by Ndidi Ekeh

Wake me up when we start importing ‘Garri’!
Months ago, it was rumoured that Nigeria, a State ranked amongst the highest oil producing countries in the world, had suddenly begun to import fuel from Niger.

 
It is humiliating and beyond belief that we have dwindled as a nation to this particular point. Each time I watched the news, I said a half-hearted prayer, hoping for the almost impossible, hoping that Goodluck Ebele Jonathan aka GEJ, would in one of his unusual uncharacteristic way, assure us that these news were stories from  his opposition and he would also expedite actions to ensure that such ‘rumours’ were never allowed out.

 
Alas! My false hopes have been dashed yet again, not just on the oil news or his appearance on television, but also on the acceleration of actions to ensure the progress of this great country.

“No legacy has been left for my generation, as our parents have failed us, and we are on the path to failing our unborn children…”

I can rightly say here that the GEJ’s administration is one I would ascribe the term ‘closed circuited’. I mean gone are the days of Presidential Interactive Chat sessions with journalists and the Nigerian masses. The days when we could sit in the comfort of our living rooms and watch as journalists asked our most disturbing questions to our leaders.

 
Those days are long gone. Also, I think of the days when our President’s dry sense of humour was known by all- those days left with the Obasanjo’s administration. Back then, there was a feeling of involvement, Nigerians at that time were carried along in State happenings, which unfortunately is a far cry from present day Nigeria.

 
I remember Nigerians coming out to vote for GEJ, for some, he was the messiah sent by God to deliver us from the evil gripped claws of previous corrupt leaders. For others, he was probably the best candidate out of the many supposed political riff raffs’ that sought our votes. He was charismatic, he identified with the youths, and he was by far one of our youngest presidents compared to the likes of OBJ and Yar’adua. We saw hope in him, his words were filled with promise and like our political ‘Captain Planet,’ he was definitely going to save the day.

 
It would be cliché to say that I write this piece with a piercing pain in my heart, even though I feel some discomfort thinking about the woes of this country. I find myself thinking however, that I eat three square meals in a day, but how many other Nigerians can afford the luxury which I had taken for granted. It is unfortunate that somehow the fraudsters and looters whom we thought were uneducated, dumb and totally unfit to rule us are back, not only are they back, but they have somehow perfected their looting and corruptible skills. Now I’m looking for those people that said: “we are not voting PDP but GEJ.” I search for them because I need to be reminded what the name of the party that GEJ contested under was called.

 
It is embarrassing that after 50 years we can still not boast of good road network system, 24 hours power, health care and other basic infrastructures. Our education system has been relegated to the background as a complete write off linking it to the just concluded WAEC and JAMB examination which recorded a mass failure, Universities are being shut down daily and courses de-accredited because of so called ‘low man power and productivity.’

 
No legacy has been left for my generation, as our parents have failed us, and we are on the path to failing our unborn children also with the increase in Internet fraud and kidnapping. The average Nigeria youth struggles with self-responsibility and self-integrity because we have been brainwashed by our fathers and our leaders which has resulted in religious and tribal wars, causing international bodies to compare our intellectual development to that of a mushroom.

 
All I can say for now is nice one GEJ, you got us this time!

 
But owing to the fact that you took an oath to serve us and this great nation, this ‘victory’ of yours would not be for long. I speak for a vast number of Nigerian youths when I say this country MUST get better and we must witness some form of improvement before the end of your administration, even if it means us going on the same route of the North African revolution, which we are very capable of instigating. So I say again:
“Nice One President Jonathan!!” we are watching and waiting for that which has been promised.