By Tunde Adebayo
Long before now, Nigeria has been identified with misconduct, corruption, nepotism, fraud, immodesty, violence and all sorts of misdeeds.
Even citizens are so judgmental that they only associate negative things with the country. Our level of patronage to anything originally created from here is abysmal at best. We crave foreign things instead.
Truthfully, Nigeria has not done much for its inhabitants to be indebted. And most of the fault goes to the small circle of leaders who ran it to the ground over the 60 years of independence. However, they cannot take the blame completely as we the citizens are also culpable.
After all, we placed them there, we complain at their inactivity, but take no action to correct this. There is strength in numbers , but we all cower behind our Television sets, saying words we cannot speak out in the public. Arm chair critics we have become.And if anyone does? He becomes public enemy number one.
Our lack of patriotism also accounts for our slow progress over the years.
Being up front, the Nigerians do not believe in the country, and thoughts of it becoming developed aren’t entertained. The notion in itself is laughable to some who would just say, Nigeria is a sinking ship, escape while you can. This is disappointing, as those who are supposed to be advocate of the nation are the ones trying to pull it down.
An average Nigerian is not accountable for his/her misgivings, and yet we expect the government to be transparent. We are quick to forget that every nuclear family is a unit of government. We barely pay tax actively. Nowadays, the government has found a way around tax evasion by deducting it directly from wages, bank transactions and purchases. Most people are ignorant about this fact, because if they do, they would device a cunning way to bypass this.
We have this viewpoint that life is every man for himself. We care less about the wellbeing of our neighbours; we always want to come out on top. While you can’t fault one for being ambitious, but is the means justifiable? Nigeria is failing because we don’t work collectively.
We have got a ladder to climb, one that would take us to a city of promise, a perfect oasis,but instead of climbing with heads high, we focus on the identity of those climbing behind or before us, nurturing thoughts on how to trip their ladder.
Yet, we blame everyone but ourselves. We blame other tribes, public agencies, foreign countries and the government for all our woes. But have we really looked into the mirror?
Let’s go five centuries back, slavery was at its inception, but one thing we have chosen to ignore is that we didn’t deal with intra-continental slavery before the get-go of Trans-Saharan/Trans-Atlantic slavery. This slavery often come from petty squabble turn skirmish that leads to an invasion of villages, where all prisoners of war are turned to slaves who cultivate lands for their masters till they perish and that does not even end their misery as their offsprings continue this cycle.
What’s more hypocritical is that most of the slaves captured by the Europeans were in fact sold to them by our then monarchs, merchants and elders.
Fast forward to 2020, a good percentage of the Nigerian populace thinks it is good for our boys to engage in cyber fraud. There is no justification for swindling people of their entire fortune because of the crimes committed by their ancestors. Those with the worthy motive to do so are the African-Americans who have had to endure torture, murder, suffering, genocide, violence, racism and all sorts of disparaging acts. Certainly not us, not we Nigerians that were regarded as the lucky ones, who either escaped slavery or were guilty of selling our brothers to the Europeans.
Somewhere right now the grandson of a slave merchant is sitting before his computer trying to dupe oblivious Asians for sins purportedly committed by their ancestors who were Europeans.
And this has led to low foreign investment vital for a developing nation. We have pushed away investors and tourists .
Nigeria is now a country where you can be termed a fool only for being your brother’s keeper. We have the default mindset to swindle anyone that is unsuspecting all in the name of being termed smart.
A nation where the masses do not believe you can make an honest and legitimate living. Its either you are fetish or cunning.
This is not to say our leaders are saintly.But they have failed to imbibe the spirit of patriotism into the citizens. Most of the electorate seeking office are not doing it for a better tomorrow.They are self-serving .
The governmental bodies lack hope or belief in the country. And when this is lost, how well do you expect them to fight for the ascension of this nation. To them, this country is a failed state. And as far as they are concerned, Nigeria is a sinking ship and they are only salvaging the good stuff. If the ones supposed to handle affairs of the country are without will, how well would the masses fare?
They have made it all seem like rocket science, complicated things to the boot. Obviously, Nigeria’s problem has eaten deep into its marrow and it cannot be resolved overnight. Not even in a decade. However, the nationals deserve the right to see that the country is worth fighting for. Because it can only be built together.
It has to be reciprocal. You cannot ask me for a favour, then tighten your hands. All and sundry must work assiduously to allow citizens look at the fluttering green-white-green with pride and not disgust. Nigerians need to recite the national anthem with the strong sense of belonging and a call to action and not reproach. A Nigerian should be reluctant to leave his/her country for any reason at all, not jump on the next flight in escape.
A Nigeria that would be free for all, where everyone lives in harmony and without fear of corruption and violence. Patriotism is the seed of a thriving nation. Let us all be patriotic!
- Adebayo is a HND 2 Mechanical Engineering student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan
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