By Princely Onyenwe, Abuja
Events are unfolding from the political environment where people are now becoming more sensitive to participate in the political process to advertise their preferred candidates and to convince the public of the makeup of candidates featured by various political parties in Nigeria.
On this therefore, the writer focused his target points on the best way NIGERIAN youths can follow otherwise the system will become uncomfortable to many.
Read Him:
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NIGERIAN YOUTH
Dear Nigerian Youth,
Revival, revival, and revival you are yelling. Your cry is from the heart. The practical beginning of that revival is now. Yours is a cry for the resuscitation and resurrection of the fundamental ideals that propelled our heroes past. Now is the time for you to match their idealism with demonstrable results.
Do you know what wild wolves do to the old and infirmed amongst them? They push them over cliffs; twice, if needed. To them, that’s called changing of the guard. You alone are the catalyst that will change our country. You are the messenger of a new outlook that hacks back and is rooted in the ideals of the old. You are the harbinger of what is best for the future of our country. It is time for a calculated massive effort to nourish the soul of our country. This is the time for unity; the time for cohesion and adhesion. That we, the citizens of Nigeria, have drifted apart is plain to see. But things have not fallen apart. No.
However, the drift is endemic and contagious, the disease hydra-headed. One must ask where is the Nigeria of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Akanu Ibiam, Obafemi Awolowo, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Margaret Ekpo, Michael Okpara, Ahmadu Bello? The Nigeria that stood for activism and had fire in its belly. Where is the Nigeria of Herbert Macaulay, Alvan Ikoku, Chike Obi, Nwafor Orizu, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ben Enwonwu, K.O. Mbadiwe? The Nigeria that stood for unity. The Nigeria that prepared her children, like myself, to compete anywhere in the world. Where is the Nigeria of C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, Jaja Wachuku, Anthony Enahoro, Moshood Abiola, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Gani Fawehinmi, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba? The Nigeria that stood for unity, co-operation and compassion. The Nigeria that stood for and took a quantum leap each time a citizen cried “help.”
This is not Armageddon. However, we have for too long allowed modern politicians to stoke the fire of tribalism for their personal transient gains, and in the process locked a brother in mortal combat with his brother, forcing brothers to engage in frightful and debilitating internecine warfare.
And where there are no differences between us, the politicians invent them with the creativeness of a Machiavelli and conscientiousness of a religious zealot. This is where we have failed. But the truth is that the mixed blood of your compatriots that flowed on the pavement of the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020 had no identifying tribal marks. The truth is that the needs are the same for children of all persuasions: Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Ijaw, Bini, Kanuri, Ibibio, Oron, Tiv, Idoma, Urhobo, Itsekiri, Andoni, Ogoni, Kalabari, Efik, Igede, and the rest of the 371 tribes of Nigeria.
We have lost our direction in the maelstrom of tribalism. Why must we waste our energy in such utter frivolity? Nigeria is bleeding to death on the altar of divisiveness, fragmentation and sectionalism. You can also add your own diagnosis to this pot-pourri of evil afflictions.
I say there is a better way. Let us build. In the words of the ancient Chinese, let us stop complaining about the darkness and light a candle. Let that famous quote popularized in the masthead of that Nigerian paper, The Pilot, be our motto – “Show the Light and the people will find the way” it said. It is easier to destroy than to build. We are partially, but not irredeemably, destroyed, and we must rebuild. Yes, rebuilding will be difficult, but that is not an acceptable excuse for inaction. I also recognize that attitudinal changes are the most difficult to make. Of course, I did not invent this. This is what Maslow etched his name in history for. He put self-esteem, attitude change, and self-actualization right at the top of his hierarchy of needs theory. Attitudinal change is what we need most.
We can become the best by working together for the ideals of our country. It is for the old, the young, the docile, and the aggressive. Activists and pacifists are there. There is room for the humane and caring. The pompous, the conservative, the liberal and all shades in between are there. So are the flamboyant, and the facile. We are all in the same boat. We should seize on our variability and diversity to maximize our strength and help Nigeria actualize her ideals. Let us see the good in our brothers and sisters, while turning a blind eye to our shortcomings and iniquities.
I have been watching with glee as you are finally waking up and becoming politically engaged. Your name will be etched in the tapestry of our nation. Your effort will manifest in the technical functionality of our country. This trend, whether or not your preferred candidate wins, will push us to issue-based politics, forcing the politicians to deliver or perish, and encouraging well-meaning citizens to come out and serve.
Register to vote, campaign hard for your preferred candidate, but victory by such candidate is not as important as causing enough seismic activity that whoever wins will feel the reverberation throughout their time in office. But prepare for what’s coming. You will be asked to think like the old guard, but like George Patton said, “if everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn’t thinking.” You will be asked to conform to the status quo and not waste your vote, but don’t be afraid to try someone new. As Selwyn Hughes wrote, “The world demands a uniform gray conformity, by which we are all supposed to behave and be the same. If you fall below this standard, you will be punished, and if you rise above the standard, you will be persecuted.” It is better to rise above the standard and be persecuted than fall below standard and be punished.
Go out there in this election cycle and show strength because the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Like Obafemi Awolowo said, “if you allow your head to be used to break a coconut, you may not live to eat it.” They have been pounding your head with that proverbial coconut for a while, and it’s time to stop them. Go out there and take your country back!
Here I stand. I have staked my claim. Where is yours?
Sincerely,
E.C. Mojekwu
9News Nigeria (Owerri) For inquiries on this news contact 9News Nigeria Imo State @08036856526
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