Need for national repentance and reconciliation

A NYBODY who has been carefully watching the events in the country in the last one year will no doubt be certain (that is, if s/he is an honest person) that things are steadily getting to a head in relation to this place called Nigeria, as a nation! As the white man would say it, “the political game of this country is surely up”! We all had better get our acts together, if we are not going to lose“everything”that we had been selfishly clutching to completely.

It is true that some particular people who always desire and very frequently get any honest requests for a national meaningful dialogue to be misread as some obnoxious thing are still continuing to try and do so with the current requests. They are doing so still even when they see that the requests are turning into sure demands! They do this in order to get it to a silly end so that their dishonesty will continue; and are still doing the same thing to the recent honest requests. However, many signs are emerging that this sinister method is not likely to work this time around. A careful follow through of the September 7thAdamasingba summit in Ibadan and other like ones across the country lately would clearly show that the other usual deceptive methods are not going to work this time around. Such divide and rule method was the trade mark of the colonial masters in many of their African and other so-called developing world past (and sometimes even still) colonial and neo-colonial manipulations. But perhaps, we are beginning to get a little bit wiser, even if not so greatly, as yet. But things are surely changing. Honest people, all the deprived peoples of the world, must learn to unite and fight their oppressors now in this surely civilising world!

In my humble opinion, one of the reasons why Nigeria has continued to fail since after the immediate post-colonial self-government failure itself is that every one of the rulers who came on board, failed to acknowledge that our national failure is a globally mutual thing. All of us — individually, ethnically and tribally — had fallen so short of the grace of God that we needed to forge a true nation out of the “mere geographical expression” that the colonial masters made of us. Virtually all of these so-called national leaders failed to recognise this fact, and beginning with their very own selves and the ethnic or tribal groups that they came from, and so continued on the false notion of some fake national unity to continue to add salt to the past injuries. But it is obvious that they may no longer try or continue to do so. Even those past leaders who are still alive need NOW to come up, own up and confess to us all the mistakes that they had made (for which they must ask the rest of us that they tried to mislead) for forgiveness; and truly show repentance for their share in bringing us to the brink that we now stand at. They need not continue to merely be praying, to simply be playing good boys in the houses of some supposed religious or native leaders, to be opening their noses and mouths and talking more nonsense or abusing people, etc, etc!

The current politicians who continue to share our monies but keep telling us that there is no money, not paying the salaries of the hard working masses but their own are not in arrears, and the very top ones who continue to run the governments as business as usual with all tough talking, no humility, a know it all aura, appointing their relatives, friends and other nepotic network agents and not showing any understanding of their misrules must repent also. All of us, in our various hegemonic, plutocratic, ethnic and tribal formations must meet more often, try and articulate our own contributions that has brought us to this silly point as a nation, publicly acknowledge them; and begin to do the national change of heart, mind and behaviour that we all need. We must do this in order to retain and improve on our so called Nigerian nationhood, which as widely recognized by many past courageous leaders at their various times of innocence, as non-existence and yet to come!

We must all begin, individually and corporately, to acknowledge and publicly confess the great talents and special natural and even supernatural endowments that we find in each other individually and corporately in this geographical place called Nigeria; for the needed recovery from all the past national stupidities. The politicians who had stolen the most from our national coffers, and building palaces, empire estates and such other kingdoms and refusing to accept or even confess of their all-very-well-known thieveries should somehow, silently or even openly confess and return those national properties to some public or charitable uses. Their arrogance should also cease. Let nobodies in this country continue to think that they are more intelligent, wiser or more gifted than any others, personally or corporately. Such silent or open arrogance will only continue to add more salt to our festering injuries as a nation! These are the national repentances that are called for now in this country. This is the basis of the national reconciliation that we need now for the recovery and the needed onset of a Nigerian nationhood that is long overdue.

As for those who will fail or continue to fail to do this, I will not know anything else to say to them except to say “Please take heed of these now, while the sun shines still on this nation”! God bless Nigeria!

• Asuzu is Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Ibadan