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Lagos.
2nd of January, 2017.
His
Excellency,
President
Muhammad Buhari
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Dear Sir,
LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT
I write this letter as a concerned
citizen of Nigeria. With all the recent events that occurred after your
inauguration for the position of the presidency, most of the citizens/victims
are very grateful for fulfilling parts of your promises and we look forward to your
fulfilling the rest.
Previously in this letter, I wrote that
“The power sector has been stable, so as the oil sector and the inflated
petroleum price has returned back to its normal price (i.e. ₦87.00) although
there are still problems with the price which I am going to elaborate on when I
write further”. But now, I would like it for Your Excellency to note the
displeasure in the hearts of the citizens, due to the increased price, I mean, even if His Excellency had to
devalue our currency for one reason or another, it shouldn’t “majorly” affect the oil sector.
We were made to believe as children
that Nigeria produces fuel and other natural resources, then why? Why does the
devaluation of ‘our currency’ affect ‘our fuel’? From apparently ₦87.00, it
rose to ₦143.00 per litre. And as if that was not even enough, the filling
stations sell it at the rate of ₦150.00 per litre. Mr. President, this is one
major reason why most citizens don’t believe in your powers. Though, I still
seem to believe in you, maybe because I don’t have much responsibility, so I am
not allowed to feel it.
As the President of a country, you are
not expected to know virtually everything that is going on in the nation
because you live at a L.G.A under a state just as everyone else does and the fact
that you are preoccupied with other things will not give you the time and space
to understand what is going on in the lives of the citizens. Hence, I am going
to give some hints on problems you also have to work on in the country, Nigeria
below.
I think I should talk about the problem
of corruption in the Police Force. As a young student, I do not understand the
reasons why the agencies expected to enforce the laws of the country flout the
laws of the country. Let’s take for instance, I as a student, had an exam (i.e.
GCE) by 9:30am; I was ready to go by 7:00am and boarded a bus to my
destination; on the way to our destination, the driver stopped at a junction /
roundabout for a ‘Policewoman’ to give us the ‘go ahead’ sign; when the driver thought
she had eventually did, he started the bus and was about to drive off, then the
policewoman stopped him and said he was trying to ignore the traffic light and
that he had broken a law; then she told him to stop and park the bus at a
corner. Alright, the driver did that, he got down and apologized saying that he
thought she had given the sign, but he was sorry about what had happened. And
funny enough, I was not the only student in the bus in a hurry to get to my
exam centre, by then it was already 8:00am.
The policewoman told him to pay her
₦5,000 for her to set him free, most of the passengers in the bus joined the
driver in pleading with the policewoman; at last the driver agreed that all he
could afford was ₦2,000 only. By the time she accepted it, it was already
8:30am. We all got back into the bus and started our journey to our
destination; unfortunately for us, on the way, a container or trailer’s wheel
had fallen into a ditch / gutter. I had to get down from the bus and started
trekking down to my centre because of the traffic it had caused on the way. I
thought to myself, the policewoman started it by pulling the driver into her
trap. All I am trying to say is that majority of the police officers, instead
of enforcing the law, break the law. Just like the policewoman I talked about
above, she made sure she collected money/bribe from the driver over what he was
completely innocent. Some other officers receive bribes on the highway, I don’t
know why they keep doing this, maybe because their salary is not enough and
needs to be increased? I have heard of many incidents like that across the
nation and I think Police, whether male or female, are made to enforce the laws
guiding our country.
Another problem is corruption amongst
organizations, like the petroleum corporations, instead of selling the fuel
(petrol) at the rate of ₦143.00, they sell it at the rate of ₦150.00 per litre,
it might sound like “it’s not a big deal”, but it does matter, as corruption
rises from such situations. December 31st, 2016, I was asked to get
fuel for two people; when I got to the nearest filling station, it was about
7:55pm, I joined the queue and waited for my turn, the employee of the filling
station that was attending to us, sighted my keg and inquired how much worth
fuel I wanted, I replied him saying ₦2,000.00, then he told me he was going to disburse
₦1,900.00 into the keg. I inquired why he would want to do that, he replied
saying the ₦100.00 is payment for the keg, I angrily took my keg from the line
and went to the other side, and when it got to my turn again, I told the
employee that I wanted ₦300.00 in the smaller keg and ₦2,000 in the bigger one.
