An Open Letter To Wada Nas

Usman Falalu Funtua (Engr.)

Dear Sir,

My wish is to allow you to continue enjoying your rest in peace having undergone so many difficulties on the process to uplift the well-being of the general masses of this country when you are here with us. But it is necessary for me to break this long silence just to inform you about the kind of conflicts and the state of the nation after your departure.

Sir, so many things fall apart to the extent that our daily lives have been yesterday is better than today and today will be better than tomorrow. There is no way anybody who sees what is happening in Nigeria would not believe that the country is already a failed state. But the real story of the PDP years is one of under-achievement, rank failure and a vast expansion of wasteful government interference in everyone's lives. And they can’t disguise the failures of PDP in Government over the last 10 years, many of them embarrassingly laid bare by the Garrison commanders. Sir, Nigeria feels broken and the Government is out of excuses. PDP took office with bulging coffers, an invincible majority and weak opposition, and OBASANJO could have worked miracles. But they FAILED on law and order, their mantra "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime" becoming a national joke. Murders and kidnapping are soaring. Smirking criminals routinely walk free in the name of political correctness, while decent people live in a virtual police harassment petty officials empowered to spy and to punish.

Sir, if you can remember you were one time state minister of education and thing goes well then, but today it is disheartening to tell you that education is on the verge of collapse, our educational system has rotted beyond belief. There is no doubt that the quality of our graduates is very poor, except for the rare few who still manage to excel (by Nigerian standards anyway). Students are at home for more than three months now despite the fact that the President, the Vice-President and the Minister of Education, ironically were university lecturers.
To underscore his love for university education, the President told Nigerians he would open a new university in Saudi Arabia during his visit while his lecturers back home were on strike. Now students are involved into criminal activities to the extent that they organize to kidnap the minister of education since he is not capable of making their future bright. Sir, In Nigeria today, qualitative education is for the rich who can pay for it in private schools. And to make it passionate again, most of our leaders have their children studying outside the country. So, whatever is the plight of the Nigerian students is not their concern because their children are not directly affected. A lot of children are not in schools because of poverty. Recently, government made us to believe that there is free education, yet the standard of education is not encouraging and up to now in some public schools children are carrying desks and chairs to school on which they would sit. If education is made free, let it be backed up with quality. This is because it is of no use making education free with poor quality. In some public schools, students are studying under the shade of trees due to the inadequate classrooms while some are studying under leaking roofs, in classrooms with no windows or doors and fallen walls thereby subjecting the students to disease attacks like pneumonia. Sir, it’s unfair for me to continue informing you about the state of education in our dear country today, due to the fact that you have done yours and is your time now to continue enjoying rest in peace, left for those that were left behind to continue with the struggle from where you stopped.

Sir, the state of the roads in Nigeria today is not something to write home about, roads have become death traps, sucking the blood of innocent Nigerians on a daily basis through auto crashed despite the huge amount of money government injecting through FERMA yet there is not a single road that is of international standards in the whole of Nigeria. Not a single ten-lane motorway has been constructed, pot holes every where, Journeys that took hours, a few years ago, now take days, exposing travelers to criminals who attack them safe in the knowledge that security agents would not intervene. Analysis has shown that road accident in Nigeria is killing more than any other diseases.

Sir, Electricity supply is megawatts of monumental misery, if you can remember the last dispensation by the then former president OBASANJO has been promising un interrupted Power supply in 4 month, up to the time he handed over no watt has been increase from where he took over and to add salt to injury $16 billion Dollars has been wasted on non existent electricity project but unfortunately some of the contractors do not even know the location of their site hence, the money has been disbursed to them. National Assembly sets up a panel or committee to look into allegations of corruption but unfortunately, the reports of such bodies never sees the light of the day, rather the chairman of the committee was involved in the said scandal and the Speaker of the House has refused to let the committee’s report be debated on the Floor of the House. up to now Nigerians doesn’t know where about the report. Sir, PHCN or NEPA what ever they call it, had no means of reconciling accounts, they had no clue in the community who had paid or had not paid his bill. Especially in an era where the use of a computer and Microsoft excel could easily have kept records of who had paid, only really on customers to paste bill on the gate. I don’t know where is this stated in the laws of the land that bills must be pasted on gates? Why must Nigerians be subjected to power rationing while we have all it takes to have uninterrupted power supply in this country? Some few years back, it was unheard of that power supply was interrupted for some minutes not to talk of hours. During that time, nobody thought of owning a generating set because power supply was rarely interrupted. But today, we pay our bills and beg Power Holding Company of Nigeria PHCN, to give us light that will not last for an hour. Really government had abandoned its people. People now run their own government by providing electricity with generators, every home provides its own boreholes, or waits perpetually on water tankers to offload into our reservoirs.

Sir, I believe you will not be happy if you witness what is called 2007 election, the 2003 rigging is a child play if compared with that of 2007.The charade called 2007 election was full of flawed and malpractices in areas where the election took place, in some places there was no election at all. The local and International observers attested that the election is the worst election ever witness in the history of mankind. Even the beneficiary confirm that, that is why he came out with what they called election reform headed by justice Uwais, but to my surprise they refuse to fully implement the report of the reform because it will not favour election riggers.

