By Richard Odusanya.
Majority of Nigerians have lost the will to fight because of the harrowing experience they face on a daily basis. Psychology is a very strong thing. It governs your emotions and eventually, your actions. A person’s perspective on life comes from the inner emotional cage they’ve been holding themselves captive in.
When you ceaselessly rape a woman or man, he/she slowly lose the will to live and lives in a state of blackout. Nigeria as a nation is almost in a state of blackout, where very few people are mentally, emotionally, and financially still empowered to continue the fight for a better Nigeria.
Majority of Nigerians are only Nigerians by nomenclature and not by the heart. Psychologically, most Nigerians have the passport of another nation in their heads. They no longer believe in the Nigerian dream. It’s undisputed that many of us would readily change our nationality to any country with better prospects who offers such opportunity.
2023 is fast approaching and we shall go to the polls. What fate awaits our country? Are we going to continue suffering? I’m not among the Nigerians that is not bothered where the next President comes from. The overwhelming majority of Nigerians have realized that it is not their votes that make leaders in Nigeria.
For Africa to rise, we don’t only need wise (strategic) leaders, we also need wise citizens. Nigeria like many Countries on the African continent has been plagued with many problems that continue to add unprecedented hardship on the lives of its citizens. We need leaders who will push for the peace and unity and not leaders who will try to push for ethnic or religious divide.
Everybody desire a beautiful living where things work and human life is much appreciated and well nurtured. But when it comes to leadership yet it has been one tail of mismanagement to another. The earth is blessed enough to satisfy every person’s need but not everyone’s greed.
Every human being is born with a measure of greed and selfishness. What makes the difference in everyone is the opportunity, checks and balances and self discipline. Many a time we keep saying that the problem with our country lies within our leaders. I totally don’t believe it. I believe that the problem also lies within us.
For instance, a student who is trying to bribe a lecture in order to have a higher score. The student bribed because he/she thinks that having a good score is what is important at that moment. The funny thing is that they all claim to be born again, God fearing citizens who believe that they will make it to Heaven. And that is how a lot of us are crippling the country and destroying our future.
Many good people have joined in applauding and promoting glaringly rotten politicians and government officials simply because they got to their wits end or simply because they want a share of the stolen wealth. When you blame the citizens for Nigeria’s woes and problems, you tend to have enemies, but when you blame the government, everyone agrees.
If the government is to blame for everything, where then does our government come from? Do they just magically appear and become politicians? Who supports them? Who helps them wield their power? Isn’t the answer the people? Now, you would agree that a large number of Nigerians are also the problem with Nigeria.
Corruption is all over the world. Talk about poor government policies, it’s everywhere in the world. But the only thing all countries don’t have in common is the people and the attitude of citizens goes a long way in building a great nation. Even if we succeed in building all the Nigeria of our dreams, we can still mess them all up, no matter how good they are.
Nigerians are generally impatient, always in a hurry, uncooperative and we think we know too much. Nevertheless, I have high hopes for Nigeria, but I believe with our attitude as Nigerians, it may take a while. Until we are ready to accept that we have to lose some things to gain some things, we are not ready for a reform. A great reminder to elites and citizens in the society. Everyone should take responsibility for leadership.
NIGERIA NEEDS A NEW NATIONAL MODEL….. ARISE ‘O COMPATRIOTS.
- Richard Odusanya is a Social Reform Crusader and the convener of Africa Covenant Rescue Initiative (ACRI)