By Dele Sobowale

“These are times that try men’s souls” -William Shakespeare, 1564-1616.

The year 2023, more than most in our recent history, will decide the fate of the nation in many ways. From my point of view, I doubt very much if we will have an undisputed election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, faces unprecedented challenges in conducting elections in more than 15 states. The losers will have all the excuses they need to reject the result. We have not done anything to address the question of how we will proceed after that impasse.

The stand-off in the Senate over N23.7 trillion Ways and Means debt, illegally accumulated by the Federal Government, threatens to prevent the FG from obtaining more loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, until President Muhammadu Buhari leaves in May. And, because government is a continuum, the next President might also be prevented from collecting loans under Ways and Means on account of Buhari’s lawlessness and recklessness. The FG might come to a halt. We have turbulent months ahead.

So, before we enter into the rough period, I want to take a break to attend to other matters that are important. With or without politics, life goes on. Compassion for the less privileged remains part of our human obligation; being our brothers’ keeper is, or should be, an abiding responsibility in a society where less than two per cent of the population control over 78 per cent of the wealth; where well-paid Governors steal with impunity; and when convicted get light sentences. After that, they receive Buhari’s presidential pardon — which is denied to thousands of poor people who steal just a goat. To be quite candid, I am sick and tired of Nigerian politicians. I want to expand my outreach.

HELP SUNDAY THIS SUNDAY

“All of us are not born giants; with silver spoons in our mouths and gold slippers on our feet. Some are born short; short of hope, short of opportunity, abandoned, neglected, homeless, motherless, teeth crooked, eyes tangled, dream busted. But, somebody has to measure their greatness not by leaping up, but, by reaching down and reaching out and loving and caring and sharing” -Reverend Jesse Jackson, 1992, Black American Presidential Candidate.

Sunday Adesina was definitely not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He actually started out life wearing slippers; though not made of gold. By the time he was three, polio struck; and he has been paralysed since. But, as you can see from the picture above, he has four medals hanging on his neck from Delta Games 2022. He got there by accident, by determination and by God’s grace.

The other guy is his coach; who is also a paraplegic; he was born that way. Yet he too is a retired African champion who had no help to go further. The coach of champions has told me that Sunday has the potentials to represent Nigeria in all the forthcoming international competitions – African, Commonwealth, Olympics and World Athletics Games.

I got to know Sunday by accident. He was driving a Keke, called Marwa in Lagos, when I flagged him; he dropped me that day and left. A week after, he was cruising again; and I stopped him. He pleaded that he wanted to urinate before we moved. I was not in a hurry. Then, he crawled out of the driver’s seat. I was shocked and happy at the same time. Here was a young disabled man who was not begging or feeling sorry for himself. I asked my PA to exchange numbers and we made him our regular driver in Lagos Island.

He suddenly disappeared in October last year for about three weeks. I accosted him when he re-appeared for letting another driver take his business. He apologised; then he reached inside his vehicle and showed me his four medals from Delta Games. I made sure he did not see the tears dropping from my eyes.

For seven months in 2020, my two legs were paralysed by cancer and I was like Sunday. It was then that I knew first-hand how tough the lives of disabled people can be. I fought and recovered; but, Sunday cannot. Yet, he has the courage and determination to be a World Champion. I am just as determined to help him.

Silver and gold I don’t have. But, I have three things which can help Sunday: this page, my absolute belief that God Almighty will help in this endeavour; and, finally strong assurance that there are enough people of goodwill in Nigeria, who will provide the support Sunday needs to make his dream come true.

Basically, he has three needs. First, he has no machine of his own. That makes it difficult for him to train when he wants. He needs more training equipment and he needs far better diet that he can afford now.

Who can help? MTN, GLO, AIRTEL, presidential candidates, Governors, food and beverage manufacturers, NESTLE, CADBURY, FLOUR MILLS, banks, Nigerians from all walks of life! A million ‘Widow’s Mite’ will help provide for his needs. He should be self-sustaining once he breaks into the global circuit.

God gave you two strong legs. Sunday has none; he is trying to make the best of the little advantage he has. Kindly give him a leg up; even N1, 000 will go a long way. God will reward you abundantly.

THE BOOKS ARE COMING

“If you want to live for thirty years, plant a tree; if you want to live forever, write a book.”

Having written five books I suppose that means I will live forever – whatever that means. Three books are in the works this year. The first is APC: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED, the second a biography and the third a COLLECTION OF 200 ARTICLES I have written and published since 1992. I actually started writing for VANGUARD in 1987 on the Business Page. Flood ravaged my house and demolished most of the earlier articles. But, 1992-2023 will be there. There is a monumental problem. However, before mentioning the problem, let me return to the first two books.

The BIOGRAPHY, almost 400 pages long, is scheduled for launching in November. It is the life story of a prominent Nigerian and Elder Statesman. I love writing biographies and have helped four prominent Nigerians to write their own. I have even written the history of a town on request.

APC: CORRUPTION INCORPORATED could have been launched yesterday. But, I withheld it to avoid being accused of playing politics with the revelations – especially if the party loses the election in February.

The Collection of Articles is the one giving me sleepless nights. In all the years, over 3,000 articles have been written – not counting 2020-2023. The problem is: how does one select 200 articles out of over 3,000? I made one decision early. There were eight Heads of State/Presidents involved: Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abubakar, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari.

So, articles from each government will be there. Ordinarily, that should simplify the selection. But, except for Shonekan and Abubakar, the two shortest serving, it doesn’t. The two longest serving among them – Obasanjo and Buhari – have left a long record of misdeeds which account for most of the problems we have now.

Would you believe that Obasanjo’s Minister of Power, Lyel Imoke, actually promised to deliver 10,000MW of power by 2007? Obasanjo took $13-16bn to execute the project and we are still struggling to reach 5, 000MW in 2023? I might write more books. OBJ was a presidential terrorist. Just wait.

I warned Yar’Adua’s wife publicly; asked her to persuade her husband to resign early in 2009; otherwise she would lose him. She lost him in 2010.

Every government wasted our resources entertaining VISION 2020 Committees which I alone pronounced a pipe dream. VISION 2020’s funeral took place three years ago; taking with it the reputations of Presidents, Ministers and all Governors of the Central Bank. There is more to come.