How well do you love your country??
‘As the times roll by, I am starting to come to the understanding that I know so little; and in the world we find ourselves, there are no good or bad only interests. Also at different points in time, the world decides what is good and what is bad, but there are exceptions’
I know there are so many things I am yet to be aware of, so many things I have very little knowledge of, so I am not trying to display some faux patriotism or tell you in a few lines why Nigeria is the next big thing or why you should pitch your tent with the country. ‘National development,’ they seem to call it these days.
I am also not asking you to develop some form of love for Nigeria or feel a sense of duty to the country; NO!. I will not be asking you to do that. However, judging the country’s present state, there are no mincing words: ‘WE ARE ALL STRUGGLING.’
Yeah, I get it. This is where you have probably said some prayers in your mind or even blurted it out loud. ‘Me, I am not struggling,’ however, those are words of affirmation. The reality is staring us all in the face. Earlier this year, I wrote about our deviation from our communal lifestyle and how a shift towards an individualistic style badly affects us all. Between, you can find it here
I will tap into that and then move forward by asking this question: How well do you love your country? Do you have a sense of belonging to this place? What is the Nigerian dream? Do you think we are going to make it? What are you living for? Are you not angry with the state of your country? Or better still, how well do you think you can exist outside the state of this country?
All of the above are important questions; one that we all need to urgently answer as the country is fast changing before our very eyes. There is no need for data or statistics to guide us; things are simply not going well. How long can this continue?
‘Are you not angry’?
Geopolitics is very real, but the concept of pan-Africanism sounds quite lazy to me. As much as we can argue, the presence of foreign interests and their role in tactically dismantling positive development on the African continent? Have you ever wondered why they always find the best willing tools on this continent?
There is always that person with enough influence to go around, one who is always ready to damn all the consequences to sell out his compatriots in favor of some weird self-serving interests. At some point, we all have to answer this question. ‘Are you not angry?’ Should you not be angry at everything?
How do you look at the current state of Nigeria and not get angry? How do you see all the tactical nuking of the country’s middle class and manage to keep still? Do you know your country has no emergency medicine infrastructure? Do you know how much of a disadvantage you are in with the state of your country’s public healthcare? Do you know that the nation’s healthcare apparatus is failing at every turn? Want to know the worst? We cannot ‘Tech’ our way out of these obvious problems.
Your public health is terrible, your gutters are thick, and everywhere smells. Your economy is being tanked before our eyes while your salary remains unchanged. Inflation is stealing your life right before your very eyes, but what are you doing? Actively defending the same people who put us all in this mess?
When will it be enough for you? When will you have that moment of introspection that you are as expendable as the rest of us if you do not lend your voice to this cry for the very basic things to be done right?
‘Davido is the least of your problems.’
There is this thing we do as Nigerians. When the current leader is someone we share an identity with, that person is above reproach. Everything he/she does is defended to the last thread, however terrible it might be. There is always an angle to be pinned.
When people say Nigeria is far from saving, they mean this. How do you take anything contrary to your expectation as an attack even if your reality screams otherwise? Don’t you ever think you deserve better? Some of you have been to other countries, a lot more have experiences from other saner climes, and yet you want your country to remain at the very lowest level of the hierarchy of needs.
We are not here to just eat, sleep, fuck, and shit. You have to aspire to better; and we are all victims of the current state of this country however wealthy you might be. To stop this aggressive cancer of terrible governance and a dearth of quality leadership, we must lend our voices, and scream for the tide to change.
The ones before us endured this; our generation should not continue the rot. The ones coming after us will ask questions. With all I write, I am already contributing my quota. No child will ask me, "What did I do?" How did our country become this terrible? There are digital footprints that will bear me witness that I tried my best.
‘Finally’
I have tried my best; I pay my taxes, and I excel in my small unit of contributing to this country. I do not shy away from any national development I am given. Yes, this is a self-appraisal, and I am just one person. If one person can at least go through this writing and decide to do better, then my job here is done.
Nigeria is not a terrible place, and Nigerians are not the worst. ‘Good people, Great Nation, ’ yeah? We need to lend our voices in making our nation great. I am gradually giving up on the long pipe dream of our country becoming Singapore, Japan, China, or the USA one day. I need it to be viable enough to give the majority of its citizens a better chance at life and greater odds for survival.
This is a pipe dream, but I sincerely hope we have a Nigeria that works. I am listening to Wizkid’s Morayo playing on the speakers, and all of a sudden, I feel much better. I know Nigeria will be good; we just need to be ready to face our grim realities and resolve to do so much better.
