The human species is a very unpredictable being, many times they want to forget those who have done them favour, and in extreme cases they even attempt to eliminate their benefactor. I hate this class of people and wouldn’t want to be counted among them; so on this first day of the golden year 2017, I extend my deep appreciation to the numerous readers and fans of this column. Without them the motivation to do this column regularly would have waned. Their reactions spice my life and reinvigorate my mind for better output. I thank them all and urge them to remain committed because the task of developing this nation is one that must be done and done well within the very short time.
Last week, the focus was on ‘transport and traffic management,’ in the work, I couldn’t understand why the government and its agencies across all tiers of government place so much emphasis on enforcement well and above management of traffic. It is possible those in authority read that work and decided to deviate a little from their wicked ways. In parts of the Southeast, I observed that a few days after, the number of checkpoints were greatly reduced and many of the officers managed traffic. It was my delight to see officers of the Civil Defense and Road Safety line strategic routes and junctions. This move enhanced travel of citizens going to different points for celebrations. That is how it should be.
This is 2017, a new year in an entirely different era. I make this point because only those who understand the season make the best out of it. Only a few persons may not know this, and whether you know or not, it would matter only to the extent you avoid suffering and even dehumanization. The world today is no longer what it was 50 years ago; revisionism is taking over and nations that used to share with the less privileged ones are opting for closed society. They want to keep their wealth circulating among themselves; the exit of Britain from the European Union and the unexpected victory of Donald Trump are all fallouts of the changing world order. For Africans and the Black world, this development portends great danger. It is either we develop quickly and skip the huddles or fail to develop and become victims of greater calamity. If we take the lessons of Iraq and Syria, we would know that if the western world pressed by economic difficulties, one of the options that would readily come to their mind would be to instigate a war with African nations, the objective being to conquer them and make them vassal states once again.
We can avoid this be taking a few simple steps. The first should be reaffirmation of our resolve to be one nation; the second would be the resolve to commit everything we have to the development of our space and to do so within a short time; the third would be for the political class to come together in a summit and agree to work as one for the proper development of the nation; the fourth, there is need to aggregate the conclusions of all past national conferences and from there create a vision for the development of our nation or call for a fresh national conference on terms agreeable to all. There is no need to over emphasize the need for a vision and steps to achieving them with clear timelines. We must run away from current situation where leaders at all levels seek for power without a vision of what to do and the situation is worse when we allow ministries and departments to come up with what they think is the pathway. Nations are not developed that way. The tragedy of our development is that our leaders leave the serious and chase the mundane; we give so much to tribalism, religion and nepotism, and all these at a time we should be talking about signs and development. See the picture on this column and tell me what you make of Nigeria in the 21st Century. If this where to be Europe, would they be doing this?
For my country men and women, recession and underdevelopment are no excuses for being poor, beggarly and stranded, by now it should be an elementary lesson to teach that inside every adversity abound opportunities, all we need to do is develop a skill and offer services and money would come irrespective of the time. Money is not the paper we see, it is the services we give. I am sure 2017 would offer us opportunities to move from existing to living.
Happy New Year!