NIGERIA INDEPENDENCE
@54!
THE QUEST FOR
A BETTER NIGERIA.
THE MATTER OF THE HEART! WRITTEN BY OKEZIE KINGSLEY
A lot has been said about
Nigeria, we have so many times gone back to the drawing board, yet we have not
been able to draw something strategic enough to solve our problems.
On Saturday the 1st of
October 1960 Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa received a symbol of our
independence from the Queen of England, everyone at Tafawa Balewa square Lagos
and around Nigeria felt a sense of pride to be called a Nigerian, a free
country ruled by her citizens. Fast track 54 years later, is this the Nigeria
our fore fathers fought for?
It seems that 1st of
October 1960 is the last time we saw smiles on the faces of Nigerian’s when
anything about Government is been discussed.
In a conversation I had with a
colleague recently he said that “Nigeria is on or has been on fifty something
missionary journey another said” Kingsley leave all this talk about a better
Nigeria, Nigeria is a lost battle, a fool at forty is a fool forever; for him
Nigeria has gone beyond where he believes that anything can be done to redeem
her, all that is left is for one to grab what he can, face his family and pray,
this is the attitude that brought us to where we are now.
The heart of the matter, is the matter
of the heart, what do you think about Nigeria, in your heart, do you really
care about Nigeria, to see her citizens live a better life or are you just living
for yourself? A few weeks ago I read about a politician on www.lindaikeji.blogspot.com
who knelt down to ask for a vote, I hope such humility is motivated by love for
Nigeria and service to humanity. I leave the heart to judge.
A good heart is not a function of
looks, gentle attitude, nor what you say at times, a good heart reflects in our
actions, if the state of your heart is right, you will make quality and good
decisions that will benefit others. As a leader, government officer, what is
the state of your heart for Nigeria?
What can you do to see Nigeria
get better?
“Long term laughter is a function
of the choice you make, think about tomorrow don’t be overly excited about
today.” Yemi Davids.
Various Government administrations
have tried and failed to rally Nigerian citizens towards a good cause, other
than a football match between Nigeria
and other countries, which stops us from killing each other, but we continue to
do so right after the match. It is not the government that kills: it is the
state of your heart. If you are paid millions to kill what will you do? The matter of the heart.
Nigeria have battled a lot of
issues in the quest to stand strong as a Nation, military dictatorship, civil
war, tribalism, corruption, leadership decay and many others. What we need now
as a nation is a good heart, committed leaders whose interest is to see a
better Nigeria
and it starts with you.
In the book “we are the
Government” by Sam Adeyemi he said “God can do everything, but he will not do
everything for you” this was a revolution for me. Many at times we fold our
hands and all we do is pray, talk, complain and may be pray again, prayer is
good don’t quote me wrong, I believe it is as a result of the many prayers we
have made that Nigeria is still together “we are living by God’s mercy and it is
really not the best God can give, he wants to give us more, but it takes a
heart to receive from God, vision, prosperity, wisdom etc.
Note: God will not construct roads for us, it is not angles that
build roads around the world, it is human beings we have the sand the gravel,
granite, cement, bulldozers, iron rods and graders, God can build roads in
heaven, but it is our responsibility to build roads here. It is time to swing
into action while we pray, Government are not helping matters, we only hear of
billions moving about like water with no effect on the masses.
The only real government now is
self government, are you ready to be the government?
This is the time to get
responsible, if you are given a job to do please charge the exact cost, don’t
over charge and you, yes, you don’t collect any settlement for awarding that contract to him, ask for a good job, monitor
it, ensure that the job is done properly with the right equipments and on time.
We are the real government. If individuals will take up the responsibility to
do the little they can, by keeping our environment clean, stop giving and
receiving of bribe, report to the appropriate bodies about any crime within our
locality, maintain love one towards another and other virtues.
Soon we will have the Nigeria of our
dreams, if multinational companies can go as far as to repair or maintain the
roads leading to their place of work, it will go a long way to reduce the
number of bad roads we have in our rural areas, if you can not repair the pot
holes in front of your plant, which usually cause traffic, I believe the
multinational companies pay tax, with your influence and evidence of tax
payment, get the government to do it, that is one of the things the tax you
paid are meant for. Pay your staff well; retain good Corp members sent to you
by NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) to reduce the number of unemployment in
Nigeria. Religions bodies are not left out in this quest for a better Nigeria.
It is a collective responsibility.
Let us stay committed to see
Nigeria change, I have a dream that Nigeria will get better in our time “never
complain about what you permit” do what you can, it can be as little as voting
for the right leader, our collective delegated power is the one the president
and the governors uses, we must now exercise our power to give it and to
withdraw it, the next time you have the opportunity to vote, exercise your
power to create the future.
Vote and please vote wisely, I
believe in Nigeria
what about you? Is your heart right? Long live the federal republic of Nigeria.
Okezie Kingsley
Newspaper Advert Practitioner
Twitter Handle: @okeziekingsley2
