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Limiting Nigeria’s problem to ethnicity, religiosity, corruption, poverty and all other social ills facing it, oversimplifies the role of individual citizens.
The problem that seems to have us rooted to one spot in the struggle to move forward is the value system of Nigerians; honestly speaking I think the individual value system has seriously decayed and heavily eroded such that positive change seems more like a pipe dream than reality. We shouldn’t blame the Nigerian situation on the government alone, because that is obviously how we direct the blame away from ourselves.
Think of it, the public officials in government are the same citizens of this country, who possibly was your next door neighbor a few years back! Nigeria’s liberation and our fabled ‘upliftment’ to greater heights is hindered by the Nigerian people, people like you and I.
In writing this piece I have been careful not to fall into the trap of self-blame occasioned by what I know to be bulk-passing from our leaders down to the citizens by way of those grandiose projects of value re-orientation and discipline, in other words, I am not blaming citizens vicariously for crimes committed by our failed leadership. I am certainly not a self-hating Nigerian because of the self –fulfilling prophesy by our leaders that “Nigerians will have themselves to blame for everything that have gone wrong with us”, no amount of propaganda on the airwaves by the government can relieve them of the political crimes against good governance. In this regard, I only feel compelled to speak directly to our compatriots!
A lot of Nigerians believe that ethnicity and religion are the major factors that hinder our unity, peace and development; some even think it is corruption, while others believe we are a nation certainly endowed with a populace of evil people who dominate positions of authority, though these factors are true to certain degree, there is also another side of the coin out that is relative to majority of our people.
Take the case of ethnicity, every human being feels more secure when in the midst of people with whom they share the same culture and value system, this is also true about religion, it is only natural, otherwise, why do you think there is “no place like home” the place no matter how poor and dangerous, we feel eternally connected and even get mental blues called Nostalgia? And the talks like “no other like friends and family”, people with whom we feel secure and always happy? I for instance feel a lot at home when in the North (my home), but it is also very suffocating; for reasons I will surely let you in on later.
Taking a deeper look at our nation’s problem, we will notice that even within the same ethnic group there is so much rivalry and cruelty. I can best explain what I mean by narrating a recent experience, to help people understand.
Recently I was taking care of my mother who was sick in a hospital in Zaria. We all know the condition of the health system in Nigeria, I lost my sister two years ago to an illness doctors couldn’t quite diagnose until it was too late, believe me I have had many experiences at Nigerian hospitals. The past scared me, because the thought of losing my mother was all I could think of and it terrified me abundantly.
On this particular day, a young girl of about 14 years was brought in to the emergency unit, it was obvious that whatever her illness was; it had already ravished her body, she was dying and I had my eyes fixated on her, praying inside me for the redemption of her soul, somehow I knew it was twilight for her. As the girl breathed her last, her mother started crying out loudly. The hospital reception area was filled with men and women; who were irritated at the sobbing sounds of the mother, angrily they asked her to leave the reception and take her dying daughter outside, no one helped her at lifting her dying girl’s almost stiff and heavy body, I did. The poor lady lost her young girl just as we got outside the hospital reception.
I went back in to see that all the people cared less about what just happened they had their eyes glued to the television screen. Through teary eyes I could see it was the “Larry King interview with George and
Barbara Bush” they were watching. Americans I could bet did pay as much attention to a George Bush interview on CNN. In Zaria, at the hospital, these folks did not know or recognize who Larry King and his guests were and some can’t even speak or understand the English language and accent of the American talk host. I also believe they cannot decipher what was being said, not that it matter to them anyway. I thought; was everyone in the room so caught up in watching the interview that they couldn’t offer sympathy in words and actions. But most importantly, maybe they just did not care about the little girl in this nation, compassion is gone!
Whatever happened to helping the poor helpless woman, whatever happened to being your brother’s keeper, whatever happened to the thought of “it might be me tomorrow”? This was a mother and child that are Hausa and Muslims just like everyone else in the room. It left me wondering what the case would have been if they were Christians, Yoruba’s or Igbo’s, would they have been treated differently- The answer is no!
The average Nigerian has no regard for tomorrow, for life, property, government, politics, and the institutions of governance, personal feelings and the human rights of others. Where people don’t respect each other and are totally insensitive towards the future, change for such people might take eternity.
Should we keep blaming our diversity for Nigeria’s problems? Or should we accept that our value system is hanging by a thread. Truly the extent of the damage is overwhelming; it shouldn’t stop us from doing something about it. We Nigerians should search our conscience, reevaluate our values and rearrange our priorities. The leadership will go, but we the Nigerian people will always be around. I pray for a good future for our country, but our individual change will have to precede the change we yearn for. We can’t wait on the government to do it for us, because those in government need more help than the ordinary citizens do. We must realize that if change is going to happen, everyone at the individual level must be the change they want to see otherwise “change” will become an illusion that can never be attained.
Halima Sadiya Mamud.
Political Science Dept.
University of Abuja
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Posted by Robot| 04.08.2006 19:28