With the rapid advancement in Information Technology (IT), the present generation of Corrupt Nigerian leaders and politicians should know that they are now dealing with new breed of educated, well-informed and more sophisticated citizens, both overseas and in Nigeria. The citizens know their rights and are ready to play a hard ball if you continue to mess with them.

When I was growing-up in Nigeria, in the early sixties, Information Technology was not quite as advanced as it is today. There were few Newspapers in circulation to report the events of the day. Only those fortunate Nigerians who lived in big cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Port-Harcourt, Onitsha had access to daily Newspapers. Those of us who lived in villages counted ourselves very fortunate when we received old Newspapers from friends or relatives who came to visit home from big cities. Even though the news was belated and staled, we still cherished them because they were still news to us. In those days, radios and televisions were unthinkable in the villages. People used to cluster around the house of an influential chief or petty trader who had a battery operated radio, with an antenna hoisted on a bamboo pole almost as tall as Empire State building in New York. Nigeria was not quite as rich as it is today. Agricultural products like cocoa, palm oil and kernel, cola nuts, groundnuts and rubber constituted about four-fifth of our exports and foreign-exchange earnings. Foodstuff was more than adequate for everybody. Those were the good old days!

Politicians, local chiefs and leaders played little gods. Most of them were corrupt, and bribery was still in practice. I remember passing a local examination that was to qualify me to win a scholarship to attend a secondary school of my choice; I lost the scholarship because my father could not bribe the board members. I also remember that our politicians were corrupt and not to be trusted. During the campaign season, they would knife their way, on either horseback or bicycles to reach the market squares and promise poor villagers good roads, pipe-born water, electricity and whatever, to earn their votes for the various offices they wanted to occupy. These were empty promises. Next campaign seasons, they would show their ugly faces again to deceive the poor villagers (our parents and loved ones) with more empty promises to win their votes again. Sadly, these thieves were re-elected to second, third and fourth terms to serve the same people they were milking like a cow. The poor villagers did not know better. They did not know their rights; they never demanded for it. They were not educated and sophisticated; and the politicians intimated them with bribes.

Although Nigeria's resources and wealth was not as buoyant as it is today, our leaders and the politicians looted them and enriched themselves to the detriment of the poor and illiterate citizens they were supposed to serve and protect. The politicians had big houses, big cars and businesses. Nobody ever demanded for accountability and transparency from them. They could get away with murder. Only their children and relatives had the opportunities to go overseas to study with hopes to come back to continue the legacy or perpetuate the atrocities started by their fathers.

With the era of oil discovery in Nigeria, in the 1970s and 1980s, petroleum overtook agricultural products as the source of government revenues for the country. Then came a new generation of politicians and leaders with misplaced priorities for the country and the citizens they swore to govern. These present breed of politicians and leaders are ruthless, heartless, greedy, callous and not smart. They raid the nation's wealth with impunity. They abuse their offices with such recklessness that they will even question and challenge the existence of God. I say the modern day politician is not smart because, more often than not, he or she still think that the citizens are our uneducated and unsophisticated parents and citizens of the sixties. It should be put to them that with the improvement in Information Technology ( Internet, TVS, Radios, Newsprints etc), they are now dealing with a new generation of educated and more sophisticated Nigerians (both overseas and in Nigeria) who not only know their rights, but are ready to play hard ball if you mess with them. Now the citizens have more avenues to express their opinions. They are going to demand transparency and accountability from their leaders and politicians too.

Our leaders do not like educated and bright minds. Has anybody ever wondered why our Universities and other institutions of learning have been much neglected, ill equipped, and under-funded by our leaders? Nigeria ceased to offer scholarships to study abroad to our bright minds, I believe, since the early 80s. I am not quite sure about the domestic scholarships. Could it be because Nigeria does not generate enough wealth to fund our institutions of higher learning and award scholarships to our smart sons and daughters? However, there is sufficient fund for them to embezzle and enrich themselves to the tune of billions of dollars. No! Our leaders will rather dumb our minds and render our children and us impotent so that they will not face challenges from the educated and bright minds. The educated and well-informed generation will pose a threat to their corrupt leadership and might even displace them from their god's anointed positions of leadership.

