A Nigerian Youth League Publication

The Nigerian state has perfected the art of shattering their citizen’s dreams and aspirations!! This is done via the various dysfunctional entities that make up what we call the Nigerian government. I am going to highlight to the leaders of the present day juggernaut called Nigeria; via anecdotes, how their lack luster approach to good leadership leads the people into the doldrums of destroyed lives, terminated dreams, premature deaths and worst of all still borne visions of self actualization!! This is a message to the Nigerian leaders of today from a novice in the garb of a sage! This is to note that their own dreams may also be shattered along with the rest of the populace if immediate and proactive steps are not taken to rebuild dreams by giving impetus to the “right to a better life” slogan; which should be the essence of our existence as a nation under God!!

I have wandered far and near, from the hills of Adamawa to the plains of Minna in Niger State. I have wandered to the creeks of Warri whilst eating on the fields of Ilesha in Osun State. I have seen the opulence of the wealthy in Lagos right beside the squalor of the needy in the ghettos. I have seen my people both small and big pondering the same issues though in diverse states of consciousness or lack thereof. I have been to the markets in Kaduna and the bustling conclaves of Ibadan. I have seen the communal nature of the Mbaise peoples of Imo State whilst crossing the River Niger to reach back to my own homeland in the south west of the motherland. One thing is certain! My people like Martin Luther King have a dream that one day they will achieve that which their purposes in life have ordained for their individual as well as collective destinies. What is also inherent is that majority of their dreams are shattered like a mirror smashed against a rock by the same people that should be assisting them in molding that dream to fit into the vision of a greater Nigeria!!

I was astounded but not shocked at the death of an illustrious Nigerian at the merciless hands of uniformed murderers called the Nigerian Police Force. He was elite borne to the silver spoon cadre, but unfortunately died like a common criminal execution style. His name was Modebayo Awosika. I witnessed the outpouring of grief amongst peers and realized that his dream of self was shattered by the Police force that should have been preserving his security!! That was not his portion in life neither was that his destiny as ordained by God, but his was cut short by the inhuman abuses perpetuated by the State in the name of maximum security!! May his soul rest in perfect peace as he is one of the thousands that are summarily executed by the state apparatus! He has a face easy to remember but I wonder if anyone bothers to think about the “executions of the faceless” that takes place in our beloved country on a daily basis. These musings require deep soul searching by us as a nation. He had a face because his friends and family could afford to put his tragic obituary in the papers; whilst most that suffer the same destructive fate daily can not afford to highlight the death of their loved ones in an advertorial piece more so a full page advert in the national dailies!! These are anecdotes that show us the state of the nation in tackling the misdemeanors within our systems. The culprits are yet to be caught and are still at large to perpetuate these acts willfully and without fear of prosecution. This is the shattered dream in an insecure state that owes a constitutional obligation to the citizenry for the preservation of human life and property.

The above anecdote is even further eclipsed by that of an unknown gentle man in the backdrops of Enugu in Enugu State. His name was Emeka Okolie!! His dream was shattered by the lack of a coherent social health care policy by the Nigerian state. He was robust, good natured and very eloquent in his speech. His last statement to me was that everyone is just trying to meet his savior in the form of a Godfather. He advised that I should seek the higher ground by sticking close to my friends in high places and this should eventually give me the paradise of my own dreams. His was however cut short by an undetected heart problem which his doctor never diagnosed. One fateful evening he dropped dead on the streets and his dream ended up in the morgue!! This made me feel rather sad as his dream of meeting a Godfather though defeatist was never achieved!! All he wanted was the good life however the lack of adequate world class health care system killed him off at his prime. These shattered dreams are the real results of lack luster governance in the polity. Many die of this shattered nightmare daily and people site witchcraft and other unholy reasons as the cause for lack of an adequate autopsy result!!

Though the shattered dreams are innumerable, this last one coins it all for me. The death of a well respected statesman on the roads he could have fixed while still a serving official in the government. This is rather perturbing for me as the statesman was a man I respected immensely. His shattered dream struck a chord in me about how one must remember the real influences of Karma in our individual existences. His dream was to usher in the next president of Nigeria whilst obviously hoping to become an integral part of the ruling elite once again. He travelled far and wide for this cause which he vehemently believed in. He paraded and told all and sundry how much he believed in his principal. Only for him to die on his way to a meeting on a road he could have repaired as the former Minister of Works to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This shattered dream is once again obvious to all because of the profile of the shattered dreamer. Many more die on a daily basis because of the lack of a good and safe road infrastructure in our country. Pot holes in the middle of a highway beggars disbelief. Drivers weaving through manholes on our motor ways ensure that many more will be the shattered dreams of many that will be dashed on the roads of the Federal republic of Nigeria. This is the nightmare created by a below par road and transport infrastructure.

My last potential shattered dreamer is our one and only President Umaru Musa Yaradua the high and mighty servant leader of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is a man with a well publicized kidney defect. He has to travel to Germany to see his doctors because we do not have the health care facilities to take care of his immediate medical needs. I pray and hope that his case is not shattered like those of the millions that are shattered on a daily basis as his could usher in a period of political upheaval in the motherland. May the shattered dreams of the populace never engulf our leader in this nightmarish existence of our citizenry.. Amen

These shattered dreams are the real issues that Nigerians have to contend with. Our leaders must confront the issues of shattered dreams of the populace if we are to respect their intentions in office. Their tenures of service must espouse the human face of the masses and proactively reduce the amount of shattered dreams through the provision of infrastructure and coherent leadership. Nigerians need this in a turbocharged development drive that will be immediately felt by the masses. Let us as Nigerians for once enjoy the proceeds of our heroes past. Let us really feel the profits of the years of Oil boom we have experienced under OBJ and now Yar’adua. The Oil boom is now coming to an end and the peoples dreams are still been shattered on a daily basis; even as I write, I know a lot are being shattered. Our aim is to enlighten the populace and pray for the masses that their dreams are not shattered before Nigeria gets its right footing as a nation of dream builders, vision makers and aspiration enhancers to the masses. This is the philosophy of the Nigerian Youth League which will never cease as this is the real vision for the younger generation of Illustrious Nigerians. Our time is near, our time advances in leaps as we continue to catalogue shattered dreams in a hope of building visions for the motherland.

God Bless Nigeria!!

The opinions in this write up do not constitute the official line of the organization but the opinion of the writer. If there are any queries regarding the article please send an email to Daniel@nigerianyouthleague.org and he will answer you promptly.

Robot  # 1 | 22.10.2008 07:13

The Nigerian state has perfected the art of shattering their citizen’s dreams and aspirations!! This is done via the various dysfunctional entities that make up what we call the Nigerian government. I am going to highlight to the leaders of the present day juggernaut called Nigeria; via anecdotes, how their lack luster approach to good leadership leads the people into the doldrums of destroyed lives, terminated dreams, premature deaths and worst of all still borne visions of self actualization!! This is a message to the Nigerian leaders of today from a novice in the garb of a sage! This is to note that their own dreams may also be shattered along with the rest of the populace if immediate and proactive steps are not taken to rebuild dreams by giving impetus to the “right to a better life” slogan; which should be the essence of our existence as a nation under God!! I ...Read the full article.

ELAWALO  # 2 | 22.10.2008 08:14

Undisputed truth ..... Thanks

denker  # 3 | 22.10.2008 08:26

A Nigerian Youth League Publication The opinions in this write up do not constitute the official line of the organization but the opinion of the writer. ..wat kind of logic bi dis..anywaz, you try sha....lol!