It's June 12, Happy Independence Day!!!

Finally, June 12 is Democracy Day!
It's exactly 26 years today that the then, Head of States gave the Nigerian nation, perhaps, the greatest shock of their national life! The fairest and the best of elections in Nigeria has been annulled!!!
The first time I heard the announcement that June 12 shall be declared the Independence day, I was very much at peace that finally, the right  thing is going to be done. Honestly, the May 29 we had adopted all these years, to me, has been a kind of conspiracy against the Truth. Thank God, we are past that now.But, this post won't be complete without a brief historical background of the June 12 date.

IBB

The June 12 Elections
It was at the peak of the demand for Democracy that the then, Head of States, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) had no choice but to organize and run an election exercise which was between the defunct National Republican Congress (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Alhaji Tofa was the candidate of the NRC while Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola (a.k.a. MKO) was the candidate of the SDP. The Election exercise took place and MKO overwhelmingly won the Election. In fact, Alhaji Tofa lost in his hometown to MKO. It was a landslide victory in favor of the SDP candidate.

Alhaji Tofa

But to the shock of the Country, IBB annulled the elections and refused to handover power. To add salt to sore, he handed over to yet another Military Colleague, in the person of General Sanni Abacha.
To cut the long story short, the Frustrated President-elect declared himself the President after series of appeals to the Abacha who kicked out the Interim Government of Shonekan that IBB installed instead of MKO, the President-elect. Abacha stood his ground and arrested MKO for declaring himself president. He died in custody. This ofcourse gave rise to NADECO activism which continued to demand for Abacha to give way for Democracy.

MKO

Looking On the Bright Side...
Having said this, I want to believe that you now have a good idea of how important the June 12 is as far as democracy is concerned in Nigeria. You would, of course, now appreciate why everyone is excited that Democracy celebration has been shifted to June 12.
One cool thing I appreciate about this change of date is the fact that it is coming from a Fulani and not a Yoruba or Southerner. To me, I think it's a good omen. It means that Nigeria is progressing in terms of our 'Nigerianess'! This is a position that have been occupied by 2 Southerners before Buhari, one was actually the townsman of the late MKO and neither deemed it fit to declare June 12 Democracy day let alone naming a National monument in his memory. All these have happened through a Northerner not a Southerner, that, my friend is PLUS!
My prayer, is that we should continue to progress and tolerate one another. I pray that by this time next year, we should progress significantly in all areas of national development from the acceptance of one another and the country as our own. Ameen.

Happy Democracy Day!
Long live Naija!!
God Bless Nigeria!!!

National Security & YOU (Part III)

In the last post, we discussed how the involvement of people in government can aggravate the issue of terrorism. This is done majorly by the leakage of security intelligence to the Enemy. No matter how equipped your army might be, the enemy would always defeat them or continue to thrive and cause great harm if your plans and secrets are open to them. In the Art of War, this is the job of spies.
On several occasions have I heard of how people in government hope that the crisis should continue because of the financial benefits they derive from it. Frankly speaking, there are many sides to the issue. What we shall be discussing today is how we can help to bring it to its conclusive end.

Poverty Must Be Tackled and Eradicated
The Yorubas has an adage that says "Bi ebi ba kuro ninu ise, ise buse". The literal meaning of this is that hunger is the biggest problem with poverty. This is buttressed by the English proverb that says "A hungry man is an angry man". From the two proverbs aforementioned, it's clear that all the security challenges that we face today is due to the fact that people are hopelessly hungry. In other words, if we must overcome poverty, food security is a must.
In case you haven't noticed, the better part of our income goes to food in Nigeria whose production is pretty low compared to its consumption. If you doubt my analogy, please point to any Boko Haram member that's from among the Rich. How many are the kidnappers or Niger Delta militants that hale from wealthy families that you know? I don't know any. You'll be doing a great favor if you'll give one in the comments below.
It's only the poor man's child that spare heads an insurgency, militancy and robbery gangs. They do this because they have known hunger and want to spend the rest of their lives without it and they don't want their children to suffer as they have suffered. Salaries cannot take workers home not because they are small but because food is expensive. Should a bag of rice go for N1 000 and that of beans for N500 and maize N200, no one would be agitating for salary increase. This is a topic for another day, but one thing I want us to take home from here today is that hunger, is the root cause of the security challenges we face today.

