Development will only happen in Nigeria when the populace stay on the course of patriotism. There has never been a dearth of clear developmental projects by successive governments since the country’s independence, but personal interests always override national interests; and the country ends up not making progress.
Simply put, development means improved living standards for the general public, while patriotism means love or attachment to one’s country. Many Nigerians interpret patriotism to mean ‘acceptance to serve’ in government institutions, while the other side of the divide feel that well-aimed criticism of government functionaries and policies constitute patriotism.
However, genuine love for our fatherland would put Nigeria’s projects first, ahead of self-interest which leads to over-inflated contracts, embezzlement and illicit outflows. Love for our fatherland would stir our best brains in medicine, engineering, science and technology, sports, arts, entertainment and so on, to apply their world class skills towards national development.
This brings me to the issue of the huge patronage of imported goods at the cost of locally produced items. As a child, I remember the media airwaves being awash with government advocacy for locally produced goods, but the same functionaries of government were the greatest culprits; wearing the classiest imports to public function. An opportunity to visit their residences reveals even more splendour adorned with imported marbles, doors, corrugated roofing sheets, furniture and lots more. These cravings for imported goods have shut the factories of our local small and medium-sized enterprises that are the true catalysts of development.
There are many other analogies and narratives which we see or hear every day, and upon reflection, it is evident that they could have been different if the emotional bond to our fatherland were stronger or even existed. It’s only in Nigeria we hear of soldiers fleeing from terrorists and sabotaging their nation. There are also allegations of some military officers mismanaging funds for personnel and equipment; sometimes even trading off armoury and information to insurgents. The earlier postponement of the general elections elicited public reactions with many wondering if the reasons giving for the shift were tenable enough.
. My greater worry is the phenomena in public and private sectors where merit is sacrificed on the platter of ethnic and religious bigotry.
The popular saying, ‘It’s my turn to eat the national cake,’ must be expunged from our vocabulary for good. It accounts for the somewhat laissez-faire attitude of public workers and ingrained corruption and deceit in our system. Let’s be ‘foolish’ today by working for the common good and reap the wisdom of our ‘folly’ through genuine development tomorrow.
We should find a denominating factor that brings us together as a nation. Leading economies in the world have identified their values and they propagate this through their educational system, media, and entertainment. It has also become a way of life for their people. The United States of America, for example, sees itself as the symbol of democracy and this is evident in their movies, press and diplomacy; which depict the benefits of democracy to include freedom of speech, justice, fairness and equity and capitalism.
In my opinion, a proposition anchored on the common good would be a great selling point that would work for Nigeria. Typically, the average Nigerian has a good heart and wants to help the needy around him, want to be an advocate of justice, wants to prosper and live peacefully, but he or she is afraid of so many things — insecurity, deceit, poverty, irrelevance in the scheme of things, losing his wealth and bearing too much burden which may eventually weigh him or her down. Based on these fears, a Nigerian is forced to take the shortcut in consonance with the popular saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” But, a national philosophy which promises wealth for all, fairness and due recognition would encourage people to protect the ‘national cake,’ sacrifice today’s pleasures for tomorrow’s generation and help expose the folly of ineptitude and piling up of ill-gotten wealth. This would help create more decorum in the public sphere. The Federal Government should lead the way for our institutions, especially the media (including entertainment industry, novelists, online and citizen reporters) to shape this new national philosophy by always depicting our government and people as a symbol of the common good for Nigerians and the rest of the world.
Let us sell the common good as a way of life to all Nigerians, so as to build a culture of national development.
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