Jacob BABALOLA (Staff Writer)

In spite of many promises by those in the corridor of power, things continue to move from bad to worse. The hardship being confronted by the majority of the citizens, speaks volume of the fact that our leaders are still yet to get it right.

Going by the popular saying: “Action speaks louder than voice”, our leaders are by no way near the state or position they are preaching that the led be. While the led are being admonished every now and then to endure the current hardship for a better future, or put it in their own words: “E lo f’okan bale”, our leaders are living in affluence. To them, it is ‘do as I say but not what I do’. Petroleum products prices increased over two years ago, with an assurance that it would come down shortly continue to rise, even till date, making prices of other needed products and services to rise beyond the purchasing power of many.

For as long as the leaders continue to enjoy the packages of their offices at the expense of the common people who are contributing to the central pulse, they don’t feel concerned that things are not well with the citizens. While the leaders are able to move from one place to another by flight at the expense of the common pulse, they are less concerned if millions are trekking from their homes to their working places; if at all some even have a place of work to go to. Bullet-proof cars worth trillions can be acquired by our leaders while bandits or terrorists can attack the citizens, even in their homes, without any arrest or prosecution.

The leaders do not want to reduce their standard of living to that of the common people, hence in the face of hard economic hardship, they try to find a way for themselves, even if it means imposing multiple taxes on the citizens.

They came up with how much a citizen must pay as tariff for electricity; even when equipment for the supply of the electricity are still paid for by the citizens, double or triple what must be paid to renew one document or the other, all in a bid to gather more money to the central pulse for their own use, but they themselves will never pay a dime of such levies/tariff. Who is going to ask them?

Our leaders will rather start planning for another term in power, even when the first term of four years is yet to get midway. No plan for massive employment, free education, security and improved standard of living for the citizens but just what can be of benefit to them and their cronies. They are unconcerned how parents and guardians have started running up and down, now that another school term/session starts.

I almost shed tears like Christiano Ronaldo’s mother did in a trending video of the International Footballer that I came across recently.

The Football Legend in that video narrated how he intended to acquire another private jet for the comfort of his immediate family but remembered at that moment the story told by his mother of how she used to trek about 10km distance to school with her peers, since there was no means of transport by then other than trekking and that changed his mind and instead of acquiring another private jet worth of 60 Million Euro, he bought 100 School Buses for the use of school children who possibly are also trekking to schools like his mother did and do you know what? He expressed happiness seeing the way the pupils laughed and rejoiced boarding the first bus to school, which is more important to him.

He went further to say that when he called his mother to inform her of his action, his mother was so happy that her son ‘remembers what really matters in life’ and she shed tears.

How I wish our leaders today learn from this and copy doing what really matters while in position of authority.

How I wish millions of unemployed can be remembered and cared for by our leaders by way of providing job opportunities or being given some tokens monthly to live on.

How I wish something can be done to do away with the present economic hardship in the land, multiple taxation and unimaginable high cost of renewing one document or the other; probably by reducing the cost to bearable levels or increase the duration of such documents to three or five years.

How I wish millions of pupils that could not afford cost of going to school this day can be accorded the opportunity of enjoying free education, even if it is up to secondary level. It is not necessary providing foods for school pupils, which on its own is another channel of mismanagement of fund but making things easy for the parents and all the citizens by way of affordable living.

How I wish basic necessity of life can be provided for the enjoyment of all, rather than just for the enjoyment of the few in the corridor of power. All this privatization are causing more harms, the same way the leaders have almost privatized even the nation’s government, rotating it among certain group of people and depriving citizens of benefit of democracy.

How I wish struggling for position of authority will be for nothing, other than to do what really matters in the lives of the citizens.

As we await the celebration of another independence day, comes October 1, 2025; it is advisable that things change for better by way of our leaders remembering what really matters in life.

God bless Nigeria.