I Love Nigeria!; Just Because By Paul I.
Adujie
Avidly, I read everything in print. Newspaper and magazine essays, internet commentaries and books etc. I learn from every writer and every written word, good and, even bad writings. The written word is our chance to learn from a million experiences, encapsulated
The written word, for me, has added meanings, when such are written by a Nigerian! I have said this in the past, I doing so again pointedly, Nigerians have dramatic effects on me. Nigerians are the bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, yes, I am a Nigerian! It is usually of no significance whether I agree with point of view or not. Mr. Sonala Olumhense is a Nigerian writer, whose writings I have followed for decades, a great deal of his written work and deep feelings about Nigeria, I share. Some others, I wish that I could have persuaded him otherwise. Presently, I mention him, because I am about to copy and employ a style for which is noted, interactive journalism! Or shall we call it, empowered and democratic journalism? We learn from those who may agree, even those in disagreement!
Mr. Sonala Olumhense has this practice in which he features the reactions and comments to his public affairs commentaries, by his readers who, like me, agree and sometimes disagree with his expressed opinions on current public affairs Nigerian.
In mathematics, you cannot divide by zero and in logic, you cannot prove a negative! This is analogous to the attitude of Nigerians toward Nigeria. Some Nigerians say adamantly and repeatedly, that Nigeria is beyond redemption. Some say, Nigeria will disintegrate sooner than later. Some Nigerians actually admit to praying for Nigeria’s obliteration!
These
Nigerians seem to forget, that empires of old and modern nations of
present day world, are made great and such greatness is maintained by
citizens, who possess exultant and exuberant attitude toward their
empires or nations. A Country becomes and remains powerful so long as
her citizens rejoice in her! I need to emphasize the point that:
I am a legitimate optimist, as Nigerian who is bashful, and enthusiastic about Nigeria, I have no choice, but compelled to be optimistic about my homeland. What else is there? Complacency about Nigeria is not a luxury that I can afford
What is the
use of democracy without patriotism? What is the rule of law without
patriotism what is the use of due process is there is not patriotism
1. Some
Nigerians Are Waiting To Be Patriotic!
It is quite common to find Nigerians agreeing with non-Nigerians who maul Nigeria and Nigerians with lopsided and mostly unwarranted criticisms. There are times as well, when Nigerians vehemently reject and refute false accusations against Nigerians and Nigeria
Commenting on one of my articles, a Nigerian known only as ILN Too, wrote these words “There are too many silly Nigerians out there who are all too willing to wax lyrical when it comes to giving Nigeria the flak. what those idi-ots do not seem to fathom is that they only expose their stupidity and intellectual laziness. true, those Nigerians might have emigrated because of the harsh economic realities back home. but aren't they cutting off their noses to spite their own faces?”
“Those Nigerians may acquire foreign citizenship or be living in relative comfort in their host countries (countries that they often seem all too willing to eulogize). However, in reality, those Nigerians are constantly reminded that their host countries are not where they actually belong. but these reminders often take very subtle dimensions and some of us are too dumb to notice them (the CNN documentary is probably just one of those reminders, only this time, it is patently blunt; the haters of Nigeria, as they should be called, drove home their points with undisguised venom)”
“There are a lot of Nigerians living abroad that take perverse pleasure in ridiculing Nigerians that have remained in the country. the reaction to that documentary would have been quite different if the criminals featured or the crimes had been perpetrated in Nigeria and not the United States. it would have given an excellent opportunity for the pessimists in our midst to start saying, 'well, yes we know nothing good would come out of that country and we said it!' Quite lucky that this time around, this category of idi-ots were not spared; the CNN insulted Nigerians in their entirety. a lot of 'pessimists in Diaspora' (no disrespect whatever to Nigerians in Diaspora) would probably reason that CNN has hit too close to home.”
“In that respect, there is a salutary lesson to be learnt from the offensive documentary; people that take sadistic pleasure in denigrating their backgrounds gain nothing in the exercise, rather, they stand to lose. After all, for most of us, Nigeria (warts and all) is, in the end, the only place we can call our own. so why cast unnecessary aspersions on it? this is one thing that beats me and i want to believe i am no nitwit. if my mum were mad (she is not, ok!) i would definitely not take pleasure in going to the market square and announcing to the public that she is! and i would also be deeply offended if any of 'my friends' tried to do the same.”
“Talking about friendship, i would like to ask villagers whether they consider the US as Nigeria's friend or enemy. there have been a series of events recently that make me seriously doubt the sincerity of America's friendship to Nigeria; not the least of these events is the 'intelligence report' that Nigeria will break up in fifteen years or less. not that i am overly concerned about any half baked American intelligence; the American intelligence has an uncanny habit of turning out to be rather unintelligent. seriously though, if i were American, i would be more concerned about how many years it will take Iraq, for example, to break up. if i had a friend that goes round telling people that i am likely to die of a particular ailment after a certain number of years, i would probably do my best to keep away from them (thank God, I don't have such a friend). with friends like the US, it is becoming increasingly clear that Nigeria doesn't need enemies (a food for thought for our compatriots striving hard to make America even greater”
“I know that some will criticize and lecture me about freedom, human rights and what not. The British hanged Lord Haw Haw (real name William Joyce) for treason - for taking side with Nazi Germany. Treason in most Western countries is a criminal offence. These Nigerians have committed treason and must be punish when they return to Nigeria.”
“Hmmmmm, I am thinking: if there were such a law, some Nigerians would use it to their advantage such as knowingly committing treason and then claiming political asylum in the West. I better leave that to the lawyers to figure out. Whatever the outcome, these traitors must be punished for colluding with our enemies. That's all I have to say.”
“Like you said, blacks are reminded of their second class status through subtle means, not the least of which is their systematic exclusion from the institutions of power, and their relegation to ceremonial, impotent roles like Mayors and the like”
“ To live as a black person in the Diaspora is to witness impieties such as seeing the culture of the middle east, (the terrorists breeding ground of the world) celebrated, while coverage of Africa is relegated to dehumanizing and loathsome pictures of Africans ravaged by disease or famine. To live in the Diaspora is to see people celebrate the mention of other countries of the world, but to squirm uncomfortably and try to change the subject to wars or disease when Africa is mentioned. I cannot tell you how many times I have personally been witness to what I described in the preceding sentence”
“Citizens of countries that have perpetrated the most atrocious crimes against humanity do not tolerate the corruption of their countries' image, and I don't see why Nigerians should. Nigeria might be infested with criminals in our ruling class, but the same countries that routinely assail our image are also bedeviled by their share of heartless criminals”
“And yes, ILN TOO, I believe you are quite right when you say that a country would never predict the death of another country she considered a friend. I can think of nothing more hateful than that”
I will only add as I have in the past, that the call to the service of Nigeria, is the greatest service of all. As I restate these words.
All Nigerians
need to start acting in a manner that demonstrate our
Nigerians must start to be full time Nigerians, with permanent interests in Nigeria. Instead of acting as if we have alternative or substitute plans that is necessarily inconsistent with our being part of a single and united one Nigeria nation. We should put in, a one hundred percent efforts into our Nigerian-ness and our efforts on behalf of our country. We should stop acting as if we are seceding tomorrow! We should put all our hearts and minds in Nigeria’s behalf. We will overcome all national challenges. We must all clearly indicate that we have permanent interests in Nigeria and Nigeria’s success.
Nigeria is ours! In failure and in success; preferably in success!
All Nigerians
at home and abroad must play their part in helping Nigeria
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