When fathers slumber…

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The land is hemorrhaging on all fronts. From North to South and East to West, the whole place has turned bloody, yet our Lord of the Manor is slumbering away, apparently oblivious of what is going on. Despite the pervading hunger, deprivation and discontent in the country, he even sometimes shares, on the social media, pictures of himself picking his teeth after a sumptuous meal. Please, somebody tell me, how can a leader feel so cool, calm and collected when his house is ablaze and endangered? I wonder how a leader can stay unmoved when life in his domain has been reduced “to a state of being solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” to borrow the words of Thomas Hobbes. I don’t understand how a leader can feel so comfortable when majority of those he superintend over are in great discomfort. Is our President callous, careless or comatose?

Bandits no longer operate under the cover of the night. Having been emboldened by the lethargy of the military and the sloppiness of the paramilitary, they evade communities in broad daylight to abduct people and loot their wares. They even attack military formations without any fear of resistance and invade correctional centres to rescue their arrested members. The aura of invincibility built around state governors no longer deters terrorists, a governor is now as vulnerable as any of his citizens. On several occasions, Borno State governor barely escaped terrorists’ attacks by the whiskers. Even the fortress built around the President no longer scares them, they have threatened to abduct our President. Our farmlands have become killing lands. Our rice fields have been turned to death fields. Please, is this Nigeria or Somalia? Let somebody tell me, are we still in Nigeria or our country has been turned into Afghanistan?

But there was a promise made in 2015 to dislodge terror groups from Nigeria within six months. What happened to the promise? What has become of the promise maker? Please, tell me, is there not a Commander-In-Chief in this country? Is there any perpetual injunction restraining the Commander-In-Chief from acting against terror, banditry and other criminal activities in our country? Why can’t the Father of the Nation rise in defence of his people? Please, tell me; is our President callous, careless or comatose? Is the President too enervated or enfeebled to discharge his duties or is it that he just does not care whether we are safe or we are slain?

Nigerians are more familiar with hunger than they are with food. Most Nigerians have become the poster boys of poverty since there are more poor people in Nigeria than in any other part of the world. Inflation has hit the rooftop, Naira is repeatedly worsted, yet we are told to exercise patience. Pray, for how long are we going to be patient? Here, we record more maternal deaths per 1000 births than any other country in the world. We also beat others to clinch the trophy of the country with the highest number of Under-5 deaths in the world. When are we going to enjoy our citizenship of this country? Why should we remain poor citizens of a well-endowed country? Many Nigerian youths have lost faith in the country. Hence, they would rather die trying to cross the desert into Europe than stay put in their fatherland. Is that life? Is it a crime to be a Nigerian? Again, I ask, is our President callous, careless or comatose?

The army of child beggars increases every hour. Nigeria has more children out of school than any other country in the world. ASUU and other unions in the university have been on strike for upward of four months without any solution to the situation in sight, yet the rulers of the land cannot be bothered. They do not feel troubled that millions of Nigerian youths idle away at home and in dark places due to the poor decisions they have made. They even go about thumping their chests that they have done their best and ask us to blame ASUU for the imbroglio. Ha! How did we get this low as a nation? How come we have put in positions of decision making those whose stock in trade is blaming others for their failures? How did we end up with leaders who feel unconcerned about the plight of the majority once their own issues are sorted? Mr President, how did you get such people into your cabinet? Did our President appoint below the par people to punish us? Did the President appoint his like? Or is the President unbothered one way or the other?

Some have opined that nothing moves our President. They say in his personal life, he takes adversity and prosperity with equal equanimity, which explains his constant somber look. This disposition, they claim, he has transferred to governance and that explains why he is almost often indifferent to happenings around him.

But the President must be slumbering for him to be unmoved by anything. It is only those who are in deep sleep that can be unmoved by the deep concerns of those around them. Those who slumber neglect the people around them. When a father slumbers when he ought not to, the children suffer. Ditto for a country when the President slumbers. When a President sleeps on duty, the economy slips into bad times. When a President slumbers on duty, bandits take over the reins. When a President slumbers on duty, criminality thrives. When a President slumbers on duty, oil theft flourishes. When a President slumbers on duty, university students are shut out of their campuses for months on end. When a President slumbers, the Accountant General of the Federation steals over N100billion and makes a plea bargain offer.

Woe is the country whose leaders slumber on duty.

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