Kenya President William Ruto
By Bernard Balogun
If this is true, l laugh hysterically. Why? Simple! When Williams Ruto was elected early last year, Nigerian youths, especially of the Obident extraction celebrated him…oh in Kenya a young man had been elected as their president whereas in Nigeria an old man elected…they echoed.
Today, it is a cry of crucify Ruto they are shouting.
No one should, with a deep sense of history, contemplate that the current political upheaval in Kenya could be replicated here. That possibility is remote. Quite slim a possibility.
The Nigerian huge population is responsible. As at today, the total population of Kenyans is about 56.2million. In 1990 when this sort of senselessness happened in the Philippines, the total population of the Philippines was 61.56million.
I feel sorry for the youths of Kenya with their destructive rampage. I saw their Governor’s offices burnt down; now the presidential plane touched.
Small minds and their irrational behaviour.
They have set themselves and the economy of their country backward. Do l need to explain this?
Protest must it come with this sort of monumental destruction? Childish. Inane. Repulsive. Retrogressive in their primitive approach. Bunch of sophisticated illiterates.
So back to Ruto’s election
Never you judge a book via its cover. Surprisingly, one renowned Professor celebrated Williams Ruto’s election last year. However, this past weekend this same Prof advised thus…Ruto should not allow hubris eat his lunch…
No nation is built in a hurry. No nation is built without undulating economic sacrifices and perseverance.
The Indian and Germany nations were built with the resilience and perseverance of their forebearers.
I recalled the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing experience of August 1945. Emperor Nero insisted that his administration will focus, after the devastation, on Education and Agriculture. The people, for lack of vision, rose against Emperor Nero. Nero insisted the government will provide free and compulsory education to all. Through sound education, we would have doctors, engineers, scientists, lT gurus, communicators, educationists, etc. These children, in future, will build our two cities again.
Finally, agriculture will be promoted to produce foods and beefs to provide nutrients and strength for the bodies of their children. A sound brain in a healthy body.
Late Dr Martin Luther King, civil rights activist, once wrote a letter to the teachers’ of his children.
He wrote…one day in the future my children will ask you…what is the meaning of atomic bomb…? We cannot find the meaning in the dictionary….and they cannot see traces of the devastation the atomic bomb ravaged in Hiroshima & Nagasaki, King concluded.
Please tell them, the meaning of atomic bomb has since been removed from the dictionary, because the ashes of the Hiroshima & Nagasaki had been turned into beautiful edifices, highrise buildings, flourishing healthcare, excellent IT hub centre, etc. The two cities had been hugely transformed. The sweat of perseverance had yielded results, lamentation is indeed a drawdown.
It is a mixed result today. The vision of Emperor Nero had come into fruition, sadly however, Emperor Nero had long returned to his creator.
And this is the moral lesson. To achieve a flourishing society, anywhere in the world, there must be a singularity of purpose. The leaders and the governed must agreed to give themselves time, called gestation period in agriculture, and perseverance.
History had it that Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo as Premier of the old Western Region was heavily bullied by same citizens that voted for him. The people erroneously thought the policies of his administration were not impacting, therefore exacerbating hardship. For two years, Awo was bullied, each morning from his Oke-Bola house through Mokola to the governor’s office in Agodi secretariat. Ditto on his way back home every evening. Today even in death Awo is a hero, not just in SouthWest but in the entire country. And that is the hallmark of a sound leader. A visionary leader sees what the populace are not seeing.
The long and short of this article is to appeal for time and patience with our leaders. We shall experience abundance and enjoy the fruits of the pains of today. No nation attains economic prosperity without minimalistic contributions from her citizens. The pains of today shall speak for us and our children in the future.
Balogun (BenPino) writes from Abuja
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