“May Nigeria not happen to you.”
In recent years, this phrase has become quite commonly used among many Nigerians. To the onlooker, it would seem as if the name “Nigeria” has become synonymous, or worse, eponymous, with “evil”. At the root of the usage lies a deep sense of disappointment, regret, and sometimes bitterness at misfortunes that some Nigerians see as entirely attributable to their being Nigerian or their being in Nigeria. But maybe the tide is changing, howbeit, slowly.
Barely a month ago, I was in Lagos and became aware that a building not too far away was on fire. I quickly dialled 112 and spoke with an agent who spoke so professionally, asked for my name and details of the location, and then informed me that the fire service was already enroute as someone else had called them. Less than two minutes later, we heard the fire trucks’ sirens, an ambulance and a police truck racing down the street towards the burning house.
This Sunday, in church, a family gave a testimony that featured their Abuja home being on fire. The fire service was called and both the Federal Fire Service and the FCT Fire Service raced to their house and extinguished the flames. I could hear some persons close to my seat exclaiming in disbelief that the fire service had water and petrol for their trucks. Clearly, these ones had bad memories of a time when flames engulfed homes and markets because fire trucks had no water. The testifying matriarch almost in joyous tears exclaimed that “Nigeria did not happen to us”.
It could be easy to deride Nigerians who use Nigeria as a representation of evil, but when we put ourselves in the shoes of everyday Nigerians, we see the hurt, the pain of broken promises, and the almost dying hope of seeing a great nation thrive. It is to these people that Nigeria owes a pledge to demonstrate that the labours of our heroes past were a seed to unveil a nation where peace and justice reign; a nation where the citizens are proud of their heritage and are proud as compatriots to sing their nation’s anthem, not feeling forced but with a sense of ownership.
Nigeria is at an inflection point. Groaning under the load of disappointment, many cannot see it, but the tide is turning. There is a lot of noise around with insecurity, a gasping economy, and foolish politicians seemingly committed to their folly. But if you dare to remove yourself to a point beyond the noise and look in, you would see the sparks of hope being born here and there.
This hope shows forth in the fire service acting professionally and showing up to save their compatriots. It shows in the Federal Civil Service quietly undergoing a renaissance to become a competent force for productive governance. It shows in infrastructural development—inadequate but improving. It shows in economic restructuring—painful but creating a platform for future growth. It shows in political restructuring—long overdue and necessary to get states and local governments working rather than being glorified beggars.
We can choose whether to see the glass as half-full or half-empty. Several indices can be interpreted in different ways, but rather then being depressingly pessimistic or deceptively optimistic, we can strike a balance by acknowledging our current constraints while recognising that we are heading in the right direction. We look forward to a Nigeria where the availability of emergency services is taken for granted; a Nigeria where Nigeria would signify good and Nigerians would say “May Nigeria happen to you” as easily as they would say “May God bless you”.
Image Credit: Microsoft’s Copilot
Jilomes 