Jumoke Olusoga: The birth of ‘A Concerned Citizen’

by Jumoke Olusoga

“The reason this is important to me is, next year I’ll still hold the most important title of all, and that’s the title of citizen…”

The words of Barack Obama (President of the United States of America) as he addressed the Illinois General Assembly in February 2016 and referred to the end of his term, soon to come.

I had been listening to the speech half distracted by my Caucasian puppy and his activity with my stress ball that has regrettably become the canine’s chewing exercise tool, however, something sparked in my head when I heard the statement, I turned to concentrate on the TV and sighed deeply, finding it unbelievably interesting that the President of America, supposedly the most powerful man in the world, regards another title as the most important – Citizen.

As I lay down to sleep that night, the words kept ringing in my head “the most important title of all, the title of citizen’, as idealistic as it sounded to me, I struggled to comprehend the extent of the importance of ‘citizen’. President, Governor, Minister, Chief Judge, Admiral, CIO, those are important titles, and here was Barack Obama, putting in my head that just being a ‘Citizen’  is more important than all of those.

At 1.15am, I picked my phone, went to my browser and typed in the word on my Google home page; I found this in the Merriam Webster dictionary.

1. An inhabitant of a city or town; especially:  one entitled to the rights and privileges of a freeman.

2. A member of a state:  a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it.

I should clarify before I go on, I am not a Lawyer (surprisingly, because I know how to exaggerate facts to make a point), I am not an activist (I am not endowed with such level of energy), and I am not Partisan (I do not support Political Parties or Politicians, I support Principles and Values).

Back to my findings on the word Citizen, I slowly began to decipher how important it is, with words like entitled, rights, privileges, free, owe, allegiance, protection, this was not a person to put on the back burner of national affairs or belittled in any regard, on the contrary, this was a person to be served, protected, respected and honored. No doubt, an important person.

Eventually, I fell asleep and woke up three hours later to get ready for work, thinking about what route to take to beat the early morning Lagos traffic.

Citizen, Obama, or the night before were the last things on my mind, I just needed to get to Victoria Island early enough to make my 7.30AM meeting, and if you are familiar with the Ajah axis, you would understand my worries.

I made it out of the house at 5.35am and stopped to pick my friend, Oyin on the next street, we take turns driving to work, it’s how we manage to stay sane and keep up with what’s happening in each other’s lives.

That morning, the conversation was something like this;

Me: I tell you all the time to wait by your gate so we can leave quickly, waiting 5 minutes for you to come out means an added 20 minutes to the journey.

Oyin: Please, please, please….don’t stress me this morning, I just want to sleep. I’ve been up since 4am, I’m exhausted and I haven’t even started my day.

Me: Welcome to Lagos *laughs*….anyway, if you keep me waiting tomorrow, better be prepared to find your way to VI.

Oyin: *laughs* you wouldn’t dare.

Me: By the way, I was buzzing you yesterday night trying to get you to listen to Obama’s speech.

Oyin: so that?

Me: so that you’ll watch something else other than the Kardashians.

Oyin: *laughs* am I complaining? I’m fine with my girls.

Me: Your girls indeed. Considering y’all hung out on their million dollar Yacht last summer.

Oyin: Nah! That’s actually next summer *hiss*

I tried to tell Oyin about Obama’s statement that had struck me, but nothing I said got her interested, not even when I tried to describe how cool Obama looked in his white shirt and grey tie, before long, she fell asleep and I was left with Lekki traffic and my thoughts on the importance of being a Citizen, moreso, a Citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I turned to look at Oyin, she had reclined the seat and looked comfortable in her sleep, I still don’t know how she does it, I’ve tried to sleep when she drives and it just never happens.

As I turned back to face my driving, it occurred to me, Oyin is a citizen too, the ‘danfo’ driver that was now trying to shove me out of my lane, is a citizen, and so is the little girl that had her face pressed against my window hoping to get something that would feed her that morning.

We are all citizens, all more important than any title or office, all deserving of more. Do we know this? Are we concerned?

One hour and forty minutes after we left Ajah, I dropped Oyin in her office and headed to mine along the same street, as I parked and got out of the car, I decided what I wanted to be, a journey to start, and hopefully, a cause to drive.

So this is it, I am not a Lawyer, I am not an activist and I am not partisan. I am a Citizen actually, a little more, a little that makes all the difference. I am A Concerned Citizen.

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