Last year on Independence Day, I prefaced my thoughts (http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/a-citizens-address.html) with a conversation I had with a friend of mine on the state of our dear nation. I bemoaned the fact that our latter forbearers had bequeathed to us a nation in ruin and it would be up to us when we assume their positions of leadership to turn Nigeria around that she may retain her former glory as the giant of Africa and a force to reckon with on the world’s stage. That same colleague of mine recoiled in affront to my unwitting procrastination of our rendezvous with destiny. “I believe we must stand up now and be counted, there is so much we can do, and there is no need to simply hope for 20 years from now” he said. How right he was.

The folly of every Nigerian is to litanize our myriad national woes from corruption, lack of security, lack of a fundamental education system and basic infrastructure etc; but when are we going to stop talking and start acting? How long will we continue to shake our heads in derision while we sink lower and lower into the abyss? Of recent, the phenomenon of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has taken the world by storm not least in Nigeria due to his African heritage. To paraphrase him, the destiny of Nigeria will not be written FOR Nigerians but BY Nigerians. We bicker about malgovernance and misleadership but as long as we look to simply eat the crumbs that fall off the tables of self appointed godfathers and political charlatans, we will not progress. Politicians are inherently and invariably corrupt, why are we surprised? We can complain about them all we want but they are simply a reflection of what we as a people are willing to condone. As long as a middleclass father sees it fit to pay a hefty bribe so that his failing daughter can be granted admission to a University and as long as that same daughter is willing to exchange sexual favours for passing grades upon admission, it shouldn’t surprise us that the National Assembly is filled with those who have reached the apogee of perfidy? When a woman has no qualms about consulting “babalawos” and diabolical spiritualists to concoct potions to make rich men accede to her materialistic demands, why are we shocked to learn that Governors are taking blood oaths of loyalty at shrines in Okija and other locations all over the country.

Our government is a crystallized reflection of our national soul and just as those who are the architects of our misfortune did not appear out of thin air, so will the solutions to our national woes not be a product of providential serendipity. It was out from us these people were raised and formed their flawed value system and thus a recalibration of that flawed value system is what will cause a national earthquake which would break the chains of our national imprisonment. I remember being at a mechanic’s shop in Lagos some years ago, a man brought in a luxurious car which needed to be repaired of an engine problem. The mechanic informed the man that it would cost about 10,000 naira to fully repair the car but since his “oga” was not around, he could “patch” the repair for about 6,000. The man replied “abeg manage am for me jare.” With such mentalities, is it any wonder that our oil refineries are not performing to full efficiency?  We cannot expect the respect for the rule of law concerning matters of state among those in government when we without a second thought violate a simple sign that says “do not urinate here.”

We cannot expect magnanimity from government while we glorify mediocrity in our everyday lives. Our “manage am” attitude must change. I dare say that it is time for a national reorientation that must begin with the individual, to families, to the immediate community and then slowly but surely we will begin to see change. Suddenly, corruption and other vices become the exception and not the rule.

To speak more tangibly, there is so much we can do as a people to address the social ills aforementioned. Take education for example, why is someone with a bachelors degree from a US University complaining about the state of education in Nigeria when he has not mentored a single child. Lest you think I’m talking down on you, I refer to yours truly but there are many who share in my folly. Who would spend time drafting plans and having so-called intellectual conversations to revamp our educational system while there are children that can barely read who are begging to be thought. Children who one day out of frustration would become hired guns to the highest bidder or robbing and killing innocent people on Eko Bridge. We don’t need to wait for a national education scheme to take root; we can inspire one child at a time. Robert Kennedy wasn’t altogether out of his mind when he said "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

On Friday my Muslim brethren no doubt made supplications that Allah blesses Nigeria and Sunday cannot come fast enough for me to go and watch my fellow Christians “shake the foundations of the Kingdom of Satan holding Nigeria down.” The fact is that God has blessed Nigeria immensely and our sorry fate lies not in our stars but in ourselves. The divine creator of all good things has given Nigeria rich minerals in our soil for our use and we are not devoid of those with the physical and intellectual faculties to employ them, so what else do we want God to do for us? Nigeria is the only country we have. We can flee to other nations and consign her to the ash heap of history if we wish, but for better or worse she will remain there. It is all too easy to complain and look askance at the state of our nation or we can act. We can act right in our own backyards and hamlets. I challenge myself and those of my generation to see beyond ourselves and give out of the deep well of our intellect and abilities. To those doing so already, redouble your efforts and be not frustrated because to tear down is easy but building is hard. Remember in the words of JFK that “we choose to do these things and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

So enjoy your independence day and the attendant merriments, but when you’re done, remember that we have work to do. Ponder within yourself what you can do or give and then without any hesitation act and with each sweat of our brow, swimming against the tide of ubiquitous uncertainty and national despondence, we shall rewrite our history and meet that rendezvous with destiny.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Last year on Independence Day, I prefaced my thoughts (http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/a-citizens-address.html) with a conversation I had with a friend of mine on the...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 06.10.2008 01:04