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of independent thoughts

apparently, nigeria has some die hard fans out there...like my office.


so this year, same as the last year, we get a 'happy independence' cake from my office. i was going to say 'with love' but i'm not sure that will be overly accurate. its funny how certain organizations show these acts of patriotism especially when noone is watching, and when they are not mandated by law. i really wanted to come on up here and make sarcastic remarks about the state of the country and what the heck we are so uppity doo about, but i really can't bring myself to do it.

i dont know what it is, but something tells me that my employers are right. you cannot buy freedom, and you cannot trade it in for the best economy, or the utmost stability or peace to all mankind. the personal freedoms we enjoy as citizens of a sovereign nation, imperfectly enforced as they are, remain better than what other full blooded human beings are subjected to in north korea and most of the arab world. for a country like mine that seems to be at pace with the times, grappling with terrorism like developed countries and permitting organized dissent without massacre like syria, it is something to be said that we remain free...and our mistakes are solely ours. it is also clear that we must be doing something right to get the kind of attention we have today. we must either be doing something right, or must have something the world cannot ignore, whether God-given (a la OIL) or self acquired (a la amazing taste in music). its true. we still remain at the fore front of the arts on the continent, we still pull rank with better economies like south africa, we still have the most educated work force in Africa and no other country in the world has yet figured out how to keep 150 million educated people under acute bondage while plundering their resources for the ruling class without a violent uprising. nigeria remains an enigma.

my sudden love for this country is bolstered by the elections in america, where poor, homeless, feeding-off-welfare americans remain proud of their systems...proud of their president and proud of their country. they are facing environmental and economic woes like never before, they have lost sons in needless wars and remain hated by their enemies, and yet they will never deny their heritage for a second...singing their anthem with mouths wide and hearts firm in the hope of a country that will rise again with its freedoms defended. and that is who i want to be. the easier thing to do is to give up on this country. it is so much easier to move yourself to a western country, hustle for a few years, bring your family over for a better life and take jibes at your motherland from afar. that is not how we were raised.

for a country that has survived a civil war, countless coups, SAP, MEND, Boko Haram, Abacha, Babangida, fuel riots, countless strikes, work without pay, stolen pensions, rogue bank officials and an increasingly inept government...we are not doing bad at all. infact, no other country i can think of can boast of these and remain unshaken after all these years. and so here is my quiet toast to Nigeria...the beautiful, blessed mother with bastard children. May your end be better than your beginning...and may i live to see you become the country of our dreams. Amen.

with love, RQ

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Rocky Fella! Nice piece, very deep indeed. My peeps say your can only be grateful if you ponder deeply over issues...there's always a reason to give thanks. This piece just show case the many reasons for Nigerians to be thankful for her existence. However, the aspect of her being mother of bastard children beats me. Indeed in our culture and from God's point of view, there aren't no bastard so called, the closest is an irresponsible father. God bless Nigeria, keep up d good work bro!
9:30 AM, October 03, 2012
RQ said…
thanks @anonymous! thank you for finding the time. when nigeria is entrusted to nigerians and these nigerians do nothing but enrich themselves at her expense, i think they deserve the "bastard" nomenclature. but your point is well noted though...will tone it down a notch. :)
12:09 PM, October 03, 2012
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