I have come again oh. But this time with a more serious issue
worthy of focus and scrutiny. But before I start let me tell you of a wonderful
song I heard lately;
I was lying on my bed listening to the
radio on a Saturday morning. I decided
to tune in to the early morning drive show on my favorite radio station; the
presenter was talking about the recent consecutive dispute that tends to
pervade the Nigerian music sector.
However, let’s leave that one for now, that’s not the reason why my beak
speaks wailing ink. As the presenter went on, he decided to take a break with a
song which he called Love Don’t Care by
Simi. As I heard the introductory tone I had already assumed it was going to be
one of those melancholic melodies put together to express either lost love,
love lost or lost but found love as the case may be. However, as I listened to the lyrics, I was
really astounded, so impressed by the words engraved in the melodies that came
from the sonorous voice of the artist. As
the normal saying, radio no dey repeat,
the song eventually came to a stop as the presenter cut in with words while the
song faded into the background. Immediately,
I left the radio and picked up my phone, switched on my mobile data, browsed
through Google to download the song. To my luck, I was able to download it, I
listened to this song over and over again. I saw depth in the issues she
addressed, a very strategic and daring feat was exhibited in that song by Simi.
She dealt with two
important issues which pose major problems in a country occupied by colonially
brainwashed citizens of this country.
Let me start with the
first issue which is of ethnic disparity and separatism. In 1963 when Nigeria fully gained her independence,
the colonial masters showed us to ourselves; the Ibos stood, alongside the Yorubas
and Hausas, then the Whiteman called us one, under one umbrella called Nigeria.
Unknown to them, that not only do we not know each other but also we do not
possess mutual understanding. From that day, Nigeria became independent but
each ethnic group still nurtured a personal desire for separatism. An absence
of communal love!!!
If you doubt me, then
answer the question why Biafra came to be and is still trying to raise its
head, answer the question why whenever an aspirant emerges, there is always a nosy
abhorrent inquiry of his or her ethnicity echoed by ignorant folks of ethnic
dogmatism and extremism? It is
unfortunate that the love which should exist amongst citizens of one nation has
been centralized to ethnic sameness, while others from a different ethnic
background can go and die as the case
may be.
A disservice which we
offer to the younger ones is the one of ethnic disparity in making marital
choices, whereby parents strongly advice their children against getting married
from any other ethnicity aside theirs, the Igbos are perceived rude by the Yorubas,
the Yorubas considered diabolical by the Ibos while the Hausas are seen to be
dangerous and inherently dirty, there are all sorts of unintelligent and
inconsiderate reasons why the communal growth of this nation is hampered.
The second issue
addressed is that of career choices which affects the erroneous perception of
wealth. There are some career choices that are believed to yield low income,
thus, parents vehemently advise their female daughters against going into a
relationship with a man with such a career; an example is cited by Simi; a
teacher. In no bid to begin identifying the invaluable relevance of the teacher
in the society, I just want to highlight a role and that is to teach. This role
explains it all, the success of any individual is in how much he or she has
garnered in terms of knowledge, how much he has been taught which is reflected
in the individual’s actions, this forms the basis of his or her relevance in
the society. And talking about the issue of wealth or no wealth, it is a
relative thing developed and nurtured by an individual.
We live in a society
filled with mediocrity, occupied by individuals who do not learn but make investigated
assumptions about issues and situations. And as such they stereotype an issue
that may have occurred on an individual basis to be surely happening in other
places. For example, if an Ibo man or lady tends to be rude to a Yoruba
individual. He or she (the Yoruba) tends to foolishly say; “don’t mind them,
that how they do. Ibo people are the same”. Without considering the fact the
totality of a man is not made up by his ethnicity but as a result of what he or
she has garnered in terms of knowledge and growth.
Also, a mother will tell her daughter; “you must not marry teacher Chinedu, if not
you will all drink garri” like you are a seer who have already seen his
destiny and where he is going to end up. This is the society plagued with
ignorance and extreme foolishness in which we live in.
However, it is in the
presence of these maladies and societal disservice that a youth still employs her
sonorous voice, crying out to Nigerians to WAKE UP and stop all forms of ethnic
malevolence and favoritism. Let one thing stand tall amongst this ethnic rubble
and that is LOVE. The love she yearns for is a stubborn one, a love that will
speak up against a mother’s seemingly motherly advice that fans the flames of
ethnic separatism and marital choices based on “venerated” careers or the
father who with a phallocentric tone tires to coerce you into the same. A love that does not care what happens
tomorrow but believes tomorrow is a product of the beauties of today.
It is time to begin to
oppose seemingly old decisions laden with selfishness, greed and
inconsiderateness, upheld by our apparently “I too know” mothers and fathers, and it’s time we begin to chart
the course of our lives towards communal love, oneness and unity.
Dear fellow youths, the
destiny of this our nation, Nigeria is in our hands. We do not need a Moses
with a staff to guide our way, all we need is ourselves. In sincerity of heart
and love for this nation, we will take it to the point where our past heroes
and heroines have always desired.