When our leaders and politicians travel to other developed countries like the USA, England, Japan, Switzerland etc, they enjoy 24/7 electricity and water supply, good network of roads, efficient healthcare system, and banking facilities where they can lodge their loots. I wonder what they are think when they come back from those trips and compare their experiences with what they see in the country they govern. Could it be that Nigeria cannot afford to build good roads? No! Could it be that Nigeria cannot afford to build plants that will ensure 24/7 electricity and water supply with little or no disruptions? No! I can only make a smart guess. Under their administrations, they approve substandard works, purchase inferior equipments, and continue to award contracts to their surrogates to repeat the same job they have not properly executed the previous years, thereby creating an avenue or lope holes to justify stealing our money. I challenge you to look at our Federal and State budgets every year to provide these amenities.

Every basic need in our country and society has assumed or risen to a point of crisis. Is it electricity, water, food supply, healthcare, roads? You be the judge! Every politician who comes to power will promise to solve these problems. They turn out to be empty promises. Our leaders, for these many years, have taken us for a ride to the cleaners, and they have done a damn good job. It is long overdue for us, the citizens, to shine the light of truth on them. The only weapons we have to fight this war are our PENS and VOICES. The drumbeat is getting louder and louder. We have to expose these thieves for what they are before they sell the country, and all of us, to the highest bidder. We have to hold their feet to the fire and demand transparency and accountability from them. We cannot continue to fold our hands and close our eyes and allow them to lead us to our graves. It is not going to be business as usual. When you campaign and ask us to make you a custodian of our national wealth and resources, you are asking for a contract to execute your promises honestly and faithfully. When you breach that Solemn Trust, do not try to run from the long arm of justice. You can run but you cannot hide. Know that your time is up!

The EFCC should know that all eyes are on them to do the right thing, and that is to mete out justice accordingly without fear or favor no matter where the axe falls. If EFCC should muddle things up this time, it will send a resounding wrong message to generations to come, and the result will be very diversititating for the whole country. It is indisputable that bribery and corruption has permeated our society in Nigeria. A corrupt leader will breed a corrupt society. If we, as a people, are very serious about fighting this sickness in our society, we should be ready to apply both the right type of medication and the correct amount of dosage to it. We should not only be reactive, we should be proactive too. This fight will involve the participation of all Nigerians. I am therefore suggesting to the Federal government, the States government and all Nigerians to do the following:

1. Embark on all out campaign to fight bribery and corruption in all places in the country. Use the slogan "DON'T GIVE  AND DON'T TAKE BRIBES" or simply say "NO TO BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION." Announce these slogans on TVS,  RADIOS, INTERNETS, NEWSPAPERS etc. Print and paste the slogans in the Offices, Highways, Billboards, Hospitals, Universities, Buses, Cars, and many public places. Also, involve Diplomats and foreign companies operating in Nigeria, in this campaign.

2. Take very good care of our leaders and politicians by compensating and paying them generously for their services to our country. I hope that this will dissuade them from embezzling our money.

3. To in-cooperate into our legal system a minimum amount of money anybody will embezzle,misappropriate, or loot from the government coffer and that individual, after conviction, that not only will refund the loots, but will also face a firing squared. I will suggest ONE MILLION NAIRA conviction will result in a total barn of such an individual from participating in any politics or holding any civil service position in our country. While anybody convicted of looting more than ONE BILLION NAIRA will face a firing squad.

4. All our leaders and politicians, including the President, VP, all Governors and Administrators, who are responsible for disbursing or appropriating public funds, must not only declare their assets before they assume their offices, but will make such a declaration every year they continue to serve the public.

5. In order to avoid conflict of interests in performing their duty, all of our Crime Watchdogs, like EFCC and ICPC should operate independently of any Political Party. They should enforce the laws in the book without fear or favor.

6. All major contracts and financial transactions should be made public records and open to a serious debt that will involve the participation of our experts and opposition parties in the field before approval. All major contracts must be completed in a given period, supervised and audited scrupulously too. This will help to ensure transparency and accountability in the system.

Fellow Nigerians, I personally believe that if we implement the above recommendations, we should be on the right course to solving our worst problems in that country. Only the right people with good conscience, who have the interests of our country and citizens on their minds, will serve Nigeria.

GOD SAVE NIGERIA FOR WE ARE ALREADY BLESSED.