Nigerians Must Go Back To Farm
Although, he paid lip service to it, but, General Obasanjo was right when he said that we should go back to farm. According to available data, in 2018, importation of Agricultural products amounted to around N230 Billion. What that means is that in 2018 a whooping sum of about N230 billion was taken out of our economy due to the importation of food!
Should this money be retained in the country you can imagine how many jobs it would create and how much wealth that would be created in the process! This money can be re-invested to produce even more food and much more income. I hope you are following?
I know, as usual, we shall be thinking that this is the responsibility of the government not ours. This is where we get it wrong. We need to start getting it right if this menace must stop. Go back to farming. Pick any of the so many that is available to you be it animal rearing or crop farming. You can do something even if its that little space in your compound...get started with growing vegetables for yourself and your neighbors. Own a farm today and you would have done your part in eradicating hunger and security challenges as a whole.

Charity is A Must For All and Sundry
Charity organizations are expected to be funding the IDP's. When I say charity organizations here, I'm not referring to all those international organizations that are currently scattered all over the North. You don't even know who is who up there right now. This shouldn't be, Nigerians must learn to look out for one another. You and I can help to fight the many battles that are currently plaguing the country should we be GENEROUS enough to start raising funds to adequately fund the IDP's and the less privileged up North. Sincerely speaking, my brothers, we need to do something about the plight of the Alimajiris coz they serve as a fertile soil for the propagation of crisis and riots. We must learn to be more generous with feeding, clothing and sheltering them. If the government is not doing that, we can always organize ourselves into charity groups to do that...if not for anything, we should do it for the sake of our general well being as a society.

Charity goes a long way to put crime and crisis at bay. The Bokos for instant can be dealt a serious blow should the people of the North organize themselves to fund the war against the insurgency. If the Insurgency must be defeated, three to four things must be done as a matter of urgency.

(1) Ordinary People Must Organize Themselves Against the Insurgency: 
     This does not mean you should take up arms and head on to the Sambisa, no. What it means is that we should come together and strategize effectively to fight the insurgency. As earlier said, we must be ready to pool resources together to fund volunteers that are ready to go to the field.

(2) Local security Outfits Must Be Created to Argument the Efforts of the Armed Forces
     Vigilate Groups should be employed and adequately armed to man strategic positions in the remote villages that are soft targets for the Bokos. It has been noticed that hunger is a big factor in fighting the insurgency. Most times when they strike the small villages around the Sambisa and the main towns, it's for food...they only make it seem otherwise but that's the truth. If the vigilantes are well funded and adequately armed, vigilante groups can help starve the Bokos to submission.

(3) Vulnerable Groups or Members of the Society Needs to Be Protected
      Alimajiri boys are the most vulnerable as far as the Bokos are concerned. The Alimajiris should be protected from the Bokos with the provision of a decent shelter, clothing and food for them until they are done with their education. after the completion of this education, we must be ready to empower them with one form of skilled labour or the other. If this is not done, the Bokos would recruit those innocent, harmless and vulnerable boys and convert them to veracious weapons against us!

(4) Deliberate Efforts Must Be Made to Castigate them Via All Forms of Media
     Unfortunately, we have those that are sympathizing with the Bokos and are rendering all forms of help to them secretly. Some are doing this because they believe they are fighting a just cause others because they see them as victims of security brutality. Whichever the case might be, the bottom line is that some people in the local areas where they (Boko Haram) operate still give substantial support to them. Such people that offer this vital support to them can be reached via the media. Islamic clerics must be sponsored to dispel their minds, re-orientate them and make them see the Bokos for exactly what they are. Sponsored programs must be aired consistently on radio and TV stations to explain as to the reason why the Bokos should be disbanded for good.
If this is effectively done, the bokos would loose their support and starve without any end in sight. when this happens, the insurgency shall die a natural death! Insha Allah!

