By Okey Ikechukwu When I met a particularly voluble defender of the political and economic condition of the Nigerian state at a public function last week and he again went on bout how much things were improving by the minute all over the federation, I asked him: “How are your cousins, and members of your extended family faring?” I asked, further: “Would you say you see the dramatic improvement you are talking about in the real Nigerians, not those of us in big cities and big houses pretending to be talking about the actual condition of Nigerans?’’ I felt constrained to ask him these questions because our people say that when majority the people keep quite instead of shouting that there is a snake on the raffia roof, it is either because they are too tired to shout or they know that nothi...