Ariyike Writes: My Birthday Wishes

I feel drained thinking or talking about the many issues we are facing all around the world but every time I remember this popular saying, “Where there is life, there is hope”, I become hopeful that one day, as long as we are still on earth, everything will be alright. Today, the 25th of April is my birthday and for some reason, my feelings are somewhat mixed. My friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I replied her saying I wanted world peace. If all human beings were thinking in the same direction then this would have been achieved long ago but clearly, our modes of thinking, upbringing, ideologies and what we stand for are extremely different. Today, being my birthday, is a good day for me to share my wishes with you.

Here we go…
I wish the remaining abducted students of government girls secondary school, Chibok, Borno state, Nigeria be found unhurt as soon as possible and I also wish that the perpetrators of this crime are made to face the full wrath of the law.

I wish the gunmen that killed about 50 residents of Gidan Aku community in Taraba state, Nigeria would be found and brought to book.

I wish the drunk police officer that assaulted two women on Lewis street, Lafiaji, Lagos, Nigeria would be made to face the law.

I wish the armed robbers that recently attacked and raided about eight streets in Mushin area in Lagos be found, arrested and be made to face the law.

I wish I could counsel these gunmen and kidnappers and tell them that this is not the way forward.

I wish the debris of the missing Malaysian airlines plane MH 370 be found so that the families of the 239 passengers and crew members will finally accept their fate, find closure and stop wondering.

I wish God will give Judge Thokozile Matilda Masipa the kind of wisdom she requires to decide the Oscar Pistorius case so that Reeva Steenkamp’s family can finally rest and have closure.

I wish the children and other passengers that lost their lives in South Korea on the wrecked Sewol ferry had all been rescued. Sadly, out of the 436 passengers and crew on board, 339 were Danwon high school students and teachers on a school outing. Only 174 people were rescued. Sadly again, the vice principal of the school has since committed suicide.

I wish more people would speak more about child abuse. The month of April is world child abuse month. It would be great if more of us can create more awareness for this cause. So many boys and girls are being sexually abused everyday and even the adults around them find it easy to turn a blind eye to it. Some girls are being abused daily by family members and loved ones. On the other hand, some guys are so proud of the fact that they lost their virginity to their house helps forgetting that they were actually sexually abused. Child abuse is real and it’s happening more frequently these days. This is a topic for another day.

I wish we didn’t have to lose any of our loved ones to cancer. I wish someone would find a cure for cancer so that all cancer patients would live cancer free.

I wish our wildlife could be preserved better. After I visited the Colombus zoo and aquarium in Ohio, I started paying more attention to animals after I realised that certain species of animals are almost at the point of extinction.

I wish the bombing of the Nyanya motor pack in Abuja never happened.

I wish people could be more loving and caring towards others.

I wish women would be more supportive of each other.

I wish we could all join hands and take individual steps to make Nigeria better.

I wish I could single-handedly put a stop to all the violence and madness going on in the world so that people can stop living in fear.

I wish we could all live in peace and harmony even though we differ in religion, gender, tribe, color, political orientation and general beliefs. For the lives that have been lost, I pray that their souls will rest in peace.

I wish I could browse the internet or turn on my Television without seeing so many disastrous news but then again, it’s time for us to open our eyes and ears and wake up to the hardships and realities of this world. We can either sit down in the comfort of our homes and keep complaining and blaming the government on Twitter or we can come together and possibly work hand in hand with our neighbours and even the government on how to make our country/society better.

These are my wishes…What do you wish for? Share them with us.

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Ariyike Akinbobola is a lawyer turned media personality. She currently has her own TV show “Reflections with Ariyike” and she’s a TV Presenter and associate producer with SpiceTV Africa. She is married with children. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @LadyAriyike. She blogs at www.reflectionswithariyike.blogspot.com