Read on Twitter
Every Country needs to develop at its own pace & should not be pressured by a faux global trend. Whilst the developed countries are moving to abolish the death penalty, we cannot afford to feed people on death row for life. We have not even finished feeding well meaning citizens
Development and advancement cannot move at the same pace globally. Advancement should actually be local - tailor made for the specific needs of your local people and communities - whilst ensuring certain baseline standards are met, but ultimately moving at your unique pace
For instance, Americans and Europeans "don chop belle full". Their problem isn't basic hunger. They generally have good roads, hospitals, infrastructure, healthcare etc. They can afford to be thinking about issues concerning who should be sleeping with who, who can marry who, etc
Whilst these latter issues are not any less important, it is arguable that they are less existential. Africans are still literally hanging on the strand of basic hunger and extreme poverty. Our problems as at today are fundamentally existential and not abstract or ideological
So I would approach development from a pragmatic needs-based approach - anchored on providing and achieving the most basic and existential needs first - from which we can cascade to the ideological and abstract. Truth is, Africa's biggest problem today is poverty!
Nigeria's biggest problem today is poverty and hunger - of the stomach first - then of the mind. Quality and affordable food, basic amenities, security, shelter, infrastructure, healthcare and then education for every Nigerian remain our biggest want. This is the baseline.
I believe it was this pragmatic needs approach that inspired Jesus to feed the people whilst teaching them on the Mount. He realised he couldn't teach them an ideology if their stomachs were empty. My father once said "Democracy & its ethos are not possible for an hungry man"
So Nigeria must prioritise taking its people out of poverty and hunger, after which it must educate its people to learn and inculcate a new culture, ideals and ethos, thereby inspiring us to become a new Nation and a new people. But we must move at a pace we can genuinely afford
We are not in a competition with any Country. We are in a competition with ourselves and we must continue to measure and hold ourselves to an high standard. We must learn to protect human rights whilst understanding its intersection with our local nuances and challenges
We do not need to impress the international community. We cannot afford to keep our death row convicts, cloth them, feed them, make them comfortable when well meaning and responsible Nigerians are begging for a push-up, many of whom cannot afford to eat 3 meals per day.
Some of the most heinous crimes are committed by our people - and if our Court appeal system has been exhausted and the Supreme Court affirms a death conviction, then I believe that these people should actually be put to death. We are not any less civilised for doing that
By so doing, we will deter future criminals, free up space in our prisons, free up money to feed and take care of well meaning and responsible Nigerians. This is our duty & responsibility and we should never allow the international community goad us into thinking we are barbaric
When we have enough money to take adequate care of our responsible citizens then we can consider keeping the condemned for life. When I am Governor, I will have absolutely no hesitation in signing execution warrants & I will sleep well at night. Duty must prevail over sentiments
