November 24, (THEWILL) — Having the mixed blessings of a November birthday is double-edged, with some people deciding to give you just the one present for your birthday and Christmas. On the other hand, it offers the opportunity of having a head start when it comes to reviewing the past year and kick-starting your plan the for the New Year. As I review the year gone by, I cannot escape how intricately linked my or indeed, our lives are with who we are, our roots, purpose and vision/s. Knowing that while I am still a ‘work-in-progress’, I am who I was created to be and where I need to be helps define and redefine me in the numerous/varying seasons of life that I identify. I can, therefore, say that there is hope and that Nigeria is beautiful. Yes, you read that right. Nigeria, the Beautiful.
There aren’t enough words or space here for me to extol the Beauty, that is Nigeria, despite the negative narratives, issues, parallels and the challenges that come with being so gifted, talented, ambitious/driven, bold, passionate, bursting with natural/human resources and being blessed with fewer natural disasters. I will, however, appreciate the blessings of the:
·Nigerian diversity that brings colour, depth, flavour and inexhaustible richness to the Nigerian culture and tradition like nowhere else in Africa/world. This uniqueness, difference, yet similarities, sets Nigeria apart and make things unpredictable and exciting. This creates dynamism and innovation because it cannot be canned or recreated, causing people to say “only in Naija (Nigeria)”.
·Artistes, content creators and churches that are giving Nigerian language lessons free of charge from the transcripts of the songs, plays, social media posts and movies. Whilst some of these characterisations are questionable and don’t give good impressions, they tell some truths. Hopefully, they’re challenging everyone and causing people to learn to live and love together.
·Latest development of America versus Nigeria. This is a disguised opportunity, not a problem. History shows us that wherever challenges are, there is growth, so this issue needs to be embraced and used as a rallying cry for development. Mr President, Sir, Governors, traditional rulers, CEOs, academic institution leaders, the rich, bright, catalysts, etc, it’s time to arise.
It’s time:
For every state to invest in excellent hospitals, electricity/solar energy to power the work at hand, good roads and transport systems to access the farms and regions, safety and security, etc.
To invest in building houses/estates, to bring back the medics, scientists, tech and IT geniuses that are building other countries.
For American/overseas home and business owners to sell them before they’re taken away from them, and they have no access to them with the new American and global immigration guidelines. Move your investments back home before you’re driven out or left penniless.
How is it that:
- Nigerian banks are not learning from OPay to enable them to command the volume of transactions instead of customers struggling with WiFi, power, etc, when they go into regular banks, causing distress, waste of time and resources for everybody, etc?
- Nigerian herbs, plants, foods and resources are being grown and packaged overseas and sold to Nigerians, whilst those countries that took the same plants have become popular and are now exporting them to other countries?
- Nigeria does not have major solar or nuclear energy plants and houses to subsidise power, and if necessary, export it, when it has incredible tropical sun and nuclear resources?
- Nigerian minerals like diamonds, gold, Californium, etc, are being mined and taken out of Nigeria illegally by foreigners? Some videos of these are being shared online. Californium costs $27 million per gram because it’s rare and required for nuclear reactors, yet Nigerians are poor? Is it a wonder that foreigners are besieging Nigeria in another colonisation bid? Who knows about this and is not doing anything about it?
Why can’t Nigeria learn positive lessons from other countries that have developed their country with their resources, including those that have very little but have made the most of the little they have? These can provide for the people instead of the hunger, poverty, homelessness and displacement that we see, especially from the same places where these minerals are mined, land pillaged and made uninhabitable due to environmental damage or violence?
v. Nigerian traditional rulers and political leaders seem to be very comfortable with selling off their land to foreigners? There are videos of timber being logged from Nigerian forests without replacement trees being planted, as should be the case. This can cause environmental problems in future, including erosion and extinction of plants and herbs that Nigeria has relied on over centuries for health. Can Nigeria not have a bill passed to stop this, protect the forests, plants and herbs? Countries are making money from alternative medicine taken from Nigerian plants/herbs and being resold to Nigerians.
A few things confuse people, including some of us in the diaspora, like why:
People are not paid their wages, or when paid, not paid on time and not in line with the cost of living. When this is not in place, people are bound to be tempted to take bribes and to be hardened to survive. Accountability needs to be established between employers and employees.
There is no comeuppance or long-lasting sentences for criminals that defraud the government or people of the states/Nigeria, or of them paying/giving back what they’ve taken to refund the people/government? This makes change impossible as people just believe that they can get away with anything or bribe their way out, so the pattern continues.
Nigeria seems to welcome criminals into Nigeria to hide or bring their crime into Nigeria, adding to the negative impression/narratives of Nigeria. President Erdoğan of Turkey said so during his visit to Nigeria in October 2021 about criminals from Turkey, now residing in Nigeria or a DJ/Presenter who’s now in court for alleged rape
Another country’s cargo business was allowed to run the Nigerian Embassy Office on Fleet Street, London (in what was called the ‘From Cargo to Consulate’ move)? Did the leaders not realise that the said country now has data on Nigerians, businesses and visitors to Nigeria from the UK?
The Nigerian High Commission, London, is still on analogue and not fully digital systems and people’s files/information are still in physical files on floors and tables.
Has history been removed from the secondary school curriculum? Does this mean depending on information from foreign sources about the history of Nigeria? Who makes advancement without understanding their roots or foundation? Removing history brings confusion and an identity crisis to the youth. Countries are making money from their history, arts, culture and tradition, and Nigerians are consuming them whilst losing theirs.
Can Nigeria not have its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process to heal the nation after decades of violations to promote forgiveness in the light of Nigerian past history and current situations? A Nigerian TRC (NTRC) can reconstruct/redefine Nigerian issues from identity, to balancing law, justice, truth, peace and security to fight discrimination and divisive ideologies and should include bright women.
As we are in November, the departure lounge of the New Year, this is to remind our leaders that “to whom much is given, much is expected/required”. Nigeria needs to go beyond potential to fulfilment with leaders who have hearts for our people beyond the elections. Nigerian leaders across board need to have the willpower and humility to engage in building a culture of compliance, monitoring, and evaluation, because the immortality or worship that many crave will come with a successful state. People will sing their praise because Nigerians are patient and very easy to please. They forgive easily and accommodate so much. Even as our leaders want what is best for themselves and their families, they must review their ‘modus operandi’ because they’ve been put in positions of trust. They must have guidelines, standards, benchmarks, checks/balances, etc., to avoid the irony of creating their own disasters, like instilling the awareness that no one signs a contract that binds the nation/people without showing it to Nigerian lawmakers/getting help where language interpretation is needed. Our leaders must facilitate healthy competitions, incentives and buy-in with awards (monetary/otherwise) to engage, encourage and inspire individuals, companies, organisations and states to for longer-lasting positive change and vision.
Compliments of the season, Everyone, and best wishes for a better Nigeria and future because Nigeria is too beautiful and has too much to be left the way she currently is.
***Written by Angela Morah.
