Nigeria has been in a bittersweet mood since the beginning of the year. It's the100 years celebration and a commemoration of the amalgamation of the nation known as Nigeria by Lord Fredrick Lugard. Prior to the merger cum marriage, the country was separated into two protectorates namely, the Southern Protectorate and the Northern Protectorate. Nigeria has since 1914 been governed as one nation. The bitter part of the fruit that we have had to chew is the Boko Haram menace and high rate of insecurity in the nation. Mass poverty is old news. Aren't we used to that story already? But the Boko Haram incidence has been a local and global concern.
I wouldn't know all the details that went into the centenary celebration. However, I know that a committee was inaugurated and empowered to make the ceremony a success. One of the events that they put together was the centenary awards ceremony. I couldn't believe my eyes that all the past Heads of State were honoured with awards. Yes, I know it. We are a gerontology society. WE believe in respecting our elders. What about holding them accountable for their actions?
If I'm not just babbling, I believe that all of the military rulers of our dear Nigera were coupists - yeah, they got into power through coup d'etat. True or False? Alright, before you begin to say this and that I know that Africa and coups are very friendly to each other. Many African countries have at one time or the other have had military rulers. Does it make it acceptable for soldiers to become presidents?
Truth be told, the celebrations have been rather low-key owing to the murders of young children in Yobe, Borno, and other Northern states of the country by the infamous Boko Haram. How do we even begin to celebrate knowing full well that we have been saddled with a deeply divisive country? One that conflict was implanted at its very foundations?
One thing that makes me very happy to be Nigerian is what many people take for granted - citizenship. Do we know what that means? When one is outside of one's home country, that's probably a time of reflection of what it means to belong to a nation. Many Nigerians take this country for granted and I know it didn't just begin in 1960. What led to the Nigeria civil war? A coup? Yes, and what again? A failed promise. Then, there was the war and the aftermath. We are still in the aftermath.
I join hands with all who turned down these awards of shame given to coupists, looters, embezzlers, and everybody else who would rather put up with an inept nationhood, to say, Go away with your filth! If you sought my opinion, I would have asked the centenary celebration committee to seek out all the street urchins under the bridges, who still believe in Nigeria, and are still here instead of in Ghana, Morocco, Saudi Arabia or any other country, where they can exchange their citizenship for a bowl of pottage.
Are we still dancing to the music of transformation, sir?
What are we transforming? I'm not so much interested in an apology from the Presidency as I'm interested in what I'm going to do to put my life into order, after many incessant strike action. I don't know where to go next. The walk to nowhere is very far away, with no destination in mind. When can we hold our leaders accountable for their actions? Are we ever going to tell our children: "Don't join the military with the mind to execute a coup, or I will disown you"?
Ehe? Moving forward, let's join the train of transformation and hope that it doesn't end in Timbuktu. Let's keep it moving while we nurse our wounded pride. What a shame.
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