An open letter to my fellow countryman

Aliyu MUsa

Dear Compatriot,

I am sure you were not expecting me to write you, neither was I hoping to do so this soon; it just occurred to me I should drop a few lines as we enter a new year full of hopes. Meanwhile, I pray this message meets you well in spite of your very fragile situation.

On January 1, 2012, I remember you limped into the year, with wounds inflicted by several predators from previous years, only to be struck in the head when our leaders (actually our masters) suddenly announced fuel subsidy removal. It was an astonishing New Year ‘gift’ which you did not find amusing.

Then you agreed, after much persuasion, to pull a punch that was hoped would floor your capturer, win back your destiny and enable you remould it as it suits you. When it looked like for the first time in your entire life you were about to liberate yourself you made a horrifyingly mindboggling u-turn and returned to your captivity. Since then you have not ceased to amaze me. Perhaps that was what encouraged me to write and, in a way, delayed it until now.

I know you are very worried about your situation although you have made up your mind to endure for as long as it would take God to intervene on your behalf. To have faith in God, as you do, is very inspiring. The only issue I have with your kind of faith is that even when I expect God to change my situation I still walk my way out of the woods having full trust in Him irrespective of the outcome. In your case, from how I read your mind, you seem to have concluded your situation is an act of God and, therefore, do not need to fight. That’s fair enough.

Some years ago the man who is now a councillor in your ward, a foul-smelling rich fellow, was always sharing with you a seat in the back row of every gathering. Your condition was not worse than his. But he had plans and he worked hard to make them work. You were part of that success, although you still don’t realise it. If you have forgotten I will refresh your memory.

Did you not come to the meeting he summoned at his home to announce his political ambition, which you elatedly supported? Did you not use your gift of oratory to make an unquestionably convincing speech that won him every heart at the meeting? Did you not order your wife to persuade all the women in the neighbourhood to vote for him?

Did you not turn a deaf ear when he rolled out plans to manipulate the outcome of the election, including the use of thugs to intimidate opponents and voters so as to swap ballot boxes? Were you not aware he was a secondary school drop out who forged results to enrol in the university and was eventually found out and expelled? Did you not remember you were colleagues in the office and that he was sacked after auditors exposed how he feasted on public treasury? I suppose you developed chronic amnesia after a few dough changed hands or after the local cleric, a recipient of ‘Greek gift’ too, used the podium to appeal to your emotion.

Now we are stuck with crooks as leaders for only God knows how long. Your situation is much worse and you don’t even know if you will survive up until the next election. But the man you help put in office is already weaving his way back to power. Remember, he does not need you to actualise that dream anymore. The route is now too familiar and the plots well conceived. If religion and ethnicity are not used to cause chaos between you and your once friendly neighbours so that you won’t have the time to reflect on the actual causes of your destitution a new device is always improvised to which you naively submit.

The only reason I write you is to remind you to remember to tell your children your role in their suffering and those of generations after generations. Or in case you don’t want to die a villain, you could teach them how not to be as foolishly submissive to slavery as you have been. Maybe if you live long enough to vote again you could let merit decide who gets your vote and, once again, use that verbal firepower you employed to install felons to uninstall them.

In the meantime, I wish you happy dreaming in 2013 as you did at the beginning of each previous year. May your dreams materialise.

Yours fraternally.

Postscript

This piece appears in the Blueprint newspaper of 4/1/13.