Nigerians
love to talk about their nationalist with a deep longing, wishing they were
still with us in order that we continue to enjoy the benevolence of their rare
traits. Those nationalists inherited a healthy baby-nation in 1960, from the
British colonial administration. Six years later issued erupted and there was a
civil war.
The
fact that there was a civil war in just six years of independence should tell
us that perhaps those leaders were not exactly what we thought they were.
Rather than simmer down our despicable issues continued to flourish, reaching a
point where the nation is perpetually at war today. At different times, it is
either Sharia Killings in Kaduna, tribal and religious conflict in Jos, or war
of emancipation in the Niger Delta, or cattle theft and killings of revenge in
Benue and Enugu, or voodoo killings in Nassarawa State. Yes, the revolt just
gets relayed from one state to another like a baton in a tract event.
These
continued problems underscore the character of every Nigerian, stretching back
to the so called nationalists. If there was any good in the years directly
following independence it was the remnant of colonial legacy.
One
man who saw and played a role in the politics of the years following
independence, and who is still alive today, is Alhaji Maitama Sule. In his
oratory speeches he constantly and flawlessly eulogizes the impeccable traits
of his contemporaries, until he was cornered recently by a BBC journalist who
noted that he had seen video footages in which the “saints” of Nigerian
politics were said to have been seen carrying smoking guns. At that point the
orator was compelled to make an admission in which he agreed that there were
streaks of corruption there were, nonetheless, not as fanatical and crazy as
what we see today. In the same interview a tape was played of another man who
witnessed the politics of the early 1960s narrating how members of the
opposition parties were denied agricultural loans, and even killed for their
political views and beliefs.
The
most important thing to note about the revelation is that the issues we faced
today were actually sown and watered by those pioneers of a politically
independent Nigeria. So, all Nigerians must address one issue: the lowest
level of patriotism that is, perhaps, fantastically the greatest in the
world.
But
our issue is deeply rooted and as treacherous as a land underlain by booby
traps. It became so entrenched because it has been allowed to flourish for over
half a century, and as such it has grown to be a culture, a lifestyle, a band
wagon that everyone wants to be part of.
Today,
though, we have a rare personality who has the will and fearlessness to face
and tackle our problem until there are just signs that it once existed. The
patriotism and courage of President Mohammadu Buhari, for long, has been
impressed in the consciousness of Nigerians, but it is just that we have
pretended to be ignorant of it. It is often said that the taste of a pudding is
in the eating. With Boko Haram bitterly marking the climax of our soaring
complacency, it is clear that millions of Nigerians have now fully tasted the
consequences and are now turning to Buhari while he is still alive.
Buhari
made promises: fighting terrorism, fighting corruption, improving
infrastructures, reviving the economy and creating jobs. In the past, series of
administrations serially fooled Nigerians, and at the end of the first year
when there was nothing to show, people are simply fed with blinding rhetoric’s.
Nigerians would aware that the persuasions were rhetorical, but would have no
option than to fold their hands while hoodlums and gangsters continue to
intensify the rot. In the first one year of Buhari as an elected president,
however, there are things to show. All territories from Boko Haram have been
retaken, and the refugees, the insurgency has created, are now returning to
their homes.
When
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, boss talked spoke on radio
sometimes this month he said the anticorruption war has recovered more loot
than the commission has ever recovered since its creation in 2003.
Extraordinary men do extraordinary things.
However,
the burden of Nigeria is still too heavy for one man. Luckily, Nigeria is a
nation of 170 million men and women and should be able to carry the burden,
with unanimity and concentration of efforts.
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