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Your Child is at 60:My Letter to the founding Fathers.

1st of October, 2020
To,
All the Independence fighters,
And the leaders of first republic,
Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
Dear Fathers,
Warm Greetings to you Fathers, it’s my trust that this letter reached you in peace.
1.   I write to you this letter to congratulate you on your victory in regaining the Independence of our dear nation 60 years ago, my Dear Fathers I feel you are the most, if not the only Nigerians who deserve to be congratulated on this national Independence Day, you are the only Nigerians who deserve my anniversary message for building a country that was once universally respected and honoured. Congratulations Fathers your child is 60 years old today. You are very old enough to be grandfathers of good leaders been it not that your child is most likely uncaring mother and seems to be barren in giving birth to good leadership.
2   My dear Fathers I also want to maintain this medium to update you on the current status of our nation at 60, the nation you have born to and growth with your blood, the nation you gave the highest esteem priority, the nation to whom you have dedicated your youth age, the nation you dreamt to become the best and the most developed in the continent of Africa.
3.   My fathers everything is not the same as you left it. The political competition started in your time is still alive and well in our present Politics, but ours is unique with too much elements of hatred and unhealthy rivalry. We hold general election in every four years as you did in 1964, my dear fathers none of  you could have ever imagined the nature of election in Nigeria today.
4.  We fight in the beginning and ending of every election, everyone is accusing the other of rigging and abuse of electoral process. No one is faithful to the electoral process but the announced winner, all the counterparts nix the result and run to court for final declaration, the courts’ supreme verdict serves as the second and last route to power.
5   Election process in Nigeria became very sceptic, murky, cryptic, foggy, very vague and confused. A gubernatorial candidate spends more than the total amount of money he can legitimately acquire in eight years as an executive governor just to win four years governorship.
This condition petrify all observers,  the amounts spending on political party ticket, campaigns, in tribunals and in courts are unimaginable, my fathers.
6.  We have created more political offices than you had, the administration as designed constitutionally can give any interested person a chance to perticipate in the political exercise of the nation. More political offices are available from the federal level, state and the local government. But the expenses attached to the Politics, dirty and it’s macabre nature are the unpleasant chauffeur that drive good men’s interest out of political realm. My fathers I’m not contending that good people like you are in total absence in the current Nigerian politics but the  political system and the  electoral process are designed to more likely accommodate gready politicians.
7.    I don’t know whether you were informed about the diagnosed cancer of corruption in our political arena. It has become very dramatic that the best slogan to campaign with is fighting against corruption. Every succeeding government accuses it’s predecessor of corruption and finally falls into the same hole.
8.  My dear fathers, we have created many security agencies to fight the graft. But very disappointedly the institutions are marely use by the running power to repress and subdue it’s political opposition.
9.  My dear Fathers the university you have built got very little additions in terms of infrastructures and learning equipments, the learning environment and condition is poorly outdated. It’s quite intuitive that  the educational institutions have became mere certificate issuing institutions rather than ideas building and promoting institutions. Fathers this is not the most irritating part, our learning institutions spend half or more of the academic year on strike. None of your successors(politicians) have faith in our educational system. None of them could send their offsprings to our Public schools, they’re sending their children abroad where most of you schooled in the absence of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
10.   My fathers I learnt you have tried to provide job opportunities for all interested graduate immediatly after graduation. I regret to tell you that no job opportunity is available for a common graduate in Nigeria today. Although it’s obvious that Government can not employ all our graduate considering the increasing number of the graduates with the number of the working Ministeries and governmental companies and institutions. Most of the Public Companies you have built died without replacement. The few job opportunities available in government remain exclusive to the power wielders of power, their relatives and the circle of their political families.
11.  It is not just about the job opportunity, the quality of education giving by our educational institutions is damned unsatisfactory. We have many Universities in numbers, many polytechnics and Federal Colleges. But they are not fit to compete in academic world. Being the training institutions for the tomorrow leadership. The present leadership have failed to give it the best it deserves. In contrast of the high priority you have given to the education during your time.
12.   I was told that our founding fathers attempted to balance the tribal consciousness planted in our minds by the British perpetrators, today Nigeria is best at tribalism, everyone feels representing his people. We set our tribal interests first before the national interests. In many places tribal qualification considers much than academical and competency. We proclaim the nation one yet everyone behaves differently.
