Article published in The Nation Newspaper
04/02/2010
It seems we are to have a new Teaching Hospital -the Aso Rock Teaching Hospital- with one Presidential Private Patient-PPP and perhaps 100 medical staff. Perhaps it will be called Aso Rock Specialist Hospital, ARS –TH. Whatever, may it bring maximum health to our 2+month absent President and allow Nigeria to move on under the VP as AP-Acting President. Speaking as a doctor, the president should resign on grounds of ill health in the interest of himself, his family, children and grandchildren who want him to reach ripe old age with or without a dialysis machine. What more does he want? He has held the highest office in Nigeria. He cannot be the longest serving President but he is young and could still become the longest surviving President. He has his GCFR or GCON and place in history. God Bless him and keep him healthy. Nigeria needs an Acting President to answer the phone when Obama calls again.
MTN thanks for donating ‘big’ to the orphanages in Badagry and around the country and to Governor Obi of Anambra allocating, not donating, 50 laptops to 11 schools. God Bless you and all the silent workers making Nigeria survive!
Meanwhile Nigeria may be 50 on October 1st 2010. What is your corporate, community, business, school, university, departmental, family, personal CountDowNigeria Project? PLAN TO DO SOMETHING POSITIVE! If you do not have one at these levels, please begin the process of ensuring that you are part of such projects. If you do not take an interest in CountdowNigeria@50 we will have USELESS FIREWORKS and political balls and concerts and carnivals for VIPs but nothing for the masses. Together we can have 100,000 or even 200,000 such CountdowNigeria@50 Projects that will inspire Nigerians and develop and energise Nigeria to true pride in being Nigerians in spite of what others, with the power to change us for the better, have or not done for or to Nigeria. If the government is truely looking for presents to give Nigerians on 21-10-2010 it does not have to look far to pick up meaningful presents. The citizens do not want fireworks galore and expensive convoys of brand new jeeps bought with the people’s money to convey politicians. After a survey here are a few suggestions for ‘Federal Presents to the People of Nigeria’ needing urgent action. You cannot buy them in a shop on October 1st 2010.
CAN WE HAVE 24 HOURS OF POWER DAILY BY 1-10-2101. CAN THE IFE IBADAN ROAD and THE ORE-BENIN ROAD and the LAGOS IBADAN ROAD AMONG OTHERS BE MADE MOTORABLE AS A ‘PRESENT TO NIGERIANS BY 1-10-2010’? CAN WE IMPLIMENT A NATIONAL POTHOLE FILLING EXERCISE?
Surely the government can accelerate the contracts, day and night, to get things into shape, not for press and politicans, but for the people.
It is now 239 days to our 50th birthday. We Nigerians are already in our fiftieth year as a country of Independence. We will shortly be hiding under the camoflage cloak of the green and white national flag and national anthem as we set up very well-funded committees and commisssions for ‘50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION PLANNING’ at every social and political level from ward, to local government area to celebrate and cover our incompetence and corruption in an orgy of music, dance, executive feeding and short term MASS ANNIVERSARY AMNESIA.
To clearly demonstrate our political misunderstanding of the Problem with Nigeria, the FCT superminister, Aleiro, is said to have declared that in 50 years Nigeria has acheived ‘a lot’. Has it and by what yardstick? Is it the measure of Nigeria’s pass rate of 10-22% in national examinations or the road they ‘cannot repair’ because of ‘small-small, not typhoon or monsoon, rains’ or the lack of railways or the high carnage of 35,000 deaths and 350,000 road injuries or the okada mayhem, or the illiteracy rate of over 50% or the 24 hour a day ‘standby’ generators, the billions wasted on fuel every day nationwide, the police inability to stop compulsive taking bribes at checkpoints or the political refusal to pass the Freedom of Information Bill? Where do we stop? With the exorbitant cost of governance and so little delivery of dividends of democracy in spite of the noises of ‘we have done well by our own judgement’ from all politicians?
Corporate giants will lead the fireworks and flagwavers, reality shows and live entertainment events. But Corporate giants in Nigeria are global Lilliputians. In 1956 UAC built Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan. Where are the corporate 50th anniversay university buildings? Though Corporate Nigeria has done somethings there is a huge amount that GOVERNMENTS AND CORPORATE NIGERIA COULD DO TO CONSTRUCTIVELY CELEBRATE NIGERIA’S 50TH INDEPENDENCE BIRTHDAY to ‘eliminate the people’s misery’. Will they do anything?
Government must behave like any parent and grandparent anxiously preparing a suitable event and appropriate presents for an anniversary for the children of the family to take the opportunity to give Nigerians some pleasant developmental, MDG, surprises, not just firing smoky and useless fireworks in the sky while THE CITIZENS ARE STARVING, HUNGRY AND WITHOUT PAY, PENSIONS, PETROL AND POWER. Revolutions are made from less insensitivity. Work to ensure that no Nigerian regrets a stupid 1-10-2010 celebration if only to ‘PRETEND’ TO MOURN OUR JOS, BAUCHI, SOKOTO AND HAITIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS. GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE Nigeria can give out millions of naira as COUNTDOWNIGERIA@50 PROJECT COMPETITIONS AND N1m PRIZES.