SIR: I heard that the Dubai authorities are no longer letting Nigerians below a certain age into their country, and seriously I don’t blame them. Who wouldn’t do the same?
From Malaysia to Dubai to Thailand, I’m sure there’s hardly a prison in all the countries of the world where you won’t find a Nigerian in prison.
The leaders are here destroying the economy while the citizens are damaging what’s left of the country’s reputation globally.
You see, it’s criminal elements from the country that make it hard for genuine law-abiding citizens like me to succeed.
So where do we go from here? How do we repair the battered image of our beloved country?
The thing is, Nigerians are not used to living by law. Nigerians are used to living anyhow. So, they take that same mentality to foreign countries and expect the authorities to overlook all their rubbish. It doesn’t work that way.
I have never been to Dubai; I look forward to visiting the city on a business trip firstly, then secondly as a tourist. But now that some unscrupulous elements are forcing the authorities to deny Nigerians entry into their country, I don’t know if my dream will ever become reality.
When I look at Dubai today, I think of Rome of the old days in the sense that Dubai is conquering; only that Rome did theirs militarily but the people of Dubai are doing theirs economically.
When I think of Dubai and then think of Nigeria and remember that we discovered oil before them, I just shake my head. What does Dubai have as natural resources besides oil and gas? But look what they’ve made out of the little they have.
Nigeria, blessed with both oil and gas, fertile lands for agricultural purposes, and large deposits of other natural resources is ranked amongst the poorest countries in the world. Where did things go wrong?
What we need in Nigeria to move forward is a unifier. Someone who would be so competent and active that the people won’t even mind where he comes from.
You had better start thinking of restructuring everything if you really mean well for the country.
And know that anyone against restructuring is a beneficiary of the corrupt system of government that has always been in place.
- King Ibrahim,
balling85juice@gmail.com