Worried by the sorry state of things in the country, a group has emerged, to sensitise Nigerians on the need to dream for a better nation. Assistant Editor (North), CHUKS EHIRIM, who was at the group’s maiden outing in Abuja, reports…
Inside the main conference hall of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre last Monday morning, it was as if the late American civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., who, on August 28, 1963, thrilled the world with his now very famous speech titled ‘I Have a Dream’, had resurrected and was in Nigeria for re-enactment of his struggle.
Just like that public speech delivered by the popular activist, in which he called for an end to racism in the United States (U.S.), delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters, a new group, United Nigerian Forum (UNFO), gathered people from different parts of Nigeria to listen to speeches that could, at least, help to soothe their frayed nerves.
It was simply a speech-making occasion, with most of the speakers lamenting what Nigeria has come to be, notwithstanding the great opportunities the country is endowed with. But each of them, like Luther King Jr., however, offered a message of hope for the country and its people.
Those who spoke at the occasion included human rights lawyer and a delegate at the on-going national conference, Mike Ozekhome; chairman, Editorial Board of ThisDay Newspapers, Segun Adeniyi; former national chairman of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and also a delegate to the national conference, Yusuf Yaro Mamman; the Executive Director, Centre for Peace Building and Socio-economic Resources Development (CePSERD), Ayokunle Fagbemi; the national chairman, National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr. Yunusa Tanko; Hajia Ramatu Bala Usman, as well as the National Security Adviser (NSA), who was represented by Ambassador L.C. Lasehinde, among others.
Convener of the Forum, Umar Farouk, in his welcome address, laid the foundation of what was to come.
Farouk, a political activist and pro-democracy campaigner, told his listeners that UNFO, was established essentially to advance the vision, aspiration and optimism of Nigeria’s past heroes “who dared and challenged colonialism, sacrificed their all and, in some instances, paid the supreme price with their lives in the struggle for Independence”.
He urged all Nigerians to dream and work towards positioning the country to assume her proper role and place in the world.
“Our dream, and the dream we want every patriot to dream, is the dream of a great Nigeria that is the pride of Nigerians, the black race and all of humanity that dream of a prosperous and harmonious world.
“Our country is presently confronted by myriad crises, principally along our social and cultural fault lines. These, among others, include the unprecedented phenomenon of terrorism, mainly in the North East, communal and sectarian conflicts in the major parts of the North and the smoldering ambers of militancy or insurgency in the Niger Delta, armed robberies and violent political clashes in almost everywhere in the land,” he said.
Farouk, however, is optimistic that Nigeria will come out of her current predicaments stronger and more united.
His words: “We have been hearing the doomsday prophets predicting Armageddon and outright demise of the country. In the wake of the ongoing tribulations, voices of enemies of peace, unity and security have been on the rise in their advocacy for the balkanisation of this beautiful and promising gift of the Almighty God to the black race,” he said.
“We in the United Nigerians Forum dream and are optimistic that Nigeria will not only survive her present predicaments, but will emerge stronger and better in no distant future.”
Adeniyi, in his own submission, reminded the audience that “today, there are Nigerians who see in their country nothing but a failed state; a nation which, in their imagination, would cease to exist by next year (and they will cite a non-existent American prediction to buttress their point). For this people, there are no positive dreams about Nigeria to inspire them, regardless of the fact that they may have played no small role in the degeneration of our society. Yet there are also other Nigerians who see endless possibilities, even amid the difficulties and challenges we face, and their dreams consist of what our nation could be, if only we can harness our resources and the incredible talents of our people.”
While these Nigerians, in his words, don’t live in denial about our numerous problems, “they are nonetheless willing and ready to play their part in re-writing our story and bringing to reality their dreams. I guess the organisers of this summit belong to this latter category.”
On the Nigeria of his dream, the former Special Assistant (Media), to late the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, said: “For sure, we all dream in one way or another of what we envision for our country. So, I also have a Nigeria of my dreams, like everybody else in this room. I am sure every one of us would love to see Nigeria achieve its aim of becoming one of the 20 most developed countries in the world by the year 2020, and I am talking of development that we will all be able to see and measure in shared prosperity, rather than the product of another statistical effort in the name of rebasing.
“Speaking for myself and perhaps many other people in this room, I believe Nigeria of our dreams would be one that is scientifically, educationally, technologically and agriculturally advanced; a Nigeria where logic and ideas, rather than blind faith and fanaticism, rule; a Nigeria where there is no threat of violence associated with terrorism; a Nigeria where girls can go to school without the fear of being abducted by some criminal gangs who would turn them to chattels of pleasure.
“For most, if not all, of us here, the Nigeria of our dreams would be a country that is self-sufficient in food and can take care of the health needs of citizens, such that our people would not have to be going on medical pilgrimage to India. The Nigeria of our dreams would be a nation where the gap between the rich and the poor is not so wide.
“I feel emboldened to take the liberty to say that for the greater majority in this room, the Nigeria of our dreams would be one with an excellent network of roads and bridges connecting even the remotest parts of our country from North to the South; a Nigeria where sustainable growth and development go hand in hand; a Nigeria where there is no corruption; a Nigeria where there is no crime like kidnapping, armed robbery or ritual killings; a Nigeria where market places and roads are spotlessly clean; a Nigeria where teachers are respected as much as any other professional.”
Ozekhome, Fagbemi and Yunusa ex-rayed the country’s headaches and proffered what they presume would be the panacea to them.
For Ozekhome, the twin evil of corruption, tribalism and nepotism are majorly responsible for Nigeria’s prostate state today.
According to him, “one of the greatest threats to economic and political development of any nation is corruption.”
He posited that “the challenges of corruption remain a major devastating issue facing Nigeria since the colonial period, although this phenomenon has become a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabrics of our system”.
Though he noted that corruption is not a recent event in Nigeria’s chequered history, the legal practitioner blamed much of it on the almost nine years rule by former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.
“While it is easily conceded that there has been corruption in Nigeria right from the onset, the phenomenon became institutionalised under General Ibrahim Babangida’s military regime,” he said.
Quoting Ogundiya I.S. in 2009, Ozekhome said: “During the Babangida regime, corruption was raised to a level of state policy, and allegation of corrupt practices were treated with utmost levity; thereby destroying all the efforts of the previous administrations.”
On tribalism, nepotism and cronyism, he argued: “Nigeria’s journey from the sublime to ridiculous started in that era when Nigerians refused to see the big picture of national patriotism and instead embraced the evil of tribalism. The truth is that the monster of corruption that is now snuffing life out of Nigeria was given life and nurtured in this era.
“Tribalism gave the unpatriotic Nigerians a safe refuge from lawful punishment for violating the laws of the land. All the scoundrels in the country found escape route from the law by whipping up tribal sentiments, using the media.”
Fagbemi picked holes in the practice of recycling the old guard in political positions in the country. But he advised the younger generation not to be deterred.
“I belong to that generation of Nigerians, but we must not get discouraged. We shall not allow the fact that they are still at the ongoing national conference by sleeping competition, suffocate, kill and discard our dreams unceremoniously. We would not allow ourselves to become vegetables, or robots that only they can programme,” he advised.
He admitted that “we must dream and dream together as a people, for us to realise a better Nigeria”.