ONCE UPON A TERM
Grandma was awesome by giving me the privilege the people of the 'indomie generation' might not have. Those stories and her style of narration were one of a kind. This is a kind of experience you never buy with money and it wasn't a surprise that a part of my cerebrum has a very great affinity for story telling. History are stories that have written themselves even before they found themselves on those pages of the paper by that individual that had enough time on his hands to pen them down. Whether we choose to tell those stories or not, they are always alive.

Nigeria decided to change her government in the year 2015 after sixteen years. To many prophets of doom, it won't happen without shedding a lot of blood, but we got it right to their dismay. On the 29th day of May, same year we had a new President sworn in and the world said; 'congratulations Nigeria'.

To our utmost surprise, we waited for months before we could have our ministers. While waiting, a lot of Nigerians had this high hope that whatever minister we shall be having would be largely technocrats. But, Mr. President decided to go back to the 'recycle bin' to bring some old men as our ministers. This is not to say, they were not well respected citizens of the country, but we don' t really need these old men before we can get it right as a nation. Truth be told, Mr. President outrightly gave credence to words of the old renowned academic that referred to the present generation of youths as 'wasted youths'. Of course, some youths are complete disgrace to this generation, but not all. At least, we have had a minister in his 20s in this country, why can't we have it again? Although, it's a done deed already, but subsequently, I suggest we borrow a leaf from the United Arab Emirate that made a 22year old a minister. We are not only good at carrying placards under that scotching sun and shouting on top of our voices. We are not all intellectually bankrupt. Honestly, that was where I thought the 'change' would start from.

No doubt that a country is capable of dying in the hands of corruption. Thank God for the gate that was opened recently in the country. Without mincing words, we all know what could have happened if the election had gone the other way. We should be careful as Nigerian and people at the helms of affairs to watch the kind of people we put in power. That misconduct by an individual had claimed so many lives. A soldier that is not effectively harmed is indirectly being sent to his death and that was evident in the way the insurgents had earlier waxed stronger. This arms deal saga, if given a closer look is more grievous than murder. We are so sure that some other gates would be opened if we look very well into the civil service where our dear budget was unpatriotically padded.


Nigeria is a sovereign state and anyone that makes any move to make a part of the country secede is by all means an enemy of the state but the truth be told, Mr. President, this is a democratic setting where the judiciary and the law had replaced any form of decree. Before emerging as the president, some 'doubting Thomas' had said you won't be able to abide by the rule of law. It is against that background that we suggest you respect the court decision on the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and prove to your detractors that you are a law abiding general.

Boko haram had done untold damage to the North-East, and it's only a hypocrite that would not see that the war against the insurgency is yielding results. But, this is not the right time for us to sit on our oars and assume they have left the country for good. The intelligence agency in the country should do us a favour by feeding the military with the right information to stamp out the menace completely.

During the electioneering campaign, I smiled more than ever. It takes few minutes before you hear the CHANGE mantra and I smile each time I hear that. It was crystal clear like the Ikogosi warm spring that most Nigerians had got it all wrong. They wanted an instant change, but All Progressives congress did not come to life on the 6th of February, 2013 to promise that. This is the reason Nigerians are getting sceptical in less than a year. In fact, some made bold to say they have been scammed. Without being partisan, I knew that expecting a magic within a very short while is almost impossible, if not impossible. But, the possibility at this crucial moment is the blueprint for the unprecedented and sustainable economic growth and infrastructural development which we hope to see as soon as possible.

Our economy needs urgent attention as fast as possible. The honest truth, just like the iconic Dele Momodu said in his recent article is; it is 'time to end the blame game'. We need to stop the blame game, let politics rest for a while and give governance serious attention. The past administration had done their bit and today's Nigeria is all about the APC led government. We need to map out serious plans other than the verbal and no impact 'buy naija to grow the naira' campaign. The dollar - naira exchange rate is quite unprecedented and the Nigerians that voted under the sun of such intensity are loosing hope by the day. Food items are getting more expensive and needless to say, electronic gadgets are fast becoming commodities that only appeal to the rich.

We can not afford to get it wrong once again because another four years is a long time for us to jump at another mantra. We know the body language says you want to work for the country but that might not just be enough. I quite agree with you sir, when you said you are President at the wrong time, but I still maintain that through you, when we narrate the story of your tenure, starting with 'once upon a term' unlike grandma's 'once upon a time', let the story end with a smile on the face of our listeners and the narrators.