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Nigeria: Looking Beyond The Thorns To Find Roses
A Nigerian man mounted a podium in New York City. Let’s call him Mr. A. He captivated the audience with his oratory wizardry.
And as he stepped from the podium about 10 minutes later, a burst of applause from the enthralled audience accompanied him while his home country, Nigeria, also came crashing after him.
EDITOR’S PICKS
In the 10 minutes during which Mr. A had the stage, he used many verbal illustrations which painted a bleak picture of Nigeria, highlighting many failures and struggles.
He successfully sold his country short and pulled her pillars in public gaze, all in a bid to captivate the audience.
Mr. A would later join a host of other Nigerians to lament how some opportunities evade Nigerians which are easily accessible to other nationals.
He would complain about the inhumane treatment that some Nigerians receive from foreigners.
He would complain about how Nigeria is a subject of mockery in some international quarters.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warns about the danger of a single story; when we repeatedly tell a negative story about a people while obscuring their virtues, we weave that negativity into the identity that defines them.
Mr. A in his lamentations have forgotten the negative narrative he pushed about his country on that podium in NYC.
Whereas he could have talked about Oluyinka Olutoye, the Nigerian surgeon who successfully removed a tumor from a 23 weeks’ gestation and returned the fetus to the womb who was later born a healthy baby;
He could have talked about Faith Odunsi, the 15-year-old Nigerian who beat the US, the UK and other nations to become the champion of Global Open Mathematics Tournament;
He could have talked about Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian woman at the reins of World Trade Organization.
Nigerians seem to have mastered the art of amplifying the darker aspects of our reality as a people, pushing negative narratives which spread like fire in harmattan, and damage control become impossible.
We cast the spotlight on our thorns while our roses quietly bloom in the shadows.
If we keep lamenting our marginalization among the comity of nations while perpetually pushing negative narratives, we are like the man who brings an ant-infested faggots into his hut and still complains about the visit of lizards in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God.
While many Nigerians are busy trying to “japa” by hook or by crook, on the excuse that the field is greener on the other side, the Petersons – love birds who are both Americans – recently flew all the way to Nigeria to tie the nuptial knots, because they trust the richness and values of the Nigerian traditions to add a layer of colour to their wedding, while what some Nigerians see is a county in chains.
This paradox speaks to the tainted assessment of our nation by her citizens.
FURTHER READING
We must break the cycle of seeking shelter in other nations and return home to fix our own leaky roof rather than complain about it.
Nation building is not the job of political leaders alone. It is a collective responsibility.
Our actions can build or tear down our country; so can our words. For each time an American says “God bless America”, what does a Nigerian say?
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