“Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong.”- Abraham Lincoln
Fellow Nigerians, congratulations are in order as we are part of the history making accompaniments in the life of our dear Nation, as we wait anxiously to wrap up the events with the impending inauguration of the People’s General cum His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR on this 29th Day of May 2015, we should not be carried away with the Mesmerizing nature of the ceremony but rather focus on the humongous task ahead. I don’t know about you, but I and other millions of Nigerians have had enough of mediocrity celebration, enough of status quo maintenance (it is not sustainable), enough of impunity and nepotism etc. From all indications, Buhari and his administration are aware of the daunting challenges ahead of them, they are aware of their responsibilities except they want to deny it and moreover several articles have been published to reiterate the immediate and long terms responsibilities Buhari has over Nigerians. It is on this note that I call on myself, you and others to wake up to our own responsibility and do our bits in rebuilding Nigeria to a great Nation she ought to have been a long time ago.

“Duty is what one expects from others.”- Oscar Wilde
Duty is a fundamental requirement to our existence, it is what bond us together, it is what defines us as living things and as much as everything we interact with owe us some level of duty, we owe them the same. Look around you today, we can safely conclude that we are in this mess because we’ve all failed in discharging our duties to each other. It is rather unfair and unjustifiable to be expecting what you can’t give, how do you expect GOD to answer your prayer when you’ve failed in performing your own duty to HIM? Former Vice chancellor of University of Ilorin (Prof. Oloyede) once said “If I clean my corner and you clean yours, there will be no dirty place in the World”. We cannot claim to want a country that works while we wallow in denial and dereliction duty, as Nigerians some of our duties to this country include but not limited to:
Obeying the Laws of the Land all the Time
Performing your civic responsibilities as at when due (Paying Taxes, Voting etc.)
Knowing and participating in government’s programmes
Being your brother’s keeper at all time

“A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.”- Winston S. Churchill
Given the present condition of our Nation, there is no gain saying in an assertion that our country is currently in a state of comatose and needs all hands on deck to revive her. All hardships we face today as a Nation are symptoms of bad decisions that have been taken in the past and we cannot for obvious reasons continue on this path; this is the fundamental reason we voted for change. It is understandable that Nigerians had made and still making a lot of sacrifices for their Nation, all these have been abused by the successive governments, but you will also agree with me that the 2015 general elections marks the first time when citizens can boldly claim that they participated in the process of choosing a President for the country. Therefore, the new administration deserves to a reasonable extent our sacrifices, supports and understanding. We must be aware of the fact that some decisions will be taken which might be serendipity in nature, though appeared not to be at first. After all, to truly grow, you have to be willing at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you can be.

“Let’s have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”- Abraham Lincoln
Our usual believe at an initiation of any government policy can be likened to that of someone knowingly accepting a Trojan horse gift, we believe everything government does is a means to an end of looting the nation and we have grown cynical to the government, ourselves, our institutions and everything around us. We didn’t turn to this overnight, we were made so; from fuel subsidy scam to the purported SURE-P that isn’t pure etc. but for us to complete our duty to the incoming administration, we must shun any form of cynicism towards the government policies without compromising proper scrutiny of same, we must believe and have faith in our institutions and we must embrace due processes.

“Openness, transparency – these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt… “-Michael Moore

Elections have come and gone, but Nigeria remains, we must not just leave everything in the hands of government, we must be available to appeal to their conscience every time they transgress. We must at all times be aware of government’s activities, we must ask questions and hold them accountable. In our recovery package, we must put new standards of accountability and transparency, which we hope will now apply.

“Freedom isn’t free. It shouldn’t be a bragging point that “Oh, I don’t get involved in politics,” as if that makes you somehow cleaner. No, that makes you derelict of duty in a republic. Liars and panderers in government would have a much harder time of it if so many people didn’t insist on their right to remain ignorant and blindly agreeable.”- Bill Maher
As clearly stated in the statement above, we need to reiterate that it is high time you shunned this “Politics is dirty, I can’t be involved” antics. This is for your own good. What will become of us that we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which has shaped our feelings, to race, inheritance, and background. All this can be altered if we have the courage to examine how it formed us. We can alter the chemistry provided we have the courage to dissect the elements.

Mustapha M. O
A Technopolitical Enthusiast
ff @almustaphamo

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates