Our local media have had it big in news reportage in the past few weeks. As it is now a rule rather than exception, none of the events grabbing our headlines is cheery. Neither relief nor smile have i experienced as a Nigerian in my 'National life'. Much of the joy i feel have been private. Very Private. I upgraded from FiFa 12 to FiFa 14. Wellness of the people dear to my heart and the daily opportunity to serve Allah in good health. Watching my son grow has been an incredible experience for me.I keep asking myself if i brought this wonderful creature to the world. Sadly, Nigeria.
Now this piece is not about me. My private and public worry is my country, Nigeria. For lack of achievement to celebrate, it came as no surprise as the presidency in bizarre excitement and with astonishing vigor (amidst senseless killings) rolled out the drums to celebrate 100years of the existence of Nigeria. I do not share the view that the northern protectorate should not have been amalgamated with the southern protectorate. Amalgamation will not be a problem where there is a visionary,transparent,selfless,nationalistic and accountable leadership. Is our population a problem? The population of china is over 1.3billion. Beat that! That is our population estimated at 150million multiplied by 9. China is the second largest economy in the world and are tipped to pip USA to the title of the world largest economy.
Perhaps it is not our population. Maybe it is the multiplicity of ethnic groups. The result of my findings in this regard is very telling. Nigeria, like most of her counterpart in Africa ranks among the most culturally diverse nations with Papua New Guinea leading the way with 820spoken languages!. According to a report by Mitt Blake published in May 2013, Europe is the most ethnically homogenous continent while top 20 most diverse countries are all in Africa. Should heterogeneity be an hindrance to economic growth and development? Canada and United states ranks among highly culturally diverse nations of the world. This has obviously not stunted their growth. I personally believe diverse culture should be a blessing. It is often considered as part of a nations rich culture. Just as the world will be boring if we spoke one language and had essentially same culture. So will any nation be. My knowledge of Qur'an tells me that establishing different races and tribe is to enables us identify one another. So, a Nigerian can say, that man, judging from his look is Chinese. An Indonesian can say 'that man is British judging from his accent'. Here in Nigeria, our diverse ethnic group is an all important variable in political manipulations. Our politicians perform several arithmetical operations with ethnicity. They add, deduct and multiply ethnicity as the political situation suggests. This explains why an Asari Dokubo will say those criticizing Jonathan's poor performance are doing so because he is from a minority group. It explains why our Igbo brothers would never be satisfied until one of the sons of their soil becomes a president. For them, it does not matter if anyone can do it better.
Tribalism, like corruption, has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian society. Many of us disapprove of corruption, but we always tend to forgive or even support the perpetrator if he/she is of our own tribe. I recall an heartrending outburst from a certain group asking the president to 'forget votes' from the south east should he fire the aviation minister in the wake of 255m BMW purchase scandal. In Nigeria, it is an unwritten rule that requires the president to carefully select the ministers who shall supervise key areas of our national life in such manner that would reflect the diverse ethnicity of the country. Of what business of mine is the aviation ministers origin if we can have a safe free sky rather than a philosophical exposition of destiny in the event of a crash. Senator Ogunlewe, former Minister of Works, a yoruba man under a yoruba president could not repair Lagos-Ibadan express way, a major road that connects several yoruba speaking enclaves. Therefore, It shows a lack of sound judgement for any yoruba man or woman to wish/demand/vote for a yoruba candidate above and beyond all proven criteria.
The United States of America is the economic capital of the world. And arguably the political capital of the world. Guess where the religious capital of the world lies....look no further than Nigeria. Now, i reckon there are several countries where thousands of deities are being worshiped. No nation knows God better than Nigeria. At least that is the impression we portray. Our citizens are world ambassadors leading the evangelism campaign. From Africa to Europe, our super rich pastors are notable and revered. The exclusion of imams in this regard is not predicated on my religious affiliations. Far from it else i be guilty of the same phenomena. Our imams do not favorably compete with the pastors in affluence, influence and popularity. With the thousands of religious societies cutting across Christianity, Islam and Traditional worship, you tend to expect better given the homogeneity in the campaign for a better society, fear of God,respect for one another, justice, honesty,love and kindness for one another. In ideal societies, the opinion of religious leaders is weighty. Religious leaders are famed for speaking the truth. You cant accuse them of tribalism, political bias or seeking popularity. This is the ideal situation. Here, there is an unholy alliance between politics and religion. Politics has be 'religionised' and religion politicized. The result? deception. Etan! The growing religious awareness and institutions paradoxically contradicts the retrogression pervading our human existence. Someone by way of humor observed how Nigerians are exporting religion to our colonial masters, the same set of people who brought religion to our country. Food for thought.
As it stands, Nigeria has lost so much growth and development potentials to corruption, tribalism, greed, lack of visionary leaders, governance by trial and error and selfishness all of which have come to define us as a people.
From the missing money to the 'assassination' of job seekers to the N12m per national conference delegate, the ridicule is boundless.
Nigeria is in need of heroes. People who have genuine desire to steer us away from the retrogressive path we are treading. There is a vacancy for heroes. Anyone who puts to past our shameful lingering experience of lack of power supply shall be a hero. I have no doubt. Anyone who fights corruption without fear or favor shall be a hero. That man/woman who makes Nigeria an industrialized nation producing goods for her large population ranging from simple basic items such as toothpicks, towel, toilet roll, perfumes, tires to complex items like cars,steel,equipments thus providing jobs for millions of jobless Nigerians shall be regarded as a hero. That leader who inspires us to be the best we can and upholds the rule of law at all times shall be accorded a hero's recognition. Anyone puts a stop to oil or swap or refining of crude oil abroad by building new refineries, repairing and improving the existing ones shall be called a hero. From education to poverty alleviation, infrastructure, employment opportunities to housing, we are a country in need of heroes. Apply within!
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