The Nigeria of my dream. I dream of a Nigeria where there is security and foreigners could sleep comfortably without fear of robbery and our brothers in diaspora ready to invest in our nation because a safe space is provided, I yearn for a Nigeria where citizens are no longer disregarded by foreigners. I wish for a Nigeria where peace abounds and happiness is food for her people.
What is the Nigeria of my dream?
The Nigeria of my dream devoid of religious and ethnic sentiments, corruption discarded and truth becomes a poem on the lips of our leaders, A Nigeria where citizens enjoy a favorable environment, working hospitals, good schools, employment and provisions of necessities for the people. A Nigeria where no one thinks of the self but thinks about the well being of everybody.
It turns out that it is only a dream because we have been failed by Nigeria by our leaders and I am irritated, humans get irritated, Nigerians are irritated. Nigerians Have many irritations about our “failed politics”. Nigerians Source of Irritation is a failed politicking and corrupt leadership.
Nigerians get really irritated with the poor infrastructural facilities we have, they are so disgusted and tired of unemployment, we are so mad at the educational system, even more, frustrating is the health care sector of the Nigerian society. It may surprise you to also know that nature has done great by giving Nigerians beautiful resources and manpower also backed up with favorable weather but over dependency has placed us as a tool in the hands of those who see Nigeria as a nation always waiting for a kind foreigner to save us; this is enough reason to be irritated.
Poverty is a rhyme on the lips of the vulnerable citizens as they continually lament over the lack they are forced to endure, we are so used to darkness that we show the irritation we get from the energy sector, by just hissing to the discomfort caused. I could go on, but I rather pay attention to the irritation caused by the Nigerian politics and leaders. If we can understand the roles politics have to play in the development of the Nigerian society the anomalies will no longer be visible.
The political system is bad, the leaders are corrupt, bad mentors, bad policies, exploitation, injustices, greed and the amassing of wealth, election malpractices, empowerment of the youth negatively for their own self destruction, continuity of unfavourable regimes and ideologies, transfer of the nation’s funds to other countries by most politicians, I could go on and on but why bother mentioning? They are the recurring pain points of the Nigerian society. But which way Nigeria? How do we move forward?
Nigerians are so irritated by all these, Nigerians complain, We talk down on politicians, the system, revolt and do all sorts of things yet nothing changes, our politics are still the same, our leaders still corrupt but I still believe in my dreams because something is lacking, we have done the complaint and criticisms but what have you done as an individual outside the political spectrum? Do you just complain and do nothing or dance in continuity of their evils, do you just remain silent and fold hands?
We want to give one million solutions to the Nigerian problems, it is enough to laugh about, because these people do not care, they are quite comfortable, they are not suffering as you, they are the capitalists, they own the money, they control the money and they make the laws in favour of their own selfish gains.
It may surprise you to know that the national policy of education has beautiful, workable policies but implementation is 0%, the same with the Constitution and policies in Nigeria, because the people in charge will not make use of those policies if they won’t benefit from them, look at the tax policy, oh well, nations depend on taxation to run certain aspects of their economy, it works for them but why isn’t it working for us?, Because we do not have leaders we have capitalists who make rules and evade taxes for their gains, don’t quote me wrong, I am a Nigerian too, voicing out the irritations of my people.
I was going to tell you about the very thing Nigerians haven’t done so well, we have said so much about our political structure from the outside, we think it’s so easy, so all we do is talk and talk from the outside, in Nigeria majority are not comfortable with the system, they are actually to an extent perfect people for leadership with the beautiful things they say, but ask them to get involved in politics they will say “oh no, politics is not my thing, I don’t want to be a politician, I rather make my point from here”. But they won’t change. So how do you get this change if you won’t partake and you won’t change your own individual perceptions?
This change cannot be achieved if we all sit behind and just criticize, the thing is, the people who will always gain power are those who share the same ideologies as the already existing ones and they will always promote the previous ideologies, so we will continue to have bad leaders and the continuity of bad policies.
Oh, look at Fela, Martin Luther King who had dreams, and fought so hard from the outside to make changes, why didn’t they succeed? Why didn’t their voices make the change we still crave for today? Because they had beautiful dreams but didn’t bring the dreams to light, we didn’t see the dreams because a dream has its ownness, I cannot bring your dream to reality because I didn’t see what you saw and how you were able to achieve it, you can make the change you want yourself. Indeed, it starts with me!
The problem of the Nigerian society is not just the politics but those who have good plans for the nation but have refused to see that it works no matter what. We could start from somewhere, maybe from the little positions we occupy and make the changes gradually, be consistent in your ideals, keep pushing for the truth till the truth is the only vision we can have as a society. I am glad that a wonderful Nigerian has started this trend “it starts with me” so that this goodwill is inculcated into people.
Chairman Mao and the rest complained from the outside but didn’t end there they came in to make known and visible their dreams. We can actually do same, because the problem of Nigeria is within and must be solved from within and not without. Sure, if we have a stable government nobody would want to move out of our nation to be killed by inhumane people. You can be that leader that could take us to that stability, do not hide from it. Do not remain in this irritation by only talking from the outside. Start acting, be the leader that will change the continuation of bad ideologies.
Things are properly done when we get involved, an architect does not just make plans, without seeing that they are achieved, it is a beautiful thing to see a well-laid structure constructed by you. Those policies you have in your head, let the world see it through your involvement and contributions. We need a messiah who acts and not the one who talks, enough of the complaints let’s all come together to achieve the Nigeria of our dream, and to achieve you have to light the candle so others follow.
