Your Excellency Mr. President.
Today I watched American President as he delivered State of the Union address to the Congress and the American people and I can’t think to conclude that a President even at old age this brilliant would lead a great and prosperous nation.
A president who understands the issues , the problems of not just his citizens but knows how to navigate between his own people and the world at large. A president who speaks directly to the soul of the nation and a president who comes with so many positive policies and even in spite of the opposition he faces, still achieved thus much.
This brings me to write this open letter to Nigerian President President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In as much as I am from the opposition party Labour Party (LP), I still want my country to succeed because no doubt even inspite of Republican Party opposition to President Biden, every American still wants their Leader to succeed.
I study so much American economy and as we strive so much to follow American system of government, one thing we refuse to follow is American law and order system and reward and punishment that makes America one of the greatest, if not the greatest nation on earth.
On the other hand, our nation has been so much bedeviled with corruption in high places, greed, embezzlement and hence the impact we feel on all sides of the economy that nothing seems to be working.
Many times, few of our leaders have good intentions, but when those intentions get to the implementation stage, they get messed up by corruption. This administration may have started on a wrong note of not properly delivering the Fuel Subsidy policy in its areas of implementation so also with the foreign currency unification policy but if we had sincere leaders and true players in these two sectors of oil and banking sectors, the impact of those failed policies wouldn’t have hit us so hard the way it is hitting Nigerians today and to make the matter worst, no one gets punished for failed government policies even when we know they are sabotaged. We apply the full weight of the law to ordinary citizens, but to the political class, they go scot-free when erred. Many politicians operates as if they are above the law. In our nation, this is why our nation is not moving forward.
There are so many bad eggs in leadership, especially in the two most sensitive ministry of Petroleum and banking: they seem to be above the law, they sabotage government effort to succeed and until we are ready to apply law and order to punish offenders when they do wrong, we won’t have a nation and it will keep affecting our progress.
It is only in Nigeria that a minister of Humanitarian services erred and diverted government funds to personal use and after been removed from office we do not hear about it anymore: no punishment and no consequences for her actions has been made public apart from her removal. People steal so much in government, and all that happens at the end of the day is emotional politics at the top, not applying the full weight of the law to punish offenders when they do. Many bank directors sabotaged the money unification policy to accrue wealth for themselves and their banks, knowing fully well that citizens will suffer, but nothing till today is done to any of them.
Only in Nigeria, people think of self and never thought of the nation at large.
In the light of the above, if this government must succeed, the government must cleanse NNPC of bad eggs and bad players. It must tighten its grip to know the exact production capacity we have by computerized the oil sector. This government must also intervene in the banking areas by going after bank MDs and CEOs who keep benefiting and subverting government policies in their personal favor and interest. So if this government must succeed it must uphold the policy of rule of law, law and order etc, to purge itself from bad eggs. This nation cannot succeed if laws are not applied to correct those who sabotage the nation and the economy from time to time.
On insecurity, the level of poverty no doubt is contributory to the high level of insecurity and kidnapping we face in the nation, the war zone Ukraine/Russia, Israel and or Gaza is today safer than our country, especially the northern part of Nigeria. And except the government purge it’s securities agencies from within, we won’t have a head way in the fight against insecurity and kidnapping in our nation. We must upgrade our intelligence unit, we must use modern day tools to collect data and intelligence within our nation to be able to correct and put the nation to flourish again so that farmers can return to farm and traders can freely move from zone to zone.
Finally, this government needs to speak to Nigeria people all the time, not just once in a while, just like the American government speaks to his people almost everyday.
This government must require of its workers, the patriotic mind needed to make a country succeed, and then the citizens can follow suit to do the same.
I pray this government is able to turn things around sooner and I wish Nigerians the patience to see the nation become better in their hands.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
God bless Mr. President
God bless you all, and God bless me.
Signed:
Faduri Oluwadare Joseph,
Former Presidential Aspirant Labour Party (LP)
The Leader
Rescue Movement for New Nigeria.