Dear Nation Builder; 3 realties you will need to accept.

The journey you are about to start will be nothing like you have ever done before it is not as simple as opening a new twitter page, creating a hashtag, opening a WhatsApp group and adding up your passionate friends or building an app or a website. To provide context, it took 60 years for Nigeria to gain her independence, and another 39 years for the country to fully transit into its currently shaky democracy. The freedom we enjoy today took time, the blood and sweat of our fathers and mother, they dreamt of a better Nigeria and paid the price. Now you are about joining a line-up of people who fought to move our nation forward. Today, If they were alive, they would say to you, “hey kid this is a marathon”. Just like in every marathon, your energy will fail you, your passion may run dry at a certain point, but do not give up, keep your eye on the prize.    

On the journey, you are about to embark on or you are currently on, you will face a lot of roadblocks. Team members will fail to deliver on their obligations on time or even mess things up at the wrong time, PR disasters will occur, and you will make poor decisions in the heat of the moment. You may receive death threats or even die. There may be an attack on your property, assets, family, and crisis will erupt that will make you question why you started this journey in the first place. The very people you are trying to liberate may even rise against you and unjustly accuse you. You will be set up, by the people you trust. You may not be successful in getting your ideal candidate elected or ensuring your demands are met, in your first try. In all you do, please do not give up, because the fact that you have decided to take up this mantle is victory. Each action you take, no matter how little is a small win, that collectively when we all do our part, and it all comes together, as a generation, as a nation, because of your action, we will all be a lot closer to the goal of taking back our country.

There are people, organizations and even national actors who currently benefit from the status quo, and will do whatever it takes to keep it that way. They’ve spent millions or billions of dollars, and more than a decade building and acquiring power, they are organized, they will not sit idly and watch as you try to take it from them.

Whatever unimaginable action you can think about that they will take, they will take it without breaking a sweat. I am stating this not to scare you, but so that, you are not surprised when the frying pan meets the fire. Prepare for Battle this is war.