" Here on the pulse of this new day,
You may have the courage to look up and out,
And upon me ,
The Rock,
The River,
The Tree,
Your Country.
No less to Midas than the Mendicant,
No less to you now than the mastodon then
Here, on the pulse of this new day,
You may have the Grace to look up and out,
And into your sister's eyes,
And into your brother's face,
Your Country,
And say simply,
Very Simply,
With hope-- Good Morning!
--------
Maya Angelou
(Award Winning African American Poet)
There on the Pulse of that fine day in 1993 award winning African American Poet Maya
Angelou read this Poem to the world at the inauguration of Bill Clinton as
America's 42nd President, vocalizing the hope of Americans that the
Clinton administration would bring freshness into governance.
And on the pulse of another fine day,11th September, 2015, here
in the business hub of Africa, Africa's most populous Nation, the collective pulse of all Nigerians was
touched by President Muhammadu Buhari for the first time since his inauguration
as he allocated portfolios to his Ministers. Although many felt disappointed by the
" THE LIST" of ministers from the Executive, the allocation of
portfolios evoked a different set of emotions altogether.
In much of Surulere, Lagos many were fixated on their TV sets
watching with rapt attention as President
Buhari inaugurated his Ministers. Then he began allocating Ministries to each and there was silence --- until he
called out : Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister of Works, Power and Housing --
and cheers erupted. People started clapping -- it was as if Nigerians were
watching their under-seventeen National soccer team, the Golden Eaglets score a winning goal in a
FIFA world cup final. It was simply a spontaneous outburst of joy -- the first
re-kindling of hope that seemed to
almost have been lost many a months ago. Two other names that drew some sort of
applause also were Rotimi Amaechi (Former Rivers State Governor) named Minister
of Transport and Kayode Fayemi (Former Ekiti State Governor ) named Minister of
Solid Minerals.
For many with Fashola as Minister of works there is hope that
at least some of this government's programmes will touch the lives of the
masses in a positive way; there is hope that the many abandoned Federal Road
Projects all over the country will be swiftly dealt with; there is hope that
the national monster called Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) will be
swiftly and comprehensively dealt with once and for all ; there is hope that
the National housing policy will really and truly be available to all Nigerians,
not just those fortunate to have 'godfathers' in high places.
And maybe we can re-echo Maya Angelou's words: "On the
pulse of this new day, we did have the grace to look up and out, into our sister's
eyes, and our brother's face, our
Country-- Nigeria, and say simply, very simply, with hope-- Good Morning!
12/11/2015
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