Though I am a patriotic Nigerian who fervently desires a CHANGE in our fortune as a nation, I am not particularly excited about the ongoing efforts to bring about change. This is because we, who are the main drivers of change are not rising to the occasion when our country needs us the most. I know right now most of us do not think that we are powerful enough to bring about change in Nigeria. I used to think that way to until I came across a startling revelation while reading about countries that experienced positive changes. I realized that these countries were transformed by young people who looked helpless and powerless at the start of the journey. For instance, Nelson Mandela was 27years when he was imprisoned. That means he had become a national voice at least two years before. Also, majority of the people that fought to give us independence as a country were at that time youths. I can safely conclude that the surest route to the change we desire as a nation is for all of us to follow the example of our founding fathers. Their shoes have been empty for too long and as a result our country is suffering. I believe it is time for us to step into their shoes and fill it with all our might. They have played their part and we would never forget them. NOW IT IS OUR TURN.
You may ask why this arduous task is our responsibility. It is because we are the ones equipped with the vibrancy, zeal, strength and imagination to effect positive changes in this country. I believe this is what the bible means when it states that the glory of the youths is its strength. We are also the largest part of our country’s population. That alone makes us an unstoppable force capable of taking out any obstacle in its way. With all these power and potential at our disposal, no real change would happen except we get out of our state of inertia and take our place in the ongoing battle for the heart and soul of Nigeria. We have been missing in action for too long that’s why monsters like corruption, terrorism; kidnapping and all the members of their family are having a filled day in our great nation.
Having established that Nigeria is at war for its very soul, allow me to say that just like every war the soldiers need to be well prepared and motivated, weapons need to be available and an effective strategy needs to be in place. Our founding fathers and other people who fought for change in their respective nations understood this fact. So they spent time gathering all the needed weapons and formulating a winning strategy. I believe that we must do the same staring now if we hope to win. Allow me to state here a few of the weapons I found in the arsenal of most of the celebrated change agents regardless of nation, colour and personality.
WEAPON 1
THEY HAD GOD ON THEIR SIDE- While most people would not want to hear this, I was surprised to find out that most of the people who successful brought about change in their nations were deeply spiritual people. The founding fathers of the United States of America went ahead to institutionalize their faith by inscribing the phrase ‘In God we trust’ on their currency and instilling deeply spiritual values in the American people. The result is that over 200years later, the whole world is still trying to unseat them as the most powerful nation in the world. Most leaders of nations in the world measure their performance by the approval of the country referred to as Gods own country by its citizens. Also our founding fathers and most of the leaders whose words echo through the ages were deeply spiritual men. I believe the beginning of the journey is for each one of us to be serious with his faith and dedicated to his God. This would give us power to overcome the seemingly insurmountable obstacles we would surely face in this battle for the soul of Nigeria.
WEAPON 2
INTELLECTUAL SAGACITY- The weapon of intellectual sagacity is an important factor that determines whether we win or lose the battle we are fighting. Agents of national transformation all over the world knew this as such they dedicated their lives to acquiring wisdom and knowledge. Mahatma Gandhi was one of the best lawyers of his time who extended his knowledge base beyond his profession. Same goes for Nelson Mandela, Rev. Dr Martin Luther King jnr. and others too numerous to count. In Nigeria we have the example of patriots like the late Chief Bola Ige who became the secretary of the famed Action Group at the age of 21, spoke about 19 languages fluently and bagged several degrees in his life time. I cannot forget to mention the likes of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and others who argued brilliantly with our colonial masters and bought us our freedom as a nation.
I want to state here that the development of intellectual sagacity is not limited to academic learning. Otherwise the recent fall in that the quality of education would be a great hindrance. Rather it is our responsibility to ensure we sharpen our minds. Whatever is lacking in our ivory towers, let look out for other sources of getting it. We also need an open mind to learn what the schools cannot teach. Remember to win a war, you need a mind that can create a strategy better than the strategy of the enemy.
WEAPON 3
THE RIGHT VALUES- Values are ideals or principles influences behaviour and determines result. People who won the battle for the souls of their nations understood that there are certain values required for the job. Therefore they acquired and sustained such values in their hearts. Such values include patriotism, honesty, integrity, hard work and many more. They measured success of failure by the presence or absence of these values. They also celebrated these values with pomp and pageantry. To win the war we are in, there is a need to return to imbibing and celebrating these values. This is because their absence is almost solely responsible for the mess we are in as a nation. For instance, corruption took the driver’s seat in our nation the moment we began to measure success solely by financial acquisitions. Before then you would be exposed and ostracized even by your own family if you took anything that did not belong to you. Now people steal government funds to the tune of billions and still get chieftaincy titles in their towns of origin. Someone told me a woman divorced her husband for returning a huge sum of money left in his cab by a passenger.
I agree these values are not easy to live by but I assure you the reward far outweighs the effort put into it. When we exorcise our nation and take out the prevailing monsters of today, we the agents of change would reap the benefit of influence and opportunities that would produce tremendous wealth. In developed nations, no agent of national transformation is poor except he or she deviates from the values he began with.
WEAPON 4
UNITY- It is the highest degree of arrogance for one person to believe that he can bring about national change without the help of other citizens of the same nation. This is one truth well understood by powerful nations in the world. For them, no affiliation is more important than their affiliation to their country. Therefore, they speak with one voice. Our founding fathers also understood this as such they played down our differences and celebrated our similarities. This action contributed largely to their success. For instance America is what it is today because of the collective effort of all their citizens regardless of their political, religious and ethnic differences.
Sadly along the line our differences were resurrected by elements who benefit from the chaos our nation is in today. We now see ourselves through our political, ethnic and religious differences rather than through the lens of our national heritage. Allegations of marginalization are becoming more rampant in our days today. Opposition parties make it their calling to paint the ruling party in bad light without contributing meaningfully to national development. My people if we are to be agents of change we need to refuse to be divided against ourselves if we intend to stand as a great nation. We also need to desist from embracing leaders who seek to divide us. Most of the time, such people have a hidden personal agenda. We need to pull together our collective uniqueness so our dream for a better Nigeria would be one step closer to becoming a reality.
WEAPON 5
POLITICAL POWER- This is not a weapon in the class of the first weapon but it is a potent weapon none the less. You see politics is a game of numbers and we are about the largest group of people in Nigeria. This means that whoever we do not support is almost certain to lose the election. If we decide not to support people who do not possess both the desire and capacity to transform this nation, we would be forcing this country to move steadily towards change.
However to determine who to support, we need the first four weapons to prevent manipulation as we try to decide who to support during elections. We would be better equipped to challenge their ideologies and fish out people with hidden personal agenda. Let me tell you, most of our current politicians are frightened at the thought of intellectually developed youths who have the right values in place. Because they know that it is next to impossible to pull wool over the eyes of such people. That’s why they attempt to distract us using stomach infrastructure and other means. In conclusion, being an agent of change is not a jolly ride because human beings are the most resistant to change among God’s creatures. Be that as it may, I know nothing good comes easy. Therefore I am determined to remain an agent of change. There is room for more soldiers in this war. Remember if you allow an evil thing to continue, you are as guilty as the one perpetrating the evil. I am also sure that whether you are an agent of change or a perpetrator of evil, THERE IS A REWARD
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