What a Time to be Nigerian!
Admittedly, the virtue of piety stirs up the affection for one’s own fatherland, it is in this same optic that we speak of patriotism. As human beings, we are political animals - homo politikos, by nature; we cannot rule out politics from our lives. The society to which we belong needs to be ruled by people who seek the common good. In this sense, we speak of politics as an act of governance. It does not exclude any Nigerian citizen, because we must participate in it to bring a just and stable order to our dear country. All of us cannot rule at the same time; some have to lead while others follow. In every case, both the leaders and the followers have a role to play in building Nigeria.
Notably, with the recent turn out of things, we see a Nigeria where many people, especially the youths, are ‘woke’. This awakening goes beyond the frontiers of individuals, political parties, religions, cultural or clannish affiliations. Some desperately want a change of political party/government. Others crave for a transformation in social and political ideology in the country, especially, a reformed leadership. In all these views, one thing is certain, Nigerians want a renewed approach in the way the nation is being governed; a governance where competence and credibility transcend cultural, party, bloodline, or religion links. A governance that will positively permeate the very fabric and marrow of the country. In the history of Nigerian democracy, there was never a time the citizens were this tasty for improvement in governance. This is perhaps because our eyes have seen ‘shege’ these past years.
It is no pessimism to say that the current Nigeria is like the Hobbesian state of nature, beleaguered with chaos, arnarchy, confusion, conflict, war and insecurity. The result of this state of affairs was that “the life of man was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” We speak of tragedies not only in terms of natural occurrences, nor the personal pains/unavoidable disappointments, and death that constitute the inevitable pains of being humans. We must also include the artificial tragedies manufactured by fellow humans in a bid to secure power and affluence. All forms of man’s inhumanity to his own kind come to mind; genocides, tragedies created by economic and political policies designed only to protect the wealth and interest of a few, misfortunes emanating from incompetent governance; hike in fuel prices, unstable education system, the depreciating value of naira, general high cost of living, the undeserved pains inflicted on many people just because few persons want it that way, hunger, starvation, terrorism, banditry, innumerable societal ills, and general fear of the unknown. Unarguably, the lapse found in most sectors of our nation is consequent upon the instability of our economy.
Here comes the time to change the narrative. The world is watching, other African nations are watching to take a leaf from us. You can better the narrative with your PVC. I will not give you the option of selling it and spending the next four or eight years in penury, you just may not survive it this time around. The only option you have is to vote wisely. Please do not bake your cake on cataclysmic flames. Our task in revamping and revivifying the polity and our nation is now more than ever indispensable. I have some misgivings on the import of violence. We have read and heard of empires built on violence, violence was needed to sustain them. If we cherish sustainability, which I strongly advise we do, then we must shun violence.
Permit me to do some redaction of Leibniz’s popular assertion “The best of all possible worlds.” ‘Nigeria is the best of all possible countries you could come from.’ At first glimpse, this claim seems implausible. However, it is not a claim that every single event taken in isolation (such as insecurity) is the best thing imaginable. Instead, it is a claim that ‘Nigeria taken as a whole, the sum of Nigerian history from the beginning to the present stage, is a better story than any other that could be told.’ The point is, it is not a mistake that Nigeria is your country of origin. Some are up with the ‘Japa’ mantra. Why not make here better so that foreigners can crave to come here the same way we crave to Japa? By the way, can we really raise our shoulders high up of things we have achieved in no man’s lands? Funny enough, we are very proficient in developing elsewhere but not our fatherland. Let us build home!
Apparently, we need a re-orientation, a new vision, and a refined understanding about what we see, believe and practice, most importantly, we need a mental-liberation. What a time to be Nigerian! If you were one before, what a time to consolidate it. If you were never one (apathy), what a time to be Nigerian. Has the name Nigeria brought you some benefits within or without? You have more reason to be one and make it work, because the better Nigeria is, the more benefits you will enjoy. On the other hand, if the name has ever discredited you, you now have more reason to make it better. In either case, be a Nigerian, a true one at that.
PS: So far, the effort of INEC is laudable in the policies regarding the general elections, we plead INEC for effective implementation of these policies. In addition to the numerous appeals already made by concerned citizens and organizations, I would like to appeal that INEC carry out a stress test of the BIVAS system nationwide to ascertain its efficiency and effectiveness before the elections. We have read in many media platforms of your determination to confront vote buying during the polls, in conjunction with the security personnel, please help us and carry this out to the latter.
Kenneth Ferdinand Oori(A Nigerian)