Geez... i remember the weirdest things...some stuff that i’m better off forgetting. Is it a blessing or a curse? Depends on how i choose to see it really... Blessing, in that I remember, and I work through it, get stronger with it, or try to put it out of my mind, or just overcome it. Curse, in that it could ruin the rest of my day, get me depressed, throw rocks in my garri, that kinda thing.
Ah well, i guess I’ll just have to live through it somehow, and hope it does not happen every single year.
So today, of all days, I had an epiphany,i think, some sort of realisation that came across as I foolishly embraced an old habit. It did feel like an epiphany, but it needs time to prove itself. Hopefully it is what I hope it is, and not just a shot of hormones sending messages to my brain.
This law school posting ish is taking forever. Like seriously, what’s the suspense for? At this rate, when it finally comes out, i’ll be in a mad rush to get things sorted. I’m not looking forward to this at all, and I hope it comes out this week.
I was flipping through TELL Magazine (yes, I do try to keep myself abreast of interesting events..interesting being they key word here), and I came across the cover story, about the bombing on Independence day. What a way to clock 50. Turns out that there were actually warnings of its occurrence, three different warnings in fact. The US and the UK knew about, and informed the government twice before the event. It is only in Nigeria that with such a warning, and while showing off our ‘graceful’ military defence regalia, the explosions will still happen. Everybody is now pointing fingers at everybody. The major suspect according to the magazine is Henry Okah, a MEND affiliate who lives in South Africa and supplies ammunition. My mind then drifted to the Niger Delta, their situation, and the militants. All these people want is for the government to pay attention to their towns, to provide them with basic amenities so that they stop dying of various diseases and living in desolation. How can the people living in the source of most of the oil we have in this nation be in so much poverty and lack? It makes no sense whatsoever. One can see where these militants are coming from, trying to fight for a better life for their people.
Why are Nigerians so greedy and power hungry? How can leaders be so terribly selfish, so inanely myopic? I don’t get it at all. Its these kind of things that make us lose hope in Nigeria. During the independence day, quite frankly, other than giving God thanks for His mercies, i could not think of much to celebrate. People are dying, while others are making stupid money, using ridiculous sums to celebrate a farce. What can we show for our 50 years in existence?
These thoughts were on my mind when I had another epiphany...actually, this was the first epiphany before I had that of today.
I was in Redemption camp, when the national sports organisation or some such body came forward to honour Pastor Adeboye as the spiritual adviser or something. As the G.O came forward, what struck me was the fact that this man, despite the mess the nation is in, still believes in Nigeria. He prays endlessly, tirelessly for the restoration of this land. It was his faith that made me realise hat Nigeria is not the one with the problem. Nigeria as an entity is made up of great resources, great people (for the most part), enormous potential. It is the people in authority that are so horribly messed up. Nigeria belongs to us. Belongs to our fathers, our mothers, our children, brothers and sisters. So we can do either of two things really. We can keep pointing fingers, keep abusing the nation, keep saying all things negative and ultimately, we can flee, leaving the nation in the hands of the thieves to plunder to their heart’s content . Or, we can go the place of power, which is the place of prayer. We can keep beseeching God to have mercy on us. We can purge our own souls of the corruption that lies therein. Because the truth is that we shout and yell that are leaders are corrupt, but as young as we are, the corruption is below the surface, waiting to for the right opportunity to erupt. How do you explain student leaders on campuses blatantly stealing the money of their organisations and doctoring records to cover their tracks? Someone said that you should be the change you want to see in the world. If all the leaders die tomorrow, can we confidently say that the younger generation will do better? I certainly cannot. If you work in an office and you fill in false records of your arrival time, if you ask someone to fill in your name illegally so that you will get benefits you did not work for or deserve, if you add an extra zero behind that cheque or receipt for your gain, if you lie and cheat and manipulate your way to the top, if you justify bad habits instead of facing them and dealing with them, then you need to take a closer look in the mirror, because then, we will be no better than the Babangidas of this world, and we will only be making useless pretentious noise, not because we want the world to be a better place, but because we are not the ones who got the golden opportunity to loot and steal and get rich quickly.
Random thoughts that cross my mind on this day, of all days. If you are reading this, and you know who you are, I’m assuming you remember as I ask, it’s been quite a year, hasn’t it?
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