As the opening quote drawn from distinguished academic and poet, John R. R. Tolkien, indicates, there is something strategic about the use or misuse of time. Time can be frittered away or hoarded to good and lasting effect. Time can be employed to manipulate or create, deceive, disguise or upgrade individuals and nations. That is why great nations have learnt to keep strategic reserves of minerals, grains even ammunition thus preparing their nations for adversity or existential challenges.
As a country, we have not been fortunate with planning and planners. Adversity often catches us napping. Remember that at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, influential virologist, Oyewale Tomori, stated that our preparation for the pandemic is equivalent to an army manufacturing weapons at the war front. In other words, we were unprepared in terms of health infrastructure, resources and scientific research. Notice too that it has taken the ongoing siege on Abuja for our leaders to wake up from a seeming slumber concerning insecurity and for what is beginning to look like a serious counter-attack on terrorists, who have made daring attacks on security institutions and even the centre of power. The point to note is whether we could not have done all that we are now doing long before now. Indeed, future historians will debate why it took all the recent happenings and hoopla to arouse us to spirited action. Historians will also marvel why it is that hardly anyone is sanctioned or eased out of government when glaring lapses or what looks like insider collusion occur.
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