Nigeria will get there someday soon, we will get there soon. This is undoubtedly one of the various means we, Nigerians use to pacify ourselves for countless generations as our country’s situation deteriorates with each passing day. Permit me to ask, where is Nigeria going to and when will it get there because it now appears to me that Nigeria is on a journey to a certain “promise land”.
Just a few weeks ago, I was in a taxi when when a song was being played on the radio about Nigeria and I listened unconcerned until the driver initiated a conversation. He began by narrating to me how he had been hearing the same “Nigeria will get there” phrase. In fact, he said back then when he was in primary school, a song was made out of it. Now decades later, the same phrase is being said without little or no good development. He was bitter as he lamented on how difficult it has become to afford a two square meal and still send his children to school. I was touched as I thought of how much he earned daily as a taxi driver and how it would sustain him and his family considering the current economy of the country today. The one thing that got to me the most was his age. He was seventy!. A seventy year old man who should have taken a break from work was behind the steering of a taxi just so as to fend for his family. How unfair!. As I alighted and bade him goodbye, I thought of the number of years he would have heard this useless phrase, probably sixty, I thought sadly.
On a serious note, where is Nigeria headed as it is obvious that the path it is treading on is nothing compared to what Nigerians expect. When will Nigeria be known for good exactly? When will Nigerians at home be proud of their fatherland as they now make plans to travel out of the country. Little wonder, traveling overseas is usually regarded as some sort of breakthrough among Nigerians. I mean, why not? Nigeria has little or nothing to offer at all to it’s citizens as a whole.
Countless children roam on the streets and main roads daily, youths now resolve to scamming others, government workers cry day in, day out for the payment of their salary. Universities go on strike like it’s now a custom, older men and women are left with no choice than to do menial jobs and beg for alms in their own country. When the country is rich and the citizens are a direct opposite. What is a better definition of tragedy if not this?
I think it’s high time we stop consoling ourselves unnecessarily while we die in silence. It is obvious that singing the “getting there” song is doing no good. We need to start doing the right things. Believe me, sometimes I wish Nigeria could be better run by the Whites but then again, it would be to our loss eventually. If Nigerians can’t run Nigeria to make Nigerians happy, who then would give a damn?!
Now is the time to get all hands on deck so as to “get there” so that the labor of those that fought for our freedom would not be in vain as we sing in our anthem. What do you say?
Well said, Doyin. I’m honestly tired of that phrase too😪