ARISE, O COMPATRIOTS! NIGERIA IS 52!

It is unusual to find a fifty- two year old who depends on his or her parents.  Hardly any culture in the world supports this. At fifty- two, it is expected that you have long established your place and are furthering your cause with posterity at the back of your mind.  Youths might be prone to do things for the now but this is not the case with a fifty-two year old. The future becomes important. How it will end becomes a matter for thought.

Nigeria is fifty two. Granted, the life cycle of a nation differs from that of a human being, but we can still learn some crucial lessons from the latter.  On this occasion of Nigeria’s 52nd independence anniversary, I will focus on the lesson of self dependency that we can find in the life of most fifty-two year old humans. This is the point in our lives when we as a nation should desist from looking to a parent and begin to look within for solutions. We are the people of Nigeria. We are the nation, all 150 million plus of us.  We have focused too long on the government as our parent. We have not taking parenting as a role we play but as a role a few others play for us. This has got to change, if not for the fact that it has not worked over the years, then for the plain fact that we are fifty-two years old today.

“The government should do this”, “The government should do that “. We have to minimize such statements at this stage of our lives. If there are no jobs, we have to create them, whether it is on the President’s agenda or not. If a government is not responsive to its duties, we have to learn at fifty- two to stop complaining in our newspapers and within our household conversations, and learn to unseat such government. We have to learn at fifty-two to steer our Ship and decide where we are going. We have to learn to stop a few from driving their personal interests under the pretense of running a democracy.

Compatriots, arise! We are the government, we are the economic planning committee, and we are the job providers! Fifty-two year old people shouldn't wear diapers or be fed from feeding bottles. We don’t need handlers expect we are handicapped. Are we? Yes, in knowledge. We don’t all know enough, so some people have told us blue is black, but hopefully, not any more. We are fifty-two.  

This is a wake up call. “They” are not the government. “We” are the government”.

Let me add some instructive humor with this story I heard yesterday. It is the story of a young boy who heard that a wise man was to visit his village. The wise man was said to know all things and possess the answer to every question. The boy decided to prove the notion false. The boy went into a bush and caught a small bird. He held the bird in his hands, placed his hands behind him and went to see the wise man. He arrived before the wise man with his hands still behind him, and then he asked the wise man:

“Sir, the animal I am holding behind me, is it living or dead?”

His plan was to squeeze life out of the little bird if the wise man answered “living” and produce it living if the wise man answered “dead”.

The wise man looked intently at the boy and said “Son, the answer is in your hands”

Nigeria’s future is in our hands.

Arise, O Compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey!

Happy Independence Day to all Nigerians!