INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION EDITION
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it
not for themselves”…Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865): 16th President of the United States of America
Oh Africa!
Have
you noticed something quite peculiar about African countries? They are
constantly criticized and even indicted for violation of human rights, incompetent
leadership, war crimes, corruption, power-drunkenness and above all,
ineffective management of relationships with the international community, which
is often times attributed solely to the assumption that the dark skinned race
are not as intelligent as their fair skinned counterparts, did you just read ‘skin’?
Yes you did.
In this modern age, people still measure
intelligence by the colour of their skin, how ironic.
However,
in my opinion, it is still fair to say the cause of the apparent complex analysis
and defamation presentation is a cause by non other than Africans themselves.
In as
much as there is temptation to proffer a superficial justification for the
innate actions ranging from embellished culture to utter inexperience of the
secrets of the universe and how the world works, in our hearts we know that
Africa still holds the keys to the future, and from all indications, Nigeria is
best positioned to blaze the trail.
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his
country against his government”…Edward Abbey (1927 - 1989) American author and essayist.
Where are the patriots?
If
there are patriots in Nigeria, its either they are very few or they just like
to work selflessly in the background.
A burst
of positive jealousy runs through me when I hear Americans express their love
for their country, and you can see in their eyes and actions that they actually
mean it.
Most
Nigerians simply pretend to be loyal to their country by paying lip service,
but they are quickly contradicted by their actions.
If the entire Nigerian population had the chance to flee the country, about 80% would migrate without blinking.
If the entire Nigerian population had the chance to flee the country, about 80% would migrate without blinking.
We
don’t seem to believe in Nigeria, and ultimately ourselves, that’s why everyday
is like a living hell, because we expect
something from a system where we invest nothing.
“The ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be
his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words
of thanks cannot be heard”…Gaylord Nelson (1916 - 2005) American polititian and Environmentalist.
Love and sacrifice!
It is
interesting that for centuries, no one still has been able to accurately define
what love is. Some say love is an ability to make sacrifice, while some just
relegate it to expression of emotion, but perhaps it isn’t meant to be defined,
maybe we just need to act it out, show it through true action, genuinely
express it, and the feeling of satisfaction we derive from it from time to time
will make us fulfilled and the world will be a better place.
Maybe
Nigerians have an open mind when it comes to the subject of loving their
country, but when we gauge reality; we discover that they have been placed on compulsory
high jump, you can’t care about loving your country when you must jump an obstacle
to save your life.
Nigerians believe that they have to chase money
every time for both the things they need and even the things they don’t need.
The things they need helps them survive, the things they don’t need doesn’t let
them get entirely oppressed psychologically.
“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give
you equality or justice. If you are a man, you take it”…Malcolm X (1925 - 1965) African American Muslim minister and human rights activist.
Freedom!
So is
Nigeria really free and genuinely independent? Trust me, you know better, look
around you and tell me you don’t see traces of evasive puppeteers.
Our
youths are greatly misguided to choose wrong priorities. The live fast, die young syndrome has
infected them, and now they want to have all the money now and live out their
future today.
They
are in so much frenzy that they may not be qualified or even around in the
future because they have run out of patience; they don’t know that even nature isn’t in a hurry, and it seems
that even we are terrified to tell them, we need to teach history to our kids
so they understand that the future has happened before.
“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be
better”…Albert Camus
We need
roads, hospitals, schools, homes, parks, moral centers, role models, mentors,
our languages and culture or else the kids will think its okay the way it is
and only seek to preserve it as it is if at all, otherwise our legacies might
as well crumble when we are all gone.
No we are not free, because we don’t love
ourselves and we are not united. We don’t know what we want, we don’t know
what we are doing, and we are not even doing anything.
The western worlds have imprisoned us within
their economies even when we have ours. They have made us feel inferior to ourselves so that
we can buy their drugs, and we are taking the bait, even oppressing ourselves
in the process while they smile to the bank and laugh hysterically at us. We
are not free yet, but if we want to, if we are ready to, yes we can be, but it
is up to us.
Happy
independence anniversary Nigeria, one day we shall be free indeed.
God bless
Nigeria!
Thank
you, and be awesome because you
truly are.
Akin
Abimbola.
Twitter: @akinzogee
Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin Abimbola
Instagram: Akinzogee
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Sources: American history, Britannica, Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Wikipedia
This article is an
original piece, reasonably researched and contains considerable opinion and a
unique style of the author.
The names in actual
stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are fictional,
consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for
quotes and news that are typically referenced.
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