You probably know the story of the rat trap in the farmer’s barnyard:

The farmer put a rat trap in his barnyard to eliminate the rodents spoiling his store. The rat saw it and raised an alarm to all other animals: “There’s a rat trap in the barnyard!”. He ran to the hen, but she was not interested. “So what? Do I look like a rat to you?”.

The rat went to the pig in the sty, but the pig was indifferent. “Go away, fool. My feet are too big to get caught in a rat trap”. Off went the rat to the cow, who was bigger than the other animals, and commanded more respect: “There’s a rat trap in the barnyard!!!”

“The essence of this piece is to bring to national consciousness, what has been lurking in my (as indeed, OUR) subconscious. It is to highlight our responsibilities and the pro-active roles we must play. God has blessed several Nigerians with several ideas that would ensure that we seize the moment and so, I’m sharing mine with you with the hope that you will share yours with me and every Nigerian; holding nothing back.”

Those are the words of a well-meaning (I hope) Nigerian, Ezekiel Nya-Etok, as published in a paid advertorial on Page 16D of This Day Newspaper (Thursday, September 16, 2010). I hope the money he sacrificed to have this advert printed will not go to utter waste. It is in this hope that I wish to join my voice with his, to reach as many Nigerians as possible, with only ONE message: You NOW have your political future in your HANDS, literally.