Eclipse on the Rubicon It is only now that I understand better what Albert Einstein meant when he said 'great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds'. If I may say so, the human mind is deeply ambiguous and dangerous. I am sure you have wondered why some people can't simply see the things you see or think like you do.
You had probably scratched and bang your head a few times desperately wondering to no avail and all you can see is the gulf between you and their pitiful minds. I also now appreciate a little bit more what Einstein felt as ones emotion is entrapped in a cocooned theatre of unpropitious monologues where the principal theme is that in spite of the gulf between the great and the lowly, there is a fine line between sanity and foolishness. Imagine a scene where a psychopath forcefully or wittingly swapped position with his psychiatrist. Just how hilarious that would be, the catastrophic spectre of unimaginable proportion. The story of Nigerian politics is uncannily similar as the political arena has been completely taken over by thugs and vagabonds whilst honourable gentlemen are forced into political exile to watch helplessly the destruction of every democratic structure of governance. We lost all the good men and all we are now left with are very bad men and the outright ugly. Nigeria is a nightmare. I hope by now you have seen the email clip circulating among Nigerians titled ‘SEE DUBAI AND CRY FOR NIGERIA – I SAW, AND I WEPT’.
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I remember sometimes last year I read an article by Simon Kolawole (Thisday Newspapers) on his trip to Dubai. Simon wrote of the presentation given by one of Dubai’s officials with the theme bothering on something like ‘…The Vision of our Leaders.’ Now, we have seen that vision, the articulated vision of Arab nobles. I join fellow Nigerians in weeping for my fatherland. I am sure you can guess where I am heading with this article. Leadership issue has been a problem right from independence. A bloody civil war and many military coup d’ tat is a testament to that.
The issue has constantly been debated, thus culminating partly into our rich literary heritage, from tragicomedy prose and poetic literature to cultural music all full of subtle socio-political innuendo. As a direct consequence of leadership problems, we have a comradeship of radical activists who devoted time and resources in the hope of moulding a reformed Nigeria where respect and dignity, vision and strength, freedom and justice are common currencies. Across the nation, ordinary folks continued to trust in God and believing that someday soon, the dreams of the founding fathers of our nation will be realized. Let us commend the dogged voices of the struggle for a true democracy, decent men and women who chose to remain in the path of integrity, honour, honesty and servitude to fatherland. We already know the side of the equation some belong, those that history will celebrate and those that history will curse. As we approach the end of our half centenary as an independent nation, this moment must be an eclipse of an era along the bank of Rubicon.
This is a time that we must resolve to draw down the curtain on politics of thugs, corruption, evil genius, do or die, godfathers, apathy, tribal and religious sentiments, mediocrity, indiscipline, violence and divisiveness. The youth demands a change and a paradigm shift from the past half centenary. We are now at a tipping point, we stand at the precipice of history. The question the youths are asking is simply this ‘is Nigeria a failed state?’ My answer is simple, the problem is not Nigeria, the problem is Nigerians, the problem is not the vessel, it is the drunken sailors. Is it not disheartening and annoying that the only leader to have confronted corruption is also perceived to be corrupt. Our exalted offices are occupied by people whose only rightful place of habitat should be within the confines of our prison walls. Much has been said on how we can move this nation forward but the truth is that the remedy that Nigeria needs is for control of governance to be taken by decent and honest people.
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I am calling on all Nigerian youths to converge at the foot of Rubicon. It is one of our icons who said ‘…the Man dies in him who keeps silent in the face of tyranny and oppression.’ History beckons and we must heed the call. We can either choose between a prolong damnation or a rebirth of a nation where our progenies will be able to stand tall, shoulder to shoulder among nations of noble people. We can no longer be still when bandits of rascals defiles our inheritance. The man must not die in us, rather we will rise to the daunting challenge of our generation and be benevolent in the sacrifices we must make so that the generations coming will look back and be grateful. May God bless Nigeria. Amen. Darlington Olusola
www.chiefbigdee.blogspot.com
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