I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, asking myself this question…How do we go about changing Nigeria? How do we grasshoppers bring down the great giants of evil in our society? How do you slay a dragon that has so many heads? The dragon is Nigeria as we know her today. The many heads are the many facets of corruption and societal ills that plague her citizens daily.
Any ideas anyone?
You know we really have to think about this because most of the talk about Nigeria is always about the problem, hardly about the solutions. So let’s get solution-oriented right about now and task our grey matter till it starts to steam.
…….well here is what I’ve come up with for now.
First step to changing our society is that we must first set about changing ourselves. I know we’ve heard that before probably a number of times. But the truth can never be overstated.
We must create within us, the change we want to see on the outside. Lemme break it down a bit. Do we want to see more discipline in our society? Then we must first instill discipline into our individual lives.
Do we want to see development? Then we must make efforts to develop ourselves. Are we hungry to see increased literacy rates among our people? Let’s not wait for government to make necessary changes in our educational policy. Rather we can start by taking the time to read and study hard ourselves. We must create in our lives the changes we want to see in the society. We must develop our individual potentials.
Obama would never have been seen as the man who can change America, if he hadn’t taken the time to train himself to become someone people can put their hope and confidence in. I’m sure it must have taken him long hours of practice and countless days of diligent study to become as eloquent and composed as he is, when addressing crowds, inspiring hope and confidence in his listeners.
I guess what I’m trying to say is it starts with you and I. Michael Jackson said it all:
“I’m startin with the man in the mirror…
I’m askin him to change his ways….
And no message coulda been any clearer…
If you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself, and then make the change….”
Remember the song? Man in the Mirror?
Yeah we talk about corruption, the lack of integrity among our leaders. If I must see a change in that area, then I guess I have to ensure that I am a man of integrity first. Then maybe that will rub off on others and they too may choose integrity over corruption.
And all this for what you might ask? I mean who cares? Let’s all just take things as they are and live like we’ve been living all these decades. Well that should be ok for those of y’all who don’t see the great potential that lies in this country. But for people like me who get so frustrated when I’m watching Chelsea thrash it out with Liverpool and suddenly the lights go off, or when I’m trying to make an urgent call and the network is so f’’’d up, or when 3 weeks into a new month my salary hasn’t been paid yet, or when I see sick people who need urgent medical care and they can’t afford it, or when the state government fails to employ enough doctors or give them good pay and patients end up seeing quack nurses in general hospitals…..yeah for people like me, solution-seeking is the way forward.
Well, na so. Nuff said.
Selah
3 comments:
Well, i agree with you. but i must confess i'm not as optimistic as you are.Sometymes i wonder if its possible for things to turn around 360 degrees.Things are already so bad that its scary and frustrating thinking about it.I wonder if by working on myself, being more disciplined, coming early to work, being nicer to my patients, complain less the system will change, the government will provide better working conditions, pay better,revamp the health system and so on. But thinking of the ripple effect where one ripple generates others and so it spreads through out the pond, we may just be able to change our nation by working on ourselves. Maybe there is hope for us afterall!
Yeah I guess the ripple effect of doing your best will somehow cause a change....Hey, its not guess work. I know for sure it will. Thanks for dropping by
Ave read this article a no of times, but reading thru again today really spacked up something in me. Changing this nation is a wholesome task that lies on each and every1 of us. Shawn i agree with u, if we can all decide to change ourselves and do the right things, though seemingly ineffective, but just as a butterfly's seemingly unimportant movement can cause changes after loads of years, so also can changing ourselves have a ripple effect over the years. Lets keep at it and with time, we probably might be all gone then but change will surely come if we don't relent.
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