nigerians are now living lives of desperate silence, hunger and starvation. And that just few metres away from the NTA Abuja Studio where we were discussing these issues, there are many hungry mouths wide up begging for food to survive.

Must we, the privileged few Nigerian elites in exalted positions of Trust, continue to show so much wickedness and hatred for our beloved country, Nigeria, and beloved 200 million patriotic, peace-loving and united Nigerians?

What can better qualify for “Hate and Hate Speech” than top Government officials, well paid and taken care of by the fruits of the patriotic labours of 200 million suffering Nigerians, coming repeatedly on public fora, to provoke these Nigerians with wicked lies they shamelessly tell, even do so on Oath without any oita of fear of being impeached or sacked from Office?

I appreciate the fact that the past governments left behind huge challenges and problems in terms of massive looting of our Commonwealth which resulted to almost total collapse of many of our critical national public Institutions and infrastructures like Roads, Power Generation and Distribution, Schools, Hospitals, etc. This is not news anymore though very sad and unfortunate.

It is also an incontrovertible fact that this incumbent APC-led Federal Government has committed herself to addressing many of these inherited problems and indeed has achieved successes particularly in area of war against the Boko Haram terrorists, agricultural development and reduction in looting of our Country’s Commonwealth hitherto done brazenly and with reckless abandon. But may I hasten to confess that there are reports of high level Corruption and looting still ongoing in critical Government and major organised private sectors.

For the past over one week, I have been in Abuja, not to come enjoy and share the loots with them (the privileged elites) who control and hijack our Country’s Commonwealth; I came to simply carry to their doorsteps, our collective message of “Our Nigeria shall overcome and rise again”.

And also, our self-financed NGO (Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy, VATLAD, based in Warri, Delta State) sponsored a 2-day ANTI-CORRUPTION Summit at Denis Hotel, Abuja, to present our OUT-OF-THE-BOX approach to winning the war against our Country’s most dreaded enemy, CORRUPTION. It cost us hundreds of thousands naira of very scare funds. No regrets at all!

I travelled from my beloved City of Warri to Abuja and returned by Road, for this mission. The experience is better imagined! It is nothing but death trap. It takes only the grace of GOD ALMIGHTY to have a safe trip to one’s destination. It is hell.

I doubt if any of our dear wives, mothers and sisters who are pregnant, would survive a trip on this road without losing their pregnancy, at least. I am talking particularly of the Benin-Okene axis of this Road. This sad situation is not any different with major roads from the North and South of Nigeria. Total collapse, causing road accidents leading to premature deaths of patriotic 200 million Nigerians.

Yet the very few privileged Nigerian elites in Government who don’t ever ply these death-traps called roads, except fly in private or Nigeria’s Presidential jets financed by the Commonwealth of the deprived, devastated and looted 200 million Nigerians, would continue to tell us lies? It really hurts and shatters my heart, I must confess.

We have seen and personally suffered from these unpatriotic displays and acts of Nigerian elites, but these, rather than make us lose hope on Nigeria and join “Andrew” in the 1980s to check out, we remained so confident that our beloved Country, Nigeria, shall overcome and must rise again to reclaim her once enviable leadership position in the comity of black nations of the world and in the league of Nations.

I still held this Hope, Dream and Conviction till yesterday morning, October 2nd, 2017 when I was one of the discussants on NTA Good Morning Nigeria, Programme.

But after that programme, all this are fast disappearing. I am fast losing hope and faith in any possibility for my beloved Country, Nigeria, overcoming and rising again, at least not when these privileged elites of Nigeria remain so adamant and unpatriotic but only desperately determined to pursue their selfish ambitions to hold on to or recapture political powers by all means possible, only for the benefit of themselves and their immediate family members and associates. The 200 million Nigerians can go die of starvation and burn to ashes, for all they care.

My dear Compatriots, I urgently need you to convince me why I should have a rethink of my new position and return to our hope of “Nigeria shall overcome and must rise again”.

While I eagerly await your advice, I must thank Compatriot, Mr Segun Ojelade of NTA Abuja; Compatriot Austin Ogannah, publisher of US-based TheWillNigeria online media; Comrade Victorson Agbenson of Radio Nigeria, Abuja and NUJ Abuja Committee Chairman; Compatriot Ikharo Attah of ITV Abuja; Compatriots Nzeshi Onwuka, Abuja Bureau Chief of Telegraph Newspaper; Chris Ewokor of BBC, Abuja; and many other great Compatriots of the Nigerian Media for the encouragements and wide media courage they gave us.

I also sincerely commend and appreciate, His Lordship, the Chief Justice of Nigeria; the Acting Chairman of EFCC and the Comrade Inspector General of Police, for their moral supports and words of encouragement s. We received your letters to us. Thank you very much.

Of course, we cannot thank enough, one of our Legal Advisers, Compatriot Hon. (Barr.) Kingsley Chinda of the House of Representatives, for his continued commitment, encouragement and support to our dream, hope and campaign for our beloved, Country, Nigeria.

Also to you, young Compatriots, Barrister Kelubia Isioma and Barrister. Oscar Nmadi. We thank you for your supports and helping to deliver our Correspondences in Abuja. NIGERIA shall once more be great for your generation.

Saving the last for the best, I must thank my dear beloved wife, Mrs Helen Igbini, for her understanding, tolerance, encouragement and sacrifices for my “madness”. Daily I put her through increasing psychological and emotional stress and torture due to my consumed patriotism even at the expense our family. I thank GOD for giving you to me as mother of our blessed family and as a beloved wife.

GOD bless you all. Amen.

I remain yours faithful Compatriot,

Comrade (Engr) Igbini Odafe Emmanuel,

*National President, Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy, VATLAD.

*Convener, Nigeria Must Rise Again

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.