My father’s first generator was a tiny Honda thing more commonly known as a better pass my neighbour. The thing allowed us to run the television a necessary distraction from suffering and a couple of lights. We loved it so.

When I was 8 years old. He did the unthinkable. He bought, with his hard come by money, a yellow silent generator. It generated enough power to sustain the entire flat. He was celebrated by our neighbours. I was proud of him.

You see, I am Nigerian. I am only Nigerian. I suppose with my time spent abroad (10 years), I could have been something else, but I didn’t want that at the time. I had hope. I thought I could move back, work my ass off, and help my country.

I love Nigeria like you love a dysfunctional family member. That is to say, painfully, fiercely and unreservedly. My parents are Nigerian. My grandparents were Nigerian. Being Nigerian has always been a choice. We have always chosen to be Nigerian.

I love myself. I want the best for myself. I want the best for the children I do not yet have. However, as I turn 30 in a few weeks, I am reconsidering my choice to be Nigerian.

It isn’t that I dislike the national character or the people. I just find that a lot of things the country’s leaders do are incompatible with what I want and what I need to survive.

It has been 22 years since dad bought his first generator and nothing has changed. If we did not have a generator I wouldn’t be writing this thread. I’d be warming the coals for my coal iron.

When Senator Bima Enagi was elected, he said the following, “We are in this game because we have seen what our people have gone through over the years.” People say a lot of things. By sponsoring that bill, he shows us that he saw nothing, that just like Jon Snow, he knows nothing

The Bill says all persons in Nigeria are to stop the use of electricity generating sets which run on diesel, petrol or kerosene of all capacities with immediate effect. It is a puzzlingly daft, foolish and borderline evil bill.

"Anyone who knowingly sells generating sets shall be liable to at least 10 years in prison." There's a whole other conversation about Nigeria's penal code that we need to have. But that’s for another day.

There are exemptions in Senator Enagi's proposed bill. Medical facilities. Airports. Railway stations. Research institutions and “such facilities that require 24 hour power.” Approvals for exclusion may be obtained from the Minister of Power.

The audacity of it is bizarre to me. An employee of state, generously compensated with our taxes, is scheming against all of us. It should be a nightmare. It should be fake news, but it isn’t.

This is why fake news is so easy to believe in Nigeria - the real news sounds fake too. The most visible employee of state, President Buhari fell sick, went on medical vacation and till this day, nobody knows what ailed or ails him.

When Boris Johnson fell sick with the Coronavirus, his employers were informed. They know he’s now in hospital. They deserve to know these things.
Nigerians for some reason, don’t get the same privilege. Our employees have gone rogue.

I was not brought up to insult people. I was not brought up to be impolite. However, I was not brought up to be foolish. Nigeria very often makes me feel foolish.

I work hard when I can. I obey the laws of my land to the best of my ability. But the country has not kept a single covenant with me.

Am I evil for wanting more? Am I unpatriotic for wanting better? Do my friends from other places have two heads?

And what is this more I want? I only want to know why. Why has this man ignored our present realities and drafted a proposition that helps no one? Do they have permanent power in Niger South Senatorial Constituency?

I don’t know. I cannot drive there with the expectation of arriving there safely. I don’t want to fly there either. I do not fly within the country for anything that isn’t absolutely necessary.

So please join me in asking Senator @mallambimaenagi representing Niger South Senatorial Constituency why. I only want to understand.