Talk delivered by me at the International Conference of
Nigerian Students, University of Hull
Good evening ladies
and gentlemen. I would first like to appreciate the organisers of this conference
for giving me the privilege to speak at a conference where men and women of
great standing have so ably spoken. I hope that I will be able to justify the
confidence which they have placed in me.
I have been
asked to speak about Nigeria ,
a country for which I have a great love for, notwithstanding the fact that it
is the only country that I have. I do not wish to dwell on Nigeria ’s
problems of which it is accepted they are many, but on the strengths of this
great nations.
I have lived in
and travelled the length and breadth of the country, to the North-central,
South-east, South-west, in all, about 16 states of the federation. I have been
amazed at the beauty of Nigeria ,
the deserts in the north and the forests in the south. The mountains that
surround my house in Lokoja become enshrouded with clouds in the aftermath of
the rains making feel the reality of paradise on earth. This beauty has moved
me to emotional and poetical heights, but remains unmatched by the true worth
and value of Nigeria
which is its resourceful people.
Each of the over
150 million citizens of Nigeria
is a uniquely and exquisitely crafted living-breathing wonder of the world. Our
boisterous nature is untamed by the vicissitudes of life that characterise Nigeria . And
these problems are myriad. I wish to submit that we focus mostly not on the
problems of Nigeria
but on the manifestations of these problems. We vilify a system which is solely
a reflection of what we have become. Like every force or instrument in
existence, a human being can be used for evil or for good. The difference
between a person and an instrument is that a person has a choice. A choice to
accept what can be called the norms of our society or to decide to buck the
trend and take a different direction down the path less travelled and make a
difference.
As citizens of Nigeria , we owe
a responsibility to ourselves, each other and to generations yet unborn, to
make the right choices. The choices we make today live long after we die and
have more impact than we can ever foresee. For example a poorly taught class
may result in substandard educational products, who will in turn build bad
roads causing death to many, or manufacture toxic goods. A hospital partially
equipped due to mismanaged funds will ultimately cause the death of thousands.
If the way I live my life will cause someone to die, then I prefer not to live.
Furthermore, we cannot absolve ourselves of guilt by declaring that we
ourselves have part in the odious practices of corruption, for evil prevails
when good men do nothing.
You may well ask
me then “What can I as only one person do against the overwhelming tide of
degradation that seemingly besets Nigeria?” I would reply there is unimaginable
strength in the power of one person. The most popular example will be that of
Rosa Parks whose defiance in the face of overpowering and accepted injustice
led to the civil rights movement of the sixties without which Obama would not
have become president of the United
States of America . Her defiance was fuelled
by an attitudinal change engineered by Martin Luther King Jr. in a little
Baptist church in Montgomery .
Dr. King preached a change in attitude that was translated into action and
triumph of the human spirit. This singular act led to the election of Obama as
the first non-white president of the USA – one choice whose effect
touches us all.
My message is
this, we all need to see Nigeria
as our responsibility, not that of those who hold leadership positions but are
not actually leaders. Nigeria
is our responsibility – yours and mine. A country’s leaders come from among its
people. There is no corrupting device at the gates of Aso Rock or the
government houses that liberally dot the landscape. A good tree produces good
fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. Neither is this the time for a blame
game. It is futile for us to point fingers accusing whomever of starting the
corrupt practices. Each organisation in Nigeria , no matter how small has
become a microcosm of government, marred by shady financial dealings, nepotism
and vice.
Our national
politics is incoherent. While many ‘good’ people refuse to have anything to do
with politics which is debased as immoral, politics is left to those who do not
mind the supposed immorality. It is our collective responsibility to see that
our country is run well. We have a duty to vote, a duty to consciously decide
who and who not to vote for based on the merits, and not a decision making
process energised by nepotism. Unfortunately, this duty is not helped by the
fact that our politics is not based on ideological lines but on
ethno-linguistic lines. While we have politicians who remorselessly make
campaign promises of road-building and job-provision. This absolutely irritates
me. It is his duty to ensure that roads, hospitals and schools are built, jobs
are created and students funded. What he is reading out is his job description
and not a manifesto in the true sense of the word.
