So let us blame the British!
The British colonized India,and Ghana;yet both nations are everything Nigeria is not. India has the same multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-religious,population. They have had serious challenges in the past,but they have now been able to resolve them,and make them work for the nation.
India is a model of efficiency,Nigeria is not. India is a model of simplicity,we love to complicate simple issues. The simple easy way,is not the Nigerian way.
You may argue that India is an Asian nation,hence cannot be a true benchmark for judging us as a nation; then Ghana should suffice. It is an African nation, it is even West African! Just two countries separate us; we also gained independence at about the same time.
But that is where the similarities end. While Ghana,like Nigeria,made mistakes in the past,and used those mistakes as stepping stones to building a great future,many Nigerians keep declining culpability,and shift the blame to the British. It is like blaming an armed robber's father for giving birth to him! That is surely absurd,or blaming Toyota motor corporation for manufacturing the car that carried the robbers that raided a bank! As preposterous as these arguments sound,that is how our hollow excuses for not being a proper nation sound.
In the last two decades,Ghana has successfully held three unambiguous,and manifestly transparent general elections.
Nigeria,on the other hand, has spent more money,and made more noise, holding what could be truly referred to as the most corrupt elections ever. Even Mike Tyson,the American boxer,registered to vote!
If we must tell ourselves the truth,it is that we have not done enough to deserve,or become, a great nation!
We have,instead,stumbled to the little success that we can boast of,like Ali Baba happening upon the cave of the forty thieves!
Nations do not grow like an Oak,or Iroko, tree which requires little attention,and sacrifice! Rather, they are nurtured like a tender grape vine,with care,attention,and discipline. These are elements which are lacking in our society today.
While it is true that we have suffered at the hands of monumentally corrupt leaders,we cannot deny the fact that we too,as a people, have not engaged leadership properly. We have committed to God the things we should have taken control over! When we see a problem,instead of speaking out against them,and holding protest marches, we choose to pray to God about the privations we are suffering.
Meanwhile God did not cause them. Man did!
When our politicians misbehave,and act like the asses they are, we do not loose our tempers in righteous indignation! Instead we look for a scripture to support our inaction,not speaking against authority. I have read the Bible,it allows you to question authority that is in error. Paul challenged the Apostle Peter,when Peter separated himself from the gentiles (See Galatians 2:14)
Our nation is constantly going through a process of rebirth .
The problem is that when we refuse to monitor, and participate in the birth process,our political leaders regularly present us with a bastard,instead of the true child that belongs to us!
America fought a war of Independence,the Indians resisted the British,but Nigeria only talked them out of Nigeria. Maybe that is why we do not value our nation.
Perhaps it is time we started loosing our collective tempers,as a true foundation for building a great nation!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,MY NIGERIA,FOREVER!
(If you are reading this on Facebook,you can also read more at my blog www.standupnigeria.blogspot.com)
Decision Points
The Gift
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