With Adetunji Ayobrown
Creative mind they say, is a terrible thing to waste, but what about terrible minds? Answers to this is not farfetched because when our officeholders called leaders profess truism that aren’t true by forgetting that life is suppose to be beyond ordinary survival; don’t just grow but bloom is the watchword of developed nations for its citizens.
Though, there is just a degree of difference between hot water and steam, and truly, hearing tells what music is playing but listening tells what the song is saying, the only degree differential is listening and acting appropriately. Many Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike want to know because when men and women of the developed world are moving forward, ironically many of our officeholders called leaders tend to move in the opposite direction.
Imagine the statement, ‘Nigerians should have a day monthly for crying’- this was credited to a former governor of western state, called Rauf Aregbesola, but most unfortunately he is from the Land of the Living Spring, but called the State of Osun, according to his unnecessary rearrangement of the state’s nomenclature instead of existing standard.
Aregbesola who spoke in Lagos recently left many to awed, a dumbfounded with his statement which came as rude shock. Many are yet to recover from the trance his utterance forcefully and confusedly sent them unaware.
Americans have a thanksgiving national day, United Kingdom has theirs, so also is Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, but there is no single day for crying or weeping, because its gladder minds of their leaders to see its citizens laugh and be joyful all the days of their existence, but Nigerians should have a day monthly for crying.
APC won the Osun governorship election with ‘remote control’ through so many sources, quoting President Muhammadu Buhari. But I agree and stand with Aregbesola on this, but only that he ought to have advised his mentor, President Muhammadu Buhari to start the weeping and crying for those terrible things they have done. He (Buhari) said and disclosed that APC won the last Osun governorship election with ‘remote control’. When developed men are using remote to better their lots, he and his Oga (Buhari) are proud to say in the open those horrible things done by them; this seriously calls for crying and weeping if you ask me…but this is not applicable to all but few like them.
Though, former Osun State Governor expressed concern over the growing population and the lean revenue accruing to the nation, he revealed that if we don’t work harder to improve our fortunes, we would continue to be poor, but forgot that even if we cry from today till thy kingdom come nothing will change if we don’t change them. God gives humans wisdom, so that he can rest.
The developed worlds like USA, UK, Russia and even Saudi Arabia did not have any day for crying, but for prayers and here they are, well developed…even with all his junketing around the globe, I guess President Buhari did not see, or in the known of how these countries got to these stages, what a pity.
Still very fresh in minds, his records in Osun which still calls for serious worry, even with the unnecessary huge debts he left behind as a governor. It is very important to know what god will do and what he would not, no God will do what you are suppose to do as humans, but it quite unfortunate that someone like Aregbesola can forget that God cannot be fooled.
He further added that we have to check our population by practising birth control….citing a terrible example. “In 2017, Brazil had a population of approximately 200 million people almost about what Nigeria had. That year, Brazil had a revenue of about $600 billion and a budget of $700 billion. Nigeria in that same year made $13 billion and a budget of $23 billion”. Are the two countries equal? He queried. Brazil was able to get to this state and stage in the comity of nations not because of people like him, who will rather find cure or remedy for dandruff instead of cure and solutions for leprosy. No Brazilian state or region changed its name arrangement but the country and its regions strove very hard to change for the better the life of its citizens and made them to laugh instead our own former governor thinks otherwise.
He went further, “OPEC allowed Nigeria to extract and sell 2million barrel of crude oil per day but we don’t get that quantity. Even if we get 2million barrel per day and if the price rises to $100 per barrel, it means our income will be $200 million. If you divide this by 200 million people, it amounts to $1 per every Nigerian. We have to check our population by practising birth control. If we don’t address this, we would have huge problems to deal with. We would also need every able-bodied person to work” he said. But he (Aregbesola) forgot that China has over one billion human beings and yet his mentor (Buhari) is on the spree of ‘borrow borrow’ from this country. Many want Aregbesola to pay a visit to China and see how many days a week is for crying or weeping; yet, his country (Nigeria) is still at China’s mercy. Nigeria’s problem is not the population but mismanagement of our abundant human and natural resources. Our creator is wiser; man can never outgrow natural resources as created but for mismanagement and negligence.
Growth is painful, change is painful, but nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong, many wondered why Aregbesola’s eyes are just opening to discover how far Brazil like many other nations had developed.
Not surprising when Senator Dino Melaye tweeted, “I am afraid of the revenge of the poor, It happened in Russia, France and recently in Sudan. It can happen in Nigeria”. He is only afraid of housing segregation will the elites in jeopardy. Ikoyi, Banana, Maitama, Asokoro and the likes as he mentioned are not safe havens anymore. But what about other separations in human rights, like right to good living standard and justice and fairness. Our leaders plus he himself should beware of violent revolution that perilous times loading and it is loading very fast.
Like Independence or Democracy Days, Nigeria should have a national day of prayers, where we all speak in one united voice, appeal to with our creator to come to our aid…just as we celebrate those national and international public holidays.
According to his statement, he said “we don’t remember that we are poor here in Nigeria. If we have a deep thought, we ought to have a day of weeping every month. If we don’t work harder to improve our fortunes, we would continue to be poor. Instead of working harder, we should work smarter; one cannot but imagine that a former governor did not know this.
I will say and conclude that truly terrible mind is nothing but a colossal loss. When other nations are moving forward and achieving good results, but leaders in another think retrogressively, many are of the opinion that their plight had indeed badly affected their brains and their thinking are in reverse mode.
*Ayobrown, Senior System Analyst, National Pilot Newspaper, writes via aayobrown@gmail.com
