Nigeria: A Question of True Patriotism or Terrorism? By Tobenna Obiano.

Fellow Nigerians,

I for one, have never been known for standing on the fence or joining the bandwagon or choosing to remain indifferent where or when I should be outspoken. I have therefore, chosen to make my voice heard, even if only one person hears me out, it's fine.

The Nigeria of today is in a state of what one may simply term near total collapse. Testaments to my above assertion are limitless. It's become so glaring that even a school age child may dare to mention, and yes, can rightly point fingers to the countless devastation, decay and the many societal upheavals that has overtaken Nigeria.

In our nation today, virtually nothing works; nearly 5million Nigerians lost their jobs in the past two and half years. There is still serious security concern, as Boko Haram now has a free for all up in the far North, while their brothers, the deadly Fulani herdsmen still slaughter people like chicken while the media chooses to be more subtle and diplomatic in their reportage. Well, those doesn't change this though scary but clearly, an uncommon fact!

We still have a failed society, the epileptic and sickly power supply is a big shame. Nigerian roads are still death traps, even our railway for train and runways for our jets are a big joke when compared to what is obtainable in sane havens. Our airports and seaports are loosely cancerous, as bribery and corruption still pervades and have overtaken it in near entirety. At those places, any person who offers to help you, expects a kickback, especially airport officials. Every Nigerian knows this as true.

What of our Agriculture? The world is kept on an alert as regards climate change and the importance of planting more trees to help protect the human race and the safety of the air we breath, well, Nigerian Government's ministry of Agriculture do not give a damn about that. The over 80years man who heads the ministry doesn't care. As a nation, even with our arable land, we can't feed ourselves. If in this age and time, we have a people who shamelessly suggested to leave the shores of Nigeria and indeed Africa to journey all the way to Brazil in South America to import in nothingness, but grass, what else is the definition of a catastrophic Government?

What of our education sector? Well, it is laughable what we operate and call an education system. In some of our primary and secondary schools, pupils and students still attend to classes while sitting on the floor and some right under mango trees. Ofcourse, mercenaries aid at miracle centers during board exams, so why worry?.

In our tertiary institutions, a lecture hall which ordinarily should contain nothing more than 50 persons would have over 300 persons attending to lectures. And after examinations, some lecturers either demand for bribes or amorous acts depending on sex of the individual involved, in-order to pass students who failed.

There is no worthwhile welfare package for lecturers and teachers even as our political class continue to cart away millions and billions afterall, as most of them characteristically refer to our education sector, "free-education" which is indeed, "free of worthwhile knowledge". Afterall, their own kids can't attend those as they are either in some part Europe or America for serious studies.

The rot in our education system is saddening. This is why Nigeria continually graduates thousands of scholars yearly with hundreds making "suma cum lauda" or first class yet with nothing to show for it. Nigerian institutions graduate Lawyers who can't speak good English or write minutes in a meeting. We have Doctors yet the President is treated in London for even ear drum problem. The worse is that we have Engineers yet we remain unable to produce as little as toothpick or stone-crushers, while we import even toothbrush and phone chargers.

Today, more than 13million children are out of school. In that huge population, 10million are in and from Northern part of Nigeria with Kano State alone, even with all their great economic viability has an alarming 2 million "almageris" or street beggars in the state. Even the remainder of 3million that are scattered all over Nigeria with majorly, people from the North who migrated to those zones.

What of Nigeria's economy? On this, your guess is as good as mine! We have a ministry ran by a lady who thinks that building, growing and sustaining the economy comes from beautifying herself like a mermaid and from blowing grammars loudly and using phonetics to confuse the not-so-privileged. A minister of the Economy who fails woefully in simple arithmetic. The Nigerian economy is nothing to write home about. What's the value of the naira? Well, it's laughable. What are the plans to improve or better it, absolutely nothing but sweet talking and big grammar. It's unfortunate and truth be told, there is no hope in sight.

Nigeria honestly misses Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwuala who had intelligently managed our economy and grew same to the level of one of the fastest growing in the world until they came and pushed her aside. Even with her Nigerian-like or Africanese English, she still graduated from an Ivy League and almost made it to the world Bank Presidency.

Nigeria always pride noisily as the highest oil producing nation in Africa and sixth in the world. Fair enough, it is true. What is the worth of our oil and gas today? Well, in little counting, it can only procure a park of KFC chicken and fries with Pepsi, not more, instead maybe less.

