HNY2026. Perhaps a ‘taste of their own medicine’ delivered by Trump’s USA to Nigeria’s terrorists/ bandits and extremists among Fulani herders, allowed Nigerians a nearly peaceful Happy New Year Celebrations2026. But terrorists have struck twice again killing 50+ Fellow Nigerians.
The intervention freed ‘violently silenced fearful millions’ to loudly call for a final solution. We see a ‘coalition of willing governors’, using late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s mantra, strengthening Amotekun and other security structures. This could eventually trigger the five million encamped and roaming IDPs, Internally Displaced Persons, to return home.
Nigeria must escalate to war footing today. Politicians, government and officials must tighten their belts, curtail their flamboyant lifestyles, lead by example, take security seriously in favour of exemplary probity and transparency.
Instead of the ludicrous announced higher approved campaign costs, Nigeria’s political class should make governance, campaigning and elections cheaper with fewer election business day closures. Such politics-related expenses are recouped by politicians’ bleeding the citizenry by taxes, padded budgets and phantom contracts and constituency projects. This must stop.
Nigeria must work towards one National Assembly, NASS house. Also, NASS politicians are representatives of and should be loyal to and fully paid and supported by their states, not the federal government.
The ‘Detty December’ sadly brought the tragic death of Sina Ghami and Kevin Latif Ayodele. No doubt a bereaved Anthony Joshua (AJ) will inevitably set up befitting memorial foundations. AJ will recover. He always reminds me of me being taught boxing at Abalti Barracks Yaba in 1960s by now forgotten Hogan Kid Bassey MBE, MON, former World Featherweight Champion.
Just last month, a patient reported he was the sole survivor among 19 passengers even after repeatedly begging the driver to slow down. No world press. We recall the 70s and Prof Wole Soyinka’s Oyo State Road Safety 1977, the FRSC 1988 under Babangida Educare Trust, in the 90’s educated on speeding, safety/seat belts, crash helmets and lifejackets. More preventable drownings, 25, in a Yobe boat accident. Safety is a life-long unending thankless journey.
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The Crans-Montana bar fire warns Nigerian event planners who use netting drapes close to sparklers. Take precautions, fire extinguishers and announce exits like in aeroplanes. Most Nigerian halls have hidden chained exit doors. I check. You check.
It is now 50years since my first ‘Letter to the Editor’ written in 1975/6, as an NYSC second set doctor, after housemanship in Lagos State. It was published in the New Nigerian newspaper in annoyed response to its dismissive editorial claiming that ‘NYSC is a one year paid holiday’. At the time, I was exhausted from being six weeks first-on-call, in Lafia General Hospital, then Benue Plateau State. Sadly, we had begun to lose NYSC members to death. We, fellow NYSC members accompanied a deceased NYSC doctor friend home to Calabar – the unendurable price the family paid for educating a child. This was not the expected outcome as NYSC was a Gowon-inspired youth uniting nation-building post- civil war ‘national service’ bus stop, not journey’s end. Many, unremembered, have paid the supreme price sometimes at the hands of riots and terrorists like the young NYSC boy barely a man whose throat was cut while he was on the phone begging his parents for help while hiding in a market stall. ‘Yamutu’ was the last they heard.
A country which ignores, covers-up its dead can have no future. Europe still celebrates even its losses as historic national pride while Africa, embarrassed, secretly buries even its heroes as if death is a disgrace. Africa changes history. My aunt living near Atan Cemetery Yaba, complained of the stench and the midnight military burials in shallow graves in the late 60s.
What Nigeria needs is not nuclear physics. We need a newspaper-reading political elite desperately interested in ‘Project Nigeria’. Nigeria needs to fight for a financial cushion, a ‘National Goal Focus’ on getting a ‘Gold & dollars’ equivalent of $200billion [$1b/1m population] in the CBN-led Foreign Exchange Reserve by buying Nigeria’s gold like oil. Look and learn from Ghana which nationalised gold reserves.
Nigeria only ever needed citizens to be Faithful, Loyal and Honest (FLH) to kill corruption. Why so difficult? Nigeria has millions of FLH non-corrupt citizens. We need every single politician and civil servants to see death daily and be FLH. Corruption is not acceptable on the streets, in offices or in NASS.
We must accept our population is 30% overestimated and probably 160m citizens rather than the colonially, fiscally, politically inflated figure, exemplified by a 20-30% voter turnout.
There is exhilaration and vindication seeing your name in print for good, not a crime, and defending against a powerful newspaper. I then made numerous matters topical by writing Letters to the Editor in The Sketch, The Guardian, The Tribune sometimes, using the typing-posting or dropping-in-the-local-office-of-the-newspaper and, during draconic military regimes, sometimes under a pen name, e.g. Jimoh Ibrahim. This led me, through Mr Felix Adenaike and later Professor Jide Osuntokun, to join first, the Comet newspaper as an editorial board member and columnist and then its successor, The Nation as a foundation columnist where, without being asked, I was eventually honoured with the permanent Wednesday back page ‘call-out’ or ‘pull quote’. I thank editors for editing but cannot apologise for my ‘too long’ titles which aimed to attract relevant leader readership to multifocal articles.
My motivation has, like many, been to make-a-difference, to turn overlooked matters into problems and offer practical solutions in a country whose leadership seems very distracted from the great responsibility to undertake simple routine maintenance and growth of the great ‘Project Nigeria’. Having largely failed to get Nigeria to the place it could easily have surpassed with a less greedy political and robber baron financial class, I yield my position to Generation Next. Good luck. May you be read and acted upon. Amen.
50 years ‘Not Out’ is time out. My family background, my medical journey, over 3000 Caesarean Sections and daily witnessing suffering and death of Fellow Nigerians, in and out of hospitals, witnessing three die last month and new life appear as well, and with my theatre boots repeatedly planted in the blood of my patients makes ignoring citizen needs impossible and criminal and makes corruption difficult to participate in or countenance.
Words may not change Nigeria. Writing is not new. A host of dedicated Nigerian patriotic wordsmiths wrote, some till their ink dried up in their veins or their blood was spilt by disgruntled readers. Others still write.
Only ‘Work’ will change Nigeria. But words also need hard work to join into motivational sentences and point the correct, not the corrupt, way. Each article and title construction can take 8-12hours. Of course, AI’s Google etc. have instantized spellchecks and research results making writing easier. None of my articles have a word or line written by AI.
We must all strive to be awarded the ‘Faithful, LoyaI & Honest’, FLH after our names at death.
God has blessed Nigeria. People are stealing our blessing. Just stop stealing please so the blessing gets to the people.
Please write on. Even if you sound repetitive, no audience, no action on your recommendations, remember it takes one article in the right place at the right time to change your world. It could be your article. Do not stop trying for 50 years. ‘Nigeria-can-&-must-be-better’. Full stop.
