Let's weep for Nigeria

My Thoughts With Ayodele Samuel

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At this historic moment and time, Nigeria is undoubtedly  replicating the era when Israel was in the wilderness. Though the journey was tough then, Israel knew with certainty that she was heading for the Promised Land - Canaan.

Sadly, Nigeria does not yet know where her own destination lies even at 100. After 100 years of amalgamation, 53 years of political independence, 15 years of unbroken civil rule, Nigeria still gropes in the dark; walking without a definite direction.It is pathetic as the world daily watches the acclaimed giant of Africa helplessly moving about with the whirlwind of unfortunate circumstances.

Let us weep and mourn for the wasted years.

The Nigerian experience 100 years ago has indeed been a story of lamentation on all sides. Visions and targets set for development by our founding fathers 100 years ago have all woefully failed. And yet there is no end in sight to further failure, with the present government,infact, not offering any hope.

 As the nation continues its journey to destiny,  she certainly needs a way forward, a breakthrough from a place where poverty reigns supreme in the midst of plenty, a country that is known for production of and renowned for export of crude oil but import refined and finished petroleum products to the detriment of its economic and political progress; a country where clueless leaders rule with impunity,a country where 50 million of its youth are jobless, a country with failing moral standard,  a country where the masses are denied basic necessities of life.

This is a country where 70 percent of it citizens live below 150 naira per day but award more than 70 percent of its annual budget to salaries and allowances of political office holders . It is no more news that basic infrastructure in the country are in deplorable conditions. No good roads, no basic educational structures, our hospitals have become transit point to the mortuary due to inadequate healthcare facilities. Unemployment is increasing as the economy gets worse. Industries have closed down due to unabated high cost of production as a result of unreliable power supply.

 As we go into another celebration of 15 years of democratic rule , Nigerians should think of when we shall get out of this shameful situation wickedly imposed on us by selfish leaders over the years. What is the way forward?

We should use this moment to reflect soberly on achieving the true Nigeria dream, both the leaders and the led must reflect soberly on the state of the nation. We can't continue to be led by visionless leaders, who neither have the mental capacity nor patriotic desire to move the country forward.

At this moment, Nigerians must wake up from their slumber to reality.  Nigerians must decide on true leadership. Nigerians must vote and ensure that their votes are not counted for the wrong candidates. Nigerians must tell the wicked, self imposed leaders to go into political oblivion. It is time  to rescue our country from the visionless and corrupt leaders while they bow out shamefully. For a nation like Nigeria to be great again, it will start from somewhere mostly important which is credible and transparent elections. When there is a free, fair election, we must all lay our hands on the plough afresh towards building a nation we can all be proud of in OUR GENERATION!

http://weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/opinion/opinion/1055-let-s-weep-for-nigeria

Real reason Omisore is battlling Rotimi Makinde

Ahead of Osun 2014 governorship election, its taking new twist as the verbal attacks between former Osun State deputy governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, Senator Iyiola Omisore and member of the House of Representatives, representing Ife Federal Constituency, Hon. Rotimi Makinde continues  to deepens.In a seperate statesments made available to newsmen  yesterday in Lagos, Omisore called for prayers and drug test for Makinde. But in his swift response, Makinde challenged Omisore to an open debate and certificates test. Omisore in a statement by his media aide, Kolawole Victor Oriola, noted that if the call by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido, that drug test should be conducted for politicians before they are presented for election, has been carried out, Makinde would not have been in the hallowed chamber today. His words: " I know if we have followed this step, characters like Makinde and his ilk's will not be in our hallowed chamber today.  Tell me, what is his relevance at the National Assembly other than fomenting trouble and throwing chairs at perceived and imaginary enemy? If he (Makinde) is conversant with the working of National Assembly, he would have known the implication of printing someone else insignia as billboards in order to depict him as harbinger of thuggery. It is not only libelous, it is capable of causing a breach of public peace and Senator Iyiola Omisore has demonstrated a high sense of responsibility by reporting the ugly incident to the appropriate authorities for necessary action. "He is hallucinating otherwise; he won't be calling a governor whose academic records are shrouded in secrecy a colossus. Colossus my foot! Does Makinde understand the meaning of colossus at all? What is the antecedent of Rotimi Makinde? I don't want to join issue with him because what do you expect from such an infantile mind." Omisore stressed that sending character like Makinde to House of Representatives is scandalous. "Tell me how many popular bill has he sponsored or co-sponsored since he was elected? Unfortunately, he is one of the rascals that were expert in pepper soup joint gossips before his election."   Makinde, an staunch supporter of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State urged Omisore's media aide to challenge his boss to an open debate and certificates test. "His boss now claimed to be a doctorate degree holder, not from any Nigerian University, but from an unknown institution abroad. "Let him count 20 members of his community he empowered in his 12 years in government while I promised to list 200 in less than 2 years including his brother and sisters of the same surname. The records are there in black and white of my participation at this 7th Assembly. "It is a known fact that I hold a Masters Degree in Finance from Ladoke Akintola University,HND in Accountancy from Kwara State Polytechnic and OND in the same field from The Polytechnic, Birnin-Kebbi. I voluntarily retired from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), after putting in 20-years of active service. The records are there," Makinde said. The federal lawmaker stressed further that: "Omisore in the first place, has no business being in government and his media aide should know that his boss is a liability to the good people of Ile-Ife and even to his party. He should bravely retire from politics or submit himself for re-branding. "This is man that could not run a micro-finance bank in his domain well enough but choose to relocate to Ghana to start business, without any recourse to the alarming jobless situation in his domain and by extension, Nigeria."