INSPIRE NIGERIA
By Chidi W Nwachukwu
There is a growing loss of
confidence in the Nigerian state . The leadership has developed a credibility
problem over the years, and little
wonder that every government policies or pronouncements, rather than get
commendation from members of the public is rather viewed with suspicion and
cynicism. Nigerians have every reason to
discredit their leaders due to repeated failures of the past, but for how long
should this continue?
“Unfortunately” Government cannot
lead itself, it must lead the citizenry. But it can only achieve this successfully
when those being led believe in those who have been made to lead them. Election
that brought in leaders to power may not be wholly transparent, but once they
begin to paddle the ship of state, all things being equal, it behooves the majority
of the citizenry to give in their support.
Which ever way an election is organized, there must
be those who disagree, but one thing is certain; we must be led by imperfect
people . INSPIRE NIGERIA is not by
this platform trying to justify fraudulent election of leaders, what we are
saying is that it pays to build confidence in our leaders, believe that they will do what they promised to do, take
them to task and insist that they do it, it is our right.
We believe that It pays to believe
and have confidence in our leaders than otherwise, because by that, we develope
a passion to monitor their progress as well as cooperate with government where
we can.
The 2011 election witnessed a large
participation because Nigerians believed in Prof.Jega,the INEC chairman who was
saddled with the responsibility of conducting the elections in Nigeria.
This country is still evolving, and
Nigerians should give it the benefit to make its own mistakes. Poor economy,
unemployment, poverty, poor educational standard and insecurity currently ravaging the country
does not suggest that we have failed as a Nation. it only represent challenges
which must be faced and fixed.
As individuals, we often face our
challenges with unflinching determination to surmount them. Research has shown
that most successful people around the world are usually from poor backgrounds
where there were no foods, no money, no decent accommodation yet they
succeeded. As individuals we give ourselves chances to succeed, why not give
our Nation chance to succeed as well.
Some people may argue that other
countries that began the race with us have all moved ahead, but such should not
be a source of discouragement, but a reason to know that we can also succeed as
a Nation, it may not matter how long it takes because a nation is meant to last
longer than any individual.
Fellow citizens; the time has come
when we should speak plainly and think clearly. With the current security
situation in the country and sharp divide in opinion in the largest party in
Africa ,we certainly have come to the cross road of civilization at which we
must choose, because we have the choice of many roads.
The best choice we believe is to
awaken anew that spiritual forces of our founding fathers, subordinate our
political and economic differences of opinion and pull all together. What this
means is that we must co-operate in both spirit and deed, each of us
recognizing the fact that we are our brothers keeper whether we like it or
not.
It is time we understood the truth
that we can become the richest and freest people on the African continent, only
by that form of cooperation which inspires hope and faith and trust in one
another .it is also time we realized the need for a nationwide spiritual renaissance for which mere economic recovery will do us
no permanent good.
It is time we stopped emphasizing on
sovereign national conference, (even if it has its own merits) and start
talking about spiritual recovery, for it must be obvious even to the most
obtuse in our Nation today that we are spiritually bankrupt. Our spiritual
bankruptcy does not stem from the fact that we do not attend church services,
or that we do not say our regular prayers as Muslims, but that we have deviated
from the sacred teachings of our Bible and Koran which includes, love and
dignity.This is why corruption has eaten deep into every aspect of our
lives.
We are the big brother in Africa,
and we have assisted in resolving various conflicts on the continent, but
before we further concern ourselves with the problems of other Nations, with
their impending wars and internal conflicts, let us put our own house in order.
We should begin by bringing about a
better spirit of understanding between the leaders and ordinary people of this
country. Government must learn to focus on the basic needs of the ordinary man
which is shelter, food and clothing, make commitment to the people and follow
through. Our law makers should find it convenient in making pro people laws.
They should continually think of how majority of our people will be lifted out
of poverty. These are the parameters for good governance.
This country is still a democracy despite
its challenges, and we are a free people
with the right to help establish and maintain the political and economic
principles which must support this. There
is a deep conviction that no true Nigerian wants this Nation to come under any
form of anarchy, therefore let us continue to put our shoulders to the
wheel of destiny, keep it turning so that we may remain one and indivisible
state.
Our problem is not religion or
ethnicity because we are better as one Nation. Our challenge is to continue to
educate the minds our citizens that we all have red blood in our body, and that
we are united more by love than by family ,religion or
ethnicity. We must refrain from judging our leaders based on where they
come from ,but whether they have the drive, passion and competence in their
area of leadership.
The immortal word of the late Martin
luther King junior is still fresh in our
minds ‘’We should judge people not by the colour of their skin but by the
content of their character’’. Today an African American is the president of
the United States of America, an idea that was unthinkable more than fifty years ago.
Their thinking had changed from just looking at an African American and
conclude on that basis, they looked beyond the
skin and saw a man who gave them
superior argument to lead America irrespective of his colour.
We
must make Nigeria work; We must give it a chance to succeed.
