It's been 56 years since we gained our independence from the British, 56 years since that joyous Saturday of October 1960 when our fathers and mothers must have thought, “Ah! Freedom finally!”, amidst their hearty celebrations. I'm still in bed and can't help but wonder. If our veterans who fought so hard and tenaciously for our freedom envisioned that the state of our nation today would be what it is, would they have laboured as hard as they did? Is this at all what they were willing to sacrifice their lives for?
I know there'll be a lot of posts today reminding us how bad things are with us at the moment. How nothing in this country seems to be working. How our economy right now is the worst it has ever been. How insurgency, militancy, and what we'd rather not want to refer to as terrorism are seemingly waxing stronger and slowly tearing us apart How the government of the day can do so much better than it is currently. For me, the question is “what am I doing to change things?”
It's rather sad that the words of our national anthem (which - quite honestly - used to stir up feelings of duty and responsibility in me back in the day) now seem to be losing potency and meaning with each new morning. Nobody wants to be the compatriot who obeys Nigeria's call. “Who Nigeria dey call? Who Nigeria epp?” Who's still willing to serve Nigeria with so much gusto and patriotism? Aren't the labours of our heroes past already being forgotten? And whatever happened to the freedom and the peace and the unity that were supposed to bind us together?
Today serves as a reminder to me that I am Nigerian. It's the nation of my origin; the nation of my birth. I have no other. Whether I choose to accept it or not, and regardless of what anyone else says about it, I share in the responsibility for whatever state Nigeria is in today, as young as I might consider myself to be. Can I honestly say I'm doing the much that's expected of me? Am I playing my part as well as I can?
Nigeria's blessed with unbelievable potential, and God has been most gracious and merciful to us. We've got geniuses, people who's ideas could turn this country around for the better. Really great minds! We've got genuinely talented young people whose gifts are either eagerly waiting to be discovered or just wasting away. It's rather unfortunate that the average young person here has no intention of helping to make this country better for themselves, or for their children. Everyone who realises they've got something that the world needs to see looks for the slightest of chances to run away to more fertile ground. But we can't be blamed, or can we?
How can a building built with substandard materials not be prone to collapse? How can we expect to prepare and enjoy delicious vegetable soup when our vegetables are all rotten? Believe it or not, the all-round growth and development of this county is dependent on the small things we have chosen to neglect. It's really all dependent on you and me. If I spend long hours talking about how corrupt our government is when I myself am just as corrupt (maybe just on a much smaller scale), doesn't that just make me a hypocrite?
I don't know about you, but today, I've decided to reaffirm my commitment to making this country a better place for the generations yet unborn. I've decided to complain less about the failures of the entire system and pay more attention to my own workspace. If each of us can be better with our characters, attitudes and values today than we were yesterday - and deliberately keep that trend going with each new day - this country will definitely soar to greater heights.
Let's thank God for Nigeria, for the much we have now, and for the promises that yet lie ahead of us.
Happy Independence Day, and a beautiful October to us all.
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