In Times of Crisis

By O’meekey Ovienmhada

When I was a little boy, as our parents struggled through life to feed, clothe and send nine children and several relatives to school, there was one task that was a constant on their minds—-making sure that we were safe.

My father would always wake up in the middle of the night to make sure that every door was properly bolted and that every child was accounted for.

That was his duty.

When I became a father, I did the same thing, just raising three children. It paid off. One night, as I went round way past midnight to make sure all my three children were in their respective rooms, my son was missing.

I searched everywhere in the house to be sure he was not in some corner doing something, but he was nowhere to be found.

I then noticed that he had slipped out of the house by taking down a sliding net on a window. I sat down, turned on CNN and waited for him. He returned about 4am. What he did not understand in his child’s mind was that apart from exposing himself to danger by going out that late to play with his friends who were very important to him at age 13, he was also exposing the entire family to danger with a broken window net.

Parents must do what parents must do.

I punished my son.

As parents go, so, go communities, the State and the nation. There will be problems. There will be crisis. The true test of a leader, the true mettle in a leader is the ability to rise and solve problems when they arise.

If you are FDR, you must tackle the Great Depression.

If you’re Truman, you must make a decision about ending the Second World War—-to drop the Atomic Bomb or to continue the war.

If you’re JFK, you must solve the Cuban Missile Crisis.

If you’re LBJ, you must solve the Vietnam crisis.

If you’re Jimmy Carter, you must solve the Iran Hostage crisis.

If you’re Jonathan, you must solve Chibok.

Notice that I placed Jonathan, Carter and LBJ at the bottom. None of them solved the problem that arose in their time. None of them got a second term in office. JFK was assasinated on November 22nd, 1963.

The people are always watching, waiting to see how leaders solve their problems.

In Nigeria, our leaders accumulate rice in warehouses and wait for election time to distribute food to hungry people in exchange for their votes. In the four years between elections, the people must solve their own problems. History has shown us that it is a failed strategy. Every member of the electorate is now a citizen of the world because almost everyone has a cellphone. They see how good governments, and fabulous governance have transformed nations. They also want their lives to be transformed.

As much as any of his diehard supporters may love him, it is hard for anyone to come out in Nigeria today to declare that Tinubu is keeping us safe as he swore in his oath—to preserve and to protect.

Tough times call for tough decisions and hard choices. Nigerians need action—-now.
Mr. President, if you want to return in 2027, you know more than anyone else that the people cannot be taken for granted. ADC is sniffing around the corner.

Mr. President, you are the Lion, King of the jungle.

You must roar!!

No State Religion.

State Police Now.

I am the Jagaban. I am coming for you, and hell is coming with me!

Akpakomiza of Edo State.

In Edo State, the governor has just celebrated one year in office. He must be surprised himself at how quickly the next three years will go by and then, it will be time to come back to his electorate—we, the people. We all want Akpakomiza to succeed, but in order for him to succeed, he needs a formidable kitchen cabinet. No great leader can arise without a kitchen cabinet of people who will have breakfast with him from time to time to tell him some home truths.

If he had people like that, here’s a laundry list of things they would love to tell him:

Mr. Governor, the dry season is here and it is short. Here’s your opportunity to make the people happy by fixing all the inner city roads. Mobilize 100 contractors across the State. Let them work 24 hours round the clock.

Mr. Governor, take your focus off of your predecessor. Build new projects. Your own clock is ticking. What your predecessor did is chump change compared with over N2T in economic potential that a team can help you unlock in Edo State. Help is not far off.

Mr. Governor, do not allow the governorship to be dragged into proxy battles, (MOWAA), for example. What’s done is done. Be wise like a Solomon right now! The baby is born. Should the baby be allowed to live or should the baby be cut in pieces?

Mr. Governor, no one will remember the people who tried to pull you down. They will only remember what you did with the 4 years for which you were hired to improve their lives.
Your clock is ticking sir.

Mr. Governor, there are competent people in every Senatorial zone. Ask for help in finding these talents to help you shine. Ask for help.

Mr. Governor, Esan Agenda produced you alright, but your Agenda must sustain you.

Mr. Governor, you have three more years to do wonders. Don’t start to think of two terms. In politics, there are no guarantees. Let’s not forget that Ambrose Alli did all the wonders for which we remember him today in only 4 years. Let’s also not forget that Awo transformed the Western Region in a few short years, yet neither of these people had the kind of money that’s available to you now.

Mr. Governor, on the matter of security, the six States of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti have created a joint security cordon. What this means is that there will be an influx of bandits into Edo State. Please be quick to initiate the same security initiative for the Niger Delta Region, or else, you can just do Edo and Delta. You must deny them a landing spot.

May your time in office be known and remembered for great achievements. Long live Edo State.

Russia The Bully.

On the world stage, Russia and Ukraine appear to be inching closer to a ceasefire and possibly a peace treaty. Peace is good but what the world must avoid is a peace that looks like the infamous treaty of Versailles which was lopsided and extremely punitive to the German people. Let’s not forget that it gave rise to Hitler. He appealed to German pride.

A just and sincere peace is required for long term prosperity in that region. Russia must stop the bullying. The war has reduced Russia into China’s younger brother. Putin must wake up.

The Hydra-headed Monster.

In Gaza, the fragile ceasefire appears to be holding. Hamas is still alive. It has many heads. The future is shaky.

Can there be lasting peace?

America Back to Square One.

After 40 days of government shutdown in America over whether the Affordable Care subsidies should be extended or not, the Trump administration seems to be saying that the subsidies may need to be extended after all. One must wonder what took them so long to realize that it is bad politics to allow 20 million people to suffer if subsidies are not extended?

Has anyone read the Thanksgiving message from the president of the United States? He called a governor a retard. (The governor of Minnesota has a son with developmental disabilities). He also said that he wants to halt immigration programs to Third World countries because an Afghan immigrant shot two National Guardsmen.

That’s a knee-jerk reaction to a bigger problem—the proliferation of guns—600 million guns in the hands of citizens. He might as well just ban guns and proscribe the National Rifle Association, (NRA). About time the Secret Service took his phone from him. Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago, there he was, rolling out the red carpet and defending a Crown Prince who was accused of killing a journalist. We can only guess that money talks and…

Until we meet again, we must continue to pray for Nigeria—that she will find the courage to think her way out of the crisis of insecurity.