Today as I write, I am reminded of the memories of my grandpa who laid the foundation of delayed gratification in my life; the reason I have committed my life and career to the voluntary sector. I am glad I chose the sector and will not be deterred from it.
The 21st century is unimaginably turning towards the yearnings of the challenges we face today. The past decades profits was earned by those who tore the world apart and the profits of several decades to come will be earned by those who are genuinely willing to put the world back together.
Throughout my growing years, I watched as values of a great nation like ours petered out in the most unimaginable fashion. From the loss in value in production quality, to the loss in values of our education system, to the loss in value in our security operatives who are now toothless bull dogs in fighting crime but are now pros in intimidating the ordinary citizens.
Despite this conspicuous reality, there are very few efforts of change to challenge the status quo. However, these efforts have not been without a fight from the opposition who holds on firm to the status quo. I have thus wondered over the years what our foundation as nation was built upon; is it on individualism, insecurity, or on indiscipline?
Each day I walk on the street, I watch Nigerians who display acts of greed not caring who suffers the consequences. I watch Traffic Policemen laying ambush for the slightest disobedience of the law in order for them to extort the offender. I watch an entire community hail a corrupt son for coming back home after looting the country’s treasury while serving; all because he has been their solace in the face of poverty. I see a system filled with self-centred corporate firms who grow at a parallel proportion to the growth of the society and cares less if the society they grow in, grows in steady proportion.
I watch parents throw away their values and wrap their hands around their daughter who has come back from Italy with enough for the family to eat without questioning her on what type of job fetched her such fortune. I watch dreams of young men and women go down the drain all because they can not afford to pay school fees. I watch charlatans and mediocres assume public office because of their ethnic, religious or social class and in the end, the 150million people who live in this great nation are the ones made to suffer the consequences of the gross ineptitude of the leadership. I see health care in shambles as people lament the high cost of hospital bills and sometimes, wrong diagnoses which has led to the loss of loved ones and bread winners too.
My little exposure outside the shores of this great nation has taught me the true nature of Nigerians. As much as I hear people complain of how much our citizens misbehave in other parts of the world, I am still convinced that those numbers do not constitute a meaningful number of us who truly exhibit the Nigerian character. I have seen Nigerians outside the shores of this country that have made me proud. Even if they now use their brains for foreign interest rather than national interest, I am still proud of them. However, I do not encourage brain drain. These individuals have shown that given a better system, they can exhibit the Nigerian character in them.
All I have been privileged to see has opened my eyes to the reality that we can truly be the great nation we ought to be. The great Nigeria we ought to be is the Nigeria of equal opportunity, where every individual have equal rights to go to good schools. A nation that believes in the freedom of the people to their fundamental human rights, to expression and to information. A nation that glorifies hardwork, discipline, integrity and upholds the rule of law whether there is any person assigned to enforce it. A nation that embraces empathy and sees every action as targeting the principle of being ones brother’s keeper. A nation that breeds leaders not by position but by act. Leaders who are compassionate and who do not see the populace as mere statistic, leaders who have roadmaps of where we ought to be in their mind and will not just talk but will effectively work towards effecting that roadmap.
A patriotic nation who see national service as a pride and a rare opportunity to serve the fatherland with diligence and hardwork and expects that the government will also be compassionate to reward hardwork with better retirement benefits. A nation of mutual corporate benefits where corporate firms will not just exist for their selfish profit making but will be concerned about the growth of the society in which they grow in. I envisage a nation that is willing to work together to achieve great dreams, dreams that make us a great nation; a nation with a compassionate government, a government that truly represents a government of the people by the people and for the people. That is my Nigeria, the Nigeria I see everyday in my dream and I am certain that once I conceive, it can materialize.
True, talk is cheap but I am reminded that if we get to work, and make the right start, we shall get to the promise land. As I look around, I am reminded that there is a lot of work to be done. There is a need to make people-friendly laws that will effectively change the lives of the people; there is a need to re-create a security agency that will effectively and truly protect lives and property with integrity and without fear or favour. There is a need to re-create a legal system into a system that gives judgement without fear or favour; a legal system that the ordinary citizen put their trust in to get justice irrespective of class.
We need an electoral system that does not favour the ruling class but gives victory to the voice of the people; we need a civil service that is patriotic and truly diligent to service. We need an educational system that is not by privilege but by right; a system whose output are fully-baked graduates. We need an economy that is well regulated and provides job in adequate proportion; encouraging an average living standard for every individual. We need a health sector that is affordable and effective in ensuring that the ordinary citizens are healthy. And most importantly, we need a government that sincerely and truly upholds the rule of law; a compassionate government that sees through the eye of the people and provide those things and comfort citizens can not afford for themselves. This is the Nigeria I feel we are capable of.
One fact is clear; it is a human that is behind the masquerade that cries. Arise O compatriots, there’s work to be done. If we shy away from taking action, we will be shocked at the consequences which definitely will not be too good. The time to act is now. No change comes without work. If we think that we will close our eyes and the change will come someday, we deceive ourselves.
Those developed countries we love to visit were created by the people of that country. As we travel along this journey, I say Yes We Can!
There is a lot of opportunity in this country and I believe that there is so much we can achieve. We are creative, adaptive, strong-willed, hard-working, enduring, and can abide by laws if we are guided to. There is no doubt that potentials abound in this great country but potentials is not enough. We must do much more than potentials to create the kind of future we truly want to see.
As I round up, there is a great need for courageous Nigerians who can believe today that Yes We Can create the kind of future we envisage. Let’s take courage and join the forces to change this nation as change can start from you. We will be better off as a nation if collectively we find a need in our various communities and work towards solving it. The truth is government can not do it alone and this therefore calls for our own complementary actions. If we can conceive, we can achieve.
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