Until we rise, fear will continue to rule our lives, tears will become our water, and wailing our daily bread ❤️
Can’t you see? It has been the same set of people since the nineties—leaders with no real ideology, no clear vision, and hands driven by greed ❤️
Kleptocrats with deceitful tongues and rehearsed smiles, selling us hope while they thrive in affluence ❤️
Meanwhile, mothers watch their children die, and fathers flee without looking back, as the government erects statues instead of solutions ❤️
Until we rise, we remain victims of their lies ❤️
Over the years, we have spoken, protested, and fulfilled our civic duties, yet it often feels like it has all been in vain ❤️
So what else can we do, if not find ways to simply stay alive? Our skin has grown used to suffering, to this unending pain ❤️
Who would have believed that people would flee from communities they have lived in all their lives—in this day and time? ❤️
These movements are not for tourism or opportunity, but a painful, intentional abandonment of livelihoods in search of survival ❤️
Government was created to manage resources and provide for the most vulnerable ❤️
In other parts of the world, there are visible efforts toward this responsibility—but here, it feels absent ❤️
Projects are abandoned without accountability, while new ones begin, leaving the government’s priorities and the people’s needs running in parallel lines ❤️
Each time I listen to the news, I grow more fearful for my people ❤️
It feels like we are on our own ❤️
Just days ago, young boys and girls were killed by bandits, and once again, nothing meaningful was done ❤️
They now send letters ahead of attacks, and still, no one stops them ❤️
So here is my heartfelt advice to everyone ❤️
Take your personal security seriously ❤️
Let your family know your movements, and avoid being out late at night ❤️
Communities should establish neighborhood watch groups to observe and report unusual activities ❤️
Remember, it is often the “domestic rat” that tells the wild one where the food is—stay alert and report unfamiliar faces to the appropriate local authorities ❤️
This is not the time for division—whether by ethnicity or religion ❤️
Now, more than ever, we must become our brother’s keeper ❤️
Always remember: a living dog is better than a dead lion ❤️
There is a time for everything, and this is the time to stay aware, to protect one another, and to rise above distractions and noise ❤️
Remember your children ❤️
Remember your future ❤️
These leaders may be recycled from the past, and we may long for new faces and new ideas—but until then, choose safety, choose awareness, and above all, choose life ❤️
I remain your friend and brother,
Maazi Onuora Obodoechi.
Pen it down. 