The insurgency has created a huge case of desperation where we have tons of widows and orphans that need as much help as they can get. We must be Patriotic enough, irrespective of our affiliations, to help out as fellow Nigerians. Courtesy demands that we do! 
This is how much time and space would allow me say about the state of our National Security. As you might have found out, there are a lot of ways by which we can contribute to ending the crisis ASAP despite the involvement of corrupt people in government. They are also in this current administration because they are part of the Civil Service which no administration can be free from. The best we can do is to curb their excesses and that's why the Boko Haram is no longer as potent as they used to be!
God Bless Nigeria!
Ameen!!!
 

National Security & YOU ( Part II)

The Late General, General Sanni Abacha, has been reported to have said: "If an insurgency lasts for more than 48 hours, the government has a hand in it!" You know, I saw this online right from the beginning of the Boko Haram epidemic and I took it really seriously. The General was right, but, I misunderstood a vital part of his statement which was the 'government' part of it.

Ordinarily, in Nigeria, when we talk about the government, what comes to mind straight away is the Federal Government. To the average Nigerian, the government is the federal government. When this happened, as in, when I saw this statement of the General, it was President Jonathan that was in power. Just like any other Nigerian, my mind went straight pointing at the President. However, I have always had my bias against President Jonathan. In my opinion, he's like a meek sheep leading a pack of wolves!
So, I knew that he's not directly involved, but, I was certain that some people in his cabinet are actively involved. Just as I was trying to find out about that, there came the General Azazi's case!
General Azazi in the middle of the heat of the confrontation of the Military with the Bokos, was forced to let the cat out of the bag. He blamed the Boko Haram palava on the PDP which happened to be the ruling party.

Before you could say 'Jack', Azazi got sacked as the Chief of Defense staff. He eventually died in a funny air crash in a matter of a few months after his sack from work! Another funny and rather embarrassing part of the whole story is the fact that investigation into the air crash was summarily done and closed very quickly. No one was caught or punished. Now, it was clear that some members of the ruling party have their hands soiled in the Boko Haram insurgency. This has just confirmed the sayings of General Sanni Abacha. Now, that was then, let's fastfoward to the present shall we?

Today, we have a retired General as against a 100% civilian in the Aso Rock, yet, the Bokos are still operating up North. Yes, under the General, things have improved a great deal, but they (the Bokos) are yet to be defeated...100%. The IDP's are still suffering in their various camps as we speak. Judging by General Sanni Abacha's statement about insurgency, one would expect that the Bokos would have been defeated in totality but they are still there...although, they're no longer as strong as they used to be but they're still there!
The total defeat of the Bokos seem impossible and some people are already spreading the bad news. If you'll ask, I'll say that they can be defeated totally. They and the so many others that are springing up recently all over the North can be defeated in totality. How? You may ask...hmmm...why don't you join up for the next blog post for the answer?  
Please, do share this blog post with your family and friends on your social media accounts? This is National security and we all have a role or the other to play in ensuring the security of lives and properties.

National Security & YOU

I'm picking on this topic today because of the misguided mindset of the majority of Nigerians on this matter.If you ask an average Nigerian as per who is responsible for security, over 90% would answer that it's the government. I wasn't really moved by the widespread ignorance until I started hearing the so called security experts heaping the whole thing on the government too! It's so shocking to me!
I'm not a security expert, though, but, I feel like there's more to security than us depending on the Armed Forces only for security.
Simply put, security is the state of being free from danger and threat. Having defined the term security, discussing it extensively would be easy.
From the above definition of security, it can be clearly seen that security is everybody's business and not that of the government alone as most people tend to believe. The funny thing about security today is that we are not securing ourselves against wild animals or beast but against fellow human beings which makes the topic more interesting!

In the next few posts on this blog, I shall try to explain what went wrong and how we can fix the problem for good. Our task would be made extremely easy if we would acknowledge the fact that sticking to the books alone is not helpful .We must learn to think out of the box....as in we must learn to adapt to the reality on ground.

