Once upon a country- Diary, Misery or Myth?

By

Ogunniyi Abayomi

British imperialists likewise known as colonialists left the circle of power and administration after the declaration of Nigeria as an independent state on 1st October, 1960. A mild protest with an assumption of a controversial engagement between the Caucasian race and the citizens over the interest of what we have against what we want to offer exposed us to the tragic act of exploitation as a result of illiteracy and lack of educated elite across our society.

Everything was new within our society at this era, we had a new national anthem, national pledge, national flag and national currency yet our minds could not deplete the ideology of corruption embedded in our thoughts and acting as a state of value and tradition worthy of emulation.

An act was born by the induction of the British direct rule that was successful across the Northern and Western region of my country excluding the Eastern region that proved futile on the incessant disapproval of the British colonies to rule over their affairs.

The manipulative act of rigging an electoral process to institute individuals and political parties into power was enacted into our identity during the first post independent election in 1964 and 1965 across Nigeria and the Western region of the country respectively. The act birthed a chaotic and destabilized atmosphere we are yet to recover from, while its cure is inevitable.

This is the Nigerian story that proved elusive, likewise a decay to our reputation despite its claim as the giant of Africa. A common trait beyond the political sphere of our society, the religious acrimony, the bitter taste of civil war, the critical position of poverty and the struggle to find an identity that suits our needs being elusive to acquire.

The rotten act beclouds the economic and educational sector of our society likewise, raising rogues and crooks of different calibres though educated yet unfit to lead society.

Repetition has truly been a great factor of learning but we have adopted its reverse as a common act of malignant affairs towards the social and economic challenges that beguile our identity, eluding us from development as humans and as a nation.

At 55, Nigerian society still searches for its identity crushed by the feet of chaos, greed, and shambles.

As we age, our confusion and struggle are renewed over time, yet we refuse to change the rags we have always been identified with. People swing, swim and dance by the ray of hope whose light is far from its tunnel, we depend on weak oil to restore our path to light, lead us to where we are going, envisage our vision while we reject the new oil to waste its resourcefulness and energy while it’s very new and young.

I was yet unborn when the problem began, the problem persisting as I grow older in age, the same challenge and same ruling over our affairs as a state. The future is beginning to lose its savour of redemption, the voice that spoke died ages before the appearance of the wilderness.

Should I count the years or grow more pessimistic about a country? Should my countenance change brethren when I walk across your street and breathing is difficult?

I am on your road, seeking to eat all I see grieve, likewise those who struggle too are grieved over the outcome of a new society we voted for in the year 2015. Faith bring my heart together, at what end and for what reward.

I am not pessimistic my people but the pages are the same each time and day I wake up and sleep. Breathe and I am conscious over and over again then I begin to weave my way until I’m given the opportunity to rule before we act.

I am a Nigerian, should this be a myth or fate we choose to endure all our life. This is optimistic and I’m expectant on writing a new page as a citizen.

Do we end our dialogue and conversation on this note?

Ogunniyi Abayomi

Ogunniyi Abayomi was born July 11, 1991 in the city of Lagos, where he resides. A poet and essayist whose works have been published in various journals.