By Samson Oluga
The Nigerian national pledge is a profound statement of patriotic commitment, embodying nationalistic declarations which if fulfilled as recited by citizens will signify the height of patriotism and exemplify people-oriented nationhood.
Yet, the disconnect between these lofty promises and the actions of many Nigerians raises pressing questions about the sincerity and impact of these declarations. Can a nation thrive on pledges unfulfilled, or does the integrity of its citizens lie at the heart of its progress?
Many individuals who recite the national pledge at special events often do so without genuine sincerity, merely offering a lip service declaration or recitation for the sake of it. Their actions frequently contradict the promises made in the national pledge.
The national pledge of Nigeria contains seven key promises that are often unfulfilled, which can be quite serious. It is better not to make a promise or pledge than to do so in vain. The first promise is to be faithful to our country, Nigeria. The second is to be loyal to Nigeria. The third promise is to be honest with our country, while the fourth is to serve the country with all our strength.
The fifth pledge is to defend the unity of our country, Nigeria. The sixth pledge is to uphold the honor of our country, Nigeria. The seventh pledge is to maintain the glory of our country, Nigeria.
It is essential to interpret the meaning of each key element of these seven fundamental pledges. Additionally, we need to provide practical examples of how effectively these important promises have been fulfilled in the context of current societal trends and the behavioral patterns of the majority of Nigerian citizens.
The first pledge to be faithful to our country Nigeria is a patriotic promise to be truthful, trustable, reliable, committed and supportive in matters relating to our native land as expected of truly bonafide citizens. This is contrary to what many citizens now do by not showing profound love for the country that they have promised the faithfulness similar to that of true lovers’ relationship that is void of cheating or infidelity. There have been cases of people diverting government food items meant for the poor masses to their private stores and warehouses to be re-sold to the same people. There have been people trained to defend the nation and its citizens in cases of offensive attacks but who have joined attackers to rain havocs on the nation and its citizens. There are citizens jeopardising the interests of the nation when dealing with international or multinational organisations in ways that minimise the nation’s benefits but maximise those organisations’ benefits just because of personal gains.
The second pledge to be loyal to our country Nigeria is a patriotic promise to stand solidly and unconditionally behind the nation come rain, come shine. It is like an oath of undivided allegiance to or unalloyed support for our great nation. The excessive love of some football enthusiasts in Nigeria for football clubs of other nations especially European football clubs has overshadowed the little love some still have for Nigeria’s local football clubs. Surprisingly too, some Nigerians were writing their names on the register provided by the Ukrainian Embassy in Abuja for those who wanted to join the Ukrainian Army to fight against the Russians at the beginning of the war between the two nations before this was halted. They were not enlisting to join the Nigerian Army battling and struggling to silence terrorists and bandits killing people nationwide. This was great disloyalty to our nation and based on the Pareto Optimality Principle, the loyalty for our own nation will continually decrease if the loyalty for other nations continuously increase.
The third pledge to be honest to our country Nigeria is a patriotic promise to be really truthful, sincere, factual, upright, forthright, blameless, straightforward and unblemished when handling matters relating to the nation or on behalf of the government of the country. It is a nationalistic resolve to eschew anomalies like bribing, corruption, nepotism, tribalism or favouritism especially by those occupying positions of authority which will amount to gross misconduct or abuse of office. So, Presidents, Governors or Local Government Area Chairmen who siphoned public resources to become silent multi-billionaires overnight are dishonest. Legislators who yearly enrich themselves through budget padding are also dishonest. Judicial officers who perpetrate miscarriage of justice so as to make fortunes from proceeds of injustice are not honest to the nation. Ministers and Commissioners who divert people’s funds to private pockets are dishonest to the nation and their states respectively. Similarly, public servants, government appointees and private individuals who defraud the nation in various ways are not honest to the country.
