Returnees: Your Excellency, Why Not Leave Us In Libya?

                                     

Your Excellency, the president, federal Republic of Nigeria and commander in chief of armed forces.We are overly indebted to your heart and affection, the sympathy and sweetness, that made you make preparations, very promptly, to fetch us back to Nigeria, our father land. It is, indeed, a thing of delight, that our dear country was so worried about us, that she, without wasting time, prevented us from being sold to slavery.Who wants to be a slave?

We only seeked a good life, for ourselves, abroad. We only chased a greener pasture. But, what we experienced in our adventure, would make the whole world shed tears.It was a horrible experience in Libya. It was not fine away from home.

Many of us left home as graduates, some of us, even, left with second degree.Some left parents, and others left children in Nigeria, with a promise of relish when we return. Some left with a single apparel and some, without clothes at all. We left, after struggling hard in Nigeria, to no avail. We left when we almost died of hunger.We left, when our certificates were useless and there was no electricity to sustain our businesses.

We left, so that our aged parents would not die of wants and lacks. Our children were dying of malnutrition, so, we were desperate to make money in a foreign land. All of us, wanted a good life Nigeria could not offer. Mr president sir, this is the point. As unhealthy as slavery is, not all of us detest it, can Nigeria offer anything better? As slaves, our mouths would be padlocked, so that we don't consume their sugar cane, but they would definitely give us three square meal.

We would be piled up in tens and twenties, in a room, but we would definitely have a roof on our head.No one cares for slaves, but, they would definitely take us to hospitals when we fall sick, at least to make us live longer in their service.They would surely give us clothes, so that we don't die of cold. They would freely give us water to drink and take our bathe. They would let us have tooth paste to tidy our mouths in the morning.

All these basic things, can we enjoy, even as citizens, in Nigeria? Are we not going back to lagos, where we would buy, even a bucket of water? Are we not going back to Oshodi, to sleep under bridge? Is this not Nigeria, where nothing guarantees a single meal in three days? Is this not Nigeria, where a cadet would just flog you anyhow, not minding if you have something in your stomach?

Is this not Nigeria, where hospitals are empty, and the few equipped ones are reserved for the rich? Is this not Nigeria, where a graduate can't afford a toothbrush? Is this not the oil producing country, where senators pocket, every month, what an average worker would receive in 50years? Is this not Nigeria, where a yahoo boy eats faeces with bread, just to make ends meet? In Nigeria, if you sleep with your head tonight, you may wake up with only the neck tomorrow. Is this not Nigeria, where nothing is working?

Just like the Israelites asked moses in the wilderness, Mr president, why not leave us as slaves, where we would, at least, enjoy a meal per day? Your Excellency, why not leave us in lybia to be sold? For the Israelites, it was a tough journey to the promised land, but for us, for us in Nigeria, isn't it going to be a rough journey to no-one-knows-where? Isn't it going to be from fry pan to fire? Aren't we home to die of algor and chill, dryness and starvation?Well, thank you Mr President for your kind gesture.

The above is just my imagination of what an average returnee would think. Ask them, just ask them, what they have in mind. Sincerely, the federal government has done well in bringing them home. But here, in their father land, woud life be any pretty?


Ayeni Faith Damilola is a writer, public speaker and eulogist.
faithdamilolaayeni@yahoo.com