After giving it some thought, I have finally put my finger on the source of my excitement. It is simply this; I remember the many conversations I had with my peers at secondary school, university, youth service and for the first few years of my working life in Nigeria. We had so many ideas and aspirations and amongst all of this was a good dose of enthusiasm. Alas, we were mostly having those under the sad watch of the military leaders. Theirs is a tale of nothing but shame as they ruled Nigeria for 16 years and destroyed everything I grew up with.
At the point they bowed out as most useless leaders do, in diabolical circumstances, i had returned to Nigeria and watched as civilians regained control of the country (albeit under the watch of a former general in Obasanjo). There was hope.
What we have witnessed so far since has simply been an extension of the military rule under civilian cover. The particular distinction has always, for me, been about communication. You cannot claim to be a democratic nation whilst a few people do whatever they like at the top regardless of the will of the people. The difficulty has always been how to accurately present the will of the people. In the West, opinion polls drive everything.
So my real excitement is that in making this single act of creating a prescence on FB, GEJ is saying that he is happy for opinions on the page to be held valid by him and us as the opinion and wishes of Nigerians. So far the page membership is growing at over 1000 Nigerians a day.
This is a good thing. Now if a Nigerian has an opinion, he can share it on a page officially created by the President of Nigeria.
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