The Righteous Few, have a duty to engage society, and cannot continue to separate itself, whilst stupidly hoping that society will somehow reform itself. If you are blessed to see a problem, it is because you either are the solution, or a part of the solution.
As I have grown more comfortable with the use of this platform, I have noticed the preponderance of what may be referred to as the Righteous Few. These are the men and women who have become convinced that Nigeria can be much better than it is, and have become equally convinced, that Nigeria is beyond redemption. Such is the depth of their disillusionment with the system, that they have mostly separated themselves from society, even whilst seeking survival within the society thus condemned. I used to be a card carrying member of this cadre, and my track record speaks for me.
But I have found, that this thinking is fundamentally flawed, and self-defeatist in the extreme. Those of us who desire change, redefinition, and national rebirth, are actually the moral majority, and we defeat ourselves and what should be our purpose, when we myopically separate ourselves as we have. There wouldn’t be a better time to change Nigeria, and we are not as isolated as we might imagine ourselves to be. But we have a duty to talk.
The emergence of Muhammadu Buhari, is the best thing that has happened to the moral majority. They were the ones mobilized to propel him into office, and whilst some of them might continue to hope against hope, and cling to the illusion of change, the reality is that, that illusion has been mostly dispelled, and have largely evaporated. We have all been shortchanged, but it was a tragedy foretold, and a self-fulfilling prophesy. What kind of change did we expect from a government that emerged with the support of the traditional levers of powers, ably represented by its pope, saint’ Matthew of Owu, and it’s enforcer, the sage of Bourdillon?
Talking, as I have counseled since becoming a contributor on this media, is not an invitation to beer parlour banter, and yes, it’s fine to talk in beer parlours, it’s an invitation to move beyond elitist bellyaching on social media, to engaging those with whom you will come into contact in your daily lives. The economic and political ills and injustices that you suffer, and or see on a daily basis, affects almost everyone you see and interact with, in your daily life. But talking must only be a prelude to action.
The purpose of talking, must be to Inform, to Challenge the lies and dogmas that have long imprisoned our people, to Educate the uninformed, who have been kept ignorant of what may be achieved by thinking men and women, and ultimately, to mobilize the 99% into a critical mass, that is capable of truly changing our society, and propelling it onto the desired path.
Power has never given up anything happily, and when the state becomes as criminal as ours have become, it is the constructive engagement of the moral majority, that has the capacity to change it, not the self righteous indignation of the righteous few. The Righteous Few, have a duty to engage society, and cannot continue to separate itself, whilst stupidly hoping that society will somehow reform itself. If you are blessed to see a problem, it is because you either are the solution, or a part of the solution.
Let’s start talking to ourselves, the very future of our children and our country, may depend on it. We are more than them!
DF
First published 9 August, 2016.
