“Verily, with hardship comes ease” – Qur’an 94:6.It has been divinely stated succinctly in the holy book, so no one with strong religious background can afford to disparage this ever testable fact. Whether a Muslim, Christian, Jew or whatsoever the above quoted verse doesn’t even contradict rationality let alone reality which we can all perceive and bear witnesses to. So there is no room to debate this.
One can hardly be coined or seen by men of reason as a “patriot ” no matter how aged, workaholic he is towards the development of his home when he often fills his mind with the toxic whim of pessimism because nothing such worthless thoughts bring other than a gross setback to any place that is being ravaged by it.
Perhaps, any living Nigerian, northerner in particular, has experienced the gloomy days of unwanted sorry/gory occurrences, tumultuous issues ranging from religio-related violence of which Book Haram is part of, rampant killings, banditry, among other conventional crimes, and even political anomalies that caused a lot of psychological trauma to the victims; none stands a chance to rebut this fact.
Well, we can say gone are the days when Nigerians inhale the sumptuous fragrance of harmony coupled with unbelievable development over a period of time, the period of 1969 to late 1980s marked the era of such momentous development though there are some few developments that occurred beyond that years of wonders.
However, numerous scenarios and scenes have unfolded and yet some are still unfolding to which the nefarious actions of some unscrupulous elements among us are making any man of discerning psyche shocked and dumbfounded as well.
Also, it’s apparent that despite the series of multitude and magnitude vicissitudes of fortune which have over time maintained the perpetual habit of befalling the giant of Africa, Nigeria, and a couple of black narratives that keep reoccurring since primordial time, a point of transformative change is certain. For it has been clearly written in the magnum opus of life that whatever transpires to its zenith stage must experience the emergence of a diminishing point.
This is not because of anything but because we have reached an apex or climax of trying epoch so the new dawn is set to begin when black and sorrowful narratives would be chased way by the tides of hope, fortune and resilience.
Meanwhile, the turning point is imminent and it could only be achieved by determination, vision and collective effort of Nigerians.
And when the question of marginalisation flips on our mind, I deeply know how hurtful everyone feels. But instead of such awful time, I would like our people to understand this secret concept vividly, that neither the North nor the South, Muslims or Christians are wallowing beneath the sorry carpet of marginalisation but rather the masses and the ordinary citizens who are often at receiving end.
Thus, with regards to the above sorry reality that could only be fathomed by a few rational individuals among us, I wish we can center our power and strength on fighting the men of gutter and black hearts who are masterminds and agents of our mess as a society. Until we do something similar to this towards extirpating the woes, we will never get ourselves out of the woods.
Nonetheless, It would probably be something of a greater impact if imbibe the social psychology of fraternity as Spartans and Athens showcased at the time of ancient war, inculcate the habit of engaging in collective task towards achieving a better change as Japan and China did in the heydays of craving global recognition and imitate the spirit of nationalism from our respective forefathers as Zik, Awolawo and Sardauna did at the hazy moments of liberating their homeland from the hand of our unsympathetic colonialists and above all we should dearly romance one another to achieve a greater cause as lovers who madly dive into love ocean aiming to be couple and have a sonorous future
Let the North and South brotherly embrace their differences and shun the swift and worthless philosophy of regional tussle thereby by recognising each and everyone as brother’s keepers to one another. With that alone signal would be sent to the agents of mischief and doom living amidst us as models or lovers, politicians, clerics, business moguls and even the least personalities among us (the masses) would not be spared out, meaning everyone should be dealt with decisively for the interest of the state as a whole in this regard.
And we shouldn’t relent on holding those that we have entrusted them our mandates accountable for the tragedies and catastrophe consuming us daily for without checkmating their affairs they would mischievously take our trust for granted and at the tail end throw us into the abyss of regret and dungeon of misery.
However, we should if not must, optimistically believe that with devine intervention real, and it can be gained through critical self introspection and no matter how weird, bizarre and awful things are, time will surely come when the ungodly incidences would be historical pictures to reminisce. We do hope to witness the new dawn in our dear home Nigeria will soon emerge by Allah’s grace.
At the tale end, I can patriotically pray to see the odds which are causing us a great setback in our country cease to exist in a holistical form and may the daredevils who often serve as the architect of our grievous atrocities know no peace in their lives .
As the late Libyan leader General Mammar Gaddafi said, “Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin.” In line with this we must pledge to be committed to see Nigeria toeing the path of the world giants again.
May Nigeria prosper and live to its greater standard
Yunusa writes from Bauchi via [email protected]
