Can we give our leaders hell and tell them enough is enough? |
2019 looms and we are all at daggers drawn. Propaganda machines
are revving up and truth gets to stand on its head for the next few months. The
ruling Party is at serious pains right now, trying to convince us that they
have made our lives better since they took over. The reality in our businesses
and our homes tell a different story. I feel sorry for children who have to
grow up in this era of scarcity. Milk and other sources of protein have gone
out of reach as wages have either stagnated or declined even as inflation
bites. Whereas, I had workers who earned more than minimum wage in 2009, almost
ten years later, people are happy to do the same job for half what I paid in
2009. That cannot be called progress by any measurement. What we have on our
hands is a catastrophe, a time bomb, waiting to do its job, blow us all up.
As we labour to navigate the great issues of our time, hunger,
unemployment, insecurity, Internally displaced persons, Herdsmen/Farmers
imbroglio, declining power of the Naira, inflation, kidnapping, Terrorism, etc,
it would appear that there is no confidence on the part of the people toward
those who govern that they have the capacity to confront the dilemma that we
face.
When this becomes the case as it obviously appears to be, people will
resort to self-help for the simple reason that nature abhors a vacuum. The days
are far behind us when some tribes can be referred to as warrior tribes. There
is an equalizer now and it is called the AK 47. With this weapon in anyone’s
hands, even a moron, the ground becomes level, very level. Ask Federal troops
why Boko Haram persists after 10 years? Ask the United States why they are
still bogged down in Afghanistan after 15 years and four Presidents? The Boko
Haram terrorists sling mind boggling weaponry versus our poorly equipped
soldiers whose (ogas) have so decimated their ability to fight because they
also need to be super rich. It is their turn, they reason. It is for this same
reason of corruption in the polity that many things cannot work in this
country, whether it be Refineries, Mining, Ajaokuta, Education or Agriculture
or anything else that is meant to benefit even suffering people like the IDPs.
This expression by itself is an anomaly. How can a man be displaced in his own
village and in his own country? Clearly, we have exceeded ourselves. The
tainting of anything and everything with front-loading will make it almost
impossible for anything to work well in Nigeria. Only strong, selfless
leadership can address this.
As I watched a video clip by a member of the House of
Representatives about the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Plant, I was overcome with
strong emotion. I reasoned to myself—is this not a cause worth giving hell for?
Can we give our leaders hell and tell them enough is enough? Can we? Think
about this, we spend between $20 and $30 billion yearly on Steel imports. Here
is an industry that was conceived by the Gowon administration in 1971,
obviously with the strong input of Obafemi Awolowo, a man without peer in his
time. Under President Shehu Shagari, it came alive and was 95% completed when
that government was overthrown by Buhari for reasons known to only himself and
his gang. If he had a plan for governance, how come he did not understand the
strategic importance of Steel to the greatness of our nation? His successors
have not fared better and so, 34 years after the overthrow of the Shagari
government, the Steel sector has been marching backwards. This is why I want to
at this point call the patriotism of our leaders to question. Do they love this
country? Do they really love this country enough to want to do right by her?
Trump in all his (scatter-scatter) made a bold declaration
recently which is resonating around world capitals. He said, “No Steel, No
Country.” These are lines worthy of Otto Von Bismarck who famously declared
regarding the German Empire: the issues of our time cannot be settled by
blah blah blah but by blood, by iron and by fire. It is a profound declaration
with strong attestation to love for country. It cannot be any other way. So
declared Sophocles in his book, Antigone----No man must put his friend above
his country; Our country is our life, it is only when she rides that we ride.
Just like the AK47 makes men equal, the Steel sector makes nations
equal and the greatest equalizer of all is the Nuclear bomb. There is no
question about it and there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that were I to
get a chance to get into Aso Rock, I would locate my office in Ajaokuta until I
get the place working by Iron and by Steel and by Blood and by fire. An
industry that holds the key to the creation of 20 million jobs cannot be
anything but a national security issue and it must stand atop the pile of our
priorities aside Power. What’s gone is gone, what’s done is done. What’s done
cannot be undone, but where there is a will, I know first-hand, because I have
been solving problems as a business person since the age of 19, there is a
clear pathway.
There is no doubt in my mind that the original builders of the
Ajaokuta Complex whose government, Russia has explicitly stated their
willingness to come back to get the job completed ought to be re-invited to get
the job done. Even a mechanic will decline to do a job when another mechanic
has started the job already. How much more our Steel Industry and so, I refuse
to rest this essay because I am very angry. Many times, when I think of the
perils of running for President and I want to advise myself otherwise, issues
like this keep tugging at my conscience. If not now, then, when? If not you,
then, who should it be? These are the great questions and issues of our time
and everyone who loves our country must stand up and be counted. I am standing
up but only you, my beloved countrymen and women can help me to be counted.
Share this article. My challenge is still out. If you can gather 20 people in
your living room anywhere in Nigeria, call me. I will show up and we can have a
conversation. 2019 must not catch us asleep at the wheel.
Kindly drop your comments.
Kindly drop your comments.
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