A Letter to my unborn child about the state of the country

Dear Child,

I was worried sick about you coming to this world precisely to my Motherland –Nigeria at this time. I went to bed thinking about the State of affairs in Nigeria and wishing that you take some time before leaving your mother’s womb. I woke up just after midnight to write you just because I care so much about you. My plans was to fly your mum out of the country to the UK just before she enters labour at least to get you that British citizenship but those plans have been thwarted because the British Government discovered that pregnant Nigerian women are been flown there just for the same reason. I kept thinking about the hospital where you would be born here in Nigeria as a good number of them lack adequate medical facilities and qualified personnel. I want the best for you that is why I desire that you have a quality education but there is nothing like that here in the country and the few good schools can only be assessed by the nouveaux riche. Billions are allocated to Education every year on paper but what get to schools at the end of the day is peanuts owing to corrupt middlemen in the system. Throughout my four years study as a Biochemist, I never saw a DNA molecule, worse still; the only enzyme I purified was a previously purified one whose purification steps I got from the Internet as the supposed wet science (Biochemistry) was studied theoretically. This should show you the level of the educational decadence here. Due to my love for animals, I spoke to your mum about visiting some Zoo’s around the country when you arrive but the problem is that some of these Zoo’s are empty, filled without just monkeys and birds yet Billions are allocated to Tourism yearly. Your mother developed phobia for airplanes due to the now traditional plane crashes. Formally, our complaint was about the deplorable state of Nigerian roads now our concerns have moved to our Airspace which is now unsafe as most of the planes are way older than me and lack proper maintenance.

My child, another issue of great concern is where you would work after schooling. Over 70% of University graduates in Nigeria are unemployed; the other 30 or so percent are either self-employed or underemployed as it is a very common phenomenon to find Engineers working as Bankers and a Microbiologist working as a public relations officer in an IT firm. The country is ridden with dishonest politicians, hypocritical preachers, ailing institutions, religious bigots and a faulty political system.

Dear child, I advise that you leave your mother’s womb only and only if you are sure to bring the expected change this country requires i.e. If you would be that student that would uphold morality and not cheat during examinations, if you would be that corrupt-free and honest politician, if you would make sure that funds gets to their rightful place as a middleman, if you would invest in lives and not jets as a Man of God, if you would carry out your job effectively and not accept bribe as a civil servant and finally, if you would be that selfless, patriotic and hardworking Nigerian. If you would not be any of those, I suggest you cling to your mother’s placenta and continue swimming in her amniotic fluid until the Economy is stable and things are as they should be.

                                                                                                                                       Yours Truly,
                                                                                                                                       Potential Dad.
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