The Orisirisi of Being a Nigerian

I've since stopped or let me say abstained from trying to think about our dear country Nigeria and her cycle of problems. It is not a profitable exercise anyways. It leaves me with this headache that is close to being a migraine but not exactly.

To be sincere, I've never been able to think of any of Nigeria's numerous problems through to the end, reaching a conclusion. It has never happened for once. The thoughts often mix up and get tangled and all knotted, leaving my mind hanging and sour in despair.

The problems in Nigeria are never ending. Every time you look out, you'll find another national issue taking a wrong and bad turn, which will consequently dim that little ray of hope you had for the country. Well, as Nigerians, we have learnt to adjust to different things. And it doesn't really matter if what we are adjusting to is a good thing or bad thing, we adjust and we adjust well. Who knows maybe that's why we keep getting played for fools because, 'they' know we will just suck it up and adjust and life goes on. Our adjustment quotient is that high.

Writing long articles, sobbing up silent lumps of pain, grieving and complaining for whatever basic amenities we have been deprived of, and listening to Fela's many songs about how incompetent and unreliable our government is hasn't exactly helped to solve our many problems.

A country where state governments erect unnecessary statures, make a big fuss over tarring a road or building a general hospital. They will invite traditional rulers and media houses to watch them commission tiny roads built with substandard materials after a huge hole has been made in the state purse filled with tax payers money. I wonder how they think. Why do they think such projects are extraordinary gifts to the people? It is their duty for chrissake!

These days, Nigerian folks give serious testimonies in church of how they got visas to the UK or US by divine favor. Bursting with so much happiness and singing praises to God as they share their testimonies of how they have gotten an opportunity to escape. Some will weep tears of joy into the microphone, in front of the whole congregation. Many Nigerians are beginning to see visas to such foreign land as a mercy, as a glint of hope that they can and will finally achieve their life's ambition. I don't blame them. I don't blame myself either. For many of us Nigerians, escaping into any country is an answered prayer. Nigerians, you can't but salute the stubbornness of our hopes when it comes to migrating to a foreign land. We take it serious like a heart attack.

I know it's not enough to complain all the time about the state of our country because the Nigerian system is still without a beautiful rhythm. Abi? Well, one thing I know for sure is that nothing marks the beginning of the end of our many troubles as a country yet.

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Even though I still say my prayers when I hear "Let's pray for our country Nigeria", I say it with little or no enthusiasm or faith. Don't be quick to judge me. There were times when I genuinely prayed for this country. I am not joking. It's just that these days, our leaders have grown way bigger than the law, the unending celebration of corruption and individuals with shitty and embarrassing characters, the fast and terrible decline of our educational system; with all these, I often feel like someone is trying so hard to submerge and drown the little hope I have left in this country.

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I try. I still try to nurture and hold on to that hope. I try to hug it, embrace it, but I feel piercing spikes and pains in the embrace.

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But with the few Nigerians doing great things, making us proud and rep'ing us positively both home and abroad, I only hope that the rest of us can emulate them and decide not to leave our precious destinies in the hands of our greedy, selfish leaders. We should also learn from them that to achieve greatness, it is the strength of our determination and our personal will that matters and not the sorry state of our nation. Trust me, I know we can push through. Even in the midst of all these depressing orisirisi, we will come out with our heads held high.