Many of our
problems have resulted because we are still in the process of nation-building,
when most other non-African countries have been extant for countless years. I
must urge you to remember that the strong and working political structures that
existed in pre-colonial times were disrupted by an arbitrary interference whose
sole aim was to enter the hinterland to extract natural resources as
demonstrated by the two parallel railway lines running from the South to the
North of Nigeria. These two railway lines represent the failings of the
colonial forces; not improving or building on that skeleton represents ours.
However, we must
keep in mind that nation building is a long and arduous process that takes time
and commitment. Rome
as they say was not built in a day. Actually I learnt that it took a millennium
for Rome to
achieve its height of glory. Nigeria
will soon be 49 years, a mere babe compared to Rome in its splendour. Our commitment to Nigeria should
go beyond what we can get from the treasury, but should extend to leaving a
legacy for our children and their children after them.
Apart from an
overall attitudinal change which can be achieved without resort to external
forces, there are other changes which I would like to see in Nigeria . One of
them is the making of history mandatory in primary and secondary schools with
emphasis given to pre-colonial history. I studied history in school and had my
eyes opened to the complex political structures and rich culture of the
pre-colonial communities in West Africa . I
think this has contributed to my love of Nigeria
and Africa . You cannot have pride in what you
do not know. Most countries ensure that school boys and girls have knowledge of
their country’s history. You cannot have pride in something you do not
know. You cannot have a sense of
direction if you do not know where you are coming from. I have been appalled by
the incalculable number of times detrimental fallacy about pre-colonial Africa has been spouted to me as gospel and fact.
I would also
like to see a situation where research is carried out on the pre-colonial
socio- political structures of governance in West Africa and Nigeria . We
live in a pluralistic world where African views and practices are relevant and
should not be ignored. I would choose Yannibo over the Shakespeare that was
forced on me. Systems of government should evolve within the community by
collective will and should not be forced on a people.
Another change
which I would love to see is a transformation from our mono-export economy. Our
dependence on oil has stifled our development potential. This unnatural
dependence has caused agricultural and other mineral resources to be ignored.
To illustrate this point, I would take you back to where I live in Lokoja where
on a mountain about 30 minutes drive uphill lies miles and miles of unmined
marble – sitting on top of Agbaja in plain view. Who knows what we would find
it we bothered to look!
Countries in Africa which are not blessed with natural resources have
turned to other sources such as tourism for revenue generation; while countries
with rich in mineral resources have descended into bloody wars with or without
the assistance of the global powers. Like my grandmother would say, the man who
has a cap has no head, and the man who has a head has no cap.
Attention should be given to the tourism industry. Great strides can be made from small gestures. As my favourites TV show –the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – illustrates, it could take a 2 hour TV show for lots of people to know where
The future of Nigeria lies in
our hands, we are more than able to deliver a viable nation to the next
generation, but desire has to meet with capacity and be multiplied by the right
attitude. Let us make the right choices that would keep Nigeria in peace, that would keep the children
of Nigeria hopeful and
ensure the greatness of Nigeria .
Sometimes life
can be likened to music. If you sing a singular note for a long time – one
minute, five minutes – it becomes boring. It is the change that we listen for. Nigeria has
been singing a singular note for 49 years and generations of unborn Nigerians
are listening for the change in our music. The choices and the changes we make
today will make them dance or weep tomorrow. Let us make those changes and sing
a song of victory and not a funeral song. The changes we make can affect the
people around us in a ripple of ever widening circles, but it starts with the
first drop in the water. We are the change they are listening for.
I believe in the
promise of Nigeria .
Nigeria is not the
malfunctioning leaders in Abuja
and the state capitals neither is it some ubiquitous but nebulous system. Nigeria is the
towns and the villages. Nigeria
is its people, fierce, proud, lively, resilient, unshaken by strife and
despair, ingenious in the face of seemingly insurmountable opposition. We are Nigeria . I hold
out the promise of Nigeria
to you today pleading with you to believe in this promise. It is a light with I
urge you to pass on to all around you. Your candle looses nothing when it
lights another. Let us light up Nigeria
with our dreams, our hopes, our lives and our successes.
Eyes are
focusing on Nigeria ,
ghosts of the past and spirits of the future and people all around the world.
It is our change that they listen for.
Thank you.
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