Dear Nigerians,

Our penchant for all things western or 'already made' at the detriment of our indigenous development affects us all, in all ramifications, no exclusions.

A huge rot has eaten deep into the system and everyone is affected. One way or the other. We can't all run away. And even if we did, home will always be home. Forget this "ala bu otu" thing. Not true; "ala abughizi otu" Maybe it was, not anymore.

If we had not paid heed to the glaring signs till the official declaration of Nigeria being in recession, then it should serve as a wake up call. Now is the time we all need to look inwards and see what we can do for ourselves by ourselves. You have an arable land, then why do you buy every vegetable from the market? I wish I have enough space to have a garden. My mum would be proud of me.

These times calls for thrifty spending. It's not a time to pose as a big boy or girl. How does your pose of your big 'boyism' beat that of Mark Zuckerberg? Get yourself together. You need not wear every 'asoebi' that comes your way. You need not buy every wig/weave you desire. Dig out your old ones, clean them up and wear them again. It kills nobody.

Our leaders in public office need to do the needful. That same western country you run to had their leaders work their socks off to get it to what it is that you run to. Are you allergic to doing the same? Why can't you imbibe such in the Motherland. Once, a state governor, after commissioning a hospital he had declared to be state of the art, with highly qualified doctors, ran to a hospital in the USA, few weeks later after he fell ill. And he did not have the shame of tweeting about it, together with pictures of himself on a hospital bed. Talk about double standards. But of course, they don't care about that.

While the onus is on our leaders to do what is expected of them, let's not sit around waiting for that to happen. If the change promised doesn't start from up there, then by all means let it start manifesting from down up. Change is change, as long as it's good. And please, 'Recession' isn't just a word. Ask Greece.