Wither The Nigerian Patriots?

It beats me hollow whenever I see people disparaging their country in the most undignified manner. Sadly, such pessimism has become the favourite pastime of many Nigerians.
Unlike many other nationals who are always proud of their countries, many Nigerians have grown to become incurable pessimists, with near manic obsessive sense of everything going awry.
As if patriotism is going out of fashion, the socio-economic climate is voided with earful comments whenever the state of Nigeria is being discussed. Even where appreciable roads are being made into the socio-economic development, the pessimists are in the habit of turning blind eyes to such landmarks in the country. This, perharps, is due largely to individual and collective frustrations over the pace or direction of the country’s development.
Last weekend for instance, I was at a friend’s birthday party when a mild argument ensued between two groups- the pessimistic majority and the optimistic minority. While the pessimists dismissed Nigeria as a wastrel that has no hope or future, the few optimists believed Nigeria is making an onward progress.
The pessimists premised their argument on the high level of poverty in the country despite Nigeria’s oil and gas resources. They could not understand why millions of Nigerians are living below the poverty line; why a nation awash in petrol-naira groans under the heavy weight of external debts. They could not understand why a nation which once fed itself and others should now be in want of food despite large tracts of arable lands.
They could not understand why the management of the nation’s economy has continued to be the Achilles’ heel of successive administration and why the nations’ yesterday seems ever so temptingly the best of the time that was.
In a nutshell, the pessimists were disappointed that at 49, Nigeria is an overgrown baby and that it has not progressed beyond where the British left it on October 1, 1960.
To the optimistic few however, it is unfair and uncharitable to say that Nigeria has not recorded some landmark achievements since independence. They argued that although Nigeria may not have attained the dreams of its founding fathers, it has the potentials to fulfil the dreams of its founding fathers. They based their argument on the fact that America which is regarded as the God’s own country, is also blessed with a fraction of the hoipolloi and that it took her a hundred of years to attain her present heights.
To the optimists therefore, it is unfair to see every effort made by successive governments with a jaundiced eye, especially now that there seems to be a patriotic desire by the Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s administration to reposition Nigeria.
As an observer with an impartial mind, I could not agree less with the two opposite views. To say that Nigeria is a total failure is to be economical with the truth. What about the complete renovation in tastes and styles over the years? What about the roads that spread like the sphagetti and the growing number of ritzy cars on them? What about the influx and growth of post primary and post secondary schools since 1960? What about the number of local governments and State capitals that has grown from three regional structure to self-autonomous units? Were all these attainable in 1960? Or are they sheer imagination of our mind?
Above all, I am tempted to share the optimists’ view that the journey to economic wonderland is a journey of thousand miles. It is even in most cases, ad infinititum.
But again, how many years would it take Nigeria to attain full socio-economic height? This is a question no honest man, not even the most patriotic optimist can answer without hesitation or a scratching of head. This is because Nigeria has already reached a menopause age when child bearing becomes a throw of a dice or better still a question that can only be answered in a grey, foggy land of maybe land.
The truth is that Nigeria’s potentials have not been exploited for the greater good of the greatest number. Otherwise, millions of Nigerians would not be so bewildered and so disillusioned about the state of the nation’s affairs. They would not be talking of scultled dreams and dashed hopes.
Therefore, while one may want to regard pessimistic approach to the Nigerian nation as injurious to our image and collective desire for national development, there is also the need for us, especially for our leaders to remake, regenerate and refuel Nigeria to enable her shake her invincible locks and rouse herself like a man after sleep.
Meanwhile, the pessimists among us would have to find a space in the heart of their hearts to forgive Nigeria for scratching her head, lost as it is in the countless dreams of her leaders.

Boye Salau