2. ... and so are millions of Nigerians.
These times are challenging and our nation desperately needs proactive and inspirational leadership, which I know you are very able to provide. #COVID19NIGERIA
These times are challenging and our nation desperately needs proactive and inspirational leadership, which I know you are very able to provide. #COVID19NIGERIA
3. Up till two days ago, 17/03/2020, the Federal Government was still of the moderate stance that it would not place a travel ban on high-risk countries. #COVID19NIGERIA
4. Yesterday, after our nation witnessed an avoidable spike in the number of confirmed #COVID19 cases, the FG ultimately did the needful.
5. Yes, a proactive approach would have ensured that the travel ban came earlier, but I thank you for finally making that decision, hopefully, the first of many more fundamental decisions for the good of our country. #COVID19NIGERIA
6. A MORTAL ENEMY IS HERE
Sir, the Coronavirus is not a moderate enemy. It is a vicious enemy of humanity that is determined, at least, to radically alter what we know today as civilization; and, at worst, to wipe out the entire human race from the face of the earth.
Sir, the Coronavirus is not a moderate enemy. It is a vicious enemy of humanity that is determined, at least, to radically alter what we know today as civilization; and, at worst, to wipe out the entire human race from the face of the earth.
7. That is not an enemy to be taken on with a moderate approach. #COVID19NIGERIA
8. This global incidence of #COVID19 and its sweeping ramifications for our socio-cultural and economic life simply show that our nation has, for long, been living on a reactionary mode, with little or no thought spared for the possibilities of the future.
9. Now, the future that we never spared a thought for is here with a bang, and we are not prepared. #COVID19NIGERIA
10. For years, our nation mouthed the ideal of economic diversification, but we never did anything concrete about it. Today, no thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the fatal consequences of our decades of procrastination stare us in the face. #COVID19NIGERIA
11. We had hoped to sell crude oil for $58 Dollars, but Coronavirus, with the unwitting support of Russia and Saudi Arabia, has ensured that we can only hope we do not get below $25. In fact, today’s news reports put it at $24. #COVID19NIGERIA
12. As a thoroughbred General of the Nigerian Army, Sir, you know that hope is not a strategy.
What, then, shall we do?
What, then, shall we do?
13. RECOMMENDATIONS
I. You have taken a number of decisions to mitigate the economic impact of this crisis on the citizens - the lowering of interest rates, CBN’s injection of 1trillion naira into the economy and the reduction of the pump price of petrol to N125.
...
I. You have taken a number of decisions to mitigate the economic impact of this crisis on the citizens - the lowering of interest rates, CBN’s injection of 1trillion naira into the economy and the reduction of the pump price of petrol to N125.
...
... They are commendable steps in the right direction, and I really thank you for them.
II. Your Excellency, Sir, it is imperative that you address the nation now.
You personify the fears, hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian people. This current challenge requires an all-of-society response to be surmounted. ... #COVID19NIGERIA
You personify the fears, hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian people. This current challenge requires an all-of-society response to be surmounted. ... #COVID19NIGERIA
... Who, but you, is best positioned to mobilise national resources, strengthen national resolve and inspire collective action? We, your Citizens, need to hear from you. ...
#COVID19NIGERIA
#COVID19NIGERIA
... You are the leader of about 200 million human beings and it is your privileged responsibility, now, to deal with them in hope. That is what leaders do. #COVID19NIGERIA
III. Sir, the time has finally come for our nation to take a long and dispassionate look at the subject of economic diversification. The obvious truth, however, is that if Nigeria will not change the current structure of its polity, ...
... her economy will remain a lame duck in the valley of wishes.
Fiscal federalism is not just for the sake of political convenience. It is imperative for the survival and flourishing of a political economy that is laden with varied endowments and capabilities such as ours.
Fiscal federalism is not just for the sake of political convenience. It is imperative for the survival and flourishing of a political economy that is laden with varied endowments and capabilities such as ours.
The unitary structure of government that we currently run has done and will do us no good. Our current lifestyle of rabid consumption and heavy dependence on commodities for national wealth will not survive in the fast-approaching post-coronavirus world.
