He opened his eyes to a clean,well equipped hospital room. The beep sound from the machine that proved he was alive gave him a slight headache. He tried rising from his bed a few times but failed each time. A doctor and two nurses dressed in snow white overalls and blue overalls respectively soon rushed in.

'Take it easy Mr Paul' the doctor of said to him and slowly laid him back to his bed. 'Call his family! Tell them he has woken up!' He directed one of the nurses who left the room immediately.

'What…what…what is going on?' He asked the doctor.

'Mr Paul,you just woke up from a coma'

'Coma? How long have I been asleep?'

'About 25 years now' the doctor replied after browsing through his file.

'25 years?!!! I was in a coma for 25 years?!!!' He shouted agitated. The nurse remaining in the room gave him a sedative that put him to sleep.


He woke few hours later to a familiar face. It was the face of his close friend Tony.

'Tony!' He exclaimed happily.

'Brother!' He said giving him a tight hug. 'I missed you!' He continued tearing up.

'You haven't changed a bit!' He said. 'They said I was in a coma for 25 years!'

'That is right!'

'What is this place? Did you bring me overseas for treatment?' He asked surprised at the neat,well equipped room.

'You are not in an abroad hospital' Tony replied smiling.

'I take it is a very expensive private hospital in Nigeria then!'

'That is also very wrong!' Tony replied again smiling.

'Then for God sake,tell me where I am!'

'You are in Nigeria alright but this isn't a private hospital and it is not expensive at all. This is a public hospital and it is very cheap!'

'No way!' He said in disbelief. 'This is a public hospital in Nigeria?'

'Yes,way! This is the first of the numerous project the decentralized democracy you started decades ago embarked on. It was named after you after every citizen of the community voted in support of it!'

'Oh my God! We did it?!'

'Yes man! Welcome to the new world! Welcome to the new Nigeria!'

Paul couldn't believe his ears. The vision he had decades ago materialized while he was in a coma. He was soon cleared for discharge and escorted down the stairs,he was mobbed by pressmen who wanted to have a conversation with him. Tony waved them off. As he walked through the lobby,he saw how serene,clean and standardized the hospital was. Enough doctors and nurses were on ground attending to patients. Patients were treated with care and respect. As he stood by the reception waiting for Tony to finish some business, he noticed a mother rush her child into the hospital and the child was immediately taken from her for treatment. No filling of long forms,no 'deposit first before treatment' and no need to wait long hours before getting a doctor.

'Amazing!' He said aloud.

'Isn't it?' Tony who was already behind him said. 'That block chain identity you proposed is what is in play here! But it was taken a step further and a block chain database for all hospital was created. You see,if a patient gets treated in another hospital and was brought to this hospital, all that needs be done is just go the database and check the patients record'

'Incredible!'

'The watchword of all hospital is humanity first before pay. Hospital bills can later be deducted from Patient's earning until bill is fully paid. Even better,there are flexible packages to chose from to pay back the bill!'

Paul kept reminiscing the sweet words Tony just told him as they walked out the hospital main door. Paul looked up and boldly in front of the hospital,a sign can be seen that read: 'PAUL GENERAL HOSPITAL:A HOSPITAL BY THE PEOPLE,FOR THE PEOPLE AND TO THE PEOPLE'. He smiled and entered Tony's electric car. An electric car made in Nigeria itself. The plants they built it was another of the numerous project the community embarked on. As they travelled from the hospital,through the city,he noticed how much Nigeria had truly changed. The streets were clean, houses were well aligned and far back from the street, and each house he saw seemed to have its own source of electricity and water.

It seemed just like yesterday when he was shot in the head by the law enforcement agents who had barged into the small office space he and his team used for the operation of their platform. The basis of decentralized democracy as they had it today. The raid was after many warnings by the federal government of the country and some foreign governments too. But he was undeterred by their threats. If they were so against his movement, that meant there was something good about what he was doing and he planned on seeing it through. Just few years back, he could have sworn he would never get involved in anything that will put him on the government's and powerful people's radar. In fact, his political apathy was second to none. He was just a nerd software developer who just wanted to make cool stuffs for money. He was self taught like every other developer in the country. No school teaches you that even if you go for a computer science degree in the country. He had to find his way. Maybe that is why he graduated with a third class degree but could code better than the first class students. 'One of the many things wrong with this country is the education' he would always say.