The Security Challenges of Nigeria
Personally, I think the Nigerian security challenges are man-made. They are entirely preventable. I shall illustrate with example.
The most prominent of all the current challenges we have in terms of security today is the Boko Haram insurgency. How did it all begin?
According to most sources, they were originally a religious movement that have been around for a while. A particular source said the religious movement was approached by a politician who sought their support and they gave it in exchange for a better societal welfare package. Unfortunately, as usual, they, the politician failed them and they, in retaliation started preaching against the politician's regime who in response had used his political powers to crack down on the group. Things got totally out of control when the politician used the Police against the embittered group. Before you can say 'Jack', the group had resorted to carrying arms and things deteriorated so quickly that the Military was called in to interfere. The group took up the full features of a terrorist group when their spiritual leader in the person of Muhammad Yusuf was murdered in Police custody extra judicially.

From what I've illustrated above, you can see that the case of the Boko Haram was mismanaged by our Armed Forces in collaboration with the political class. I want to believe that should the said politician have been brought to justice and those responsible for the death of Muhammad Yusuf were made to face the full wrath of law, Nigeria and Nigerians would have been saved the needless crisis we have at hand.

Our Sense of Security is Poor
 The unfortunate part of the whole thing is that we Nigerians have heaped all the faults of our security flaws on the government. We don't think we have any role to play in securing our communities. Whereas, in the real sense of it, security is primarily our responsibility not the government's.
The Bokos are still relevant because of the several successes they have recorded over the years. A similar group was uprooted in the South West on the country. This group was known as 'Badoo'. How were they uprooted? It's simple, the residents of the area where they operated stood against them. The affected communities formed some sort of task force that fished out members of the dreaded group until it was no longer a good idea to join forces with them. They didn't wait for the Police or the government, they did it themselves! Why can't we have the same happen up North?
We must stop the nonsense! We must secure ourselves before we expect someone else to come to our aid. Let every community put up their own local security systems. It can be as cheap and simple as employing the services of Vigilante groups and it can be expensive and sophisticated to the point of using CCTV cameras and employing the services of a more corporate and professional security outfits that are springing up all over. It all depends on the budget of the community. Every community must organize themselves and act as one indivisible force. Such a community is an ideal community which would hardly suffer.

Know Your Neighbor
In some cases, the cause element of insecurity is the lack of knowledge of one's neighbor. Now, I'm not asking you to spy on your neighbors. What I'm saying in essence is that you should be able to socialize and interact freely with virtually everyone in your community. In a situation where you have a new resident who is not known to socialize, you have a duty to report such person to relevant authorities in the community that would send a delegate to find out the necessary information about the new entrant. This is what happens in a well organized community. Now, it doesn't have to be a GRA this is can happen downtown too. This, in itself is security for the community. When you combine this with night watch, you would have dealt with all forms of security threats almost 100%!

I would stop at this juncture for today. This is a burning issue today and I would love to hear from you too. It is not just the Problem of the North but that of Nigeria to which we must find a solution to as Nigerians. Please leave a comment or 2 below or connect with via:
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Twitter : @alfajainx
Whatsapp: 07037595859

If Nigeria Must Develop, the Youths Must Wake Up!

Nigeria's bad economy is due to lack of an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. But, like seriously, is that the main hindrance to the economic development of Nigeria? I beg to disagree based on the following reasons:

For Any Country to Thrive, the Youths Must Actively Be Involved
When you say this, fingers are quickly pointed at the government, especially the Federal Government. Most guys are lying fallow today, if you ask them as to why, they'll tell you how much they are ready to work should they be provided with a job today. Now, if you go further to ask as to who is to provide jobs, they won't think before they tell you that it is the Government. If you try to convince them on setting up a small business for themselves, they are quick at referring to the unavailability of capital, lack of basic infrastructure, inconsistent government policies and high interest rates on the grossly inadequate supply of loans for business. I don't know, but, while they see problems, I see business opportunities!
I used to tell my friends that capital is never a problem but a good business package. If you have a beautiful business package, getting capital will never be a problem. I'm talking from experience. The Problem with those that complain of capital is that they wish to start their business from a very high point. They are not ready to start with the basics, you know, start small and gradually grow the business to success. They want to start big and earn big right from the inception of the business. It doesn't work like that; this they learn the hard way!
Most of those that managed to get the exorbitant capital enter into the business with very little knowledge of the pits and falls of the business, so they loose out mainly due to lack of adequate knowledge and guidance. After the loss, they would blame their failure on the sorry state of the economy. This is why they complain of lack of an enabling environment.