Even as limited as it currently is, the GDP of Lagos State ($136 billion as of 2018) far exceeds that of Ghana ($67billion - 2019), a sovereign nation. It also exceeds that of Kenya ($99 billion, 2019) and Côte d'Ivoire ($44 billion , 2019).
Imagine, Sir, what the fortune of our States would be if they were unleashed from the laws and regulations that ensure that they remain beggarly recipients of monthly handouts called “allocation”, instead of being active centres of production and wealth creation.
Prior to the Coronavirus outbreak, Nigeria had seriously struggled as a “country of many nations”. If she will survive this scare and be a viable economy in a post-coronavirus world, Nigeria must mutate into a “nation of many countries."
Simply put, Sir, economic diversification will only be possible if there is a federalist restructuring of Nigeria.
You have the historic opportunity to be the one to lead Nigeria into this phase of prosperity.
Sir, please do not miss it. #COVID19NIGERIA
You have the historic opportunity to be the one to lead Nigeria into this phase of prosperity.
Sir, please do not miss it. #COVID19NIGERIA
IV. Your Excellency, Sir, now also is the time for us to re-establish the critical link that must exist between our education/research and health delivery systems.
It should be a non-negotiable objective of the government to ensure that Nigerians have sound mind in a healthy body.
Today, all countries of the world of the world are in a race to discover the vaccine for the virus.
Success in this endeavour will be directly a result of the prior investments they have made in their human and material assets.
Success in this endeavour will be directly a result of the prior investments they have made in their human and material assets.
What is Nigeria doing? Are we merely awaiting the announcement of the discovery and expecting that it would be doled out to us for free?
Our universities and research institutes need to be empowered. ...
Our universities and research institutes need to be empowered. ...
... Our nation needs to be comfortable with the fact that knowledge creation and application is capital intensive.
As the Federal Government tries to adjust the Budget to reflect the sudden dip in revenue, the allocations to Education/Research and Health should be increased.
As the Federal Government tries to adjust the Budget to reflect the sudden dip in revenue, the allocations to Education/Research and Health should be increased.
Let us incentivise scientific/medical researchers and health workers and give them a target. Let us make Isolation/Quarantine Centres habitable for people who are referred there. The ramshackle structures we see in media reports do not inspire hope. 
V. Finally, Your Excellency now is the time to pray. Now is the time to mobilise the millions of Nigerians - Christians, Muslims and African Traditional Religion faithfuls - to seek divine intervention.
The Almighty God, in The Holy Bible, assures us that “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron 7:14)
In the Holy Quran, He says, "Seek Allah's help with patient perseverance and prayer. It is indeed hard except for those who are humble."( Quran 2:45).
Sir, that if this ravaging epidemic were to be happening in the days of our Fathers, long before the colonialists set their feet on our soil, their first course of action would be to seek the guidance of the Divine, the Almighty Creator of the earth and the human race therein.
Will Nigeria be humble enough to call on God for help? #COVID19NIGERIA
Sir, I opine that you declare a National Day of Prayer on which everybody who resides in Nigeria will call upon God the best way he knows how to. On March 15,2020 President @DonaldTrump of the United States of America did that. We should do the same here, Sir. #COVID19NIGERIA
The whole of humanity is faced with an enemy. While we bank on our scientists to crack the code of this deadly virus, we must appeal to God to shine the light of His infinite knowledge on us; for only then can their research efforts be guided, precise, and result-yielding.
14. CONCLUSION
Your Excellency, Sir, I have shared with you my thoughts in the preceding lines and paragraphs. Like millions of Nigerians, I share your burden.
Your Excellency, Sir, I have shared with you my thoughts in the preceding lines and paragraphs. Like millions of Nigerians, I share your burden.
I know that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. I know God will endow you with the wisdom and will to lead our nation out of this gloomy night.
Side-by-side with the challenge of the Coronavirus exists for us the opportunity to press the Reset button for our nation. I pray that your Administration sees the opportunity and I pray that you muster the courage to press it. #COVID19NIGERIA
May God bless you, President Muhammadu Buhari.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Isaiah Kumuyi
Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Thursday, March 19, 2020.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Isaiah Kumuyi
Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Thursday, March 19, 2020.