The time he began to take interest in the politics and future of his country was when his good friend Tony came back from United Kingdoms after four years of studying economics. 'You are stupid bro! Why would you come back to Nigeria after getting a chance to leave?!!' He always lashed out Tony after his arrival. But Tony was not like Paul. He believed in the bright future of Nigeria and always preached it every chance he got. Paul soon came to also believe that after finding a copy of the research 'generation next report of the future of Nigeria' conducted by the British council. The report said 'in the future,the greatest resource of Nigeria will not be crude oil but its youth. While this can be a blessing,it can also be a curse that is if the growing youth population is not properly managed'. Being an inquisitive mind,he dived into a world of research and discovered even more facts: ' the estimated population of the world by 2100 would be 11.3 billion. That is 3 billion people added to Sub Sahara Africa alone'. He researched further and discovered this growing youth population coupled with job loss in the future and not forgetting Nigeria losing its major source of revenue,oil as the world moves to other forms of energy spelt impending danger for the country.

One of the greatest invention at that time that helped his dream was the block chain and cryptocurrency. Block chain showed him it was possible to build a decentralized,hack-proof and reliable form of identity. Cryptocurrency showed him he that a digital currency could have the same value as or more than the old currencies. All that was needed was the number of people supporting it. Inputs from his friend,Tony opened his eyes to see how the 'old currencies' are currently being controlled by the rich families that own the central banks. Tony also opened his eyes to the impending danger if the dollar should crash! Tony also opened his eyes to the flaw all cryptocurrencies had which was they made no provision for tax, or any Democratic element.

That year,he started the biggest project of his life. A project that changed Nigeria and the world at large. He sent out a github invite:'want to change the world? Contact me!'. He received a lot of replies but only five caught his attention. The five people,from different continents made up the team including him and Tony. One of the five went on to become his girlfriend, wife and mother of his child. That same year,the team figured out almost everything the platform would have. Although,this project was global,it would launch in Nigeria and spread around the world like oil-stain.

The project was called UBI-WALLET(Universal Basic Income Wallet). The name was chosen because the platform sort to provide universal basic income for every citizen alive. This would enable all citizen earn even if they had no jobs or are too old or young to work. This UBI will be gotten from taxes deducted from all transactions except salaries, company to company payment,etc. They created a decentralized coin which became the basis of the decentralized democracy of their platform. The coin was called ubi-coins. And because the coin was decentralized and prices of commodities were fixed,the coin was not subjected to inflation.

There was something that set them apart from the other alt-coins so the team chose the name 'EXIT-COIN' for their decentralized coin implying an exit from all old currencies. The numbers of citizens grew. The VATs(value added taxes) deducted from some transactions were used to sponsor projects. Projects citizens voted for. A poll was opened daily and every citizen voted for projects that they want in their physical environment. Citizens were also allowed to submit project ideas provided it didn't exceed the budget on ground. The projects they executed started from a borehole tap in a community and slowly improved to toilets,public buses etc. The platform they created focused on four areas: 'identity, voting, cryptocurrency and justice'

When citizens of neighboring and European countries saw the progress and uniqueness of the platform,they soon adopted it too and it spread like wild fire in harmattan. This didn't sit down well with the governments of the various countries who felt the platform will make the people not need them anymore. A fight was launched against the platform but since the platform was decentralized and on the internet, there was no way they could shut it down so the movement continued. Paul and Tony were threatened and bribed to drop the movement but they declined and continued anyways.

It was just like any other day,changing the world in the small office space Paul had rented for the movement when law enforcement agents barged in combat style. Paul was shot in the head. Luckily for Tony,he was yet to arrive the office for the day. The computers in the office destroyed and this temporarily disrupted the platform's operations. The attempted murder of Paul led to a chain of protest throughout the countries the platform had been adopted. This caused a revolution! The period of this revolution was known as THE REVOLUTION ERA. Youths took to the street, hackers took to the web and put establishment-websites in oblivion. The crash of the dollar also added to the revolution era. The platform was improved by hundreds of coders,hackers and developers who came together from different part of the world to rebuild the platform. The platform became stronger,better and more global! Old currencies soon died off due to lack of demand and governments became irrelevant. The people were the governments now! The new global world order was formed and new law which each citizen voted for or against was added or removed!

'I slept through all of it!' Paul said aloud deep in thoughts without realising.