Nigeria is Full of Opportunities Because It's Not Developed
Businesses are created to solve problems. Therefore, Nigeria with its so many problems offer so many business opportunities. So, it's not a matter of lack of business opportunities, we have so many. It's not lack of capital because I know, from experience that people are willing to entrust others with their money so long you can assure them of the safety of their investment in you. Thus, it's actually a matter of your technical know-how on your chosen line of business.
Pick on a problem, find a solution to it and perfect your skills in solving that problem. Then, you may seek for capital. 

Starting Up With A Bank Loan is Suicidal
You enter into a thrift or a cooperative where you may save a portion of your daily, weekly or monthly income from work long enough to start you off with the basic minimum. Then, you can grow gradually from their until you have stabilized. Then, you may seek for more capital from family and friends who would gladly invest as they can see how much progress you have made all by yourself. In fact, they would count themselves very lucky for the opportunity. This is my own recommended line of funding that I recommend for everyone.
Bank loans, as it stands today in Nigeria, is double digit in nature. The Federal government happens to be the one with special packaged single digit interest based loans. Even at that, I'll still not recommend them for business...if not for any other reason, for the religious reason and of course, for the consequences of not meeting up with payment.

As a Nigerian, You Must Learn To Think Out Of The Box
Most would tell you how hopeless the Nigerian situation is because they're thinking within the box. They're hoping to solve Nigeria's problems the Orthodox way. That's where they get it all wrong. The Nigerian problem is beyond repairs when you think the orthodox way, but when you are able to think outside the box, Nigeria's problems are easily solved.
Take for instance, power is one of the greatest hindrances to national development and the provision of employment. The Orthodox way to solve this problem is to wait on the government to invest in the power sector. But when you think the unorthodox way, you'll notice that we can generate enough electricity for both industrial and domestic uses as individuals. This is how all the Masts of Telecommunication companies work in Nigeria. Dangote, generates more power than he needs in some parts of Nigeria where he has companies and as a matter of fact supplies his immediate communities with the excess power generated. This is not to look down on the Solar Power that's being harnessed in certain parts of the North to power whole communities 24/7.

You Can't See Business Opportunities If You Can't See Beyond The Problems
Among the Entrepreneurs, the Poor see problems, while the Rich see opportunities to make a lot of money from solving the problems. Virtually all Nigerians have been raised consciously or unconsciously to scorn at Nigeria our father land. We've also been raised to heap all the blames on the government. In some quarters, it's so bad that some Nigerians are beginning to see their being born Nigerians a curse!
The Simple truth about this unfortunate line of thought is that, the majority with this kind of poisonous and contagious thought would no longer bother to try solve the multiple problems of Nigeria. The only thing they'll be thinking about is how to escape from Nigeria. No wonder, we see hundreds of Nigerians being so desperate to leave Nigeria that they'll raise huge chunks of money like N500 000 (i.e. Half a Million Naira which is about $150 000 to leave Nigerian through the hottest desert of the World, the Sahara desert!) just to leave Nigeria. Whereas, you can reach Los Angeles in the US with just N252 000 via the airplane!
The Bottomline, here is that, for as long as you think Nigeria is a shit hole you need to escape from, you can't benefit from the numerous opportunities she has to offer. Dangote is the Richest in Africa and he made the bulk of his money from Nigeria! That same Nigeria you see as a shithole!!!  

The Greatest Problem of Nigeria Today is Food Security!
A Yoruba adage has it that "Bi ebi ba Kuro ninu ise, ise buse". It literally means that the greatest problem with poverty is hunger.
This means that all the protests and clamoring for pay rise by the Nigerian Labour Congress, the NLC is a futile exercise. The real problem to the seasonal suffering of civil servants and Nigerians in general, is not the small take home but that of scarcity of food. If Nigeria becomes self sufficient in food production today, workers' savings would increase as the Naira would appreciate thereby increasing the purchasing power of the workers!

