21 Jun 2009 |
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A Nation’s Identity Crisis – A Rejoinder This piece is in response to the one written by Reuben Abati (RA) titled: A Nation’s Identity Crisis. I am making this rejoinder because he was, more or less, referring to my generation in that article. After I managed to obtain a credit pass in English language in the West African School Certificate examination, I knew it was largely due to some divine intervention. This is because I went to one of the so-called “Jakande” schools for my primary education where I could hardly string together one correct sentence in English as at the time I left primary six (the last year of primary school). Providence however smiled on me again when the same Jakande government of Unity Party of Nigeria (under the leadership of Awolowo) took the decision to take over missionary schools and some private secondary schools and converted them to public schools. With that single policy, I got the opportunity of a life time to be a student of Baptist Academy Secondary School in Lagos; this also enabled me to mix with children from privileged homes who had attended private nursery and primary schools and spoke the queen’s language as if they were born with it. Disaster struck in 1983 when civil rule in Nigeria was terminated once again by the military. From Muhammadu Buhari to Ibrahim Babangida, it was a succession of military adventurers until 1999. During this period, the military government and their civilian collaborators looted the country’s treasury and destroyed the country’s value system. A four-year course in the University was prolonged by two more years due to continued closure of institutions of higher learning; the lecturers were on strike for half the year, cultism was encouraged in the university by the military government while the female students turned to prostitution for survival. The foundation for the gradual disintegration of the Nigerian educational system was laid during this period. I and a host of others in my generation had both our secondary and university education during this perilous time. My generation bore the brunt of this period of misrule. Creativity and innovation was alien to my generation; it was a period of mere survival. Meanwhile children from more privileged backgrounds simply abandoned ship and ‘checked out’ of the country like Andrew. An example is the current speaker of the house of representative, Dimeji Bankole. Yes, he ‘ran’ to continue his secondary education and later University in the United Kingdom. He is unfortunately a member of this mal-aligned generation. Fast forward by about three decades and surprisingly many of us still survived. Anyway, I did! I managed to become a dentist after donkey years in Idi-Araba but, like so many of my mates had to finally ‘abandon ship’ too when it became obvious that Nigeria has no serious plans for my generation. I am not only a dentist but also have an MBA from a top school in United Kingdom, a country where I am not only resident but have two kids who possess the much sought-after ‘red’ passports. The Abati article was well-researched and almost flawless, but I didn’t expect anything less from Uncle Reuben. According to the article, there is an identity dilemma in Nigeria and this is apparent in the gradual transformation of the country’s name and music. The younger generation, lacking in rectitude and patently indiscipline was to a large extent found culpable. This rejoinder is probably unnecessary since RA was very careful to not place the whole blame on the younger generation. He was however unable to hide his disappointment at the turn of events in the country, yet he craftily agreed that this identity crisis is probably a sign of the times. His feeling of nostalgia for the music of the good-old-days was also very palpable. Nonetheless, since I found the article very meaningful and educative, I have therefore decided to take some steps, which I am convinced, if followed by other Nigerians of my generation, both at home and in Diaspora, would lead to a better Nigeria. I would also recommend that the speaker of the house of representative, Dimeji Bankole, should also follow these steps too. Firstly, I would start writing the name of Naija in full because I was not aware that the name was given to the country by the mistress of Lord Lugard, Ms Flora Shaw in 1914. My social studies teacher never taught us; she was a very lazy woman and was always on strike anyway. I have also decided to take it further by visiting the River Niger, which gave meaning to Nigeria. My only hope is that I will not end up inside the river because I heard the River Niger Bridge is now a death trap. Please let me use this opportunity to apologise on behalf of my generation for not repairing the bridge and looting the money meant for the repair. Secondly, I am in full agreement with Uncle Reuben that my generation is always impatient and not disciplined enough to follow up any task to a logical end. We are too unfortunate to be living in the internet age. He rightly blames the effect of e-mails and text messages on the popular consciousness. In view of these, I am determined to resort to writing letters and abandon the computer and the internet altogether because it is an evil that is destroying the creativity of my generation. Imagine the rise of ‘yahoo yahoo’ boys in Nigeria; the porn culture is also on the rise. All these vices are due to the internet culture. I have since dumped my blackberry in the bin after reading RA’s article. Besides, I heard on good authority that the Nigerian postal service is now more efficient than royal mail in UK. My mate who wrote a letter to Nigeria couples of days ago told me that the letter got delivered on time, although it was already ripped open, probably in UK before it got to Nigeria. I initially planned on buying the new IPhone to be released on June 29, 2009 (am sure Uncle Abati has heard of it) but that is no more possible because I love Naija so much and all these gadgets are hindering my sense of patriotism. I can now understand why President Barrack Obama has identity crisis - he is not sure whether he is Kenyan or an American. It is because he uses his blackberry to text USA instead of writing it in full. Thirdly and the scourge of my generation are these new talentless hip hop guys. I, like Uncle Abati can’t bear the profanity that they spew from their mouth in the name of music anymore. Although I enjoy Tuface, D’banj, P-Square and the rest and I have danced ‘yahooze’ at so many owambe parties in UK, but since I am now aware that their kind of music is noise and has created an identity crisis in Nigeria, I have decided to send all my pirated CDs to boot sales. I hope every right-thinking Nigeria of my generation would do the same. There are millions of job openings in our banks and oil companies that they can easily take up. The older generation have actually done so well for the country that we have nothing to complain about. Besides, if they are unable to get a job of their choice there is job-seekers allowance for them to leave on pending the time they are able to find something to do. I would also like to advise the government of Nigerian that is filled with knowledgeable and creative geriatrics to send a strongly-worded letter to UNICEF for making Tuface and D’banj an ambassador. How can they be role-model for our children when we have the likes of Etteh (former speaker of house of representative), David Mark (who once said that telephone is not for the poor) and ex-president Obasanjo, who has been quite busy ‘shagging’ his son’s wife Although it is true that the Nigerian music industry and Nollywood have succeeded in creating thousands of job, but this is small to the millions of job that the geriatric government of the older generation have created in the last two decades. Finally, I have made a decision to not only learn our national anthem all over again but to also teach my two children how to sing the anthem and recite the Nigerian pledge. Why shouldn’t I do that? My children and I owe Nigeria so much. The child benefits that my children are paid every month are remitted into my account from the Federal Inland Revenue in Nigeria. The free healthcare under the NHS that I and my children currently enjoy is paid for by the oil revenue derived from the Niger Delta in Nigeria. My generation is a huge disappointment to Nigeria; we have to retrace our steps and start identifying more with Nigeria by writing Naija properly, start dancing Ayinla Omowura at Owambes, and stand at attention when reciting the national anthem because our fathers have done so much for our generation that even the likes of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln are turning in their graves and wished they could have bequeathed a more worthy nation like Nigeria to their descendants in America who write USA in full.
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