Fellow Nigerians, in order not to make another mistake and remain perpetually in bondage in the hands of our neo-colonialists who have controlled our affairs since 1960, and by extension since a centenary ago when the Nigerian nation was parceled out to the hands of the British colonial masters, it is important that we heed the clarion call of the true and altruistic citizens of this country who are passionately pained by the colossal waste and misrule that had visited our nation over these years and do the needful now.
The follow up question here is who these true citizens are and what do they want? The true citizens who I speak for are the “true revolutionaries who represent the down trodden, the middle class, the ethnic nationalities, the civil liberty organizations, the Human rights activist, the unemployed youths and the less privileged in our society.
These groups are the real owners of this country, they include women and children whose hopes have been dashed concerning their future, where their leaders do not canvass their interest or protect them in all ramifications. These groups also constitute the bulk of the electorate who, in the exercise of their franchise from time to time had elected their so called leaders and empowered them to manage their affairs equitably, for the good of all and sundry, but unfortunately this mandate has been observed more in the breach than being fulfilled.
Many things have gone wrong and it is against this backdrop that the true citizens of this country have become “hell bent” to advocate an all-inclusive national conference where a handful of all aggrieved constituents of this enclave must discuss their present and future union or its dissolution whichever is applicable.
We Nigerians should know that this curious and altruistic claim is associated with the true revolutionaries, as opposed to the agents of the neo-colonists who have seized power indefinitely and are presently calling the shots and setting the agenda in bad faith, with intentions that are at cross purposes with the wishes of the people for this convocation.
No person should be in doubt to know that the true revolutionaries are poised more than any other time before, to genuinely discuss the affairs of this nation, in order to chart a new course for a stronger nation with common aspiration, common goal for accelerated development.
This time around the revolutionaries have known who our common enemies are: “Those who use our common resources to their exclusive advantage and to the detriment of the rest of Nigerians. It is rather paradoxical to believe that the first rail roads that crisscrossed Nigeria’s interiors were built by the colonial masters with the proceeds from palm produce, cocoa and groundnuts which they exported abroad. With these they built our noticeable and long lasting bridges and roads that even survived the Nigerian civil war of the sixties. But where lies this disconnect? Could it be that our founding fathers that midwifed the first republic deviated immensely from these legacies and later handed over to us rapacious, unpatriotic and selfish leaders, who have rocked the boat of nation building?
The leaders we have today are different from those selfless leaders we had at independence. Instead the leaders we have today are the post military rulers whose handiwork is only to loot the treasury through many foul means with impunity. Some are cult members who have held the true people of Nigeria hostage, and cornered their common wealth for themselves and their children yet unborn. These leaders also do not practice internal democracy and therefore true democracy has continued to elude us at a cost too expensive to bear. Because they are operating as a cult, they can not move this country forward, and they are only there to oppose any move for a genuine reconstruction for this country.
Believe me, there will be no need for ethnic pressures if all Nigerians are treated equally in their father land and when corruption is reduced to the barest minimum. But the problem is who to “bell the cat” because no person is claiming responsibility for this falsity and recklessness in high places. The old regime wants to maintain the status quo that is why they are out to frustrate the revolutionary efforts of the concerned citizens to convene this time. To get it right therefore all dissenting voices must be given chance through their representatives to attend the confab.
To remedy our condition presently, there should be new orientation, new belief in this country and a redirection to an acceptable value system where individuals would be encouraged to work hard with equitable reward system. Subsisting governments must come up with affordable housing policy for the citizens of this country, with such attraction that encourages cluster settlements in estates at affordable prices, to be administered through a national or state housing policy under a mortgage window that can definitely solve the worst problem of the citizens of this country, next to hunger.
We need a brand new constitution made by the people for the people, fired with the common goal to succeed as a nation with some niceties to show for it. Our new nation should have a respectable judiciary, reformed policing, good governance, equity, accountability, probity and penalty for airing members to be carried out religiously.
We should know that obedience to the rule of law is the highest virtue that can help us fight corruption to the barest minimum. Let all Nigerians think in this direction, and not the argument of who should attend and who should not. Let us allow the true citizens of this country to talk freely now before it is too late.
Opara wrote from Owerri. Email [email protected] (07036775848)
