Life is all about opportunities and what we make of them.
While we were all busy making New Year resolutions, a man was busy planning a difficult year for himself and his nation.
The man is President Goodluck Jonathan.
He threw away the best opportunity he had to win back the trust of his citizens.
It was a simple opportunity to be a man of the people.
However inefficiencies and probably poor thinking turned everything around a man many Nigerians shed their blood to see him ascend the Aso rock throne.
The supposedly humble man who went around literally begging for votes several months again has now assumed a kind of Autocratic government.
All I can tell him is 'good luck in your endeavors, time will tell'.
I have heard a lot of side-talk about people trying to sabotage the efforts of his government but all I can do is to shake my head in disbelief.
One of the most essential elements of victory is identifying your enemies on time.
Another is working towards neutralizing them in a quiet but effective manner.
I'm pretty sure GEJ has done nothing in that regards.
However corrupt a government may be, it should respect the sanctity of human lives.
Death stories have become very palatable to our government and this may be the reason why they are slow to act.
If the Federal government doesn't know what to do in that regard, then this government doesn't deserve to be in power.
Despite the brewing crisis, it is pathetic to note that some citizens are still busy apportioning blames.
This is totally irrelevant at this crucial time.
Those who didn't vote for GEJ are blaming those who probably campaigned and voted for him, what a pity! Such postulations can only be based on an argumentative fallacy called petitio principii.
It begs the question about GEJ's ability to govern this ailing nation.
The argument should be, 'is the man at the centre performing the duties he assumed when the mantle of leadership was bestowed upon him'? Protests here and there and lives are being lost.
A man must speak out when he feels cheated and that is the case on ground.
Yet, we need to be careful as this government is getting callous by the day.
I have heard the scholastic and deep economic arguments of the CBN governor and all I could say is 'good riddance'.
The people can't dance to the tune of a government which has spent a lot of money already without results for it.
Trillions of naira has been wasted by various governments in this country.
How do you expect us to believe that the few trillions which may or may not be saved from the removal of oil subsidy become the messiah of a messy economy? How much was spent during the GEJ campaign and who were the sponsors? How much do our senators cup every quarter as just basic allowances.
How much is spent on entertainment at the Presidential Villa yearly? We need these figures.
Reduce the expenditure of the executive which is a minority in the population of Nigeria and show us examples.
Why must we be the sacrificial lamb? If a 'cabal' was benefitting from the subsidy payments, why not bring them to book? We are tired of abstract nouns like 'cabal'.
Why not define these criminals and prosecute them? I can assure the government that Nigerians are not blind.
So many protests may be ongoing and my condolences go out to the family of the fallen comrades.
On this note, we should involve ourselves in only peaceful but resolute protests.
We don't have to get violent through the protests as our leaders are ready to get even more ruthless.
All comrades should go to any length to protect their lives and those of our neighbours.
The Nigeria of today is not worth your blood.
This is not the time for dilly-dallying, pinging, tweeting or writing beautiful articles.
This is the time for resolute and smart actions.
Lend your voice to every justifiable cause but don't pause when it comes to ensuring your safety.
The government should remember that any adult who holds up a child's toy must surely drop his hand after a while.
If he doesn't, the child may bring down his hand with a plank.
Let's see what happens next week.