Even the oil producing part of Nigeria mostly known as the Niger Delta actually follows immediately after Northern Nigeria in Nigeria's poverty rate. Government after another, including one of their own, have neglected, abandoned and not taken them seriously. Their streams and rivers are polluted by oil spillage, so also their farmland by an endless high rate of oil bunkering. This not only affects their livestock, aquatic animals and life generally, it slowly kills the people. Well, the Government doesn't care, instead that very wealth is used to develop Northern Nigeria and also, finds its way into the pockets of some "privileged" few while the Niger Deltans remain in perpetuity of poverty and lack.

The health sector? Another joke of a ministry. This was a ministry that once made Nigerians proud and took the whole world by surprise with their swift and distinct management of the killer disease, Ebola when it found its way into Nigeria. This ministry once distinctively managed Zika virus, bird flu, swine flu and all those. This is a ministry that has managed many HIV/AIDS cases so well and fought malaria to a remarkable state. Nigerians can never thank them enough.

This day, what do we have? As little as meningitides was referred to by a  serving Nigerian Governor, and quite incredibly, the Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum and Governor of Zamfara State as punishment from God for the level of amorous acts perpetuated by Nigerians. Today, Nigerians aren't sure if the ministry still exists.

We also once had the National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control, NAFDAC which took charge of management of what Nigerians consume. This was an agency which Prof. Dora Akunyili of the blessed memory brought so much sanity and pride into even as bullets shattered the rear of her windscreen, flying through her headgear, her scarf while brushing hotly, the hair on her head while she was fighting the very rich, powerfully connected and murderous illicit drug traffickers. Today, maybe that very agency has gone into extinct.

Therefore, believe it or not, Nigerians may be back to the sad days of consuming white chalk as panadol tablet or a mixture of water, saccharine and lemon as champagne or time when gala vendors changed expiry dates on gala labels by themselves with ink. It was once in vogue and headbrige in Onitsha and drug market in Kano was exactly where all those drugs and classic wines with inscription of made in abroad are actually made. Today, unlike in the past, no one knows who heads the NAFDAC, that is if it's still in existence.

What of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission? Yes, we still have a very functional agency, only that they have reduced it to a sub-zone of Nollywood show of tales, myths and figments of imaginations. Unbelievably, what is supposed to be only narrow rhetorics or mere fictitious they go ahead to play same out as real. Aren't they very talented? Every week births another orphaned millions and billions running in naira and dollars awaiting for only their locating it.

The most laughable of their whole drama had been the monies they recovered from some part of Kaduna airport parked in big bags, this is even as the airport is wired right round with CCTV cameras. As for the Ikoyi residential billions, the movie has long ended.

Even the Director of EFCC does not know exactly how much or about what estimate or range his agency has discovered or recovered since his assumption of office. Once you are from the other side, it is their duty to hunt you down, even Judges.

The only serious and worthwhile thing or person working in the EFCC today is the faceless being behind their twitter handle, a sound person who intelligently combines rare smartness and intelligence with comic relief in discharging his or her duties through that social medium. It's best that they swap him or her for the actual Director who it has been alleged that he is also grossly corrupt, a case of pot calling kettle black.

What of the various Nigerian Securities? Ours is a sham. Terrorists and criminals posses firearms and ammunition that can only be found in hands of American or Russian soldiers while our Nigerian soldiers are fighting them with den guns or "egbe-nta" used in villages for hunting of birds not even wild animals, plus bows and arrows. Our police can only be found at checkpoints where they collect tollgate, I mean bribe. Some of them end up in a ditch or gutters after too much consumption of hard liquor. Even the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC is another joke who now hang on at our roads to collect their own toll or else, they shamelessly get into a fight with motorists.

The nation's secret police, the Department of State Security Services, they have since made themselves the law, as they are above the law and fail to respect even standing court orders. In classical show of shame, they arrest people without evidence or a prior invitation or any form of arrest warrant, detain them against their wish for weeks and months, this is even when the court says no and they go ahead to witch-hunt those who dare to speak up or disagree with them. Sadly, the agency has since been reduced to a mere community gathering of Daura Special Secrecy Services.

In Nigeria today, virtually everything has failed. Even the deeply religious are not sure of what is to come. Africans and Nigerians in particular are still held down and back by the clutches of the white man's religion, where many even lose their common sense of reasoning and fail to ask questions when and where they should just because the Church or Mosque has decided. Many church goers continue to sow seeds upon seeds for one reason or another, while reducing themselves to hunger, malnutrition and lack while their church leaders swim in plenty. Even some pastors use the monies recovered from tithing to service their litanies of side chicks.

