THE FUTURE OF THE NIGERIAN CHILD.

If you are invited to the birthday celebration of a man whose house is an abode for terrorism and over 200 of his children are presently abducted.What question would you ask?


Myths about a Nigerian are She is docile ,her spirit is a tractable one ,her passivity is pathological and she is always hoping for a better tomorrow .We are at cross roads where our present integrity is questioned.our systems are falling ,policies failing ,structures crumbling,institutions failing yet all we do is to keep looking.We often forget that decay is a natural process,we keep getting worse until we intervene.There was a time terrorism was as far as Pakistan now it's as close as Abuja,a loud dull noise used to mean thunder now it's a bomb blast.We have been driven to the border of the permissible infact to the very edge of the cliff.

One good question to ask at this moment is What does the future hold for the Nigerian Child.Can our Systems and institution deliver a good future for the Nigerian Child.Follow me closely as I unveil the excerpts of a letter I wrote to my unborn child.
Dear Temiloluwa,I write this piece to you with disappointment ,first as a Nigerian and also because you will be born a Nigerian. it will shock you to hear you may die before delivery and I may even lose my wife ,your mother to child birth just because health workers may be on strike.u will surely bear my name but your christening might be postponed because  of street protests and pastor Femi may not be able to find his way here.I place so much value on good quality education but unfortunately in your university days u may be locked out of school because of assu strikes.these and many more are the possibilities that will rock your world as a Nigerian.You may see a whole of negativity in my speech but you will agree with me that we will be dwelling in a state of abuse and folly if we cast our children's future on our current realities.

The importance of good quality education , maximum security ,good health facilities,strict child protection laws cannot be overemphasized. These things should be institutionalized.But as good as these things are,they are not the critical success factor.Total dependence on institutions and system is a road to failure.if u have a virgin land and you want a garden you plant it ,if you want weed and thorns on it,all you need to do is to do nothing ,Natural systems are just programmed to give you thorns.At the end,what the future of the holds for each Nigerian child is the 'You' factor which I call the critical success factor.
Real value is not in what the system offers it is in what you make out of it.This was the message I was conveying to my unborn child that no matter what negativity or collapse he sees it's not an excuse for failure.the future of the Nigerian child does not depend on how old Nigeria ,it's not dependent on how much volume of corruption he sees around.no matter how dry the land may be the coconut still finds it water.we need to start imbibing the culture of independence in the Nigerian Child.If we set our focus on this,good systems ,institutions ,structures will be established.then the content of my child's letter to his child will not be the same as mine because the future will no be debatable.

Finally,if I am given the opportunity to say just three words to a Nigerian Child on what the future holds.ill say it's about you ,if just two words I'll say it's you ,if just one word il grab the child pull his ears and say YOU. I pray the child understands.

ANALGESIC-INDUCED SILENCE;THE NIGERIAN CASE.

A sect of the Nigerian citizenry believe that it is bad to portray the country as bad as it is ,
believing it does more harm than good.For me,I strongly believe in the say-it-as-it-is principle.If every one wears a face mask ,how do we identify ones with facial rashes to treat?The fact that every nation has its own issues unique to them is not a prima fascie to believing that Corruption is part of our birth right in Nigeria.

To consider it,it is a shameful state.Our systems are falling,our policies are failing and Nigerians are hailing.The evil has been identified as corruption ,the evil doers are known but not identified ,those identified have not been brought to book.What do we say ofa farouk lawan(A member of the house of representative with a concrete evidence of receiving bribe) who is still making laws for you and I to obey.indeed this situation is a malignant one.

One of the most accepted myth about a typical Nigerian is that he/she is a docile person;that the Nigerian spirit is a tractable one and submits too easily to a manhandlers:that her passivity is even pathological.The late journalist ,Dele Giwa,once said Nigerians have been shocked beyond ''shockability''.It is believed that we have been denervated to a ridiculous zero-level where our sensitivity has been killed and our motor system now suffers a great depression because of the pathological passivity.We submit ourselves with no restrain to the assault of our rapist,taking turns and yet still asking for more as if there is something good about the semen of our spoilers.

To say Nigerians have been pushed to the proverbial wall would be redundant. Weve been driven to the border of the permissible; to the very edge of the cliff decribed. our present state.We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!”…. This „Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.

The easiest question to ask me is 'What is my own pain?'I would say it is not out of place to ask however its not new because i hear it everyday in discussions ,arguments and so on.To answer the question ...Could my pain have resulted from the fact thatI resist the daily dose of analgesic offered to most Nigerians .These analgesics are the bribes people receive or whatever means theyve been silenced through selfish attitudes or the tablet-sized meat they receive from the butcher .Ive not forgotten the question.i am just building the frame work to answer it.
A wealthy man driving home hits a man out of sheer wickedness.he decided to carry the poor man with broken bones home.Each morning,he gives him his daily meal and gives him painkillers but as for the broken bones he does nothing about it.The poor man thanks him each day for the pills.This wealthy man represents our politicians while the poor man represents Nigerians.What is my pain? The man who doesnt recognize that he is oppressed because of the pills.