If I am President of my country, I promise to be the most selfish President. I will not embark on any project unless it benefits me. Whatever I do will be for my interest only. Next to my interest will be my immediate family's. Heaven knows, that I love my country and it's people but I love myself more. Nigerians are friendly, intelligent, hard working, industrious and I am sure they will be fun to govern.
I will build a network of roads to rival the 'Eisenhower' interstate road system in the United States. I need the roads to allow me and only me to enjoy the sheer beauty of Nigeria from the coastal paradises to the tropical rain forests of East / Western states, to the plush plains of the middle belt and subsaharan north. The roads have to be perfect with special attention given to details because as we all know, a bad road is nothing but a death trap. I love myself too much and will not like to be a victim of such a misfortune. To that end, the projects will be awarded to the best companies in the world with the records of constructing the best roads. I will not award the contract to an incompetent company, even if I have offer of bribes. I will never settle for a second rate contractor because of bribe since I value my life more than the money. If I end up with a life threatening injury, the money will not save me and even if it does, I might end up with permanent scar or disability.
The schools will rival the best schools available anywhere in the world. I will invest in the best technology money can buy for the students. I will also invest in teacher education. In addition, the education will be free for all my fellow citizens. Let's face it, without the help of the government, the quality education which I received was beyond what my Parents could afford. How will this benefit me? I stand to benefit immensely from this because I need a strong, well trained and skilled workforce to maintain my life style as the President. I plan to build the best Presidential Palace to rival Buckingham Palace in London and have the best vacation homes all over the country. I need well trained architects, structural Engineers, builders, electricians, information technologists, etc. I also need pilots, doctors, dentists and civil engineers. For entertainment, I need well trained film producers, actors and musicians.
How about hospitals?. My country will have the best hospitals, that will be as well equipped as any other hospital in the world. Every city will have a specialist or tertiary care hospital. I will convert the current teaching hospitals in Ibadan, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Benin, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Ile-Ife, etc to world class teaching hospitals comparable to any other in the world. I do not have go too far to find the best Doctors to staff these hospitals as there are many Nigerian specialists who are well trained in Europe and America. With the best incentives, I know they will be too happy to come back and take care of their God-sent leader. I will make sure that they are well compensated. They will be assured of at least what they currently make in the United States or Europe.
How can you put a price on my health as the president of the country?. I need these hospitals to take care of me and if my fellow citizens benefit from the services provided, it's okay but that is not the primary reason for building the hospitals in the first place. There will of course be universal free health care for my people because I want them to be healthy so they can take care of my needs. I need a healthy work force. If I am unfortunate to fall sick or have an accident while visiting a remote corner of the country, I want to be assured of the best hospital and personnel to nurse me back to good health.
By educating my citizens and providing them with employment I am thus ensuring my security since there will be less need for them to attack me or my family. Nigerians, especially the rich including the politicians are currently under siege from armed robbery, kidnappings and armed insurgency. The current leaders are just not selfish enough. According to recent revelation by the Nigeria Central bank governor, 25% of the federal governments overhead goes to the federal legislature. If only those legislators are smart enough to use that money to improve the schools and provide employment for the graduates, their lives will be more secure. Also, they stand to make more money off the sweats of those citizens. Nigeria has one of the most skilled workforce in the world, but unfortunately the majority of that workforce is either unemployed or underemployed. When young people have nothing to do, the crime rate will undoubtedly be high since 'the devil finds work for idle hands'.
After living in the United States and seeing the caliber of Nigerians in different fields, there is no doubt in my mind that the country has the potential to be one of the greatest countries in the world. I know that Nigeria has the manpower for any industry needed to develop the country. I will establish industries to provide every thing that the my citizens and I need. This will benefit me immensely by providing me with everything that I need for my comfort.
By developing the educational, health, power, telecommunications, roads and other infrastructures I will provide employment for my people. All these services will be available for me when I need them. By providing employment for my citizens, they will be able to take care of me and protect me.
Since the difference between the developed and underdeveloped countries is that the former takes better care of it's citizens, my country can finally become a developed country. I will not steal a kobo of the country's money. After seeing the fate that has befallen the former leaders in the middle east, I will not want to spend my retirement years in prison or exile. Since running a country is physically and emotionally demanding, I plan to be president for one or two terms, so I can retire and enjoy my retirement in peace like Nelson Mandela.
If my country is developed I know that my survival is guaranteed. As the Yoruba adage goes, ' The tick (or flea) whilst killing itself, thinks it is killing the dog '. (because once the dog dies, the days of the tick are numbered anyway).
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