I respect President Buhari because I consider the cause he is fighting for as more important than the candidate. We all seem to agree that he is honest but we are quick to add that honesty is not enough. Have we learnt the lesson that his administration represents?
We gloss over the merits of his administration but elaborate on how he has failed in building the economy. If the only thing he had brought is honesty and zero level tolerance to corruption, then I reckon that he has brought in more than enough. Before you begin to furnish a house, you have to first clean it up. You do not put new furniture and fittings in a dirty house.
If we had been busy emulating his value system, which we agree is honesty and transparency, then all the different experts in the different sectors would have moved their own little corner forward by becoming people of integrity. No government is run by one single person. If you think he has failed you, then you might be failing the nation.
Rather than pointing accusing fingers, can we now begin to clean the house with him? We are not cleaning things up for our own sakes alone but for the sakes of generations coming after. Their future is more important than today. We need to pass on the right values to our children and be mindful of the reality that transforming a nation is not a day’s job but an on-going effort.
Let everybody use his area of strength to support Nigeria and let each one ask himself or herself what Nigeria needs at this time that everyone can contribute. That Nigeria needs to grow is not in doubt. But we must first clean the house. Is our President doing a good job of cleaning house? Look inward, focus on yourself and ask yourself if you are emulating this value he represents.
Great values don’t suddenly emanate in people. They are either imbibed or imparted. For parents, what values are you teaching children all around you? If Buhari models honesty, what do you model? Beginning with the family as a strategic unit for National Transformation, can the change begin, first, with you?
Here’s my call to action, for the children, the youth, the parents, institutional heads and political leaders, let us do something positive to influence those around us with great values. My own contribution will involve a launch of free monthly magazine dedicated to Child Learning and targeted at Nigerian adults as well as a weekly TV Soap opera that demonstrates the impact of values on the individual, family, community and the nation.
We need to boost self-development, improve wellness and instill right values so as to grow into adulthoods with values worth emulating and influence the children around us the same way. We will thus be able to build a nation that our children can be proud to call their home. This can create avenues for employment creation for many of our unemployed graduates through diverse opportunities.
Collaboration will be open for people of like minds to make their invaluable contributions to such a publication. Remember, honest and healthy citizen are the greatest assets of any nation.
Edith Akwu-ude Ekeoma @queenedith_of_africa
