Madam Minister: Now that your mother is free

Madam Minister,

Now that your mother has been freed by kidnappers, I hope you understand better what governance is all about. It is about meeting the immediate needs of the people. No matter how much you tried to carry-on with the "duties of state", distress was written all over your face at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held last Wednesday as shown by the NTA.

Don't get me wrong, I am not in support of kidnapping or any other crime for that matter and rejoice with you over the safe return of your mother to you her loved ones. However, for too long government officials have been happy to deal with Nigerians like "Guinea Pigs" that are to be used to prove or dispel some of their long held hypothesis and probably beliefs. This is the reason why people like you in government are quick to quote figures and reports that you claim prove that the lives of Nigerians are getting better.

I am sure that for the four or five days that your mother was held captive by those criminals, none of the statistics on the "sharp decrease" in crime that the Nigerian Police and other security agencies could manufacture sorry present mattered to you. All that mattered to you was that your aged mother was in mortal danger and you had no idea of where she was.

Well, Madam Minister, that is how it is for the vast majority of Nigerians who listen to you and other officials in government tell us how beautiful and grand your plans are and how they are "improving the lives of the common man." I hope you realise now that if most of the population do not see, feel and actually taste these improvements and positive developments you are so apt to bring forward and are skilled to talk about, you are just wasting our time and have the same effect as nauseating irritants.

I congratulate you on the release of your dear mother, I hope she wasn't too shaken and moves forward with the rest of her life in peace and tranquility. However, let this unfortunate event be an important wake-up call to you and your colleagues in government starting from Mr. President to stop taking we the masses for granted and do more to impact positively on our lives instead of quoting questionable statistics that have little correlation to the reality on ground for most of Nigeria's citizens.

Once again congratulations Honourable Minister.