Praying for Nigeria's Resurrection
7 December 2025 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa
Abiodun Kareem Giwa
I began working very early in life, assisting my father in his laundry at Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. And when he fell ill, I took over the job for about six months, reporting on my day-to-day activities at work to him at home. I was sixteen at the time. The money for school fees dried up when I headed to the city in search of a job. I got one at a Bulgarian construction company, Technoexpostroy, at Eko Hotel construction site, had a stint at Eko Hotel as a bedroom steward, and then moved to the Daily Times, followed by Rousell Pharmaceuticals, and the Niteshift Entertainment.
I love Bulgarians for their hard work and quiet nature, but I loathe some of them for not liking me or Nigerians, which they never hid. They say Nigerians like money but detest work. Their knowledge of Nigerians was poor. Nigerians are hardworking and love life but often feel they receive little return for their work and dislike their leaders' lack of accountability. Educated elites found themselves at the top, causing struggling families to push their children through school at any cost for a rosy future, as leaders often enjoy.
No one cares how people get their wealth. People often enter political office, enrich themselves, and flaunt their wealth. It shocked the country when a daring armed robber said, after an arrest, that the ostentatious lifestyle and the wealthy disregard for humanity by the wealthy influenced him. That was shortly after the Civil War, followed by a military coup that sought to establish respect for humankind and accountability in public office. The first military coup laid the foundation for a three-years of fighting in trenches. The overthrown leader came to power after the country's first military coup torpedoed the first Republic. He benefited from the tribal sentiment that took the country through a gory war.
The new leader, Murtala Muhammed, came with a mission to improve the lives of ordinary people, restore respect for humanity and accountability in public office. However, he hardly ruled for six months. During that time, he brought about significant improvements in the lives of people with low incomes, taught Nigerians about humanity and accountability, before he fell victim to a reprisal coup. Muhammed's death terminated whatever hope for poor Nigerians. Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded Muhammad. He said he wanted to be remembered for returning Nigeria to civil rule. He handed over to a band of illiterates and rudderless leaders who took the country to the gutters, leaving an acclaimed leader, Obafemi Awolowo, who Nigeria thought was prepared for leadership and deserved to rule, to watch how his country became a pun in the hands of wealthy fools and their cronies.
Successive military leaders, from Muhammad Buhari to Ibrahim Babangida and Abubakar Abdulsalam, were nothing but worms and destroyers. Abdulsalam, like Obasanjo, prides himself on returning Nigeria to civil rule when he handed over to Obasanjo, whom the People Democratic Party, PDP, and the military rogues decided to return to power to assure the international community. Why they chose to satisfy the international community, rather than Nigerians, was beyond the reasoning of any reasonable person.
The Daily Times, Nigeria's foremost newspaper and a bastion of free speech and the free press, became a government megaphone under Obasanjo's military government, which ultimately led to the paper's collapse. He dug the hole in which Nigeria sank as a nation when he gave the power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He had every opportunity to dig Nigeria out of the hole when he became a civilian president, but the power to resurrect the dead does not belong to humans, who only have the power to destroy and kill. I witnessed a glorious nation after its independence in 1960 as a resident of the ancient city of Ile-Ife, its collapse barely after four years of a Republic, and how the country was placed on a death path first by Yakubu Gowon and later witnessed Shagari and his team killed and placed it in a coffin. Military leaders and their wealthy friends, who had the opportunity to help revive Nigeria, worsened its situation and contributed to its further decay.
The hope for Nigeria is not totally lost. There is nothing beyond God. If God resurrected his son, Jesus Christ, He could as well resurrect any dead person or nation. The news of kidnapping now recurrent event in the country, argument and counter argument over the killing of Christians, and the government's inability to secure the country point to a lack of accountability and respect for the strong and influential people. Don't blame President Bola Tinubu, but his predecessors. He has to tread with care to avoid getting swallowed.
He can only manage what has been handed over to him. You have to be a Nigerian to know and understand the evil that has been visited on that nation by its past leaders and their rogue friends. Obasanjo still needs to explain to the world how Shagari won the 1979 presidential election, because of his handover to him, which put Nigeria on a death path.
Sometime in 1970, Oduduwa College sidelined its laundry workers from employees into contractors to avoid increasing their salaries and paying them the Adebo Award. The laundry workers petitioned for redress unsuccessfully. The loss of income by my father, one of the laundry workers, led to the most challenging development for his family. And for the inability to pay school fees in 1971, the college pushed me into the bush. It accused me of writing a promotion examination as a debtor student. My father got stuck at Oduduwa College as a contractor. The struggle to make something out of nothing led to his demise in 1977. His income depleted and never got the Adebo Award. At the time of our struggle, jobs were still available in the city and the reason I got into the construction field early.
