REVISITING THE NIGERIAN DREAM –BY CHARLES IDEHO
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain...
The above lines form the closing part of the second stanza of Nigeria's former national anthem, "Nigeria we hail thee," which ceased to exist in 1978 when the current one, "Arise O Compatriots" replaced it.
At independence up till the early 1980s when I went to grammar school (as secondary schools were then known), we had a dream of a country where everyone was proud to live in and call their own. A country "though tribe and tongue differed, in brotherhood we stood". Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Izon, Ikwerre, Idoma, Urhobo,
Igbo, etc, existed; the differences that separated them were noticed only in
their individual peculiarities and strength. Mutual competition that developed
Nigeria operating on the regional government’s template was carried over to the
UPN, NPN, NPC, GNPP, PRP days in 1979-1983, in which states governed by each of
those parties were allowed to run their administrations strictly in line with
published manifestoes.
Thus, in Bendel, Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Lagos, governments
of those states ran UPN manifestoes, which afforded a Charles Ideho, for
instance, to go through secondary school on free education. Youth Corpers were
given car loans. Job opportunities awaited young graduates who distinguished
themselves. University authorities retained graduates who came out in flying
colours as lecturers. My boarding fee back at Holy Trinity Grammar School,
Sabongidda Ora in 1980, was N30 per term (not N3,000; not N30,000; not N3m, but
N30! Kndly ask Joel Osahon Idemudia for confirmation).
Life was good. The loaf of bread that's sold for N350
today was sold for 40k. Enrolment for WAEC cost N50 if you were a science
student. A brand new Peugeot 504 SR sold for N6,000.
But why go on recalling the good old days when the
present gang of leaders has sworn by their inconsiderate, unpatriotic style of
leadership to consign those days to the trash can of history?
Today, what do we count as gain? A country that now
plays host to useless analogue and roguish leaders who see selfishness as a
virtue while the rest of us go to bed without food. What do we count as gain? A
country that beams live photo footage of official pornography on cable tv in
the name of BBNaija! What do we count as gain? A country where indigent folks
walk long distances in search of daily needs without shoes. What do we count as
gain? A country where federal legislators each take home nearly N15m per month
while civil servants who have rendered meritorious service to fatherland (or
motherland) for 35 years and above queue up every month to collect pittances
called pension that cannot take them home.
We have opened up our doors to insurgents and brigands who have continued to spit in our faces while we applaud them. They have mastered the use of gun against us.
We have opened up our doors to insurgents and brigands who have continued to spit in our faces while we applaud them. They have mastered the use of gun against us.
And now this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner with stain...Thank you for reading. Got comments? Kindly post them with your name on the Comment box below.
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