I Am Angry: An Open Letter To Nigeria, The Supposedly Great Nation By Hemenseter Butu

GREETINGS

Good day friends, well wishers and citizens of Nigeria. Honourable and Dishonourable Members of the House of Reps, Distinguished and Extinguished Senators. Give me your ears this moment, forgive my audacity but I can no longer sit and watch as you play politics with everything under the sun.

You see, while you fight for leadership positions as though you truly want to “lead” the people and invent new moves for Mortal Kombat, innocent Nigerians are still being bombed, kidnapped and robbed, yet not a single one of you has initiated the thought of placating their situation, at least your actions thus far confirm that much.

I AM TROUBLED

I am deeply troubled; if change can come in this fashion then I am treading down that path of chronic pessimism once more. What would it take to make selfless leaders of yourselves? Why must your glaring outright selfishness be so shamelessly paraded for the entire globe to see? After President Muhammadu Buhari’s long wait to set this country aright, is this the kind of legislature that will assist in that quest? I am deeply, deeply, deeply troubled, that my country Nigeria takes one step forward and a million backward. Like the proverbial pig that goes back to its muddy bath water, the Nigerian state has spent an entire half a century stuck in mud, then just when we see a glimmer of hope, certain elements threaten to return us back to the mud.

I AM DUMBFOUNDED
Competence has been flung to the backseat and party loyalty now seems so relevant that even commentators hitherto considered objective have not for once said Lawan is qualified because he is more competent. What I hear is, the party chose Senator Lawan, therefore Senator Lawan is both competent and worthy by all standards to serve not the APC now but Nigerians. I bow my head in shame, for we have come so far yet learnt so little. Why a country that sought for change will make such a blatant U-turn to the very intricate web of corruption begets corruption that put us in this position I will never understand. For the life of me, I cannot fathom the events of recent weeks, I simply cannot.

I WAIT

I wish for that day where the House of Representatives will break chairs and fight for the common man. I wait for that day when they will debate issues that will improve the lives of my brothers and sisters in the North East. I wait for that day when the Senate will look corruption in the eye and call it by its name. I wait, oh I wait. Oh but, I have been waiting for too long, so now I demand

I DEMAND

I demand the removal of selfishness from the hearts of the Nigerian political elite regardless of political affiliation. I demand that our legislature grow some balls and tackle the real issues affecting us as a people. I demand the unreserved pursuit of the good of the common man whatever little that means right now. The boy in Konduga doesn’t care who the Senate President or Leader is, but he cares if by their actions the international community will agree or disagree to supply ammunition to a the government.


TO MR PRESIDENT

I vehemently criticized your choice of not mentoring a younger political protégé, someone who will attack with your tenacity and zeal but with more vigour. Then recently the popular phrase “God does not choose the qualified, He qualifies the chosen” struck me. God called Abraham, a 99 year old man on the brink of infertility and made him the father of all Nations. Sir, I pray the God that I serve will give you the resolve of a 20 year old to go after the enemies of Nigeria. Do not relent till the very last one of them is vanquished and the rule of law prevails over corruption. Rewrite our history sir, give us a sense of nationalism. Let us hold our head high wherever the green-white-green flag is found flying.

I often write in fits of rage, and I often miss the point and digress. All I plead to our leaders from the highest to the lowest today is this. “STOP, PAUSE, TAKE A LONG HARD LOOK AT YOUR ACTIONS, WHO WILL BENEFIT, IF THE ANSWER IS YOU THEN YOU SIR, YOU MA ARE NOT A LEADER, YOU ARE A LOOTER”

Hemenseter Butu

@HemButs