These past few weeks, I have read numerous comments, news articles and insightful blog posts on naija and it got me thinking, what exactly is wrong with us? I know every country has its problems but for whatever reason Nigeria's societal problems just seem so troubling and overwhelming. I don’t know if the pronounced disparity between the rich and the poor in the country has anything to do with it. Or the fact that globalization has quickly become the new black. What I do know is that some of these issues, over time, have exacerbated and it’s not good at all.
I bet you’re wondering what some of these issues are? So as not to bore you, I will only touch on a few. The first being those of us who live abroad and because of that, automatically think that we’ve become the best thing since sliced bread, or are “more qualified” to be hateful E-news correspondents. It's amazing how pompous, prideful, and disrespectful some of us act. Just too sad. On the other hand, for those who reside in naija, there’s a greater need to be more western and keep up with the Jones‘s, while stepping on others toes.
I can’t help but feel like the average Nigerian was born with the innate desire to tear others down, rather than uplift. Online, you don’t have to search far for evidence of this “innate hateration” that some of us display. Just click on any website that features a naija celebrity event, naija fashion show, music premiere, or any Nigerian involved in any activity. There must be some irrelevant comment that does not pertain to anything and even if it did, must we always be spiteful with our comments? For some of us, constructive criticism is a foreign word or better still not saying anything at all seems too hard of a rule to abide by.
I can’t help but think, did our parents fail us? Or is that some of us just deviated from the good manners that parents are supposed to instill in their children? I will even go further by asking, did our grandparents fail our parents? Because some of our parents exhibit said myopic behaviors. It is not strange for some parents to insist that their children must have “society weddings” so that they can “put their enemies to shame”. The way some parents even treat their stewards, both children and adults, would shock human rights activists. Our politicians and leaders are equally not exempt from this diarrhea of "effizy" and "i too must flex" syndrome. But the annoying part is that they do so with the tax-payers money. I mean the entire society is in disarray.
To further buttress my point, I just read on Next.com that the Nigerian government spent 15 billion naira on this years pilgrimage. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Next article also mentioned that, and I quote, “nowadays Nigerians see pilgrimage as a status symbol and so Christians add the initials J.P. (Jerusalem pilgrim) to their names.” Really? Since when did God and status become best-friends? It appears that it is impossible for us to engage in activities without said activity being seen as an end to oppress or impress others.
Honestly, we can never really move forward as a nation if we continue this way. Our unnecessary need to prove something to “our enemies or haters” and constantly engage in unhealthy competition is crippling our country.
Again, i recognize that no country is perfect but if we continue down this road, it will take eternity before Nigeria can truly realize her full potential.
I do apologize if I rambled.
Photo credit to www.10ofthose.com
