All of us have, in one way or the other, wrecked our country, Nigeria – from Bottom to top. I remember an African adage that says: An iroko tree must be cub from its tender period, otherwise when it is fully grown it will demand for sacrifice.
Looking at the whole situation of our beloved country Nigeria, everyone is at fault. We treat all issues with a commercial attitude, everyone wants to make quick money within a short period, everyone wants to enjoy with or without working. Nobody wants to follow due process again; we are all in a hurry, we all want miracle to happen within a short period of time irrespective of what our capabilities are. Then when all these are not forthcoming, we start making noise about the leaders not doing it right, we will start screaming about how they share money inside “Ghana must go” bag at the House of Assembly, we will start complaining of how they spend their last summer holiday in Dubai plus Paris, we will start complaining about the luxurious life their families are living, yet we forgot the stipends we took from them when they were hunting for power. We forgot how we sold our voices because we wanted to quench an immediate thirst, we forgot how we sold our future and the future of our children for few thousands on naira, we forgot how we sold our right plus our birth right at the cheaper rate, we are all at fault.
Imagine a POS operator collecting outrageous rate from members of the public simply because he or she is opportuned to get a new currency, and a fuel attendant who prefers to sell fuel for black marketers because of returns and chooses not to sell to cars directly unless you are willing to bribe your way out. There is a banker or a bank manager that chooses to sell the new notes to a big man because of commission and refuse to attend to the masses. What of the private organizations and individuals that refuse to pay tax? They will always look for a way to bribe their way out, Nigerians that refuse to renew their vehicle particulars and driver’s license, expecting an officer of the law to pardon and forgive them for doing the wrong thing, the law enforcer who mount a road block for his or her own selfish interest, the person in-charge of maintaining government properties that are syphoning the resources, the drivers who love to ply one way all in the name of “Nothing dey Happen”, the ones that hate joining queues at the filling station or at any public places. You feel too big because you have contacts, the parents that refused to train and nurture their children in a sensible and reasonable manner, the ones that are encouraging them to venture into fraud and rituals. You had better stop before it is too late.
Older Nigerians are no longer reasonable while the younger once have refused to be sensible enough to realize that it is not until you destroy government facilities and become an arsonist before you get government’s attention. Who bewitched us? How did we get here? Well, I won’t blame them when our leaders failed to read the history of those facilities to the hearings of the youth, when the leaders have failed in the aspect of trust, when the leaders have no iota of decency and honesty. I won’t blame them. When the leaders are egocentric in nature, what do you expect? An African adage says and I quote “The horse at the back follows the footsteps of the ones in front.” Can you now see why I cannot blame the youth? You cannot give what you don’t have, and that’s why I refused to mention the duties of the Special Advisers. A leader also needs to know that their offices need to be open to every complaints and not wait until Nigerians are aggrieved before they respond to their voices. Some of the leaders are devil incarnate. How can a leader be sponsoring crime like Kidnapping, banditry to the extent that they cannot be stopped, sponsoring protest and destroying the facilities built for years instead of sponsoring humanity? Everyone is now thinking hypocritically simply because of their egocentric and ‘Emilokan’ attitude.
It is high time we embrace humanity and allow love to reign in our society before it is too late. We have all turned to liars and covering up our bad deeds and attitude because of religious bigotry. We failed to realize that we were firstly human before we choose our religion, we failed to understand that religion was brought by humans like us for division and hatred, yet we embrace it. We ignore the loving kindness given to us by nature. We choose to study the written words in our religious manuals, but we failed to practice what is learnt in the manual. We allow our conscience to be inactive simply because of our selfish interest. We allow our ego to push us and we are being punished ruthlessly beyond redemption, it is high time we embrace humanity and dump religiosity, before it is too late.
We all have the habit of using ambiguous words while dealing with bad habits, most especially the youths. We no longer regard the elders we now call it equality and modernity, bragging that everyone has the same right. We are always turning things upside down. We have already dumped our tradition and culture, embracing mannerless behavioral attitude and we call it mood- swing. Longer throat that was once a grave offence, which was subjected to a severe punishment has become cravings, the youths that are supposed to be the leaders of tomorrow are no longer waiting for their time since the leaders of yesterday have refused to retire. Instead of building an army of knowledgeable and reasonable visionaries for the progress of new age and discovery, they ended up building an empire for thugs and hoodlums who will sooner or later turn to bandits, kidnappers and the likes and use them to rig election.
Undoubtedly, we are all in ‘Japa season’, where everyone wants to leave Nigeria, including myself, for a greener pasture. What if the owner of the greener pasture had refused to wet his pasture, will the pasture be green and enticing? No
What if the same thing that happened in South-Africa few years ago, which led to the killing and deportation of many Nigerians happens in all the countries of our japa choices? Where and what do we fall back on?
Do you notice that some of our Nigerians were also repatriated back home from Dubai recently, was it the Nigerian president who deported them or what? We no dey shame? I think we need to re-orientate ourselves, we need to really have a change of mind individually before it is too late. This is the time to re-think and stand firm for a better Nigeria. This is the time to wake up from our slumber. This is our Jerusalem, this is Our Madinah, this is Our London Bridge, this is Our Washington DC. I wonder why we cannot do things just right; I wonder what will cost everyone to do the right thing. I wonder why our leaders love traveling to different countries for relaxation and medications, while they love to be buried in a place they refused to re-arrange in the first place. I wonder why we all know the truth but embrace lies. I wonder why we know the way of light and chooses to stay in the darkness. I wonder why we shun and silence the honesty and goodwill embedded in us and allow hatred and selfishness to ruin our unionism. I wonder what will cost us to fix Nigeria to a world class taste, I wonder what will cost our leaders to facilitates good governance the same way it is commendable in the western world, where the security, economy, health and lots more are talks of the town to the extent that no one would like to return to Nigeria.
We all want a better life because we deserve it. We want good health facilities; we want a secured and a peaceful environment. We want a better Nigeria.
Nevertheless, a leader is person in charge or in command of a group, a community, an organization, a constituency, a state, a country and so on. If you see yourself in any leadership post or position, please do the right thing. Give good orientation and advice about a good Nigeria. Be positive-minded always and belief that together we can build our own Nigeria to a good taste.
Let’s join our hands together for a better Nigeria. God Bless Nigeria.
Femi Solarin is a writer, visionary, singer and multi-talented instrumentalist, who has passion for the betterment of Nigeria. He could be reached via 08062679019
