Your Excellency Sir,
AS THE GENERAL ELECTIONS APPROACH; BEYOND CATCHY WORDS AND CAMPAIGN
SLOGANS; MORE PRESSING ISSUES.
I feel so humbled and at the same
time honoured to write you. Prior to now, I had never thought I would, it had
never for once crossed my mind, but finally I decided to write because of the
events that have transpired in the past couple of weeks, since you came out
tops in the Presidential Primaries of your party and you became the
Presidential flag bearer, accept my congratulations sir.
So many things have been said and so
many more written, both for good and for ill, by yes men and nay sayers, by
your camp and by the opposition camp, by both the learned and the unlearned, by
male and female, old and young, by those who are for you and those who are
against you, the social media has been agog, so I decided to have my say as
well; to articulate my thoughts, and put pen to paper, so here I am.
Sir, let me begin by congratulating
you once again on becoming the Presidential flag bearer of your party. However,
I will advise that you should let your campaign be policy based; you should
communicate in clear and precise terms what your manifesto is, and you should
please do all these having the future of our children in mind. Personally, I
believe that every child deserves a decent shot
at life.
Surround yourself with sincere and
honest people; men and women who will stay true to your vision, who will not
deviate from your master plan, people who will not ride on your goodwill to
achieve their own ends, and folks who will work tirelessly day and night to
follow your policy blueprint to the letter. Have your ears to the ground and
listen to the true yearnings of ordinary Nigerians, and as much as you can, God
helping you, be wary of singing sycophants and yes men, “men whose god is their
belly”, who will come forward with flowery words and sweet clichés all in a bid
to get favours from you. Please be careful of the people you surround yourself
with, this is Nigeria, and after all is said and done, YOU ARE THE ONLY MAN IN
YOUR WORLD!
More importantly, also create an
enabling environment for young Nigerians to not only pursue, but to actualize
their dreams. For entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, for business owners
and business starters, let opportunities abound for all and let structures be put
in place, business friendly policies coupled with an enabling environment, we
will all be amazed at how easy possibilities will become realities. The young
people of this country have what it takes to run successful enterprises and
contribute to the wealth base of the Nation, if only there is an enabling
environment, we have what it takes and in a little while longer, we will make Nigeria
the economic and the entrepreneurial capital of Africa; a larger percentage of
we young Nigerians are intelligent, we are honest, we are hardworking, we
hustle day to day to keep our head above water, and this explicates the NAIJA
SPIRIT.
I have spoken to a lot of young
people in different cities across the country; giving leadership talks, career
talks, motivational talks, entrepreneurship talks and so much more. I have
engaged many young Nigerians in discussions, and most times I am awed by the
ideas bubbling in the heads of our young people, how hardworking and relentless
many are in chasing after their dreams, and that is why I said earlier that
given the right opportunities, and enabling environment, every young Nigerian
will succeed. Everything about us is not about drugs, fraud, or crime; we are
up and doing, representing, and working towards earning a decent living and
having a better tomorrow. There are many
good, honest, sincere, decent, irreproachable, upright, trustworthy, vibrant,
hardworking, intelligent young Nigerians who only need opportunities and the
enabling environment (I don’t know why I keep repeating that), to actualize
their dreams and contribute to the greatness of this Nation. I always reiterate that the wealth of our
Nation is not in what lies under the ground, but in what lies in our heads.
Look at all the heads walking the streets of Nigeria, if each decides to do
something productive, imagine the kind of results our Nation will achieve. So
sir, please look into what will make life and business easier for our young
people.
In addition to that sir, make the
young people of this nation a priority, because we are the future of Nigeria. I
advise that across all geo political zones, seek out for responsible and
intelligent young people, not the opportunists, and then make them a part of
you. From time to time, they can offer their suggestions, and profer 21st
century solutions for the challenges that bedevil our nation. Young minds who
can communicate effectively what their vision is for their Nation, young minds
who are ready for idea exchange across continental Africa, and who will be
global players.
Critically look into the Power
sector, and let something tangible be done to it, because truth is without
Power (electricity), businesses fail, companies fold up, and it’s a harsh
economic climate for those desirous of honest practices.
I advise that you consider the following and make them a part of your POLICY THRUST;
Power (Electricity).
-
Human Capital Development; our people are the future of our
nation; that 8 year old boy somewhere in Ijebu Ode, that 15 year old school
girl in Maiduguri, that 20 year old guy in Abakaliki, that 26 year old
unemployed Graduate on the streets of Lagos, and that new born baby somewhere
in Calabar, they are the future of our Nation, we need to prepare them for the
future as well as prepare the future for them.
Education.
-
Infrastructural Development.
-
Peace and Stability; let’s restore the Nigeria of old
where peace, unity and love reigned supreme.
All the above listed will attract
foreign investors, and our nation will be the better for it.
Sir, when you get there, if God
permits, please see it as an act of God, an opportunity to do good and make
this country better, an opportunity for you to leave your footprints on the
sands of time, and to have your name embossed in the history book of this great
Nation, Nigeria.
Finally, like every true Nigerian, I
desire and I deserve a great country, a country that I will be proud of, that
you will be proud of, that the future generation will be proud of, that we will
all be proud of. The BIG QUESTION sir
is; will you deliver it to us?
I wish you
the best in all your endeavors.
Olamide
Adenuga
Youtube.com/Olamide Adenuga
TWITTER; LammyMotivates
FACEBOOK; Lamide Adenuga Speaks.
www.olamideadenuga.blogspot.com
TWITTER; LammyMotivates
FACEBOOK; Lamide Adenuga Speaks.
www.olamideadenuga.blogspot.com
Lamide Adenuga is an
author and an International Conference Speaker who believes that the right mentality can
power anyone to success; an ideas man who is out to transform
people and places h`e comes in contact with.
He is a Business Development
Consultant/Business Management Consultant, a well sought out for
motivational and inspirational Speaker, and a Business Coach to entrepreneurs,
aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners and business starters. He is also an
Angel of strategy and organization and has featured on Radio and Television
shows severally.
Lamide is a Public Relations Specialist and has written articles in various
newspapers, journals and magazines. He is a Personal Effectiveness columnist in OVATION International Magazine. He is also a Television host with
his Motivational telecast, “MAKING
THINGS HAPPEN”.
Nice one Lamide, every young Nigerian needs to read this!
ReplyDeleteYou made real sense bro. Uche from Lagos.
ReplyDeleteNice piece. Every child deserves a decent shot at life!
ReplyDeletePhilomena, UNICAL
God bless you sir for this piece, I am inspired!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr Lamide, I hope the aspirants get to read this. There's work to be done.
ReplyDeleteOlatunbosun, Epe, Lagos.
We have a lot of honest and intelligent young people in this country, but the few bad eggs are so noisy and people generalize based on those few bad eggs, but I believe things will sure get better.
ReplyDeleteAminat from Abuja.
THIS IS NIGERIA, I like that part. Nice article though!
ReplyDeleteSeun from Akwa Ibom.