Does Nigeria Have a future?

Earlier today I had a conversation with my guardian and the conversation started with a question, “does Nigeria have a future?” I wondered why he had asked that particular question considering the fact that he is a proudly naija man. I asked him the reason for the question and our conversation moved further than I had anticipated. I realized that this was something that we would all want to have a say in so I copied the chat and here it is below:

08:20Sokefun

this naija get future soooooo

08:21Campbell

yes it does

just hang in there

08:22Sokefun

ok oooooo

08:22Campbell

why do u ask?

08:23Sokefun

we seem to be going two steps forward and another six backwards

08:23Campbell

hmmm.......... well depends on what angle u looking at it

08:26Sokefun

governance

for a start

for a start

08:27Campbell

well the people up there know what is right but doing what is right will not favour their own agenda so they do what is wrong

the country going back and forth is a strategy for them to be able to do what they like when they like it

08:28Sokefun

so , where do we go from here

08:28Campbell

remember that the democracy in nigeria is peculiar to only nigeria

08:28Sokefun

when the wrong thing is the norm

08:28Campbell

the rottenness starts from individuals and i keep telling people that

u cant change what is at the top when the foundation itself is bad

we can not renovate which is what we are trying to do, it wont work we have to rebuild

its everyman build yourself and be a better you

08:30Sokefun

well i agree

08:31Campbell

so that is where we have the solution o!

individual effort but even the complaining nigerians wants to eat their cake and have it which is stupid

08:32Sokefun

poverty, thats the wahala

08:32Campbell

no egbon mi

poverty is not the wahala

the problem is people think in terms of "me" and not "us"

there is nowhere that is done and their can be peace or stability

a lot of other countries do not have the resources naija has yet they are not termed as poor

why? cos they have all decided to pull together and u will not hear them speak bad of their motherland

08:34Sokefun

if your future is not guaranteed by the system

08:34Campbell

which a naija man can do from morning till night

08:34Sokefun

what do you do

you think of yourself only

08:35Campbell

then u must guarantee it by your own effort to bring a solution to the lives of people around u

08:35Sokefun

we are sunken so deep

08:35Campbell

if u think of urself only then the fear and dissatisfaction will continue to grow

but not in a quicksand which makes it easier for us to climb out dust ourselves and begin to move on the right part

08:36Sokefun

we are too sunken

Sokefun

we are too sunken

and dissatisfaction would grow no doubt

08:37Campbell

yes as long as we continue to put ourselves first then it will

its God first, all others then me

08:38Sokefun

i wish I cans share your ideals

so lofty

so workable in ideal societies

08:38Campbell

its not lofty but even lofty ideas can be attained

08:39Sokefun

but in Nija ?????????????????

08:39Campbell

it is workable in naija provided we start on individual basis

countries that had been in worse situations have done it and succeeded

You know after the chat and we had moved on to something else I still wondered about my response and I remember a particular line in the Nigerian National Anthem which goes thus, “great lofty heights attained to build a nation where peace and justice shall reign”.

Why do we collectively feel that the problem is the government when we as individuals are not ready to change our own way of life? Why must our leaders be better individuals when the collective population and the average Nigerian is not willing to change? If we want change then we must also embrace the change we so much clamour for.

What do you say?