A concerned citizen of Nigeria is
dropping this write up exclusively on Julia Blaise Blog (JBB), to propel Nigerians at home and across borders into a
brighter and eye opener 2014.
See message below:
And also serve as a reminder to
us all of the Nigeria we want, as we together build a better nation.
I appreciate God and for the opportunity to see the end of 2013
and cross over to another year with great minds.
This is not a
popular motivational mumbo jumbo – Dare to dream! Follow your dreams!! Dream
Big!! You know the
drill now: Find something you love and put everything you have into it. Take
nothing for granted. Apply yourself
every day. Keep an open mind.
Follow your bliss when faced with hard
decisions—listen to the still small voice only you can hear. Don’t let material
success or power fool you into giving up the simple human pleasures you will
cherish above all in the end. And yes—be lucky like Nelson Mandela and others
who spent their life in prison fighting for what they believe. BUT this
rendition is not enough. This rhetoric’s can’t meet the demands of our day.
As a socially conscious
individual, the ills of our nation really move me to tears. From the Civil War
where families were killed in bomb blasts to the multiple plane crashes we have
suffered; to the multitude living in abject poverty and sleeping on the street;
the height of corruption and corrupt minds, the demands of our day calls for
MORE. As I watched
the coverage and read the news of death, illness, poverty, oppression, murder
etc. every passing week, I began to ask myself some hard questions.
What would it
be like if we can bring relief to this country we depend on for our future?
What would it
be like if we can make some difference? I have pored
over the few recent happening in the country, not from some morbid fascination
but because I want you to understand what we have lost.
How fathers
and mothers suffered the loss of their children. How the happiest of men become
a shadow of themselves due to profound losses either personally or in
businesses.
I am not
trying to spoil your day with dark portraits from another place. But as one of Nigeria
youth at this moment, this time together is to be more hallowed by the
remembrance of how precious life is, and how fragile and fleeting.
How negligence
on our path as individuals has created a lot of agony for others. How our
irresponsibility has dishonoured the works and legacies of leaders who have
fought their way to the top through hard work.
Nigerians wake
up! Take hold of this day…pull it close…squeeze from it every drop of joy and friendship
— for we are taking charge and building a better Nigeria.
Trust me: The
Black Swans in our life will come soon enough—“the dark birds of
history”—dramatic, unpredictable events that break across our assumptions and
ambitions and force us to reckon with the extreme, the wicked, the unknown, and
the impossible. I speak as one who was born without a silver spoon, who as
walked in the rain with tubers of yam across many road bends, sleep nights
without food, work hard for months without being paid, as I continually think of
the days of wine and roses out of a misty dream our path emerges for a while
then closes within a dream.
If I am to live
to be 100years and in the great procession of time, my life is no more than the
blink of an eye. It is not how long we live that determines the quality of your
presence here but what you see with that eye and do with your hand. It’s time to
make some difference in every stage of our lives.
Today I see young
men or women like me who are going to transcend the normal arc of life. Champions,
who would break through, inspire, challenge, and call forth from just leaders the
greatness of spirit that afire this great country’s imagination.
You know the
spirit of which I speak. Memorable ideas sprang from it: “life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness”…“created equal”… “government of, by, and for the
people”…“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”…“the right mindset.”
This will be
the transformational period in our country leadership. Enabled by
young men and women who participate rather than abdicate. Young people who will stand their ground to
fight oppression and every other society ill.
These are
interesting times. Times we may never experience if status quo remains. Times
we may never experience if we continue the traditional politics of “You scratch
my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
I seriously
believe that moral leadership will transcend the realities at hand and we will change
the course of our history in Nigeria.
Never have we been
more in need of transformational leadership. It’s not right
that we are celebrating a Centenary as a nation with hatred, agony and
oppression. No country can
ever survive two civil wars or grow with bad leadership. How long are we going
to continue to make socio-political blunders with far – reaching consequences?
We cannot win
if we as individuals don’t have an incubator for right values. When we don’t all
demonstrate the will or courage to sacrifice for what needs to be done. When some
are fighting and some are lounging in the mall. Nigeria needs leaders
that are credible.
I believe this
to be the heart of democracy. I know it to be a profoundly religious truth. In Akure
where I grew up, to my father’s greatest honour, as he saw it, was to serve as
a trustworthy man against the backdrop of the shutdown of his working place. In those days,
he taught me things that matters - Faith, persistence, hard work, consistency
and freedom of the soul.
But time and time
again, as my dad prayed the Lord’s Prayers at every family devotion, I realized
that our sustenance was never in the first person singular. It was always:
“Give us this day OUR daily bread.” We’re all in this together; one person’s
hunger is another’s duty.
Generations are
linked together by mutual obligation. Through the years, he went on; we human
beings have advanced more from collaboration than competition.
“Leave me
alone” has never worked. We had to move from the philosophy of “Live and let
live” to “Live and help live.” You see, civilization is not a natural act.
Civilization is an appearance of courtesy stretched across original human hunger.
Like democracy, Leadership has to be willed, practiced, and constantly
repaired, or society becomes a war of all against all, which we are experiencing
today.
Few
institutions have done some things to shape Nigeria’s moral imagination, but
they get tired along the way because of a conflict of personal interests. If our
leadership system is going to be fixed, I believe someone with this DNA will be
needed to do it. It’s possible. So as we leave 2013 behind and welcome a new
year, take with you this counsel “to assume our existence as broadly as we can,
in any way we can. Everything, even the unheard of, must be possible in this
life. Nigeria needs
to live as a symbol of a freedom where people of all tribes, religions and
nationalities could live together as a nation under credible Leadership.
Not as a kingdom.
Or a superpower. Not a place where the strong take what they can and the weak
what they must. But as a Beloved Nation and the core of civilization through
credible Leadership; the core of democracy, and a profound religious
truth.
We need not go
searching for the Beloved Nigeria on a map. It’s not a place. It exists in the
hearts and minds—our hearts and minds! I know and I
pray that we as people who will lead Nigeria towards it.
Welcome
to 2014, a year to raise credible leaders; to bring about social justice; to
sustain our great nation.
Thank
you and God bless you.
I am
‘Jide Olowookere a growing
brand serving
unique people across the world. (Creative Designer, Speaker, Writer)
1 Comments
Fantastic. Nigeria will be a better place with young men like this.
ReplyDelete