Thread by @Hejeoma

@nkyru remember our conversation?

1. A case of the cup being either half full or half empty. Alphonso imported rice via cotonou valued at $500,000, unfortunately the customs federal taskforce caught his drivers, the rice confiscated & distributed to IDP camps. Alphonso declares

https://twitter.com/Osi_Suave/status/1179280926704058371

2. Nigeria is collapsing. Haruna is a cobbler in Lagos, gets a call from his old father that some people have come from Onitsha & they are taking land on lease for agriculture. Haruna is the only son, his father is too old & doesnt know how to haggle with the strangers. Haruna

3. runs to Ojota, finds a DAF truck thats loading to the north. After 2 days of being on the road Haruna arrives his hometown in Kebbi state. After negotiations with the investors, they take the land & gives Haruna cash. Part of the agreement is that Haruna helps them oversee the

4. growing of rice, ginger, sorghum, millet. They now introduce cattle, Haruna grew around cows & helps them setup their ranch. All of Harunas wives, kids & extended family are involved. Haruna now doesn't need to fix peoples shoes to send money to his wives, he has over N3m from

5. from the lands he leased, he is still being paid to supervise his people who work the land & he is learning new farming skills which he is applying on other land they have. Harvest season comes, after sales Haruna adds another N10m to his account. Haruna will tell you that

6. Nigeria is getting better. Adaeze worked her youth service to Abuja, first day at her primary assignment she meets DG. Few weeks later Adaeze is in the UK with DG. Upon her return, DG buys her a venza & puts her in Sigma apartments. All these was in 2014. Forward to 2015, Efcc

7. declares that money is missing under DG. DGs accounts are frozen, his houses & cars seized. DG is relieved of his job, every staff DG brought in is kicked out so Adanma has lost her job. DG no longer takes Adanmas calls, she can no longer pay over N1m as rent so she moves out

8. Adanmas mother calls her to ask for N500,000 to fix the roof at home, Adanma says Buhari came & sacked my DG. I no longer have a job. Adanma & her mother will declare that Nigeria is failing. In 2013 Akpan took his wife Ekaette to transcorp hilton to enjoy the weekend. As he

9. drove in, he couldn't find where to park his car. Flashy cars with police escorts everywhere. He eventually saw someone driving out & took the persons place. To get into Transcorp reception was a problem, Mopol stopped them because 'Captain madman' a notorious militant & his

10. friends were about entering but had to stop at the entrance to exchange pleasantries with minister of stupidity. Akpan and wife waited for about 5mins before mopol allowed them in. When they entered, All they could see where faces they had only seen on NTA and Channels.

11. Men and women laughing while blowing funds from our treasury. Akpan left angrily to go find a garden where he can sit with his wife in peace. Fast forward 2017, Akpan visits again with his wife and finds it easy to park. Akpan goes inside and sees Samson an old school buddy

12. who now works with the DSS. Paddy how na? Omo see as here quiet! Last time I come no space! Samson replies, we routinely check names sent to us by the hotel management now. We look out for names being investigated for fraud. We look out for names on 'our list'. We check names

13. who pay for rooms running for as long as one year, many of them politicians, civil servants who have stolen money. They know, thats why many no longer come or they spend a night or two then leave. Akpan shouts, na wa ooo! So poor man like me now fit come here without them

14. intimidating me? To Akpan, it is getting better.

The answer to if Nigeria is getting better is complex because we as a people are not only a wildly diverse lot, only a few are objective. It is either the cup is half full or half empty.