Sir, at this juncture I would like to inform you that politically, we are in a sorry state. At 49, we have not developed the capacity to hold free and fair elections. Most of those parading themselves as leaders in our country are products of electoral manipulations. Those INEC guys cannot even organize a simple by- election in 10 local government areas in Ekiti State! With 10,000 policemen, INEC is still complaining of security problem! Shameless people! The world is laughing at us! South Africa and Ghana conducted their own election without any major incident. Sir, for the first time the PDP has met its match in Ekiti State where the people are battle-ready. The positive side was on display in Ekiti. Just as it is very difficult for the PDP to rig in Lagos, Bauchi and Kano, it has become difficult to rig in Ekiti. Yar’Adua has missed a critical step to move Nigeria forward. For a man who claims he wants to do electoral reform, this was the perfect opportunity to send the right signals that he means it from the bottom of his heart. Sadly, he failed to seize the moment. I don’t know if Yar’Adua is really serious about election in this country. There is no basis for Nigerians to vote again. Our political gladiators are so power-drunk that they believe no evil can befall them no matter how irresponsibly they govern us.

Sir, in one of your favorite lecture when you are alive you advise us to always Shawn corrupt leaders whose sources of wealth were not known, but today we are having things contrary to your believes, anybody who rides a jeep can embezzle public funds, builds a mansions irrespective of age the sources of one's wealth does not matter, is being clapped for, such a person would be given front seat while in the community, such a person would be honoured with chieftaincy titles. Gone are the days where one cannot talk in a social gathering no matter your level of education but today criminals are the lawmakers, especially those who seek the safety of party leadership to envelop themselves away from the few prying eyes occasionally see how Nigeria is ruined. They interfere as they please, intercept opportunities that are meant for all Nigerians, corner everything for themselves and their cronies, without any matching responsibilities for their actions.

Sir, this page cannot accommodate so many things you suppose to know but I would like to restrict myself to some vital which you need to know and reserve some to some other time. But my write up will be in complete if I fail to inform you about the security situation of the nation. The country is battling with violent crimes; killing rapping and stealing was rampant, kidnapping appears overwhelming as it was even spread over to the northern part of the county where such cases does not exist. As it stands, it appears that arms are in the hands of many wrong hands. People are kidnapped at will in the country, especially in the South East. The way it is, no day passes without any case of kidnapping.

Sir, remember the two young men you cautioned that were use by OBASANJO as they will be used and dump, they are now on asylum to the extent that they cannot come to their dear country after serving the nation. Although as a human RIBADU has short comings but the peculiarity of the Nigeria corruption scenario calls for drastic revolutionary approach, the kind applied by Ribadu. The rule book does not give anyone the audacity to loot at random. As a matter of fact, every state governor, state and federal legislator, commissioners and ministers are all thieves, likewise government contractors, administrators etc. The rot is everywhere. Ribadu realizing the enormity of the work he was saddled with, did the next best thing to sanitize the polity the best way he can at least by putting fear into corrupt official. The fear of Ribadu was the beginning of financial sanity in Nigeria. His presence sent chills through the spine of corrupt officials. That was a good thing that happened. Look at where RIBADU now, in a foreign land. Despite his faults, he meant well for Nigeria.

Sir, corruption in Nigeria has reach to the extent that Nigeria is now known internationally as one of the most corrupt Nations and one of the most expensive places to do business in the World. That is why today, we have many governors and ex-governors that are richer than their states, and local government chairmen that are richer than their local governments. Most of the buildings in Abuja are owned by civil servants, both serving and retired, who have never been engaged in a business of any sort all their life. It is not uncommon to hear of one director or permanent secretary owning 30 buildings in Maitama, Asokoro and Wuse II, and yet we still don't have power, water, good roads, etc. But many of these people are not even half as devious as some bank CEOs, as we are only recently finding out.

What is particularly unfortunate is the recourse to ethnicity whenever some interests are affected by crucial decisions taken in promotion of national well-being. While no one has faulted the exercise, there is now a whispering campaign that it is targeted against the North simply because the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Oronsaye is from Edo State, It is the same way those affected by the banking reform would argue it is targeted against the South because the CBN governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, hails from Kano State.

In Nigeria today, there is a ruthless suppression of contrary opinion, people are locked up without being charged with a crime sometimes just for criticizing the President or a member of the National Assembly. Media houses are closed down for the same reason and editors of such news out fits are locked up indefinitely just for questioning Government Policies. How is this Democracy? Nigeria has become a Nation without Purpose, a nation with no objective and a nation in decline. You know we are in serious trouble when the National Assembly is afraid to even debate the Freedom of Information Bill.

Sir, your legacy shall never be in vain, open that this letter is, it has been copied to your popular column of weekly trust and Gamji website as well as well meaning Nigerians for obvious reason. Continue enjoying rest in peace until another time.

USMAN FALALU FUNTUA (Engr.)

elfalal@yahoo.com