Do you see anything to smile about?

CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.


Look at the violence in Jos, Bauchi and Maiduguri; do you see anything to smile about?
What about the spate of bombings, kidnapping and general insecurity in the country, is there anything to smile about?

Ask those who eat hunger and wear nakedness, do you think they will have anything to smile about?

Look at the increasing rate of graduate employment, imagine the non-graduates’ fate. Look at the numbers involved in child labour and slavery; do you see anything to smile about?

What about the incessant labour strike and fuel scarcity/price hike? Diesel and kerosene have soared beyond the reach of small scale businesses the masses, how can there be anything to smile about?

Look at the conditions of our refineries, textiles, agriculture and industries; what do you see to smile about?

Can you calculate the elasticity of corruption in Nigeria and truly tell the President we have news to smile about?

What about the murders, unresolved assassinations, robberies and frauds, mass illiteracy and wanton destruction of lives and properties?

How about the religious crises in the North, militancy in the South, Ritual killings in the East, Thuggery in the West and cut neck rents in Abuja. Is there anything to smile about?

Look at the plight of our citizenry and the living conditions of our people. Look at Benin-Ore-Lagos Express way, Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road, and other roads in the country, the sorry state of our power sector draining billions of dollars with little result, the insensitive public holders, the unrepentant corrupt civil servants, and the porous nature of our land and sea borders, do you see anything to smile about?

How about the decay in our educational sector? The collapse of public education and the mercantilism in the private education. Tell me the condition of our health care facilities, the failure of an efficient transport system and the slums called homes, what is there to smile about?

Look at the subversion of the state, the monster called terrorism, the evil called nepotism and the menace of exploitation. Look at the condition of our police stations and the caliber of our security agencies, what is there to smile about?

Look at food security or is it insecurity, the bastardization of our budget implementation and the ineffectiveness of project implementations, do you see anything to smile about?

We can’t sleep peacefully at home, walk fearlessly on the streets, work without fear at our offices and travel safely on the road?

What really is our heritage if we can’t find anything to smile about?