Change begins with me, more than a political slogan

Change begins with me is a slogan that many people became familiar with during the current administration in the country in its fight against corruption, it was a project launched to educate people that we all have a role to play.

To many people, change begins with me is a mere slogan but I see it as the solution to all of Nigeria’s problems. The problems we have today as a country are many, though some try to limit them to countable numbers such as ethnic and religious bigotry to mention just two.

Ethnic bigotry has been and will remain an unsolved puzzle considering how it has eaten deep into the heart of an average Nigerian. Isn’t ethnicity the reason  citizens of the country from all regions have a name they are called? Names which have some connotative meanings attached to it? A Northerner is called an “Aboki” or “Malam” in other regions while an Igbo man from the East is called “Inyamuri” in the North. Yoruba’s too have their names which they are addressed within the two other regions.

That is just a simple shallow explanation of how ethnicity has affected us. Religious bigotry is also doing a lot of harm to us as a people. Politicians use religion to campaign though they are not religious themselves.

These challenges have not seen any form of resolution and the steps we, the people, the government, and other responsible organisations are taking toward curbing these problems have proved ineffective. Why is this so? The country is always stagnant? Where did we get it wrong? Did we miss something important? Who is to be blamed for our failure?

Inability to provide appropriate answers to the questions asked is what led me to believe that the slogan, if truly implemented and given a deeper thought, can solve the country’s miseries. In Nigeria, we are not tuned to shouldering responsibilities. We are people who mostly don’t want to take in things that will help our communities prosper unless we are directly affected or are left without option .

The Nigeria we live in today is a country where people will cry out to the government about the lack of drainages and later fill them with trash. After such an uncalled act, the waterways are blocked and the waters will decide to take new routes which might be their homes. They will again cry about the flood. Lives may be lost, properties will be damaged all because of our “I don’t care attitude” towards government properties.

We live in a Nigeria where we damage government properties whereever we come across them and when asked why, the reply is awful, “is it your property?” To be up and doing citizen in this country, you should be ready to face criticisms; you should be ready to be given an alien look. To be a good citizen of this giant of Africa, one has to tighten one’s belt. It’s tougher than it seems.

We complain about crazy billing, yet, we do illegal connection of the electricity. In fact, not giving room for illegal connections of light, will lead you to being called all sorts of unprintable names.

We complain about inconducive classrooms in schools and when our brothers, sisters, or children come home from school with fans, we never question them. We break benches; we spoil the buildings with filthy inscriptions, we break offices. We complain about every little thing, yet we don’t make effort to change even the smallest of them. It looks like we derive much pleasure in criticising others and forget that we also have roles to play in changing the narrative.

The solution to our problems lies in our ability to shoulder responsibility and take the blame if or when we should. We must contribute our quota to the development of this nation by changing a thing or two that needs change within our immediate environment. Pay no attention to the naysayers for you will come across many, do the needful even if you are alone and above all, be patriotic.

Sulaiman Abba Aliyu, suleimanalieyu1426@gmail.com

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