In as much as I would join the majority in asking the government to do more, I'll at the same recommend that we the people should play our part by taking advantage of the laxity of the government to make ourselves some fortune! You'll have to go register with the 'Naira Farm' for more in depth analysis, tips and tricks on how to make a fortune from the Nigerian Economy today. There's just a one time fee of hundred Naira involved. (Yes! It's Just N100). Click here to register now!
You shall receive free monthly Newsletter updates on how to make the Nigerian Economy work for you. I'll stop at that for today. Don't forget, keep thinking Nigeria.
God Bless Naija! 

How to Make Nigeria Great Again

Just a few moments ago, I saw one of the posts of a friend on facebook that celebrated the lifetime of a Nigerian gem that died in the Ethiopia crash. His name was Pius Adesanmi.
 My friend posted one of the deceased Professor's conversation with Professor Pat Utomi where they were discussing how great Nigeria was and how miserable we are today. While Professor Utomi complained about how well we were grounded economically in the past, Professor Pius pointed out how our Parliament is the most expensive in the world. After a moment of pondering on the matter the gentlemen were discussing, I decided to blog about the solution which is 'Making Nigeria great again.'

Where Did We Get It All Wrong?
In the submission of Prof Utomi, one of our greatest undoing is the creation of unproductive states that have become a huge burden on our economy. Well, in my opinion, it's not the creation of the many states per se that is the problem. The Problem, in my opinion is the sheer lack of responsibility of Nigerians to the Nigerian state.
I don't have to be a Professor to know the damaging effect of this very bad attitude of we Nigerians. We don't care how Nigeria makes money, all we care about is how much we benefit from the 'National Cake' as most of us like to put it. With this attitude of ours, Nigeria will not grow! In fact, it is a miracle that Nigeria is still existing today when you considering how many TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS that have been stolen from her both by her citizens and foreigners...as individuals and as countries! Chai! Nigeria don suffer!!!

Nigeria Lack Patriots!
Ask every Dick and Harry in town what they would do should they be granted $1 Million today? I can confidently assure you that most of them would be thinking of getting out of the country and settling abroad in an exotic apartment. Everyone wants to get out the 'Hell' Nigeria and would do all in their capacity to ensure that...even if it has to be through very dangerous means as traveling across the hottest desert in the world (The Sahara Desert)!
Nigerians of today, do not appreciate Nigeria, most think it is a curse to be a Nigerian...some would even go as far blaspheming against God. They question why God made them Nigerians and not a European or better still an American! Now, tell me, how can such a country grow, how can it ever develop???

Nigerians Must Appreciate Nigeria
There's no country in the world that became great from a hate attitude from her citizenry...NONE! If Nigeria must be great, Nigerians must learn to love and appreciate Nigeria. Americans would say 'America First'. Nigerians must be ready to say 'Nigeria First' if Nigeria must develop.
Nigeria was great then because Nigeria had passionate and patriotic leaders in power. This was made possible simply because, most Nigerians then were patriots and optimistic about their country and they would never trade the loyalty to their country for anything in life. They were ready to sacrifice personal interest for that of the country. But, today, can we say that about us the present generation whose main objective is how to get out of the 'shit hole' we find ourselves today? I don't think so!

We Must Be Ready To Put Nigeria First!
You see, sometimes, I get to hear people talk of how Nigeria would never rise again. Some even say it is already a failed state and that we should come together to divide the booties and go our separate ways. This usually come to me as a very expensive joke that shouldn't be repeated as often as it is. I wonder if we have ever stopped and reflect on how selfish we are?
Most well to do Nigerians as a result of this have adopted the dual citizenship allowance granted them by the constitution (I still wonder why this rather funny law is enshrined in our constitution in the first place?). The funny part is that these well to do 'half loyal Nigerians' are the one at the helms of affairs in Nigeria. Now, tell me, how can a country that's ruled by people with divided loyalty is going to develop?
As citizens, we must learn to put Nigeria first,you can't do that with dual citizenship. Putting Nigeria first is possible only with a singular citizenship. If you haven't adopted the dual citizenship,please,don't do, it won't help us as a country, it would only worsen our case! 

