Akì í mú ìbọn tetere. One does not hold a gun carelessly. (Always be careful in handling dangerous matters.)
What about the hope
What about the promise you made to the poor
How you gwan joke
How you gwan vote
What about the hike in the
And the levy now the man he can’t cope
Now the man smoke
To hide away from all the pain
So he no drown from a boat
Or hang from a rope
How you gwan choke a man down and then tell him say
Let the poor breathe
You hold a man down and tell ’em say
Let the poor breath
Big man control all the money
And you can’t even let the poor feed
You hold a man down and tell him say
Let the poor breathe, breathe.
Some people say we get the kinds of leader we deserving
The type of fools who like to rule instead of serving
But what I know is a good leader is a servant
The type who feel the pain of people who are hurting
Who are hurting.
I am certain
One day the youth will find a way to do the purging
And take Babylon system with their burden
Baba this no be prayer
This is just a warning
Day by day three things I pray
Baba give me conscience to talk sense
No be nonsense and call am content
And Baba let my whole generation get sense
What about the hope
What about the promise you made to the poor
How you wan joke
How you wan vote
What about the hike in the
And the levy now the man he can’t cope
Now the man smoke
To hide away from all the pain
So he no drown from a boat
Or hang from a rope
How you gwan choke a man down and then tell him say
Let the poor breathe
You hold a man down and tell ’em say
Let the poor breath
Big man represent the poor man
But you don’t even know what the poor need
You hold a man down and tell him say
Let the poor breathe, breathe.
E be like say dem take all our sense
And money put am inside kolo
Use division, tribe religion, lead us we dey follow
Knack our heads together now we be like we on colos
On colos, on colos, on colos
Now we on colos
But the solution dey our hand cos na we matter
E for better make love unite us than to scatter
So all of my people Weymouths think say japa na the answer
No worry go but when we call you, you must answer
You must show cause day by day three things I pray
Baba give me joy
Baba give me long life and soft life
And all the people wey dey use corruption to cut life
Baba you know nah, Baba you know
– Cobhams Asuquo
As we mark our 63rd independence anniversary, all is not well with our beloved nation Nigeria. This in itself is no news, given the fact that the phrase “all is not well” has become a popular refrain in recent years.
Can all be well then, sometime in the future; is it possible that as a nation, Nigeria, can still find character and strength to hold her head up, remains a million naira question.
For a nation that has completely lost its sense of rage, the norm has become abnormal, the abnormal, so normal, and a way of life. What holds sway are deviant attitudes supported by an elite leadership well disconnected from a docile populace.
At 63 years old, ASUU may soon go on strike, education is on the decline, the system gradually collapsing, and yet no rage. We try to find the character through phrases such as transformation, 1 million-point agenda, re-engineering, redemption, Changi Dole, renewed hope, and all such catchwords, good people, great nation, but the truth is that silently the underdevelopment of our nation continues in almost all spheres.
We are 63 years old, and we are not outraged at how we have suddenly become a nation that produces god of men rather than men of God, pastors with several aircraft, while the congregation is hoodwinked with prosperity classes, Islamic scholars turned Talibans debating the text of the koran weekly but barely following the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed PBUH.
I went to a public school, Archbishop Aggrey Memorial Secondary School, it was situated in a Lagos suburb called Mushin, I was taught the English Language in Yoruba, for it to sink in, and properly understood. There was a semblance of character then; because it was part of the much-touted good days…it was not old. Then it was a burden to spend 50 kobo. One naira had value, we were able to breathe!
We studied Islamic Religious Knowledge and Christian Religious Knowledge as they were both called irrespective of your faith. On Fridays, the morning assembly included the Juma’at service led by Mr. Salami, everyone participated, and we had character. There was breath irrespective of one’s faith!
We have not lost our rage. It simply left… The economy is near the doldrums in Europe, and other parts of the world, but Nigeria with the potential to do what China is doing or translate into some African Alsatian if we cannot become tigers is suffocating under a forex crisis, with the Naira unable to breathe. We removed subsidies to please them, they keep their own as safety nets for their citizens. Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzars, and Goliaths masquerading everywhere.
We have been constantly and consistently marking our independence on the lowkey for the last decade, this year we are even begging labor unions to let the government breathe and the unions are asking the government to allow the people to breathe; the people do not trust labor, and the chess game goes on, and the only reason the poor man has not committed suicide is because he cannot even afford the rope.
There is no outrage that a governor appoints 1,070 political aides, among them hundreds of special assistants and dozens of senior special assistants whose salaries and other perks would cost the state several millions.
At 63, we are still serving dinner with the perennial guests; corruption, nepotism, abandoned projects, lack of infrastructure, bloated government, insecurity, and lack of decisive will in governance. We battle to renegotiate our collective existence as a nation, and confidence in government is divided. It is either the government has no commitment and has the ability, or its ability is never matched with commitment.
With all these, there is no outrage, we go ahead like all is well, feeding on our false resilience. Hoping against hope, we keep holding the gun of nationhood carelessly.
The Yorubas say ‘Ohun méjì ló yẹ Ẹ̀ṣọ́: Ẹ̀ṣọ́ jà, ó lé ogun; Ẹ̀ṣọ́ jà ó kú sógun’, meaning that only two things are proper for a warrior: the warrior goes to war and drives the enemy off; the warrior goes to war and dies in battle. Would there be a Nigeria, in the next 63 years, and what would it look like, what do we want as Nigerians, how do we want it, and when do we want it, let us breathe so that—Nigeria may win.
* Prince Charles Dickson, PhD, is Team Lead, The Tattaaunawa Roundtable Initiative (TRICentre)
https://tattaaunawa.org/
Development & Media Practitioner|
Researcher|Policy Analyst|Public Intellect|Teacher
234 803 331 1301, 234 805 715 2301
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Skype ID: princecharlesdickson