'Paul!' Tony called him back to the present.

'What?'

'We are here!' He said smiling.

Paul alighted from the car and saw two women standing at the bottom of the stairs that led to a huge house.

'Diana?!' Paul said tearing up to the older woman. 'Diana!' He said again and hugged her tight. Diana was his wife and one of the people he built the platform with. 'Is this my daughter?' He asked the older woman about the young lady beside her. 'Yes' she answered. It was an emotional moment as both father and daughter hugged each other tight. 'I can't believe I missed you growing up' he mumbled while hugging her.

'Ehmmehmm' Tony cleared his throat to get their attention. 'As much as I would love for you guys to catch up,right now Paul, you have to give a speech!'

'Speech?! To who?' Paul inquired as Tony dragged him inside. The house already had pressmen sitting waiting patiently. An elevated podium stood in front of them and cameras from different angle pointed at the stage. Tony led Paul to the podium and whispered to him: 'speak from your heart'. The press conference was being broadcasted to every continent of the world.

'I don't really know where to start from' he began after finding his feet for a while. 'I don't really deserve this honor! I wasn't even here for the revolution era' he continued. 'I was beautifully sleeping through all the struggles' he made a joke and the room filled with laughter. 'I know you will say ''but you came up with the idea and pioneered it'' but I want you to know anybody can come up with an idea and pioneer it. I didn't really do anything special, you guys did! You guys fought the fight and won the fight! I am glad we now live in a world where we realise we are first humans before race, religion and wealth separated us! I am glad we now live in a world where no group of people controls the money we spend. I am glad we now live in a world we can sponsor projects ourselves without any politicians!' He stopped to catch a breath. 'And to my Nigerian brothers,I woke up in the hospital today and I thought I was in a hospital abroad! Wow!' He said and the room once again filled with laughter. 'Even better,that hospital was public and cheap and built by the people?' He continues. 'And I hear there are many more numerous projects that have been sponsored by the people!' He stopped again for the final part of his speech. 'Who says we need the governments? Thank you all!' He ended.

The end. But I hope my short story was able to give you a sort of imagination on how we can make Nigeria and the world better. In case you are wondering, UBI-WALLET is real and will officially launch in 2019. UBI-WALLET hopes to achieve everything and more bright future of Nigeria protrayed in the story. But we can't do it without you. We need you to tell us what needs to be added or removed from our vision. Check UBI-WALLET. COM to learn more. Or contact us on WhatsApp 08103411195.

Your thoughts are welcomed. Thanks

This is an initiative we hope would change Nigeria and the world. It is a people's project so the input of you guys is very much appreciated. Don't you want to live in a world Paul woke up to?

Also sign up to be on our list of early adopters. It takes a few seconds, no stress. Thanks. The link below:
https://sites.google.com/betoniq.com/ubi-wallet/get-on-the-10000-coins-list


You can also message us on WhatsApp to be added to the initiative's group so we can discuss better. 08103411195.

Just before you go to bed. Reminisce on the new Nigeria and world this short story is trying to portray. A world you and I can be proud of. We need your inputs on how we can make this initiative better. Message us on WhatsApp through the number above. Visit our site oor use the comments section of nairaland. Goodnight

Good morning and happy Sunday

Good evening

Goodnight all.

Good evening

Good evening.

Short and interesting

Looking forward for a better Nigeria

I know that one day Nigeria will become a place of envy by citizens of other nations.
Nice Story, thumbs up.

Ann2012:
Short and interesting

Looking forward for a better Nigeria

timmii:
I know that one day Nigeria will become a place of envy by citizens of other nations.
Nice Story, thumbs up.

Thanks. To achieve this dream of a better Nigeria,we shouldn't depend on the government. If we do,Nigeria would remain like this forever. Which is why ubi-wallet will be launched in 2019. But before we launch,we need bright Nigerians like you and I to come together and discuss the initiative. What should be added and what should be removed. Message us on 08103411195 to join the discussion.

Remember a revolution that will change our country does not necessarily need involve taking up arms and bloodshed. Message us.

A wonderful Saturday to you all.

A lovely story that depicts how Nigeria will rise to the ranks of a developed country.

HNAUICT03:
A lovely story that depicts how Nigeria will rise to the ranks of a developed country.

Indeed. Thanks for reading and believing in the vision.