solutionNigeria 1: Mobilizing the People on Knowledge

In the last blog I wrote on the task of making Nigeria, I had dwelt on the personal/individual change culture we all must imbibe, particularly the youths of this age, if indeed the country must become what we desire of her. In other words, if the country must change, it will begin with each individual; we must become the change we want to see. Now going a step further, I will be dwelling on the need to exploit the capacity of the people of Nigeria as a group in the indispensable duty of building this nation.

Three keywords: mobilizing, the people and knowledge. Nobody can truly build the nation except the people and by this I mean the mass of the people. I have always made people to realise that the true division of people we have in the country are not at all along ethnic or religious lines but the only two divisions of people we have are the elites and the masses. The elites are quite few and are in control but the masses have inherent power to create the environment they want. In the words of Ronald Regan, ‘we must realize no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women’. In other words, power lies in the people, the masses. And the truth is that unless and until the masses take up its own responsibility in the polity, putting their power to use in putting the ruling elites on their toes to deliver, the imbalance will continue and the country will continue her downward slope into extinction.

As a group of people, we owe it a duty to our maker and posterity to STAND UP and place our collective destiny in our hands as guided by the author of creation and not just leave it in the hands of those who do not mean well but have held on to the reins of power. As a people, we must determine what we want for ourselves – the admirable Nigeria – and vigorously work towards ensuring its emergence. Our government must answer to our wishes; we must set the agenda. Things don’t just happen; they are made to happen. And as in the words of Regan quoted above, the power that lies in us to be able to deliver on this responsibility of ours is such that cannot be quenched by the powers of gun and machineries of governmental power. This manifests in the power of resolve, the power of collective action and the power of persuasion.

On the other hand in our country and just like these words reflect, ‘my people perish because of the lack of knowledge’, we have remained groping in the darkness of underdevelopment because the knowledge of this - the responsibility of the masses and its existing power to realise it - is in a very short supply to the people, the mass of the people, the masses. In place of knowledge in this respect, the majority of our people are filled with mediocrity, which reflects in making thin gods of those in power and exploiters as in the cases of the likes of Adedibu and Saraki; as well as filled with fear, cynicism and outright lack of hope in the country, which have all led to wrong mind-sets and mentality – poor perception of life, poor thinking, poor orientation. This is what has brought us to our knees for ‘as a man thinks, so he is’.

Having now realized this, there’s the need for concerned citizens to evolve the means of countrywide ingraining of this knowledge in the mass of the people and getting them to STAND UP unto their responsibility and thus begin the way out of this present quagmire. For an example, our people must have it sunk into them that rather than collect N200 to secure their votes, they should vote objectively for credible candidates and as such stop mortgaging the good governance they deserve for a ‘plate of porridge’.

This will come by way of conducting campaigns in our schools and other public places & avenues to make our people understand the scope of the society & governance; the meaning and essence of existence; and ultimately the responsibility of the people towards ensuring what the society becomes as well as the power that lies in the People alongside enlightenment on ‘Personal Economic Empowerment Strategies’, which would guarantee sustenance in the course of the ‘battle’. It is in spreading knowledge as this while also emphasizing the right attitude & values at the campaigns and in the process, securing the allegiance of the people in creating a platform for action; lies the beginning of the emancipation of Nigeria. It is Mobilizing the People on Knowledge.

This is the onerous task to which the emancipation-Nigeria Project (e-NP) has been committed. It is a task of adopting ‘enlightenment’ as a mechanism to galvanize and gather the people towards creating a platform for mass action that would secure for us a nation where the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity is guaranteed.

And for this, the ‘Nehemiahs’ of Nigeria really need to emerge. I mean those who will be undaunted with the seeming overwhelming situation of things but would pursue the agenda with utmost commitment.

The task is to gather our people to take our destiny in our hands and evolve the Nigeria of our dreams. The Nehemiahs are needed to spearhead the task. Will I be counted?

For further inquiries on the activities of the e-NP, write to emancipation_nigeria@yahoo.com