By Denrele Animasaun

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” Marcus Aurelius

Here we are, at the edge of the precipice, an opportunity so rare but, long awaited. This moment cannot be wasted and cast aside; we have an opportunity, a golden one, too precious to lose. This very moment, I hope we can look back with pride and tell our generations to come that, we all played our part.

John F. Kennedy said: Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

This is our opportunity and responsibility to do our part so that every Nigerian, home and abroad can live up to their potentials.  In our living memory the chance to change the fortunes of our people and clean up the mess of so many years of corruption,  excessive waste and abuse of power.

With a new administration and a highly anticipated clean broom, we may have certain unrealistic expectations thinking that with one quick swoop that GMB would suddenly make everything all right.  Well, that is not going to happen. No one person can change a system that has taken decades to disintegrate.

Those that want the dividend without the struggle are living on a totally different world; they are deluded and unwilling to contribute to nation building. As Nigerians, we have to hold GMB to account and ensure that the promises made are fulfilled in the life of his administration.

It is  going  to  be  tough  and bumpy but we  will  see changes if , everyone play their  part. We can no longer play the victim, we can no longer play the religious, tribal and zonal excuses either, and the country is not for one and not the other.

We either do this together or we will regret the failure together. The time for self-hatred is over so, it is about time that we get on with the programme. Nigerians are moving forward with or without them. The choice is really up to the individual and the institutions.

Buhari has made the transition from being Head of State in 1983 to now a democratically elected leader in 2015. He will be judged on how he performs his duty and responsibility and this time he will be accountable to the people of Nigeria. I wish him courage, wisdom and humility and most importantly, I wish Nigerians the will and the grace to work together to make Nigeria proud.

We need to make our country better economically, strong foreign policy, secure and safe environment, better standard of living, and a diversified economy, upgraded technologically and ally to neighboring countries.  We need to have a national service for young people especially from 18 to 25 to provide apprenticeship and an opportunity to deliver employable young people for emerging industry and opportunities. Our young people should get a stake in the future of Nigeria and be prepared to play their part. Our older people should be given a better life rather one of destitution, poverty and over dependence.

Prof. Osinbajo in a speech to the press said that;”110 million out of Nigeria’s population of 170 million were living in extreme poverty, and majority of the wealth is in the hands of few. It is oxymoronic that in a country that produces oil that millions of Nigerians queued up for hours at a time for miserly and highly inflated oil due to fuel shortage. It has been very disgraceful and it practically paralyzed the nation and the amount of money lost in work and business must have run into millions if not billions of naira.  We can do better.

Nigeria has been an ailing giant, hemorrhaging of its natural  wealth and resources, the  greediness of  our law makers has been incredulous and  subsequently  our  society  changed the  way that we place value  on  people  and  things. Admittedly, the law makers were not the only ones responsible for the demise of our economy, moral values and general standard of living but they played a major part in the nation’s regression.

They were responsible of living way beyond their means, they abused their powers and positions and which led to the wholesale corruption of resources and institutions. I mean, in the last administration, corruption was downgraded and down played to mere stealing and they were rewarded by more stealing with no consequences. In the hallowed corridors of  power, bad behaviours and loutish attitude  became  a fine art and the past six  years  we have  seen those  who are not  fit to lead or manage left in charge of  our  economy and  they took Nigeria for all its worth.

Our country became lawless and lost our integrity.  We have lost compassion for common sense and decadency and we have become twisted and embittered. We created an environment for thugs and hoodlums to thrive.

There have been long queues at petrol stations this month because of a fuel shortage with majority of its people  living in abject poverty, two thirds of young people are not in education, employment or training, the  state of  our  institutions; health, social and education are in ruins, the  roads ,transportation are abyss and for  power, it  has  been  a  disgrace for  majority of the population. Where there is inequality, poverty, lack of education and youth unemployment, we know there would be a Molotov cocktail for crime fest, chaos and disorders.

My dream for the new administration is that they are transparent, open to receiving criticisms and they will be many! That the administration are manage the economy better , have capable cabinet, fair, firm and dignified, Professional , innovative, sophisticated, enigmatic, forward thinking and forward looking, young people friendly, invest  more in women and young girls, invest in health, education and Infrastructure

All Nigerians, let us embrace the new beginnings and not resist the change, after all, change is inevitable and this one in particular, should be better than the last.