The fourth pledge of citizens to serve Nigeria with all their strength is a patriotic promise to perform their duties or services to the nation wholehearted and not halfheartedly. It is the resolution of citizens to work diligently, vigourously or energetically for the country to the best of their abilities. This will ultimately help in the attainment of target national goals when citizens so serve without reservations just as servants work for their masters. The name civil or public servants given to people working for the government is therefore somehow symbolic. Ironically, many of them are not serving the government or the country but are rather self serving as they come to work two or three times a week and are no longer committed to their works. They believe and fondly say government work is not what you do and sweat. Surprisingly, some service men also do the nation a lot of disservice as they abscond when posted to dangerous zones. Funds meant for the purchase of arms are diverted or pocketed making soldiers lose their lives at battle fronts as enemies or terrorists now possess better ammunition.
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The fifth pledge of citizens which is to defend the unity of Nigeria is a patriotic promise to work strongly towards ensuring or consolidating the existing oneness, harmony or togetherness of the entities that amalgamated as Nigeria since 1914. It is an oath or assurance to prevent any form of division, separation or polarisation that will eventually result in the disintegration of the colonial bond of one hundred and ten years. This, many believe, gives the numerical strength that makes the country to tower as the giant of the continent of Africa. Although Nigeria is like three or more nations in a single country with diverse tribal, cultural, linguistic, religious and historical differences but still existing as a big geo-political entity left by the colonialist. It is now a big fish in a global pond enjoying size-based recognition and commanding respect in ways that three or more small fishes may not be able to do. So, the actions of those clamouring for Republic of Biafra and Republic of Oduduwa, though they may have their reasons, are not presently in tandem with the frequently recited pledge to defend the unity of Nigeria.
The sixth pledge of citizens to uphold the honour of Nigeria is a patriotic promise to protect the dignity of the country, to maintain the respect accorded the nation and to sustain the country’s good reputation in ways that will make others to continue to hold Nigeria and Nigerians in very high esteem. This, therefore, involves people being pretty careful not to do anything that will dent the country’s image or tanish the nation’s reputation especially when/where they are identified as bonafide Nigerian citizens. So, upholding the honour of the country is like protecting the nation’s good name which according to William Shakespeare is the immediate jewel of the soul which if filched or lost renders the loser really impoverished. Therefore, politicians nabbed for money laundering, women hooked for child trafficking and prostitution, men arrested for illicit human-organ harvesting or youths jailed for online fraud or drug offences in Europe, Asia and the Americas are not upholding the honour of the country.
The seventh pledge of the citizens to uphold the glory of Nigeria is a patriotic promise to keep fanning the flame of the fame that the country has laboured to get over years giving the nation due recognition among other nations. This is with the intention of enabling the country to keep getting praises upon praises, encomia upon encomia or accolades upon accolades in places that matter a great deal as opposed to soiling or smearing the nation’s glory or bringing the country to disrepute which can negatively impact corporate or national image. People like Anthony Joshua, Israel Adesanya, Kamoru Usman, Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, Victor Osimhen and Bukayo Saka are really upholding the glory of Nigeria globally through sports. Professors Wole Soyinka and Philip Emeagwali are academically upholding Nigeria’s glory just Aliko Dangote and Foluso Alakija are upholding the nation’s glory as the richest man and woman in Africa respectively. However, Nigerians committing suicide, killing spouses, bombing aircrafts, kidnapping foreigners for ransoms or perpetrating sexual scandals among other vices are not in anyway upholding the glory of the nation. Rather, they are dimming the flame of the country’s fame or the sparkles of the nation’s glory.
So, many Nigerian citizens who frequently recite the country’s national pledge make seven fundamental promises to the nation which lots of people don’t end up fulfilling as they keep doing things that totally negate the pledges. It is like many people are not even aware of the seriousness or implications of making unfulfilled promises to the country or pledging in vain to the nation. This must have informed the position of some people who, based on their personal beliefs, don’t want to recite the national pledge because they see its strong promises as weighty oaths that need to be fulfilled as repeatedly recited by citizens to avert some consequential eventualities. However, truly pragmatic citizens shouldn’t have any problems with the patriotic promises or pledges made to their country since these are things expected of typical patriotic citizens who are ready to give the best to their nation just as they equally expect to get the best from their country. May God grant the ultimate request of the national pledge by helping citizens to fulfil their pledges or promises to the country and the nation its responsibilities to patriotic citizens.
Samson Oluga
The Federal Polytechnic, Ede
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