He then inputted ₦2,200.00 in the machine and sold ₦392.00 into the smaller
one, then, they put off their power source and said they were closed for the
day. I told him about the other keg he hadn’t sold into and that he sold ₦392.00
instead of ₦300.00 into the smaller one, then he told me that they were finally
closed and he couldn’t do anything and that my bill was ₦400.00 for the smaller
keg instead of ₦300.00. I was now in a tight corner because the owner of the
smaller keg gave me ₦500.00, ₦300.00 for fuel and ₦200.00 for oil. I gave the ₦400.00
and boarded another Keke Maruwa to the nearest filling station, I got there and
joined the queue again, by now the transport allowance had been exhausted, and
I only had ₦100.00 remaining for oil. I asked the lady tending to us to sell ₦2,000.00
into the keg, but she sold ₦1,880.00, then I reminded her of the price, she
replied saying she had sold ₦1,900.00, I had to leave her alone due to the
large crowd waiting to get fuel, and had to settle the money for oil and
transport between the two people that sent me the fuel. Now, this is cheating
at its peak.
And, we keep exporting fuel to other
countries, though that might be the major source of our GDP, but we don’t own a
reservoir for ourselves, some years later, I pray not that we import fuel from
those countries we exported to. I mean, even the USA we export fuel to, are
storing fuel that will be enough for them in the next least 200 years. With us,
there seems to be no hope. But, there is a saying “the sky is our limit”.
Also, the issue of the Boko Haram or
whatever they call their cowardly group, I could’ve written this during the
former President’ regime (Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan), but I couldn’t due to
some issues. I call their group
‘cowardly’ because they shouldn’t vent their angers or powers on human lives
and properties, rather they should come out and negotiate as humans, not
endangering lives. As I was saying, I don’t understand why the plans and
methods you want to use at getting them are being exposed to the public and
most especially, not by media outlets. That will be a help to the Boko Haram
group because they would be able to manipulate and alter your plans. And I read
recently that Shekau, their leader has appeared in another video claiming to be
alive and well, well, all grease to his buttocks, I hope they realize their
mistakes before getting caught. And I hope Your Excellency can keep whatever
your plans are from getting to the public, hence, it might not come to realization. You should also be careful of the
people around you, because I believe, no offense though, that the Boko Haram
Cult can plant some spies around you. There is also a saying that ‘whenever you
have good dreams, keep them to yourself, so they will come to realization and
won’t have to be altered along the way by enemies of progress, but, if you have a bad dream, tell
everyone you know, so the dream won’t be able to come true’. This, I believe is
true.
Another problem is the case of
dependence in this country, Nigeria claims to be ‘Independent but is obviously
DEPENDENT’. I know I shouldn’t compare with other countries, but I
can’t help but do that. We get looked down and trampled upon by ‘those’
countries, but if we come together as ONE NATION (Note: There are Tens of
advertisements out there that keep shouting that WE ARE ONE and that NIGERIA IS
THE GIANT OF AFRICA, but they are mainly words, that I know, and I hope in the
nearest future, infact, now, we start making plans as to how we can contribute
to the growth, wellness and development of OUR COUNTRY, OUR FATHERLAND.
I know and believe, there are sections
I haven’t touched, and I hope other citizens can figure these out and direct
them to you. I also want to request something of His Excellency, that you order
a “LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT DAY”, which enables all citizens to direct a letter,
message or suggestions to you on the way this country can be one of the world
top countries, be it through mail, post letters, social media or videos.
I would be highly grateful if the above
suggestions and issues are taken into consideration.
I deeply apologise for the way His Excellency
came across this message.
Thanks and remain blessed.
I remain,
A
Concerned Citizen
And lest i forget,
i wish His Excellency a prosperous, lucky, special, unique, graceful, fulfilling, less stressful, fun, charming, godly, blessed, happy, joyful NEW YEAR.
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