13.   Shortly after your reign we have had a political tribal war famously known as Civil or Biafra war between 1967 to 1970 after which we literally reconciled, reconstructed and rehabilitated. Believed to live as one Nigeria. It’s was a very commendable move towards our national unity. But after all we still consider political offices based on tribes most of our political parties protect tribal interests more than the national interests.
14.  I must not say much about tribalism because you have learnt much about your people before you left, we are still more tribalistic and nothing seems to have changed. I know my fathers want to Know about the current welfare of your people, the infrastructures you have started and other social amenities.
15.   Nigeria is literarily developing alongside with other African countries, that’s what I have been hearing from our politicians, they said we are great in Africa but many Africans have stopped coming to our country for education and other businesses. How great could we be yet unattractive?
16.   It’s not in doubt that fewer roads are built with number of exorbitant hotels in our Capital city of Abuja, Lagos and many other capital states’ cities. All GRA areas are good for living and very expensive. There are also large bridges and stadiums all over the capital cities. None of them is built by Nigerian engineers, they are all constructions of international standard that we only believe our fellow Nigerians to work as bricklayers, grubbers, pluggers and labourers in their construction. Government awards contract every year to the foreign construction Companies and loyal politicians.
17.   I didn’t say anything about rural areas my fathers. This is so because it will be like repeating what you have already knew. This rural areas are blessed with more voters and abiding citizens they’re also blessed with patience.They aren’t usually complaining, not because they are enough but most of them did not acquired the prerequisite knowledge of knowing what the people they have voted ought to have done for them. They are still making it with their unclean/mud water, lack of electricity and local farming system.  No one  cares for them until it’s election. I forget to mention to you my fathers that they’re amazing forgivers, they are forgiving everyone that cries to them during Election period thus our politicians are very good at that.
18.   My dear Noble fathers we are witnessing another challenge you have not faced in your time: the problem of insecurity and insurgency. Many territories are not at rest my fathers, neither in the north, nor South or East of the country. We have Boko Haram in the Northern East, kidnapping and arm robbery are rapid everywhere in the country. I have learnt that you have experienced difficulties in sort of threat, tribulation and torture from the greedy foreing perpetrators for many years before regaining freedom, i therefore believe my fathers can imagine the present condition of our threat of insecurity.
19.  My dear fathers I’m writing this letter to you with in an ocean of tears and my hand is shaking, trembling with fear and worry. Permit me to conclude shortly before my hands fail in grasping the pen. I wish I will also update you little about the status of our rule of law and administration of justice. I have also said nothing about our health sector, my dear fathers the health department is not an exception of the rest, no politician goes to our local Hospitals even the head of the health ministries.
20.  They equally lack modern medical equipments, most of the Public hospitals remain in the same condition you left them. But there’s no shortage of private hospitals across all the country, they’re giving very qualitative service that is hardly affordable by a common Nigerian.
21.  My dear fathers we are blessed with a very brassbound constitution, omnipotent and a rigid constitution of Hardlines. We also blessed with thousands of legislations. Some of them have died on their arrival, some are in the museum of history. No one knows about them but their makers and no one works with them either.
22.  My fathers as you know a common man in Nigeria remains law abiding citizen, he has no option but to obey the law or to harshly face it wrath. Only the elites are enjoying immunity of the law, they decide which law to follow and which to pass through, to the extent that one annoyed observer has to say: Nigerian Laws are like cobwebs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.
23.  It is in the public domain that our judiciary is suffering from lack of funding, infrastructures and man power, and very recently we have experienced rapid disobedience of court orders by the ruling class  which has vividly touched the intergrity of the entire judicial system.
24.  My dear fathers it’s obvious that a good democratic state begins with good and fair laws. It is also obvious that we may have all the good laws we wish to have and still have a doom society, until the good laws are interpreted and applied fairly by the court of law and been enforced by the relevant authorities. Because when the law and order are dishonoured and corrupted the entire State will not know peace.  wherever law and order are dishonoured, justice will disappear, where Justice disappeared conflict will prevail and wherever law fades and anarchy arises. We shall never see that day.
25.  My Noble Fathers this is just a  synopsis of the nation you have fought for 60 years ago. But I want to inform you that there is hope, the long night will soon be over and the brightest day will dawn. As we keep working for the day to dawn while you continue resting in peace, keep being assured that there are filial children of yours who are fully ready to continue the struggles for the better Nigeria. Your labour shall never be in vain.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY ONCE AGAIN.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
 
THANK YOU
YOURS FAITHFULLY
ALKASIM ABUBAKAR.
For knowledge and Justice
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