Opinion: Nigeria is worth it, please celebrate her!

by Ikem Eva Deborah

Supporters Cheering for Election Results

Today, I expect our leaders to perform the same dance of shame they perform at Nigeria’s birthday every year, while the country is gradually breaking into pieces. In fact, I expect today’s ‘birthday’ cake to be twice bigger than it was last year. After all, Nigeria is worth celebrating.   

By way of introduction, I AM A NIGERIAN! My name is Ikem Deborah Ucheonye, a native of Onicha-Ugbo, and a proud descendant of the Anioma people of Delta State. I am very proud to be a Nigerian but I am also very sad to be a Nigerian. I’m saddened by the fact that the Nigeria of my dream has not been born and I’m scared that if the necessary steps are not taken, the Nigeria of my dream may never be born.

From the stories I heard while cuddling up to my grandmother, about two decades ago, I expected to grow into a Nigeria that is nothing like what she is today!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where peace reigns, and not the Boko Haram ‘infested’ country we have today!

I dreamt of a crime-free, violence-free and struggle-free nation, and not a nation where people go missing every hour on the hour.

I dreamt of a Nigeria where all men will be equal, and not the ‘big-man’ controlled country that we have today!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where a man can leave his door open and go to sleep, without fear of losing his valuables, and even his life, before daybreak!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where our multi-ethnicity and cultural diversity will bind us, and not a country where the Ijaws and the Itsekiris of the same Delta state will always be at war!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where language will never be a barrier, and not a country where an Ilaje man will confuse an Osun man with his peculiar variant of the Yoruba language!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where state will not rise against state, and where brother will not rise against brother, and not a country where the Yorubas abhor the ‘abokis’

I dreamt of a Nigeria where a person’s choice of religion will be respected, and not where every Muslim lady in ‘full’ purdah will be considered as anti-social by Catholics and/or other Christians!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where dirt and decay will not overwhelm us, and not a country where a body of water cannot flow freely because it has been blocked by human waste!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where nobody will have to beg for bread, and not a country where there are more beggars and mad people on the streets than sane people!

I dreamt of a Nigeria that can stand chest to chest with world giants like the United States of America in all areas, and not a country that cannot ‘adequately’ produce its own energy!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where youths like me won’t have to migrate like birds to other countries, in search of greener pastures, and not a nation where youths prefer to perish in the deserts of Libya in the course of travelling out of the country!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where I can travel from one state to the other safely, and not a nation where I cannot ‘stroll’ from my street to the next street without losing a limb!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where I can go to the Bureau de Change to transact a financial business without being tracked by Anini’s descendants, and not a nation where using the ATM after 8 P.M is dangerous!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where a Lagosian and a ‘Maidugurian’ will know their rights and how to enforce them, and not a nation where a policeman with a gun can slap me and get away with it!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where fire outbreaks will be almost non-existent, and not a country where our fire-fighting tankers do not have water to put out fires!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where health services will be readily available every hour on the hour, and not a country where many doctors are quacks!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where a senator and a pepper seller can both send their children to tertiary institutions of their choice, and not a country where most of the children of the ‘masses’ have to stop schooling at form 5!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where a student will graduate from the tertiary institution and get immediate employment, and not a country where he/she has to work in a polythene-producing factory with a medical certificate!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where when it rains, I can sleep soundly, and not a country where it rains and I cannot rest assured that I won’t be swept away by flood!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where I can move about without fear of being kidnapped!

I dreamt of a Nigeria where our leaders will not misplace their priorities!

I DREAMT OF A NIGERIA WHERE GOVERNMENT WILL BE OF THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE, and not a country where our leaders have turned political offices to family seats of power that should be passed down from generation to generation!

I had a lot of dreams about my dear country, and it will take years to write them all. Alas, what do I get? Broken, shattered and unrealized dreams! WHY? Because we have simply lost our IDENTITY as Nigerians! We have MISPLACED OUR PRIORITIES!

Today is Independence Day; and Nigeria will celebrate her 53rd birthday. I have just one request though………PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She has enormous tracts of land and vast volumes of water BUT, she cannot feed herself! PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She has millions of cows BUT has no milk. PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She drives some of the best cars in the world BUT, she has no roads. PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world; and her future generations are dying before her very eyes. PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

Her leaders are her oppressors, and her policemen are her terrors. PLEASE CELEBRTAE HER!

Some of her sons have looted the future of generations unborn; some have enough money than they can spend in several lifetimes while their ‘other’ brothers die of starvation. PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She can produce anything BUT, she imports everything. PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

Her toothpick is made in China,

Her toothpaste is made in South Africa,

Her salt is made in Ghana,

Her butter is made in Ireland,

Her milk is made in Holland,

Her shoes are made in Italy,

Her vegetable oil is made in Malaysia,

Her biscuit is made in Indonesia,

Her chocolate is made in Turkey,

Her table water made in France!

In fact, everything about her is NOT made in Nigeria! PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She has genuine leather, BUT she has chosen to eat it. So she spends billions of dollars to import fake leather.

She has four refineries BUT, she prefers to import fuel. So she wastes more billions to import petrol.

She has no security in her country BUT, she sends troops to keep peace in other men’s lands. PLEASE CELEBRATE HER

She is hopeless, hapless and helpless! PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

She has no verve, no vote and no voice! PLEASE CELEBRATE HER!

Today, I expect our leaders to perform the same dance of shame they perform at Nigeria’s birthday every year, while the country is gradually breaking into pieces. In fact, I expect today’s ‘birthday’ cake to be twice bigger than it was last year. After all, Nigeria is worth celebrating.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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