Dear Nigerians, for how long are we going to be deceiving ourselves in this country? how long will it take us to understand the fact that our problems do not only lie within the confines of fighting the Federal Government? how long will it take us to understand that most of our problems need to be addressed from the Toe and not just the Head alone?

Do we need the UN (United Nations) to tell us that our problem is a Grassroot problem? The earlier we understand that everything is now grassroots, the better for us.
To win an election, you need the Grassroots. To hire thugs for snatching ballot boxes, the Grassroots (having known the map of the area) readily comes to mind. To initiate riot or violence, mayhem or what have you, you will need the Grassroots.

So what’s our problem?

The Grassroots!

We are just trying to recover from the socio-economic damage emanating from the Covid-19 pandemic, and just within the last 2 weeks, Nigeria has lost another over 20,000 jobs as well as lots of billions of Naira due to the serial damages and endless lootings perpetuated by these so called Grassroots.

Personally, my company, YNORTH lost over 38million Naira in less than 15 days to lootings.

The Way Forward

It is not wrong to assert that the gap between the Rich and the Grassroots is apparently too wide, and this unfortunate large difference to a larger extent, is to the detriment of the Grassroots. The Grassroots are no longer getting quality education, they are not well enlightened neither are they positively exposed. While I was an indigent student at Government College Ibadan, I remember vividly having a lot of politicians, elites, rich men and creme de la cremes’ kids as my Teurs (senior colleagues), colleagues, and Boys (junior colleagues).
Today, we now have churches and mosques for the Rich, and the Grassroots, likewise other public institutions.
Unfortunately, we no longer have the ancient quality mix and socio-cultural interbreed in our once highly esteemed public institutions.

Hence, we are now faced and laced with an acute distortion in our value chain system, bringing about this moral decadence we battle daily.

It’s time we went back to the Grassroots. Let’s educate these innocent and innovative, energetic and enthusiastic, rugged, dogged and open-minded young people. They need quality education. They need re-orientation. They need inclusion. They came to my store and looted all my goods, worth millions of Naira. They even stole all the POS machines in the Store. Can you imagine that, stealing POS machine? For what, if I may ask? This means they didn’t know that the POS machines are useless for them, and can even implicate them, if we were to be in a saner clime with an advanced technology. Buhari did not loot my store, did he? No, he didn’t. The Grassroots did.

Let’s go back and re-structure their schools, we can do this, we can raise fund to do this, let’s get them a job. let’s rehabilitate them. Let’s have them useful and productive to themselves, their families and societies, and the country at large. Let them live so that we can also live, in peace, joy and harmony.

If we don’t get these people out of poverty, they are coming for you and I, sooner or later. They have started with some of us already but you do not need to wait till they get to you. It was my goods yesterday, it could your life tomorrow (God forbid). Do act today!

The Great Nigeria we desire depends on Grassroots, we can’t survive without them. Let’s get them out of poverty. Let’s give them a new life. Let’s love them, and show them love.

Better Nigeria with Them.

#GrassrootLifematters

Happy new month

Bamiro Babalola Oluwaseun
MD/CEO, YNORTH