.......Wikipedia
My emphasis lie on the suspension of a few normal functions of executive, legislative and judicial powers and more especially the other aspect that ALERTS CITIZENS TO CHANGE THEIR NORMAL BEHAVIOURS.
It is from the citizen point of view I choose to stand and from this viewpoint and what I can see of my darling country is not a few States of Emergency in the North but an entire COUNTRY OF EMERGENCY.
I can't lie that I was a part of the good old days of our nation when roads were gold and our land gushed milk and honey but I can safely say that since I awoke from the oblivion of childhood and began to identify good and bad, I see nothing more than a nation with a huge gap between POLITICIANS (not the rich this time) and the masses (call this the poor because that is who they really are).
It is a nation where funds that could turn our entire country to the likes of America and London (not the so-called small London) are embezzled and stashed in personal accounts of irresponsible and unworthy politicians abroad. I do not need to mention names, you know them already. As a matter of fact 99.9% of them are guilty just that they are not yet caught in countries like Britain where no one is above the law.
We only continue to exist as one Nigeria in the eyes of faith and a binding force of a few strong people to whom the weak attraction of our assumed unity had been of great benefits to who would be reduced to mere no-bodies should the country tear apart.
Things are not NORMAL here!!!! You don't need a prophet to tell you. The blind could see this. The deaf could hear it.
One out of every five children in Nigeria dropped out of school and our nation has one of the most unstable school calendar in the world. according to a study conducted by UNESCO.
The unemployment rate in this country has skyrocketed to a whooping 23.9% and you look a sane man in the eyes and say 'We are making progress!' What kind of progress are we talking about, physical or spiritual? What are these lies we read and hear on the news?
In 2009, The Federal Government signed an agreement with ASUU to disburse 1.3trn Naira against 1.5 trn initially demanded by the Union to revitalize our country's Federal and State Universities to meet international standard. It was in agreement to split the 1.3 trn Naira into 4 years from 2009 but after all these years the government did not keep a SIGNED AGREEMENT. To defend himself during the media chat, the president denied signing such agreement but stated it was an agreement signed by 'irresponsible leaders' of the time. This is not only a hard blow on our nation but also an international disgrace and an attraction of distrust toward Nigerians from all over the world and must be condemned by reputable and well meaning Nigerians in all sphere of dealings.
Even the devil would keep a signed agreement. He proved that in the case of Job, a Bible story where he kept the agreement not to touch Job's life.
Well I'm not surprise, we already know they promise cars flying in the air, Bugattis as cabs, homes for every pauper in UK just so they could win their votes during elections. After they win, they check into their Aso Villa mansion and laugh at the poor they had successfully fooled en-route to the nation's treasury.
This time, it is our smart and intelligent lecturers that are at the receiving end of their treachery and in response is the commencement of the indefinite strike just to tell them they are too educated to be called fools.
Even at this, what difference can the strike make. Their children are unaffected, studying in Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and other great Universities of this world.
Is it not adding more weight to the pressing load already on the head of the poor?
Can't we see their attitude is that of 'Let them waste more of their time and when they realize how much of their time they had wasted, they would cry tears of sorrow?'.
Take for instance, you are striking and the mother of every Nigerian and First Lady got an Honorary Doctorate degree in South Korea, a message to the striking lecturers and students that if life has ended in Nigeria, other places where only the rich could afford are still breathing.
Another round of news have it that the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and National Union of Teachers(NUT) and National Union of Electricity Employee (NUEE) are considering joining the strike to see if at least the government that once promised us heaven on earth would bulge. This is aside the doctors strike.
Funny enough is the threat of policemen in Imo State to go on strike over posting to Volatile Northern states which has never happened before. I hear comments here and there of people saying;
'They should be punished and even dismissed for such threat. It is in their agreement of duty to be posted anywhere in the country'.
My question is, when has agreement become compulsory to adhere to in Nigeria? Were the leaders who signed the agreement with ASUU and the doctors punished and dismissed when they didn't fulfill them. Now you see why the other part of Wikipedia's explanation of a State of Emergency said "and ALERTS CITIZENS TO CHANGE THEIR NORMAL BEHAVIOURS"!.
Now I would need you to be the judge and tell me that a Nation whose Education, Security, Power, Health and Economic Sector are suffering, malfunctioning, or even completely dysfunctional should not be declared a COUNTRY OF EMERGENCY.
This blog is not born out of hate, disrespect and disbelief for the future of our nation but of keen love and belief that we could make it as one Nigeria with the love and care of each other at heart.
As leaders you could be another Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther Kings Jnr that not just Nigeria would celebrate but the whole world.
Where ever you have been appointed to serve ranging from top political offices to our immediate family, we must remember to passionately consider the effect our actions would have on our electorates or followers and always defend the poor and helpless.
God bless Nigeria and her leaders and God bless you TLF Blog readers. My desire is to see the Nigeria of our dream happen in our lifetime.
I love you all and I love Nigeria to the bones.
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