For many Nigerians, “Change begins with me” is a mere slogan, but to me, I see it as a solution to all of Nigeria’s problems. The problems we have today as a country are much, even though some try to limit them to ethnic and religious bigotry to mention the two major ones.
Ethnic bigotry, has been and will remain an unsolved puzzle. Looking at how it has eaten deep into the hearts of an average Nigerian, one will get the feeling that the country’s problems will never witness an end. Isn’t it the reason why citizens of the country from all regions have a name they are called with, with some that have connotative meanings attached to them? A Northerner is called an “Aboki” or “Malam” in other regions while an Igbo man from the East is called “Inyamuri” in the North. The Yoruba too have their names which they are addressed with in the two other regions.
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Religious bigotry on the same hand is also doing a lot of harm to us as a country for it is in our veins. Politicians use religion to campaign. Though they are not religious themselves, and even though, at the top, they don’t care about your religion as long as you make it to their cycle of the so-called “elite”. You’ll dine and wine together.
All the aforementioned are problems that have not begun to see even an iota of solution. The measures, we, the people, the government, and other responsible organisations are taking toward crippling these problems prove ineffective always. Why is that so? Why do our intellectuals always rant about these things and even offer seemingly effective solutions, yet the country is always stagnant? Where do we get it wrong? Did we miss something important? Who is to be blamed for our failure?
The questions above are the frequently asked among our “intellectuals” who are desperate for the situation of this country to change.
Inability to provide appropriate answers to the questions asked is what led me to believe; the slogan, if truly implemented and given a deeper thought, can solve the country’s miseries.
In Nigeria, we shy away from shouldering responsibilities. We are people who mostly don’t want to pertake in things that will help our communities prosper unless we are directly affected or are forced.
The Nigeria we live in today is one where people will cry out to the government about lack of drainage and later on fill them with trash. After such an uncalled for act, the waterways are blocked and the water will decide to take new routes which might be into our homes. We will again cry about the flood.
We live in a Nigeria where we damage government properties wherever we come across them and when queried we ask: “is it your property?”
We complain about crazy billing, yet, we do illegal connection of the electricity.
The solution to our problems lies in our ability to shoulder responsibility and take the blame where necessary. We should contribute our quota to the development of this nation by changing a thing or two that need to be changed within our immediate environment.
Pay no attention to the naysayers for you will come across many, do the needful even if you are alone, and above all be patriotic.
Sulaiman Abba Aliyu can be reached through [email protected]
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