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| Bisi-Taiwo Johnson |
Can we pause for a moment and consider our actions and inactions in respect to the security threat being faced by Nigeria as a nation? Do we see ourselves having prioritised the mundane issues rather than face the facts and fight for the collective just cause which is ‘rescuing the abducted girls’ and bringing back sanity to our beautiful country, Nigeria.
I am of the opinion that the best way to forge ahead is to be united and look at the positive side of things. This will enable us stabilise our nation rather than “making viral; there is God ooo” There is God is now trending so much that we lost focus of our goal. What happened to respect? I thought we all as Nigerians were raised to respect our parent and whoever is deemed to be elderly.
When did it become a sin to speak in ones mother’s tongue? While the developed countries are striving hard to encourage their younger generations to speak in their mother-tongue ( their indigenous languages) we are busy humiliating our very own first lady for speaking the Pidgin English at a meeting which she initiated in a bid to rescue our abducted children/sisters. If I were in her position, I would speak in my native dialect and ask for an interpreter because I am so proud of my origin. I do understand that the best way to communicate or think, especially in touching circumstances as this is in our native language.
I stand to be corrected if I am wrong, I think majority of the Nigerian populace (home and abroad) are guilty of this act which of course appears to give a bad impression of us in the face of the international communities. If the international communities such as the United States, United Kingdom, China and Canada who offered to help in order to recover the abducted girls have taking this course with such levity, then we would b nowhere today.
We may demand that we need President Goodluck Jonathan to do better than his current performances because we all have our expectations. However, we can do this using constructive criticism rather than humiliating this family that we chose by voting them into power; we did not have to vote for them in by coercion!
There is need for us to understand that we have a role to play to make things work for Nigeria. Regardless of the support we get from the international Communities, we also have our own part to play. A peculiar Nigeria problem, needs a Nigerian solution.
The Boko Haram sect did not fall from heaven; they have families and relatives who are aware of their acts. Why is it that no one, not a single Nigerian comes forward to expose their criminal act? Did we forget about the adage that ‘evil people thrives, when there is no one to caution them’? I guess everyone is scared of death or being killed, but no matter how long; we shall all die someday, whether or not we like it. My father used to tell me that ” Ka so ooto kaku; o san ju ka pa iro ka wa laaye” this means that ‘it is better to say the truth and die rather than to live in deceit/live in denial’……it takes wisdom to make do of this saying.
I am proudly Nigeria, and I am of the opinion that the current insecurity in Nigeria is not as a result of any religious differences. In all of these killings and abduction; Christians, Muslims and the Traditional believers were affected. Hence, we need to be united and fight our common enemy which is no one but the Boko Haram sect, whether or not the sect is politically motivated is not the major concern but our need to eradicate them.
I wish that above all things that we re-unite, speak in one voice and triumph over our adversaries and we shall have a good success.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Gbemisola (Bisi-Taiwo) Johnson is presently a PhD (Law) candidate at the National University of Ireland and the Secretary, Niger-Delta Women Coalition Irealnd.
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