The Nigeria I See
Share with us your dreams of
a better nation
Its Nigeria’s 53rd
anniversary - the celebration of the independence of any nation should mark a
progressive development in all indexes of growth in the said nation. That may
not entirely be the story of Nigeria. Year in and out, we have read countless
articles of how things are not working out in the country. Usually, it is the
same story; no power, unemployment, bad roads, corruption, tribalism and
insecurity. But that is not all there is to us. Our independence should celebrate
who we are; our strength, unity in diversity, our rich culture and heritage. We
should beam the light and embrace us as we are while forging ahead. Yes,
nothing may be working but e go better.
Muttallab aside, (Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is the 23year old wanna be
terrorist who failed to detonate a bomb to blow up a US Northwest Flight 253
with hundreds of passengers on board traveling from Amsterdam-Schipol airport
to Detroit, Michigan, USA), we still have many great men and women who have
done us proud as a nation.
We have the likes of Soyinka, Achebe,
Ben Okri, Ola Rotimi and Chiamanda Adichie
who have done us proud in the literary world. Just this year, we became
African sports champion after a team of home based players beat other world
class players to win the African Nations Cup. The list is endless.
There’s always something to smile about
no matter how dark the clouds maybe. Though it hurts that over fifty years
since the colonial masters left, we are still grappling with many self
afflicted problems. While some quarters hold that corruption is the main cause
of our problems, others say we shouldn’t have gotten our independence when we
did. Our leaders today simply do not share the ideals and values of our freedom
fighters and over fifty years, we can’t beat our chest yet to a job well done.
In our hypocritical nature, we hide
under the blankets of religion. Even that is no longer working and has equally
backfired in our faces. Truth be told, the average man may not see a reason to
celebrate because nothing has changed and the future looks bleak.
But we must move on. Giving up is not
even an option. What is the Nigeria you see? Share with us the Nigeria of your
dreams for publication in the upcoming October Independence Anniversary edition
of TIMELESS Magazine.
God bless
