OUR BANANA IS ROTTING, WE SAY IT IS RIPENING. Written by Saint-Olawale Jimoh

      Heavenly father, bring back the good old days in Nigeria. Restore those years when Ghanaians came to Nigeria to work at construction sites as labourers; as gardeners and drivers. They sold ‘puff-puff' and repaired our shoes yet we pursued them in Ghana-must-go bags. Today, our leaders have stolen us dry in same Ghana-must-go bags and we are fleeing to Ghana to be educated.

    In those good years, graduates were like kings. Right there on the convocation ground, employers would be falling on themselves to reach and grant you on-the-spot employment you rightly deserve. Today, over 67million Nigerian graduates are without jobs. So serious is the case that some PhD holders applied for truck drivers job in response to Dangote Cement Factory advert placement many months ago.

    Oh Lord, bring back those years when values count. When government office holders had genuine interest of the masses at heart and were transparent and answerable to their citizens. Bring back the likes of selfless leaders like Cheif Obafemi Awolowo who built Cocoa House not in his hometown nor consider OAU better situated in his domain.

      In those good years, there were genuine trust on fellow Nigerians so much that while driving and your car broke down on the highway, all you need do was to wave and other cars driving by would fall on themselves to help you. Today, armed robbers would attack you on the same highway and leave you practically naked and fellow Nigerians would drive pass and ponder in the car with their partner, 'see fresh mad man!'

     During those good old days, most of us all went to public schools and still compete adequately with those who studied in United Kingdom,  but now, the public schools are reserved for only poor men's children where pupils learn under roofs made of thatches and benches that termites have devastated.

   In my entire years at Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onabanjo University) as an undergraduate, my total tuition fees between year 2000 and 2005 was just N33,500. Today, same amount is nowhere near the exorbitant acceptance fees charged in many public higher institutions in Nigeria.

    Today we ignore the experiences of those good old days and concluded we're making progress. We bank on endless number of sub-standard private universities in our land, increasing number of private jets owned by few superrich Nigerians, fleet of expensive vehicles own by few Nigerians and untold depravity ravaging amidst our youth all in the name of civilization as indicators for positive development. Our banana indeed is rotting while we brag it is ripening!