Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - IF YOU LOVE NIGERIA, SAY SO

I disagree with you that separatist tendencies were at an all time high in the Southwest post June 12.  Apathy in some quarters yes!

But there was that significant quantum of leadership led by Chief Obasanjo (which eventually won the day) who insisted that whatever ill fate befell the Southwest in that dispensation must be resolved within the context of one Nigeria in spite of the fact that his close kinsman had just been murdered in gaol for no other crime than that he won an election and the military was not prepared to relinquish power.  

Note also that the international wing of the Southwest's struggle ably led by Prof Soyinka (CFR) never canvassed for separatism (even in exile) but for the continuous struggle till the country is liberated from the miilitary usurpers ( and it is no coincidence that it is to him that Gen Abdusalam Abubakir symbolically presented the fact of surrender of the military.)

Additionally there were those unprincipled Southwesterners who would dine with any Devil (Abacha) in the name of the continuity of the nation while the winner of an election from the zone languished in gaol.

This was precisely why the Igbo always wonder why the Yoruba are never united or speak with one voice. Answer: Yoruba is a cosmopolitan civilization that allows freedom of choice even among the Devil incarnates in its ranks.

Compare the scenario to now when Igbo nation (or the Southeast )is no longer a major player in the Presidency and the loud din of Biafra is every where and those who have been at the heart of the executive arm prior to the current dispensation cannot speak truth to power that ' not in our names, we have benefited enormously from Nigeria since the end of Nigeria's first Civil War.'

Yes, there are different categories of people in a polity: those who prefer to wear their patriotism on their sleeves and those who show patriotism through their acts; its just a difference in nature if both professions of patriotism are sincere.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>

Date: 07/07/2017 01:10 (GMT+00:00)

To: USAAfricaDialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - IF YOU LOVE NIGERIA, SAY SO

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I am deeply suspicious any effusive profession of patriotism. It is usually calculated, self-interested, and strategic. It is also episodic. Most of those professing love of country today are from the Southwestern and Northern parts of the country. Only three years ago, Northerners, especially people from the so-called core North, were denouncing the union and openly saying they would be fine with the country dividing. Some of them even threatened to tear the union apart if power did not "return" to the North--and by north they did not mean my kind of north. The sentiment in the Southwest at that time was hardly different although it was expressed in less vehement and militant terms. I need not even go back to the post-June 12 period when separatist sentiment was at an all time high in the Southwest and when the Southwestern political elite and intelligentsia scoffed at any invocation of patriotism. This is a long winded way of saying that patriotism is often directly proportional to how one perceives the union in relation to one's (or one's group's) interest at any particular time. These vulgar assertions of patriotism despite the country descending into centrifugal funk is also strategic. In my opinion, true patriots do not need to make noise about their patriotism. It will show through their actions, especially through the CONSISTENCY of their public advocacy, political ideology, and empathy.

On Thu, Jul 6, 2017 at 2:27 PM, Olukayode Soremekun <nikesohe@hotmail.com> wrote:

I DO LOVE MY COUNTRY, NIGERIA.

LONG LIVE NIGERIA!

I DO NOT LISTEN TO THE NAYSAYERS.

Thank you Kayode.

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Kayode J. Fakinlede <jfakinlede@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2017 1:41:03 PM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - IF YOU LOVE NIGERIA, SAY SO

 

In recent months, I have witnessed the most organised and coordinated effort to tear down our country that any person or a group of people can muster. Nigeria, our country, has suddenly transmogrified into a country of confused people who cannot put two and two together, its impending doom and imminent collapse being broadcast every minute on the internet and the print media.

Some months before, I was at a gathering in the United States and, as a lone person out, I had tried to defend our country among some of these naysayers only to find out that I was dangerously outmunbered. "What has Nigeria done for you?; why should I speak well about Nigeria, etc, etc?' These kinds of questions were coming from even new arrivals and from young people who had just received their freshly minted certificates in one university or another in Nigeria and were lucky enough to have been able to secure a visa to America. Of course, I had previously, and several times found myself among groups of Nigerians who would spend the night castigating our country and throwing darts at it. Some even swore never to set eyes on Nigeria for ever.

Ah, Ah!!, I discovered why it is easy for these to put Nigeria down. The light and glare of the country America have blinded them to the reality of where they come from and the sacrifices made by their forebears to get them there. Evidently, much that they see and experience in America magically appeared across the landscape. A little learning, they say is a dangerous thing.

Of course, there is a majority of us, the silent majority, who by reason of our experience know that things do not always go harmonioulsy in God's own country.  In America, in spite of the daily jostling of each individual to get to the top regardless of whose ass is gored, we see the combined efforts of its citizens, irrespective of and in spite of their differences, to continuously improve - emphasis on improve -  the school system, the legal system, the water system, the health provision system, the electricity supply system, roads and bridges, etc.

'Towards a more perfect Union,' Americans often proclaim this as their intention. But when I see the level of acrimony some issues generate within the polity, I often wonder if a perfect union can ever be achieved on earth. But at the end of it all, I realise that the glitter and fluorencence that we foreigners now come to enjoy are the results of years of the acrimonious debates and sacrifices –  emphasis on sacrifices - made by their forebears.

One fact seems to run through the vein of all Americans though, they love their country, warts and all. Every American proclaims this at the roof top every time and before they start the aforementioned acrimonious debates.

Majority of Nigerians are like Americans too. We wake up in the morning, try to take care of our families the best way we can,  get to our individual workplaces to earn a living, send our children to the best schools we can afford, and in general try to earn a living. We also love Nigeria, warts and all. And try our best to work towards a better Nigeria.

But we have let the naysayers hijack the debate. We have allowed them to control the tempo of our discussion. We have given them the megaphone, they are now browbeating us with negative propaganda, and we are cowered by the intensity of their intention.

Let us therefore begin to take to the bulhorn to declare our love for our country Nigeria. Let our positive proclamation drown the organized, cacophony and grandiloquence of the naysayers. They do have a plan and their plan is to tear Nigeria apart. We have a better plan and that better plan is to keep Nigeria one. And we do not have to debate or apologize to anyone for this.

God bless Nigeria

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