Great People, Great Nation.

I wish.

I wish Nigeria's history was more noble, more colorful and more hallowed. I wish that we all held our institutions in high esteem and believed in our God given right to determine our own destiny.
I wish our people didn't die needlessly on roads neglected by leaders with private jets. I wish that our priorities weren't so ridiculously misplaced.

A nation so rich..But so unproductive. A people with so much potential. But so stifled. Why ? I believe it may be related to the ethos we have allowed to develop into our identity. We value things above ourselves, the empty trappings of earthly possessions above the goodness of our humanity.

If the foundation be faulty, what can the builders do?
It is my opinion that the consciousness of the country sits fundamentally flawed by the bad decisions successive administrations have made and that of the people to abide by them largely obsequiously.

A few have chosen to greedily engorge themselves on the enormous wealth and resources of the collective and placed their own survival and significance above the right of everyone else to the same. The stronger have chosen to wield their strength over the weak with impunity and grasp much needed nourishment from their jaws simply because they can.

There was a time when most would agree that we stood on the cusp of greatness. But now we've fallen far away from it. Our values lie wasting in the gutter of disdain. Whatever players may have acted in the yet unfolding drama that is Nigeria to bring her up to this point and their respective faults or successes, the important thing is what is done from here on.

A wish devoid of action is simply a daydream. So Nigeria must rouse from its stupor and act. It must act decisively and purposefully. Whatever the motivations of past leaders enthroned by consensus or fiat, in this life, it is scarcely ever too late to do the right thing.

Idealistic as the foregoing prose might sound, it is worth remembering that without ideals, we are empty, pointless and decadent contraptions made of bone and tissue. We could as well be monkeys. But even monkeys have dreams - in the sense that an average male monkey strives to be alpha male of its tribe. Worth mentioning that even then, it keeps watch over its own. Perhaps we are just a bunch of monkeys of too many different species that its too difficult for one leader to act in the favour of the tribes?

It's interesting that human beings are even more competitive than apes but sometimes intentionally opt to unburden self of the valuable benefits of morality and decency and take the path of wanton hedonism to the detriment of all.

Without mincing words, what Nigeria needs is a revolution. A revolution not necessarily involving the bearing of physical arms but in the minds of its people. What follows and where it takes us will be up to what choices we make. My opinion is there's a good way and bad way to bring about a revolution. The good way is when it is birthed on logic and careful planning.

We must rouse ourselves from the despondency and lethargy that is the Nigerian state of affairs and change our collective destiny.
We must forge for ourselves a country (or countries) that we can be proud of. Our pride must go before this promised land that we seek and it will be fanned into flame as our achievements provide the invisible reward that makes us carry ourselves higher and walk confidently among the comity of nations.

We must be cautious, intentional and skillful. Dutiful and diligent to the cause of national growth and development. We must frown at weakness and its children. By that I mean the vices of corruption, unfairness, inequity, avarice and self aggrandisement.

Maybe all this talk, this outpouring of words is pointless. I recall the words of Bob Marley - "Some say it's just a part of it, we've got to fulfill the book..." In our context, this will probably mean that the forces at play are larger than any or all of us and will play themselves out regardless.

Maybe, but we can't afford not to push back against the tide of  foolishness that is engulfing us into obscurity.

Some Thoughts on Habits.

I recall a sermon I heard once; the general import was that we are made of strong, resilient stuff and are able to bounce back from the rudest shocks. God didn't make us to whimper or cower when faced with obstacles or issues, hard as they might seem. When we get hurt by life, we can heal; like the phoenix, our spirits can rise out of the ashes of despair and calamity to achieve beautiful things.

For example, the untimely passing of a loved one may knock the wind out of your sails and leave you struggling for the will to live - but, with a little faith and a good amount of patience the wounds heal. While we might not totally forget, we can become accustomed to the unpleasantness to the point where it no longer adversely affects us. This depends, however, on how we choose to process the unpleasantness.

I believe that generally speaking, we give life to our circumstances - pleasant or otherwise - by the amount of attention we give to them. It's called the Law of attraction which implies that what you focus on, you attract. Yes, there are limits to our sphere of control nevertheless, but within it, we can be masters of time and space. We can to a good extent influence if not control, what happens to us in this gift called life we've been given. I find it helps to be as thankful as possible after all, the moment we are born, we are old enough to die so everything's a gift anyway.

I leave that train of thought and come back to the idea that - we get accustomed to and even benefit from unpleasant events. You may have heard these quips - "No pain, no gain" , "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

I attribute this to our ability to learn. We learn concepts and ideas, we develop new skills, our minds learn to think in a certain way, our bodies can learn to run a 100 meter race. The vastness of possibilities is one of the reasons I believe we keep deciding to replenish the earth with our offspring i.e. the idea that future generations can learn to do great things based on the foundations laid by people today

We don't just learn in our heads; our muscles, for example, learn to stretch beyond their limits when put to work. They can also retain the memory of a movement such as a dance such that the brain does not need to put them through all the paces of the movement (well, maybe not all of us). But ultimately, there seems to be not much we won't get better at if we keep doing it.

My point, however, is while there are habits that we consciously acquire, some are unconsciously or unintentionally acquired. Becoming lazy, choosing to take the path of least resistance, becoming complacent – these are some of the habits we can acquire without meaning to. Whatever path we decide to take in our minds, the seen and unseen rest of us follows. So, you better be learning the right things

Unfortunately, a lot of habits that are bad for us are enjoyable and pleasant to start with, but can quickly turn into a nightmare. They can put you into a place of regret and downward spiraling chain reactions that can be as explosive as the atomic bomb. A lot of them take quite long to manifest their evil domination. Sometimes, the effects are even felt by not just the person in question, but can reach other people close to them – even their children and descendants.

Not everything that feels good is good for you; think about someone addicted to just about anything – it's easy to see they've lost their freedom and are enslaved to whatever they once enjoyed. Every once in a while, it's useful to review our life's enjoyments and determine where things have become unhealthy, if only just for the knowing. Which is why some of my countrymen say "Na so and so thing go kill me".

Break free, Break out, Break forth. Go!