Nigeria Can Only Be Great If We Are Willing
Look, let's stop the blame game, it's never gonna work, it never did! The only thing that can work for Nigeria is that Nigerians should step up their game for Nigeria. This applies mostly to the youths out there who are always complaining about the bad shape of the economy.
The youths must stop complaining about lack of employment, lack of capital for business or lack of an enabling environment. We must be ready to create the employment, the enabling environment and generate the capital for business.
'If you want to do something, you'll would find a way, but if don't want to, you'll find an excuse'.  - Jim Rohn
'Ask not what your country can do for you but what your country can do for you' John F. Kennedy

       

If You Do Not Vote Today,You Are Very Wrong!

If you have your PVC in tact and still refuse to go out to vote, today at the guber and state houses of assembly, you are wrong, VERY wrong. Here are a few reasons why?

It is a Civic Duty
When I say a duty, I mean an obligation you MUST do as a citizen of Nigeria.Your failure to vote is a big show of irresponsibility which is quite unfortunate. We have been complaining of bad government policies and nonchalant attitude of people in government to the welfare of the people. Today, your are presented a golden opportunity....a one in 4 years opportunity to kick out the bad guys and bring in a better replacement, you throw away the opportunity, isn't that foolish???
Should the same tyrant team come back to power, know that you are the one that have put them back to power with your failure to go out there to vote them out.

The Governor Has More Influence Over You Than The President
It's a good thing that we came out enmass during the presidential elections. But the blunt truth is that the guber elections is more important than the Presidential because, the state government is closer to you than the Federal Government. If the federal intends to dish out the dividends of democracy, the governor has the power to block it from reaching you in so many ways.
A typical example is in the case of the bail out that the Buhari regime has been dishing out to the state government so that they may be able to pay off the state civil servant salaries. What happened, was the money delivered? The answer is a big fat NO!
In some states such as Kogi and Kwara, the money was diverted to other uses outside the intended purpose of offsetting the debts accrued from salaries owed. Despite the outrage and outcry, nothing was  paid, instead, people got punished for crying foul. It's going close to 3 years of non payment of salaries in Kogi, for instance, yet, workers are expected to work even harder if they must keep their jobs. That's after some actually lost their jobs and others blocked from the payroll of the government illegally. The governors are covered by immunity, they can't be tried while in power...they are above the law!
So, I think you can see how much of a mistake it is to stay back home during today's elections. Lagos is a shiny example of what can happen when you have a highly functional state government in power. Lagos no longer wait for the federal allocation to execute projects or pay salaries...Lagos is more like a country of it's own as it stands today. In fact, it has been reported that Lagos state is currently richer than 5 African countries put together!

If Your State's Economy Flourishes,You Will Forget The FG
I'll have to refer to Lagos again. During Obasanjo's regime, Lagos state was denied her allocation for more than 2 years, yet, it didn't crash, how manage???
The answer is not far fetched. The then governor, Ahmed Tinubu dared to be different...he established an Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) mechanism. This was the turning point for Lagos and ever since, she (Lagos) didn't look back again. Although, we have copy cat effects here and there, none is as effective as that of Lagos. Lagosians are in the world of their own now, they have created an independent economy from that of the FG.Stuffs that come from the Fg today are like bonuses to the Lagos state government. Like I said, Lagos is like a country in a country!
Your state too can be like that if you are responsible enough to cast your vote for a patriotic citizen and team of honorable to man the positions in the state house assembly.But, unfortunately, you can't do that now, you just missed! You'll have to wait till 2023 to do that!

You Have Failed To Help Keep Your Political Leaders On Their Toes
This is what you can't take away from Oyo state who by records have not voted in a governor for a second term except in the case of the present Governor Ajumobi. What does this do? It keeps the politicians on their toes...even if they would want to act funny, the fear of loosing elections would grip and put them in check. Most states in Nigeria are under performing simply because their citizens care less about the activities of government. Very few question their authorities which according to the constitution you can strip them of with a simple majority through your state house of assembly members.
Let assume that you had left them to do as they wish for the whole term, your refusal to vote today have actually boosted their confidence to do more in terms of tyranny, coz, you are neither asking questions nor making the move to punish them via elections. The unfortunate thing is that you stayed back at home when you had the chance to kick them out and would probably be complaining for the next 4 years if things get worse.
So, my guy, you really messed up for not showing up today. Make una no do that again fa! It's VERY Wrong! If you'll excuse me, I'll like to go to my booth to witness the counting of the votes cast today! Catch ya later!