He stepped out from his car waving the crowd waiting for his speech. This has been the normal procedure after election whether as a good leader or otherwise. Lee Kuan Yew’s major goal was to drive entrepot trade by extending into processing of imported raw materials into exported finished products leading to higher value-added goods which would eventually bring prosperity to the island.
A country like Singapore, with almost no natural resources and having largely technological and production based economy calls for a strong comparison. Singapore is so organized that chewing gum in public is prohibited for its citizens. For whatever reason, one can conclude that it is, perhaps a way of keeping the state clean as emphasized by the authority.
Away from far away Asia, Eygpt was able to generate adequate electricity within 5 years, and built over 50MW power generation with a lesser population whereas the giant of Africa, Nigeria is battling with less than 4,000MW, same country that now exchanges 670naira for one Dollar. Aren’t we heading towards doom?
The rate and gap between being rich and poor is so slim in Nigeria that many are just one diagnosis away from going broke due to lack of affordable health insurance scheme.
A country that is driven only by consumption is giving clear signs that the future lies inside the belly or what the former Ekiti first man called stomach infrastructure. How do you explain to the youth that the future is theirs where all the required resources needed to make a change are in unbelievably scarce proportions?
How do you explain to a woman who lost her child to failed Nigerian systems that there is hope in the country? It is hard to try. Or the kidnapped train passengers’ relatives that there’s light at the end of this tunnel? ‘May Nigeria not happen to you’ is now such a powerful prayer point! The dream common with Nigerians is either to “Japaa” i.e travel out of the country, become a politician, get a 9-5 or just hustle.
In a bid to find answers, we have embraced religion or maybe it has even robbed us of reason. I believe in God and I serve him but I also know that because of the numerous failures of government, religion has become a tool for subjugation; a tool that the poor take seriously than the upper class, it is the Opium of the masses according to Karl Marx ‘A German Philosopher” it is the tool the oppressors use to brainwash the proletariat, a Politician in Nigeria can adopt multiple religion just to attain the political power or stay relevant but the subjugated would rather cling into their chains than hold government accountable.
The question is; how do we change the narrative? How do we make this country great? You probably know the answer but I said to send you a reminder- VOTE. One central answer is through voting as afforded by democratic structure which we have adopted in Nigeria. While we begin to ask ourselves some fundamental questions, the primary aim is to live in a country where a better standard of living is guaranteed? Can you raise your children with this system and is their future guaranteed?
These should guide your evaluation on any preferred candidate you want to vote in the coming election.
Check their antecedent, make some research. A bad leader brings damage that another four years may not be able to solve. It took Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore. Who will it be for Nigeria? That answer is in your hands. vote wisely!
Tobi Kushimo