The Daily Times was a corridor for the development of my love for writing. The most beneficial work I had was at Roussel Pharmaceuticals, materially Bulgarians are no longer there. The boisterous Daily Times is no more, and Roussel has since folded, like so many other companies, when it could not obtain the import license for its products from the almighty military powers.
I pray for Nigeria's resurrection.
I love Bulgarians for their hard work and quiet nature, but I loathe some of them for not liking me or Nigerians, which they never hid. They say Nigerians like money but detest work. Their knowledge of Nigerians was poor. Nigerians are hardworking and love life but often feel they receive little return for their work and dislike their leaders' lack of accountability. Educated elites found themselves at the top, causing struggling families to push their children through school at any cost for a rosy future, as leaders often enjoy.
No one cares how people get their wealth. People often enter political office, enrich themselves, and flaunt their wealth. It shocked the country when a daring armed robber said, after an arrest, that the ostentatious lifestyle and the wealthy disregard for humanity by the wealthy influenced him. That was shortly after the Civil War, followed by a military coup that sought to establish respect for humankind and accountability in public office. The first military coup laid the foundation for a three-years of fighting in trenches. The overthrown leader came to power after the country's first military coup torpedoed the first Republic. He benefited from the tribal sentiment that took the country through a gory war.
The new leader, Murtala Muhammed, came with a mission to improve the lives of ordinary people, restore respect for humanity and accountability in public office. However, he hardly ruled for six months. During that time, he brought about significant improvements in the lives of people with low incomes, taught Nigerians about humanity and accountability, before he fell victim to a reprisal coup. Muhammed's death terminated whatever hope for poor Nigerians. Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded Muhammad. He said he wanted to be remembered for returning Nigeria to civil rule. He handed over to a band of illiterates and rudderless leaders who took the country to the gutters, leaving an acclaimed leader, Obafemi Awolowo, who Nigeria thought was prepared for leadership and deserved to rule, to watch how his country became a pun in the hands of wealthy fools and their cronies.
Successive military leaders, from Muhammad Buhari to Ibrahim Babangida and Abubakar Abdulsalam, were nothing but worms and destroyers. Abdulsalam, like Obasanjo, prides himself on returning Nigeria to civil rule when he handed over to Obasanjo, whom the People Democratic Party, PDP, and the military rogues decided to return to power to assure the international community. Why they chose to satisfy the international community, rather than Nigerians, was beyond the reasoning of any reasonable person.
The Daily Times, Nigeria's foremost newspaper and a bastion of free speech and the free press, became a government megaphone under Obasanjo's military government, which ultimately led to the paper's collapse. He dug the hole in which Nigeria sank as a nation when he gave the power to Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He had every opportunity to dig Nigeria out of the hole when he became a civilian president, but the power to resurrect the dead does not belong to humans, who only have the power to destroy and kill. I witnessed a glorious nation after its independence in 1960 as a resident of the ancient city of Ile-Ife, its collapse barely after four years of a Republic, and how the country was placed on a death path first by Yakubu Gowon and later witnessed Shagari and his team killed and placed it in a coffin. Military leaders and their wealthy friends, who had the opportunity to help revive Nigeria, worsened its situation and contributed to its further decay.
The hope for Nigeria is not totally lost. There is nothing beyond God. If God resurrected his son, Jesus Christ, He could as well resurrect any dead person or nation. The news of kidnapping now recurrent event in the country, argument and counter argument over the killing of Christians, and the government's inability to secure the country point to a lack of accountability and respect for the strong and influential people. Don't blame President Bola Tinubu, but his predecessors. He has to tread with care to avoid getting swallowed.
He can only manage what has been handed over to him. You have to be a Nigerian to know and understand the evil that has been visited on that nation by its past leaders and their rogue friends. Obasanjo still needs to explain to the world how Shagari won the 1979 presidential election, because of his handover to him, which put Nigeria on a death path.
Sometime in 1970, Oduduwa College sidelined its laundry workers from employees into contractors to avoid increasing their salaries and paying them the Adebo Award. The laundry workers petitioned for redress unsuccessfully. The loss of income by my father, one of the laundry workers, led to the most challenging development for his family. And for the inability to pay school fees in 1971, the college pushed me into the bush. It accused me of writing a promotion examination as a debtor student. My father got stuck at Oduduwa College as a contractor. The struggle to make something out of nothing led to his demise in 1977. His income depleted and never got the Adebo Award. At the time of our struggle, jobs were still available in the city and the reason I got into the construction field early.
The Daily Times was a corridor for the development of my love for writing. The most beneficial work I had was at Roussel Pharmaceuticals, materially Bulgarians are no longer there. The boisterous Daily Times is no more, and Roussel has since folded, like so many other companies, when it could not obtain the import license for its products from the almighty military powers.
I pray for Nigeria's resurrection.
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
