Suddenly today is the last day of the year 2014. It seems like it was just yesterday we celebrated the New Year and here we are waiting for another New Year’s Day tomorrow for those Almighty God will spare to see the day.
For us in Nigeria, the year 2015 is mythical. It’s the year after the end of our hundred years of Lurggadian experiment. When Lord Luggard amalgamated the North and South, he predicted it was to last for a hundred years. Well, we have lasted that long and run the course full circle. By 1914 we knew little about each other, we regarded each other with mistrust and extreme mutual suspicion; and internecine wars were fought in different parts of the entity. The only thing that kept the territories together was that due lack of sufficient manpower; Luggard empowered some powerful people and allowed them undue privileges and unfettered access to territorial resources so long as they kept their territories and people within the fold. 100 years after, we are back to where we were, extremely divided, living in mutual fear, mistrust and suspicion of each other; with wars in form insurgency, militancy, kidnapping etc ravaging the land.
The only thing keeping us together is the fact that the system in place has corruptly empowered a few power mongers across the land who are only interested in keeping us together in order to safeguard their undue privileges and continued pillaging of our collective resources. 100 years ago we were simply a nation of many natives and very few elites; today we are a nation of many extremely poor people living in penury with very few extremely rich people living in affluence. Then, the natives toiled while the elites enjoyed. Today, the poor toils while the rich enjoyed. Nothing changed.
When I look at 2015 I remember the year 2000. Back then it was feared that all computers will crash, the world will come to an end if not literally but at least with the crash of computers all technology based services such as power, water, telecom etc will stop functioning. But nothing of the sort happened. On the positive side, we were expecting too much by the year 2000. Education for all, Health for all, Electricity for all, Water for all and so many of such slogan based utopian ideals that simply ended just as slogans and no more. For 2015 we expect the attainment of the so called Millennium Development Goals.
Access to health care, education, gender equality, portable water, computer literacy, poverty reduction etc. Again mere slogans and sources of wealth for some people. Regards less of any report from government agents and agencies, majority of our people are worst off on all counts within the MDG goals than they were 10 years ago. 2015 is also a make or break year for Nigeria. It is an election year when decisions will be taken supposedly by the electorate to retain or change the government. However, dark clouds hover above the land.
The bigots, the demagogues, the charlatans, the hate mongers buoyed up by the ill gotten wealth of the corrupt are fanning the embers of hate, beating the drums of war, sowing the seeds discord and digging deep trenches of ethnic, regional and religious divides. The grass is no longer green, they want it red because the seeds they are planting can only germinate if watered by the blood of the misguided. What do we do?
Let us rise up together to say no to their evil plans. Let each one of us be the change we want the country to be. Even if we are to break up, let it be as we come together, without bloodshed. Lend your voice oppose all those inclined to violence and bloodshed no matter the situation. Let 2015 be a watershed for Nigeria with no bloodshed.
We have had enough in 2014. That should be our collective New Year resolution as a people. God bless and wishing all those that will cross the bridge a prosperous New Year.
