#Think Along With Me

A new dawn?

By Bayo Fasunwon

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And just like that, the year that kept all nations under lock and key; the year that generated a lot of heat, deaths, conspiracies and alliances has just fizzled away like the dark clouds that had hitherto blocked the healing rays of the Sun. Nigeria seems to have known that the year 2020 would be so significant in the nation’s history, hence the mantra of Vision 2020. But, alas, the visions were not fulfilled, and the unseen visions caught the nation, her leaders and her people all unawares. It is quite interesting to also note that many of the sharp shooting Prophets, Metaphysicians, Astrologers and Astral travelers did not foresee most of the crippling events of 2020. But therein God shows His Omnipotence, invincibility and independence over and above the mortals, his creatures.
Whatever He makes known is to His own discretion, and hiding secrets is His greatest weapon of supremacy over His handworks. Sometimes, even those things revealed do not come to pass, because the revelation came with instructions on how to avert the foreseen evils. So when men heed the warnings, and do the needful, the judgments are cancelled and prophecies fail. Not because the Prophets are false, but because God exercises His willpower to allow mercy to prevail over judgment.
Congratulations therefore to those of us who survived the international, national and local onslaughts of 2020. We are the remnants that passed through the fire, and lived to tell the story. For us therefore, there is hope. One was pleasantly surprised at the president’s New Year speech. It was void of the arrogance, askance and aloofness of leadership towards the Nigeria peoples. Rather, one perceived, in my opinion, a solemn, humble and passionate appeal to the people to have hope. Hope that government would deliver on its promises; hope that the nation’s economy would revive; hope that our international neighbours would not short change the country, and hope that Nigeria would be great again. From the pulpits, to the streets and family, the call for activities in hope of good and better results filled the airspace. Therefore, let me also encourage us all to exercise hope and believe that this hope would not bring to us the harvest of shame. Let us live our lives in 2021 with the hope that if and when we all perform our expected roles in this country, our prayers will turn to testimonies.
In order for this hope to translate into reality, we must not forget the lessons of 2020 in a hurry. There is a saying that history repeats itself because we do not learn from history. The COVID 19 in official parlance caught the nation unawares. In reality, the ill preparedness and firemen response to the pandemic exposed the weakness of and unrepresentative attitude of government. The outright misappropriation and misapplication of relief funds and materials also reveals the unpatriotic nature of those who claim to represent us in government. The Buhari led administration was not corruption free after all. We should have learnt that lack of preparation put the nation in high risk of failure.
So with the new variant, which one would not be wrong to call COVID 20, government and citizens ought to have learnt from the inglorious 2020, and prepare to tackle this new wave with better visual educative information, verifiable and adequate palliative and preventive measures, and also non pretending exhibition of love, concerns and empathy for the citizens. When citizens are hungry, lockdown would fail and palliative stores would be looted. Government should leave the corridors of propaganda and be seen to govern for the benefit of the citizens.
The President’s speech seems to emphasis the fact that they have learnt from the #ENDSARS protest. By now, the ruling elites would have noted that the people have the capacity to resist oppression. Rather than trying to suppress and gag her citizens, a loving and caring government would ensure prompt responses to legitimate agitations of the ruled. In the year 2020, there would be more agitations over salaries, insecurity, bad governance, resource allocation and perceived deliberate acts of nepotism. Government should not wave these aside as the ranting of an ant. When ants gather, they can bring down mansions, and one ant is enough to make a ruler dance naked in the streets. Government at all levels should therefore in this new year pay attention to the genuine cries of the people, mend fences and ensure that such grievances are resolved before it boomerangs.
Furthermore, 2021 is the only year left for most governments to do any meaningful work, and serve the people. 2022 would be used to appropriate funds, and prepare for the 2023 elections. Therefore the call goes to those in power to use this year to achieve great things for their people. The appeal in clear terms is that the citizens’ wealth should be used primarily for the citizens this year. Therefore citizens are not to sit with arms folded across the chest and watch their commonwealths shared amongst families in power. This is the year to strenuously demand for accountability, transparency and good governance. It is the year for the ruled to aggregate their demands, form an alliance and put pressure on government to deliver on its promises. When people refuse to make demands for that which is legally theirs, they leave room for those in power to embezzle and misappropriate public funds.
Finally, the splinter groups in various unions should have observed by now that government gains, while workers suffer from such implosions. There is strength in unity and collective bargaining. Government would always make efforts to create and support splinter groups, but only a united workforce can get their demands met. We salute the resilience of ASUU and commend the compromises reached by government. One calls on government to implement these agreements as acts of patriotism, and also appeal to ASUU to ensure that her members adhere to the code of their professions, generate ideas, and develop practical and knowledge based solutions to the problems of this nation.
In 2021, let us all unite, perform our individual assignments, as expected, and move in the same direction of achieving greatness, emancipation and true independence for the people and land of our dear cherished motherland.

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