Nigeria will never be a great nation and truly live up to its absolute potential, not because of corruption or any other vices that we as a country have come to be associated with, but because we, as the citizens and shapers of the destiny of this nation do not believe in it, and continually use our words to look down on, insult and take for granted the country, its resources and its authority.
The honest truth is that it is easy to love a child that is doing excellently and growing up properly and proportionately. It is easier to be proud of a parent who has his/her affairs together, has a good job where the family can be well catered for, and has enough influence and respect in the community. It is easier to be proud of a country that has a rich cultural history, a certain respectable balance between those that have and those that don't, a crime rate and levels of corruption that have no global reputation, and whose citizens, for the most part, cannot truthfully say that their government does not take care of them. Unfortunately for Nigerians, we don't seem to have reached that pinnacle of pride yet.
My country, richly blessed as it is, has had a lot of struggles. Each and every fellow citizen can regale you with tales of how inefficient the system is, or the seeming lack of order that permeates every facet of life, or the outright and blatant corruption that is rampant in every corridor of power. Honestly, we have struggled, and we have suffered. Even in a bid to count our blessings, they seem to be outweighed by the hardship and discomfort that we experience even in the provision of the basic amenities.
All this is true, and all this is fact, and at the risk of sounding like a lot of people before me, we, both individually and collectively will have to decide if we want to accept our country the way it is, or for us to decide that this is not the Nigeria that we want. Things are bad, and have been so for a long time, but that is no reason why we should give up on it. It is amazing the power that is in our words, because as is stated in the Bible, "You shall have what you say", meaning that if even half of this population continually speaks positively and proudly of this country, in spite of what we are made to endure, people will rise up from within to change things for the better, and people will rise from outside us to encourage us.
You think you deserve a better country? Based on what? You only deserve what you work towards. I emphasize work because it is one thing to wish the country well, but it is another thing to do your part in achievement of that goal. Wherever you find yourself be of such excellent conduct that it gives your country a good name.
Living in diaspora gives us a good idea of how we are seen as a country, and most of those impressions are given by us. Then, when these opinions are formed and uttered by non-citizens, the instinctive response is to be offended. I choose to speak positively, pray for and do my own part to realize the Nigeria that I want for me, for my family and for my fellow Nigerians. It is easier to complain about Nigeria. It is harder to work for it to realize its potential. Those that complain are thus, in this context, lazy people.
I'm sure there are plenty articles that have been penned along these same lines, but it bears reminding that instead of accepting and condemning Nigeria, let us use that same right to speech to force us into action, and get the Nigeria that we want.
The honest truth is that it is easy to love a child that is doing excellently and growing up properly and proportionately. It is easier to be proud of a parent who has his/her affairs together, has a good job where the family can be well catered for, and has enough influence and respect in the community. It is easier to be proud of a country that has a rich cultural history, a certain respectable balance between those that have and those that don't, a crime rate and levels of corruption that have no global reputation, and whose citizens, for the most part, cannot truthfully say that their government does not take care of them. Unfortunately for Nigerians, we don't seem to have reached that pinnacle of pride yet.
My country, richly blessed as it is, has had a lot of struggles. Each and every fellow citizen can regale you with tales of how inefficient the system is, or the seeming lack of order that permeates every facet of life, or the outright and blatant corruption that is rampant in every corridor of power. Honestly, we have struggled, and we have suffered. Even in a bid to count our blessings, they seem to be outweighed by the hardship and discomfort that we experience even in the provision of the basic amenities.
All this is true, and all this is fact, and at the risk of sounding like a lot of people before me, we, both individually and collectively will have to decide if we want to accept our country the way it is, or for us to decide that this is not the Nigeria that we want. Things are bad, and have been so for a long time, but that is no reason why we should give up on it. It is amazing the power that is in our words, because as is stated in the Bible, "You shall have what you say", meaning that if even half of this population continually speaks positively and proudly of this country, in spite of what we are made to endure, people will rise up from within to change things for the better, and people will rise from outside us to encourage us.
You think you deserve a better country? Based on what? You only deserve what you work towards. I emphasize work because it is one thing to wish the country well, but it is another thing to do your part in achievement of that goal. Wherever you find yourself be of such excellent conduct that it gives your country a good name.
Living in diaspora gives us a good idea of how we are seen as a country, and most of those impressions are given by us. Then, when these opinions are formed and uttered by non-citizens, the instinctive response is to be offended. I choose to speak positively, pray for and do my own part to realize the Nigeria that I want for me, for my family and for my fellow Nigerians. It is easier to complain about Nigeria. It is harder to work for it to realize its potential. Those that complain are thus, in this context, lazy people.
I'm sure there are plenty articles that have been penned along these same lines, but it bears reminding that instead of accepting and condemning Nigeria, let us use that same right to speech to force us into action, and get the Nigeria that we want.
