Open Letter to My President, Muhammadu Buhari: My Dream for a Safe and Flourishing Country – Nigeria

By Dr. Ngozi G. Johnson-Ogbuneke

I send you greetings Your Excellency, President Buhari.

I write this letter to you from the depth of my heart, in my earnest desires for our beloved nation – Nigeria. It is my hope that this letter will not only get to you, but that through it, you will hear my cry and also do something. There are so many negative ‘News’ on Social media and sometimes, for most of us in diaspora, one is at a loss of how people still survive daily in Nigeria.

I come before you sir, kneeling (with one knee, as the Almighty God has both in reverence), pleading with you, Sir, to consider this PLAN B amongst your other plans for our country. I have spent time reading materials about you, Your Excellency, about your family, extended and nuclear. I see the beautiful and glorious family setting around you, Sir. I then came to some conclusion, that indeed, despite all the negativities about your Government as it is with areas of SECURITY (TERRORISM AND HERDSMEN menace), poor HEALTHCARE system and BAD ROAD NETWORKS that, in this man, beneath all the façade, is indeed ‘a good man.’ And that, it is either the people around him are not being honest to him about the situation on ground in the nation, or that they simply choose NOT to carry out his plans to the full.

I schooled in one of the Federal Government Girls’ Colleges and we were taught ‘Pro Unitate’ and that long instilled principle has not left most of us, who have reconnected to our alma mater and are part of Unity Schools Old Student Association (USOSA) and our various alumina. The picture in the wider national communities do not match any such dreams of ‘for national unity.’ It is thus because of this, my concerns and desires for our great nation Nigeria, that I write you, Sir.

With the prices of crude oil having slumped, we still have hope. Yes! There is hope to harness the treasure in the Agricultural sector and hopefully build up our economy even further. Wherefore that we, Nigeria, have a segment of the population who are engaged in cattle herding and other forms of animal husbandry, Sir, I propose that, from the 36 states of the nation and FCT-Abuja, the Governors map out land masses which the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) should buy out from the States. Thereafter, the lands should be partitioned for LEASE to the cattle herders and other agro-animal husbandry like sheep, ram, goat, and poultry farmers too. The farmers (of Cattle, Goat, Sheep, Ram, Poultry and so on) can then register their businesses and rent these plots of land, as lease-holds over agreed terms with the State Governments and the FGN.

In this way, there will be great incentives for more Nigerians to go into animal husbandry and help grow more food as well as generate more revenue for the nation. Also, this will help save lives and guarantee subsistent farmers, who are struggling to make ends meet, usable lands.

So many Nigerian citizens have lost their lives due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, one can see how PROTECTIVE most nations of the world are; doing their best to safeguard their respective citizens. May the lives of Nigerians be more valuable than it were now. May we utilize this rare opportunity to improve our healthcare sector, Sir.

Permit me Baba, to draw your attention to another area that bothers me also; our hospitals and healthcare system. As a medical doctor, the value of human lives remains very high; unquantifiable to me, Sir. Once again, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed our very weak healthcare system and hospital facilities on ground. I read of the amount being proposed to be used in the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines; about N400b, yet Nigeria is penned down to receive the same vaccines for the populace under the GAVI and COVAX beneficiary facilities. Permit me to join my voice with that of Mr Bill Gates to honestly suggest that Nigeria, Your Excellency, redirect that N400b towards building up the Hospitals and Healthcare systems of the 36 States and FCT Abuja. What we have been included to receive freely, why then should we spend any such monies towards it, Baba? The COVID-19 era has further exposed our weak point to the rest of the world, costing us so much, hence, let Nigeria be seen by the international community to make a good turn and utilize what we have on ground to intensively build up our communities.

Oh! Lest I forget, Your Excellency, when I was in secondary school, one could drive across Nigeria from the North to the South OR from the East to the West and back safely in one day! The roads were beautiful. However these days, the roads (both federal and state) are death-traps and prone to attacks from terrorists, hoodlums and kidnappers. Baba, you have already being in government for 6 years and we have two years left to truly improve on your terms, even for the sake of posterity, Sir. I suggest that before you release further ‘federal allocation’ of funding to the State Governors, please kindly call for their ‘account-books’ to check how many miles of roads they have constructed, or even renovated in the Local Government Areas of each State. How many mileages? How many Hospital beds and other supplies as well as COVID-19 Testing Centres have they built or provided in their respective States? For example, in Abia State, there is only one government COVID-19 Testing centre, which is located in Umuachara, Umuahia. If someone has contracted the coronavirus but shows no symptoms being Asymptomatic, such a person can spread the virus to many other persons they come across unknowingly before he/she is detected. Also, if anyone residing outside Umuahia and its environs, requires a COVID-19 test, he/she has to travel over a long distance down to the very single testing centre to have the test done. This same situation is the reality in many other states in Nigeria. Yet, this is an unseen enemy that the rest of the world are fighting also. Compare this with the situation in the United Kingdom, where, at our workplaces, one can get tested twice a week, and COVID-19 testing is made readily available to the UK public.

The lives of Nigerian citizens are equally valuable, hence, COVID-19 Testing centres should be built in every Local Government. Where the Governors cannot give good account of their performances in these areas and more, Baba, I humbly suggest you set up CARE-TAKER COMMITTEES for each state and directly see to the building of our nation’s roads, hospitals, and healthcare sector.

Tough situations may call for drastic measures so as to preserve lives, more lives, and protect our nation concurrently. Since no one is travelling out for health trips for now, it is advisable that the State-allocated monies be redirected to positive projects within their various States and the nation at large, Sir.

Nigerians are very smart, as you already know and once we are able to trigger more down-to-earth and proactive changes, you will see even further improved ideas on these. I desire to see a beautiful, gloriously flourishing and safe Nigeria again, Your Excellency, Sir.

When children are fighting, the parents step in and resolve the matter equitably, because all the children, indeed, are theirs. They are loved equally and treated well. I must plead again, Sir, that you step into the Cattle herdsmen menace in various parts of the country; have the FGN buy lands and convert to ranches for cattle rearing and all other animal husbandry too. This would help upgrade our agricultural practices and animal husbandry to the international standard of other nations of the world.

Sir, I end this open letter like one from a daughter to her father, and also from a truly concerned citizen to her President.

I thank you for your time reading it through, and look forward to positive changes in OUR COUNTRY, Nigeria, especially to your turning this COVID-19 era into so much positivity and progress for the citizens.

There is Hope.

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Amen.

Thank you, Sir.

Yours truly,

Apostle Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Ogbuneke.

January 29, 2021

MD. FRCS. LLB. LLM. JP.