28 Sep 2007 |
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Chidimma my five year old
niece is often asked, “How old are you?” Recently, when she is asked the
question, she says her age and then asks, “And how old are you?” The reaction
she receives is prettier funny, but is a fair question in her mind. As we all prepare to
celebrate another Independence anniversary, I
know the first thing on our minds will be a series of questions; How old is Nigeria? What
have we achieved in the last 47 years? What could we have done better? What is
the cause of our problems? But, just like my niece,
the question on the mind of motherland – Nigeria - to all Nigerians is, “And
how old are you?” What has been your
contribution to nation building? Are you older than Nigeria but in your actions and in
actions you behave like a five year old kid? Are you younger than Nigeria but older in heart, with beautiful ideas
on what should be done to make Nigeria
work but in a far away land to make any impact? This is what motherland
has to say to you at her 47th Birthday: Because the future looks burred And the burden too big Because the flowers once bright Have all turned black Because the soldiers are running back Afraid of the battle You turned and faced the wrong
direction Soothing your anger Shedding a few tears Hushing out at your foolish life and future You turned to ‘sidon look’ critique Making sketches of black spots on the fractured country With widening cracks From the clear solitary high land of the middle belt To the meandering rivers of the Niger Delta You kept to yourselves In the process you throw away your manhood Then, You throw ashes and tar On the men on black Camouflaging as flag bearers The insult felt good Someone cared at least –I thought But you are still crawling Crawling backwards When will you start crawling to
manhood? Just like our
body continued to change from imperfection (at birth) and since there can be no
stability or rest in imperfection we learned how to sit, crawl, we learned how
to stand and then we learned how to walk and run. The Nigeria we have
today can at best be said to be sitting. Being guarded on both sides by our
resolve to preserve whatever we have than revert to military dictatorship.
While we don’t have a democracy in this government, we are closer to democracy
and further from dictatorship. At 47, Nigeria is looking for anything out of the ordinary in her quest to manhood. Wherever you are or whatever you may be, Stop feeling wounded and confused, forget the old arena, consistently lodge appeal, asked for rights not privileges even when no one is listening. The next step should be to crawl forward to manhood by entrenching democracy through free and fair election. This is the only catalyst to transformation from four limbs to two legs – dictator-quasi-democracy to true democracy. The second step should be standing on our feet by entrenching good governance, infrastructural development, accountability and curbing corruption and corrupt practices. The third, walking and running will be achieved by building a viable and sustainable economy. When a cat stops and stares
intently at a place that seems empty, it is certain that it is looking at a
ghost or other creatures that passes unperceived by men. Hence, when a cat is
present, no evil spirit will enter unobserved. It is for this reason that
sorcerers employ cats as watchers against intruders from the other realm. 47
years on, we are still staring at Nigeria as if it is still empty, yet knowing
fully well over 120 million inhabitants of this potentially great nation are
like a mirage in the desert sun, here a moment, gone the next. For us to crawl to
manhood, Yar’Adua can and should employ cats to watch over the evil spirits of;
anti-democratic elements, corruption, nepotism, none performance, square pegs
in a round hole and all the intruders that will prevent us from, standing,
walking and then running. Alternatively,
we have to constitute ourselves as the sorcerers and cats if we are to move
forward. As a humorist, Will Cuppy
once pointed out that “mother mice have babies all year round from four to
thirteen. They don’t know when to stop.” At 47, Nigeria have had more than enough
ugly babies that the time to stop is now. If we stop now: It will just a matter of time For our stars to shine For the troubled waters to be still For the roads to be smooth For the negative drift to stop For us to smile
Yes, Only time will tell When the battle will be over When the enemies will be outpaced Their territory overran The table overturned And victory ours Until then, Happy Birthday Nigeria
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