In the spirit of flag off, I would like to flag off sleep. But before I do that, I want to call my two children and invite my neighbors and give them a little money to inform the general public that I am about to sleep. I sleep better that way.
I would equally flag off my waking up by announcing it on the radio and attack Mama Iyabo, the high flaunting cheerleader of our street. I want to pepper her and her husband till they get tired of coming back to their home.
The difference between my Governor and I is that I am not trying to convince my children to be my children again or my neighbors to be by neighbors again. We are father and sons as long as we live and even unto death.
We are neighbors as long as long as we are happy with each other, as long as we don’t die in our prime under the heavy rain of the black soot. The flag off is not a bait for anything.
But before my governor flags off another road, I want to understand the psychology behind it and perhaps, place issues where they rightfully belong.
Mind you, anybody has the right to flag off even the repainting of a dirtied wall or the changing of car tires. Rights are rights. You have the right to flag off anything but for how long?
Is this a bait for the elections or our collective depreciation of intelligence?
As a rightful indigene of this State, I have watched us play the crudest form of politics that leaves much to be desired. When are we going to phase off road construction with its attendant fanfare and begin real development which is in the form of human capital development?
Roads, hospitals, schools, and security are not privileges. They are rights that the inhabitants of the state have by virtue of voting a leader into power. These rights only end where the administration of the leader begins to end itself, so why are we abusing it? Why are we erecting billboards because of roads or hospitals construction or anything that doesn’t have to do with public warning?
Why do we spend millions mobilizing thousands of people just so we can flag off something, anything even when it is not necessary yet abandon the ones that are most important to the well-being of those living in the state?
When are we going to the flag of “operation zero dirt” in Port Harcourt? The city is nothing short of a refuse dump as it is the only state where refuse is disposed in the middle of the road.
When are we going to flag off the Ndoni general hospital that was abandoned and have led to the death of many?
How about the mad people running around the state capital and disrupting economic activities? We can flag off the process of removing them from the streets and put them in enclosures where they can be taken care of.
How about education, small and medium enterprises?
The last time, one corner was flagged off by our wives and mothers at the Government House and embarrassingly too, it made national headlines. How have we degenerated to the extent of making a mockery of womanhood just for a few wraps of Naira notes?
How many of the youths are employed gainfully and how has the government made that realizable? In a state where it is hard, and disturbing too, for people not to be seen through the prism of political parties which they belong, one will be accused of being an adherent of the opposition party when you point certain things out.
We have flagged off too many roads. Let us flag off human development which will sustain healthy lifestyles.
Mike Wabali writes from Portharcourt.
