Sir: I borrowed this title from the British thriller writer, Jeffery Archer, but I am in no mood to discuss that disgraced man’s book. Nigeria is in dire straits.

No country as divided as Nigeria today can claim to be championing the ideals of Western Democracy as per even exporting it to Niger Republic. It is little wonder then that the coup-makers of Niger are now mocking Nigeria that the military coup in their country was more democratic than the mojo of Nigeria’s civil elections.

There is no escaping the fact that there is frightening tension in the country, and Nigeria sorely needs healing. Many pundits have stated that Nigerians have never ever been this divided, even during the time of the civil war.

The fact that the election is still being contested in the court shows that bonding needs to be comprehensively pursued by President Bola Tinubu if he is ever to make a success of his lifetime ambition.

It is incumbent on Tinubu to seize the moment and every opportunity to harp on the need for national unity. Tinubu should make bold to stress that all the talk of “It’s my turn! Emilokan! Yoruba lokan!” during the elections had been done away with for good.

Sadly there are places in social media and sundry clans where the president is being praised for giving the Southeast zone only five ministerial posts. It does not bode well that what appears to be celebrated in Nigeria is the old cowboy film mantra of “Shoot first, think later!”

The fuel subsidy regime shot was fired without much thought, and the so-called floating of the Naira against the U.S. Dollar and sundry foreign currencies followed suit with looming disaster posted up large all over the country. Instead of addressing serious matters, propaganda is being cooked up such as the purported funny matter of 62 per cent of surveyed Nigerians giving positive approval of the Tinubu presidency.
Uzor Maxim Uzoatu.

The problems of the country ought to be seen as challenges that can be mastered by a committed leader. It needs to be stressed that it is not necessarily the holding of power by one’s kin that makes a particular zone to prosper. It is the creative productive spirit to forge ahead and the willingness of the people to bond together based on shared values that can strengthen the commonwealth.

No leader in the world is ever short in the supply of toadies, hangers-on, grovelers, ass-lickers, flatterers, court jesters, cringers, and ill-assorted yes-men and women. Once these time-servers ruin a leader, they move on to the next leader – whether manufactured via Western Democracy or decreed through the barrel of an AK-47.

Nigeria is hanging in suspended animation. Need we tell the president?