As you already know, come Valentine’s Day, Nigerians will decide the fate of Nigeria and her future. Nigerians will decide the kind of future they want for Nigeria. I just thought I should take time out to draw your attention to some happenings with an eye on helping you make the right decision. Perhaps you are confused and your confusion may range from religious, ethnic to tribal bias. Whatever it is, I urge you to put Nigeria first-consider the future of the generation unborn as you head to the polls. You need to have in mind that poverty and it’s likes does not know religion or tribe. As Professor Tam David West would tell you, our problems are neither from Mecca or Rome. It has always been bad leadership.

This to me is a rare opportunity (in fact it feels like a last chance) for us to salvage Nigeria. Look, if we mess this opportunity, we might not get it back till our generation phases out. Your vote is key and needs to be put to wise use.
You must have seen in the news some weeks ago the Charlie Hebdo magazine attack in Paris where 17 people were killed. I’m sure you could not help but notice the response of the security forces. Paris was practically on lock down until the terrorists were killed albeit with some civilian casualties. François Hollande knows that he is the Commander In Chief and had to do what Commanders In Chief do-protect the lives of the people at all costs. That same period, Nigeria was attacked by Boko Haram with an even bigger casualty and what we got from our supposed Commander In Chief was…..silence. Some girls have been kidnapped by this same sect for months now and all hopes of finding these girls disappear by the day. Do you want a commander in chief who presses the red button whenever there is a siege and a threat to our existence, no matter whose ox is gored or a Commander In Chief who does not even know he is C IN C- A Commander in Chief who comes across as being bullied by his service chiefs. I mean compare the body language and reaction of the person in charge when Maitasine (that was crushed) wanted to take control of some parts of Nigeria years back and that of your president today. The decision as to who to vote come February 14th becomes easier.

The fact that corruption is one of the reasons we are where we are today, I’m sure is not lost on you. You must already know the much feculence that has gone down during this regime; from the subsidy scam, the (still) missing billions of dollars, the BMW saga to the pensions and NIS recruitment fraud. You would have thought heads would roll; but No, the president expostulated, almost chewing us up for mistaking stealing for corruption. Almost everyone involved keeps his job. He goes ahead and makes a campaign director out of someone who still has corruption case (in court) hanging over his head. He goes out to tell the world that Buhari was wrong to arrest Jim Nwobodo because Jim did not steal much. C’mon the money he stole could not buy a Peugeot mate! Here we roll on another level! We steal big! That is the kind of guy at the helm-the same guy we fought for during the days of the cabal. There is no guarantee that the sleaze will stop anytime soon. His body language on this has really besmirched his regime.

Do you have any idea how much money this country has made from Oil over the last 7 years?  Do you know we made in excess of 40 to 50 dollars from every barrel of oil we sold? Multiply that by 2 million and then you’ld know what I mean when I say we made a fortune. Do you have an idea that oil producing countries that care and plan for her people have massive money in their sovereign wealth fund that they do not have to worry much about drop in all prices? The sovereign wealth fund by the way is where the surplus income produced from a country’s excess oil reserves is deposited. There are bodies that manage and invest the funds on behalf of the people. Norway, UAE and Saudi Arabia have almost up to 1 trillion dollars in theirs. Kuwait, Qatar, Russia, Kazakstan, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Brunel, Azerbajan, Iraq, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago even East Timor have substantial amounts(way more than us) in their various accounts- Money that can come in handy during the rainy day like we have today. Nigeria has 1billion dollars. The Nigeria sovereign investment authority has just 1 billion dollars (that is if it is still there) and you tell me we are a serious country. It’s not like money realized over the years have been put to good use for the good of the ordinary Nigerian. Workers are owed salaries with reckless abandon. Nigeria is in deep sh*t as we speak. Do not be deceived; it’s going to get tougher as the days go by. Do you want this mismanagement madness to continue? Do you not think we are better off with someone whose integrity is intact? Someone who has this aversion that you can almost touch for corruption? The decision as to who to vote I think should be getting easier by now.

Is your life better off today than it was six years ago? Do you have an idea that 80 percent of your country men live below a dollar per day? Do you want to continue to be your government? Providing everything from power supply to drinking water for yourself even after you have paid your tax? Do you know that unemployment rate here is on the rise and will get worse if we do not put people who are really ready to get us out of the doldrums at the helm? Do you want a government that thrives in mediocrity? A government that makes unnecessary noise about some cranky locomotive 2day-journey-to-kano-from-lagos kind of trains? A government that shouts itself hoarse when it manages to do a wee bit of it’s job? A government surrounded by sycophants, liars and fraudsters- A government that empowers militants to take over your waterways? A government that has no soul, no morals, no integrity and no sincerity of purpose what so ever? Do you really want this status quo to continue?

Just give it a genuine thought and say if this is the kind of Nigeria you want for your future generation. See you at the polls.

Yours sincerely,
Chiechefulam Ikebuiro

@thalynxis