Saturday, January 2, 2016

Why Buhari's Failure Will Spell Doom For Nigeria

Alot of people do actually want the Buhari led Federal Government of Nigeria to fail woefully so that they can prove their points that Buhari is a dictator, that he is no saint, that he lacks the rudiment of leadership or they simply want him to fail for the mere fun of it. Oh how wicked people can be! Imagine gambling with our collective future as a nation just to prove a silly point! 
One thing is certain and clear, one way or another Buhari has found himself as our President and he shall remain as such for the next few years. He was elected President at a dire moment in our national history. The price of crude oil is falling and our richest buyers have abandoned us for other sources. The economy is in a bad shape and corruption has enveloped all aspects of the society so deep that even children are corrupt! Nigeria at this point is headed for failure except we have credible leadership and we wish the nation well. 

Let us look at what will happen if Nigeria should fail, as some detractors want. For one, unemployment will double and with unemployment comes the plague of violent crimes such as armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual murder, etc. These crimes wont be directed at the leaders who have good security but at the masses, you and I, who did not wish the government well.
Another thing that will happen should the government fail is that the Nation shall be split and a civil war is bound to follow. Nigeria, that has remained one since 1914 against all odds, shall be divided into various factions and each of these factions shall fight each other for land, resources, etc and who will suffer for it? It is you and I as well. War is never a good thing, no matter the intention for which it is fought.
If the government fails, the Naira will lose all value and inflation shall occur. Imagine buying a chewing gum at the rate of N1000. That is bound to happen if things go south. When inflation happens, the leaders wont suffer for it, they will most likely move abroad and get their basic needs there. However, we the masses shall suffer in penury should this occur. Even business men, importers/exporters and criminals like internet fraudsters (Yahoo Boys) wont be exempted from the sufferings because they wont be able to cash out their dollars and pounds in Nigeria!
Imagine our corrupt officials stealing our national wealth to foreign countries and allowing us to suffer in penury for crimes we did not commit. Imagine these leaders living flamboyantly whilst people cannot even afford a bread for breakfast! This shall happen if we allow this government to fail by pushing her to the wall and crying foul play and selective justice!
Insecurity shall become our collective problem should the government fail. Boko Haram shall gain more strength, more territories and possibly launch attacks on other parts of the country.
If this government fails, Nigerians will become pariahs in global affairs! No one will want to associate with Nigeria due to our notoriety. Even Ghana, Niger, Togo and Benin will dissociate themselves from us. We will be in debt that we may never be able to pay for decades! Infrastructure will be zero and development shall recede like a jet fueled plane.
If this government fails, money will be scarce as is already being predicted by detractors! Jobs will be lost and even those with jobs wont be paid. Imagine if this happens to you or your family members and friends! Imagine a government that cannot pay salaries for 12 months+. Imagine the poverty, hunger, frustration that we will encounter! No one will be exempt from it. Not even businesses because if no one has money to buy anything, businesses will crumble down and fail. There will be widespread suffering. Even Nigerian students in diaspora will be forced to return and join the league of sufferers.
In fact, our sufferings will be innumerable should this government fail. Worse still shall be the fact that even if another government comes on board, it shall take years, possibly a decade, for things to go back to normal if we continue with our bad attitude. No other government may get it right if this government leaves with things going worse. The past 16 years have been bearable because we had money in the country due to our crude. However, that crude money is dwindling, we are in a state of oil gloom. Capital projects may not be developed without money, infrastructure will go obsolete and there wont be money to repair and maintain them.

I am not saying that we cannot criticize government and her policies but such criticisms should be constructive and productive. The previous government failed because we were prophesying doom rather than giving constructive criticisms and opinions. Rebirth takes time. Even the Renaissance of Europe took over a century to reach its peak! I believe Buhari has the experience and wherewithal to make Nigeria a better place. I believe in him, not for any other thing but for the fact that if he fails, we all FAIL!
The best way we can encourage them is to pray for them and criticise them constructively by saying what they are doing wrong and how they can do it better. Right now, we are only seeing what is going wrong! The real question is HOW CAN THINGS BE BETTER? I haven't seen any critic answer this question. I learnt in school from my great teacher and Associate Professor, Dr. Sunny Awhefeada, that criticism is baseless when recommendations are not made! He averred that Criticism without recommendation is nothing but an insult, an attack and a spell for doom. Criticism with recommendations is productive and it is a tell-tale sign of patriotism.
We tend to believe governance is left for those in government without realising that governance is everybody's affairs. If the government fails, we also fail with them. Governance must start from our hearts! Most people saying 'Buhari this, Buhari that' are the most corrupt fellows spoiling Nigeria! Some of these youths who come online to prophesy doom are actually internet fraudsters, thieves, tribalists, practisers of nepotism, favouritism and givers/takers of bribes. Many of them give money to their lecturers to pass exams, others sleep outrightly with lecturers. Many of them collect the hard earned thousands and hundreds of dollars, euros and pounds of foreigners in the name of "Yahoo-Yahoo" and still come and say our leaders are corrupt! I pray God should not smite the souls of hypocrites in this nation! How can we prophesy doom when we are all GUILTY of the same thing we accuse government of? Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was a good man but we collectively spoilt his governance, with his input, by calling him "clueless" without suggesting ways for him to be "clueful". We made his government worse by prophesying doom and now we want to finish the destruction we started in this new administration. May God FORGIVE US ALL!!!
Please pray for Buhari to succeed because of our collective future. Pray for him to rule this country with wisdom rather than spew bunkums that bother on doom. Can anyone survive a civil war in Nigeria? Can we survive hardships, prolonged nationwide insecurity, inflation of currency and prices, fuel scarcity, etc? Nobody wants to suffer!!! Buhari certainly wants to leave a legacy and be immortalised as the President who led us to our Eldorado. Let us be patient and criticise constructively. Instead of saying "We have entered ONE CHANCE" or "Baba is CLUELESS", let us say "Baba should have said or done this instead of saying or doing this" . Nigeria is a delicate project and her future is in our hands! Let us make 2016 our year of globalisation and industrialisation. I am not a partisan politician neither am I in support of any party but I am a national patriot and I have forgone any personal opinion for the betterment of Nigeria! I pray we all do the same. Nigeria is OUR COUNTRY. It doesn't belong to any particular person or group of people. It is OURS! If it succeeds, it is OUR SUCCESS. If it fails, it is OUR FAILURE.

In PMB, I TRUST!

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