Hope deferred and a sick nation

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THE story of Nigeria is that of a hope deferred. And as the Holy Book says, when hope is deferred, heart sickness is inevitable. Even now, Nigeria now suffers from a decadence of the soul. A decadence and cankerous malady that eat deep in the heart of a once great nation. Even in the season of celebration, or at least what ought to be a celebration of our Independence from colonial and imperial rule, the nation mourns her great loss and stillborn hope that was not. Nigeria is now 62 years since it’s recognised as a sovereign nation; 62 years of controlling our own destiny and deciding our own fate. Yet fate has frowned upon the heart of our land. At the inception of our nation, the country appeared promising and a great beacon of hope stood on the horizon. But what we thought to be a light at the end of our national tunnel turned out to be another train hitting us right in the face. This unforseen, catastrophic train came with a its own malady and imbroglios such as succession of bloody coups after coup, the disenfranchisement of public trust and a dashing of a hope that once was.

Even the imperial empire i.e. the Great Britain which reluctantly handed over our country to us didn’t foresee the level of mischiefs and sinister calamity we wished upon ourselves. Our supposed foreign enemy couldn’t have imagined this heinous attempt to implode ourselves and bring upon each other a calamity of herculean proportion. It was Abraham Lincoln who said a house divided against itself can not stand. For Nigeria, the merchants of mischief went right into its middle and broke it into little pieces. Till today, the remedy is still far-fetched. Giving his first Independence speech in October 1, 1960, the then prime minister Tafawa Balewa said, “This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly reached our goal. But now we have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations.”

He further stated: “I shall not labour the point but it would be unrealistic not to draw attention first to the awe-inspiring task confronting us at the very start of our nationhood. When this day in October 1960 was chosen for our Independence it seemed that we were destined to move with quiet dignity to our place on the world stage. “We are called upon immediately to show that our claims to the responsible government are well-founded, and having been accepted as an independent state we must at once play an active part in maintaining the peace of the world and in preserving civilisation. I promise you, we shall not fail for want of determination.” Tafawa Balewa was right about the fact that for us to take our place in the world stage, the issue of nationhood must be strongly addressed. The prime minister was also right about the clarion call for responsible leadership in government in order to achieve this feat. However, perhaps it could be said that he overstated our willingness as a nation to accomplish the task bequeathed upon us. Or on the flip side, he underestimated the tenacity of mischief-makers to devise different ways to cause division, polarisation and disunity in the polity. Because of this oversight, Nigeria remains stagnant and even retrogressive in the course of taking its “place on the world stage.”

Today, no one can deny the fact that our nation is suffering from an internal hemorrhage and it’s bleeding from all sides. The once firm foundation now shakes and wobbles, threatening the whole building itself. It’s a grim and frightening sight. At 62, we have with us a nation riddled with corruption, mismanagement, impunity and multifaceted dissonance. A nation whereby more people want to get out from, rather than come into. In the medical and tech sector for instance, there are more qualified doctors, nurses and tech experts from Nigeria in Europe and America than from any other African country. Since the hope and promise of a great nation has been deferred, the best and the brightest are now fleeing the nation. Experts refer to this as brain drain. A befitting and dreadful metaphor! Think about it: if the heart is sick and the brain is damaged, what then is left of the body? What is left of the remains of this carcass called Nigeria?

Some says it’s a failed state; others claim it’s not yet a failed state but it’s right at the edge, dancing recklessly on the precipice of failure. But no one can refer to it as a successful or succeeding state. Before 2015, it was a consoling and even heartfelt remark to refer to Nigeria as an emerging economy; but what seems to be emerging then has now recoiled itself back to its catacomb. The failure of leadership under this present administration has now made us the capital poverty of the world. This is a nation that was once richer than Brazil, South Korea and Thailand put together. It’s a grim picture. What makes our story more bewildering and heart-wrenching isn’t that we are stagnant or moving at a slower pace than our counterparts, but the fact that the hope that once was is now dashed and stillborn. And there seems not to be renaissance anywhere close. If one should mull over the state of our nation, not only will one’s heart gets sick. One might die of a cardiac arrest. And that is the fact. The nation is sick. It’s not dead, but it’s on life support. And anyone who claims otherwise is living in a dream land.

As we look back at what was loss, our task is to recover that hope in a nation that has enormous potential to be great. We should not sweet-talk our situation or romanticise our present state, but speak the bitter truth to diagnose the malady that besets us in all directions. This truth can make us mad as hell; but it also promises to heal us as well. It promises to wake us up from our slumber and revitalise us from the grave of our despair.

The loss of our nation is great and the heart of our nation is bleeding. But this too can be a reminder that there is a lot of work needed to be done. Even in a sick nation such as ours, there can be a recovery of hope for the future to come.

Happy Independence Nigeria.