Nigerians: 12 Myths we believe in and the Lies we tell ourselves

 

Nigerians: 12 Myths we believe in and the Lies we tell ourselves
1. That the current (old) leadership has been clinging on to power and have refused to give way for the ‘youth’. Well, to that I say, the old guards where young (most in their early and late twenties) when they assumed positions of authority. The country did have old people at the time but these individuals (love them or hate them) decided to take their destiny into their hands, fought for Independence, fought for positions of authority. So my dear ‘youth’ (especially those of you who are well into your 40’s and 50’s), nowhere in the world is power relinquished easily. If you can’t fight for it, don’t want to sacrifice, biko mechie onu! (which by the way means ‘please shut up’ in Igbo).
2. That the dissolution of the Nigerian State along regional lines is the panacea to our current problems. To that I say, why stop there? Why not divide the country along the lines of its 371 different tribes and ethnic extractions. Why not a faith based dissolution; Christian / Moslem, and after we are done with that why not Anglican / Catholic / Pentecostal and Sunni / Shia / Ahmadiyya. By the way, where will that leave the atheist, animist, and agnostics?
3. That the defunct Republic of Biafra was an Eldorado, where everything worked and the Igbo man was truly emancipated. Common on! This is no longer ‘airbrushing’ history, not even photoshopping the past, this is calling a spade a hoe! First of all, the Igbos where to Biafra what the Hausa Fulani are to Northern Nigeria. In its short lived existence, Biafra had manifested all the maladies that we battle with in present day Nigeria; marginalization of the minority tribes by the Igbos, corruption at all levels, greed, avarice, lack of public probity and accountability etc Abeg lets stop romanticizing the past!
4. That there is a ‘Yourba Nation’, or ‘Ijaw Nation’ or that any other ethnic extraction in Nigeria can be considered a ‘Nation’. Please stop reading your history upside down.
5. That Buhari is a Democrat. Hahahahahahahahah!!! Chei I don die for this wan! You overthrow a democratically elected government, you incarcerate Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor for writing the truth, you execute the trio of Bernard Ogedengbe, Bartholomew Owoh and Lawal Ojulope based on a retroactive decree, you promulgate Decree Number two (DN2) of 1984 which stripped the Nation's Courts of the power to challenge the reason why an individual is detained, and…and…need I say more?
6. That some of our State Governors are “performing Governors” or “action Governors”. Hmmnnnnnn…Here I have to sigh. Trust me, anyone can ‘perform’ if performance is defined as collecting the States Federal allocation and spending it as they please. What differentiates these “performers” from the “non-performers” is the degree of corruption (how much was stolen as against how much was applied towards development and management) not productivity. Where in the civilized world do you have Chief Executive Officers whose sole role is to spend money and not to create wealth?
7. That corruption is only when it is someone else that is performing the act considered corrupt. When it is us, our kinsman or our pastor then its either God’s blessing or it is our turn to eat.
8. That M.K.O Abiola was a model of democracy. Hehehehehehehe…No he was not! He actively benefited from his association with several military regimes…and yes, I admire him for his stand on June 12 and the fact that he paid the ultimate price for it. But to cloak him in a Democracy Saint's garb? Mba nu!
9. That the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was the undisputed Leader of Ndi Igbo. I concede that he provided leadership when the rest of the country turned against the people of Eastern Nigeria. But then I ponder, how come he lost an election into the Senate to the less fancied Senator Nathaniel Anah? Besides, whatever happened to the age-old Igbo adage of “Igbo Enwe Eze” that Ndi Igbo don’t bow to any King?
10. That Football unites the nation. Yes, the same way sex or the high from heroin or crack cocaine provides a temporary relief. After the game, once we alight from the ecstatic highs, we revert to our good old jaundiced and bigoted selves.
11. “Rigging + Rigging = Free and Fair Elections". Someone once explained to me that Nigeria is one of those countries where politicians are not “Rigged Out”, rather they are “Out Rigged”.
12. Zik does not have the key to the River Niger neither is Awo hailing you from the moon.

 

 

 

 Jekwu Ozoemene