Even so, while we agree that little or no hope remains in the Nigeria of today. I have not said and may never say that Biafra is the option. We are all Nigerians and even if Biafra is to come, Nigerians are still those who are gonna make up what may become Biafra; therefore, it's still a funny cycle.

As an Igbo man, a proud Igbo son, many well meaning Igbos including my very self continue to advocate for restructuring of this nation, even as IPOB advocates for referendum and subsequent breakaway and then the third group, our shameless and selfish political class feel it's just fine not to abandon this never-agreeing or unagreeable Nigerian marriage for their own selfish interest.

Nigeria is to this day, in trouble. It doesn't matter from which or whatsoever angle we choose to think about it. As a people, we must be committed to building, sustaining and achieving the aim of a nation we will be proud to call our our own. The Nigerian elected officers should be gracious and smart enough to resign their offices when the ovation is loudest or when they have less or nothing to offer. The choice of many to hang on to power in life and death is the very reason why Nigeria has remained stagnated.

In the news only last week, the world was shocked at the revelation of the cost for parking space of Nigeria's Presidential jet, Air Force 1. In fifty days of it's waiting for the hospitalized sick President, it's been summed up to nearly a hundred million naira. This is the Presidency of a man many once referred as been saintly; worse is that even the first lady herself, isn't sure of the husband's state of health as she doesn't also have assess to him. Aside the huge waste of scarce resources for selfish interests, what do these cabals want of a Nigeria?

We forget so easily and wave down like it's nothing when things are going so badly. Nigeria is in serious distress, in lack, in want and the populace are suffering so much. We can't claim all is well, when our innumerable troubles stares us all directly in the face.

It doesn't matter if I live to enjoy the sweat of my hard work or if I make it to living a luxurious life; it's more important to crest our names on the sand of time and on the heart of men. The most I may add is to leave treasures and goodies behind for the good of others. Why has it become characteristic with privileged Nigerians, especially the political class not to ever give a damn about reputation and what they may be remembered for?

Lastly and on a very serious note, where exactly is Nigeria's President, Muhammed Buhari and what the heck is keeping Mr. President out of his duty post for this long?

If he is sick and hospitalized in London as it is alleged, what's his true state of health? Is there any improvement or is it getting worse? For heaven's sake, why is it too hard to have the President address Nigerians on live camera broadcast. Nigerians voted him and they deserve to know!

If the President is sickly and incapacitated, why won't he resign the Presidency for a more capable and healthier person while he goes to take care of his failing health.

If he doesn't want to respectfully and willfully resign, the National Assembly should rise to their responsibility, putting away nonsensical sentiments of ethnicity, religion or region and do the needful. Nigeria is bigger than any individual or a group of unpatriotic fellows.

The most worrisome part is that suddenly, all our once powerful media houses, all our once powerful social critics, all our once powerful religious leaders and all our once powerful self made "patriots" and Nationalists, including elders statesmen, Labour unions and even fellow young persons, particularly students have all gone blind, deaf and dumb to the state of stagnation that has befallen Nigeria.

Oh yeah, they can't speak out, why? It's no more the once shoeless school boy from the riverine Ijaw tribe in Otuoke, Bayelsa. Oh that's true, it's no more the Christian Presidency. It's no more the educated yet hatefully called "clueless" President.

You may have called him weakly, unintelligent and dumb, now you see your "man of the decade, Sai Baba". Therefore, it is your time to apologize for that hate against former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan or else, burry your faces in shame!

Many Nigerians are shameless hypocrites, yes, very shameless. Chibok girls kidnap shut Nigeria down and brought the world to Nigeria atleast in the media for bad news, yet for so long now, the Southwest controlled media doesn't care to carry punch headlines or give updates about the kids that were kidnapped in Lagos that has not been found till this day. Are they any less important than our mysteriously "stolen" Chibok girls? Oh, a new sheriff is in town and he is a fellow Muslim, so it's fine that the kids remain missing and non discussed at all.

Fellow Nigerians, many clearly have, practice and pride in dual ideology, double standard. Posterity will judge us all.

As an individual, I can't sit and claim speechless at this moment of complexity in our nation. I have chosen to speak up. Mr. President should resign or be forced by law to doing the needful.

Patriotism goes beyond professing same by mouth, love of one's nation and her people, it does more good when we act it out. Nigeria lacks true-patriots, what we have are a bunch of powerful and privileged individuals who have turned to our haters, who terrorize us and are mostly, our "misleaders". Let's practice what we profess!

A better Nigeria for us all is possible, choices are, let's fix it or else, let's either restructure it to better carry everyone along happily or as last resort, let's peacefully break it!

Tobenna Obiano