I will wail till my country gets better… I write for God and country

By Rufai Oseni

I wail for God and country and I want the best for my country.I will constantly wail until things get better…I want to see my country stand twice as tall and if it would require my wailing I will continue to wail for God and country and I will always support my country.

THE recent happenings in Nigeria is a firm indication that national cohesion  is urgently needed. The current polarisation in Nigeria is akin to events of the 60s, which left a scar in our history.

Apart from the polarisation, the means of livelihood of the people have never been this bad ,heightened by the effect of coronavirus and other sundry economic issues. It reminds one of fantine in les Miserables that sold her front tooth to buy food! I pray we don’t get to that level.

When Victor Hugo wrote his famous book, it was a reaction to societal happenings. My reactions to the state of Nigeria today,is akin to a skydiver diving without a parachute; banking on gravity’s grace.

Almost everything is against us: the economic indices and the general state of play… it makes me more sad when a presidential spokesperson says, ‘wailers should calm down.’

I would like to say, I wail for God and country and I want the best for my country. I will constantly wail until things get better. I will also like to call on us as Nigerians to give the leadership a chance at redemption.

Let’s see if they would turn a new leaf, a new page;

Let’s see how they will fight Covid 19 in 2021;

Let’s see how hitherto proposed infrastructural project will help the people;

Let’s see if the CBN will work at harmonising forex regime;

Let’s us see if the insecurity situation will get bette;

Let us see how many people will come out of poverty in 2021.

These are my priorities as a patriot. I want to see my country stand twice as tall and if it would require my wailing I will continue to wail for God and country and I will always support my country.

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In 2021, security will spur economic growth

SECURITY is the most cardinal part of governance. To guarantee our security of lives and property is in fact, why we give our sovereignty to government and, why we pay taxes.

In the Nigerian constitution Sect 14 sub section 2b states clearly the role of government as regards security of lives and property.

The big question is how has the government fared as regards security? The killing of 43 or 78 or 101 farmers in Zabarmari only opens up hitherto concerns. The kidnap of 10 or 344 boys in Kankara is another reminder.

The increase in banditry, displacement of people in various parts of the country, and general insecurity have hampered economic activities greatly and the government must do something about it in 2021.

Agricultural value chains have been disrupted. It’s so hard to move food from the farms to the table. The food inflation numbers now over 18 percent has increased core inflation. For Nigeria to record economic growth in 2021, security must be a priority and the government must learn from criticisms.

I must state that I want the Buhari administration to prosper because invariably Nigeria will prosper but on the road to prosperity criticisms  ensure that we record success faster. Criticisms, I must repeat, is like free consultation; if it is intentionally looked at.

If government can pay millions to consulting firms to get the same advice the citizens will give freely through criticisms, then criticisms as regards the security situation should not be discarded.

I visited a friend recently and he told me about his trip to his village after Uromi in Edo State. I admired him for his bravery but he told me he had to take seven police escorts. He further told me, there was a competition of some sort in his village on who brought the highest number of police escorts — some brought 15, some 10. This is to show you the extent of the security situation in the country.

We must take security seriously.

I write for God and country