If you look or listen around, you will feel a sudden surge in the concerns we all have for our country. Most important is that young Nigerians all over are really building interest in the Nigerian project and there seems to be an increasing passion on experiencing due changes in all facet of the nation’s existence. Every time you raise national issues in a discussion, everyone has a comment to make, and interestingly, such commentaries are loaded with intelligent submissions.
Not too long ago I was talking with a few young Nigerians who have barely lived in the country. As usual the subject of Nigeria came up, especially as we have been recently characterized as a rudderless ship floating nowhere. I was astonished at the extent to which these young ones have grown more competent in understanding the complexities of the society and having their minds congealed with high opinions on what’s going on and how this can be corrected. I find this to be fascinating because only a few years ago, young people were barely interested with what was going on in the country, especially with folks living without the country.
Today, everything that speaks Nigeria is basically an attempt at recreating an image for the country. From our entertainers, educators, researchers, scientists, and even social commentators, there is a word about Nigeria on everyone’s lip. On the lighter side (or maybe more serious than I think), we have suddenly become so internationally popular for differing reasons. From spinning adverts to freaky movies and to even underwear knockouts on a fateful Christmas day, Nigeria has had more than the usual dose of notoriety, which has evoked a plethora of commentaries, even from those who aforetime least mattered in the domain of public discourse. Everyone is throwing something into this seething pot and hoping that we will eat the produce thereof and be glad.
After accepting the romantic advances of this beautiful bride for the past thirty years of my life, and accepting the privileges she has granted me, I have found that my responses to her must of necessity follow certain steps. These steps are not sacrosanct, but are merely the products of the winding maze she has carved out of her history, and the unexplainable circumstances she currently exists in. While I cannot doubt her beauty and the alluring embellishments with which she remains seductive daily , I have come to see her inner filth and the unsacred ugliness of her inner influences and motivators. For these reasons, I have chosen certain parameters through which I will now relate with her, and I encourage you to do the same as well every time you think of her.
Thoughts of a Calabarboy. 