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UNITE OR DIE By
If we want to climb out of the hole we are in, It is a job for all the people. Chinua Achebe Unless we learn to live together as brothers We will die together as fools. Martin Luther King Jr.
My flight back to the UK from Nigeria went on with little event; I passed some time browsing through the available in-flight entertainment. I don’t fly very often, but when I get the opportunity I am always very excited. I love flying and I always request a window seat so I can watch the world below, I am always amazed how a huge aero plane can take off, gain altitude, stay air-borne and then land safely. I understand the aerodynamics of flight as much as a lay-man can, but it still amazes me how planes can transport people over such great distances like giant birds in the sky.
At the start of our flight from Murtala Mohamed International Airport Lagos, the pilot had informed us that there was a risk of experiencing turbulence once we were over the Pyrenees. We all took in the information but like myself none of the other passengers fully appreciated what he meant. As soon as the great mountainous range of the Pyrenees came into view we discovered just how violent turbulence could be. The entire structure of the aeroplane was shaking and rattling, it felt like the experience of riding in one of those molue vehicles in Lagos, but worse because we were several thousand feet above ground. At any moment the plane would fall apart, components would break off and shatter. The situation was precarious. I looked around me, everyone was praying, the lady next to me was praying, the people in front were praying, those behind were praying. Everyone was praying in our Nigerian way, loud prayers just in case God was sleeping and could not hear.
Somehow, amidst the chaos, I felt totally at peace. I prayed quietly and then looked at the lady next to me and smiled in an attempt to reassure her that everything would be fine. She looked back at me rather confused that I was so calm, we had not spoken much during the journey, but this incidence opened an opportunity, we now had a tangible common ground, we had something to unite us.
A common trait among a lot of us Nigerians is that we all have an opinion about every issue and we like to talk. When we talk, we talk as if we are professors in that particular field. Although most of us are very good at talking, we are not very good when it comes to listening. We all feel people should listen to us but when it is our turn to listen to others we struggle. Before they have even finished saying what they want to say we have already made up our minds and we start interrupting them.
The success of any revolution in Nigeria will depend on how well we can work together, it will depend on us learning to listen to each other, it will depend on us learning to work together for the common good. We have a lot in common, there is a great deal to unite us, however it is the policy of the oppressor, it is the policy of the present administration to sow seeds of discord, to keep us suspecting, fighting and accusing each other, because they know that when we unite, they have no chance of suppressing us. They know that when we unite nothing will be impossible for us. They know that when we unite we will root out the oppressor.
Unfortunately, we keep being deceived year after year. The people in the South are suspicious of Northerners, they think all the oil money has been stolen from the South and taken to the North. The Northerners are jealous of the South, they think because the Southerners were traditionally better educated all the top government appointments went to Southerners; and everyone is still suspicious of Igbos ever since Biafra.
However, when we look at the situation closely we find that "suffer dey for Africa" serious suffer suffer dey for Nigeria. We are all suffering whether we be North, South, South-south, Middle belt, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, whatever. Suffering shows no partiality, we are all suffering all over Nigeria. Like Fela said "I wakka wakka wakka, I go many places, I see my people, them dey cry cry cry". We are all suffering and crying all over Nigeria, the only people enjoying are the present administration and their cronies. Even in Abuja with all the ultra modern infrastructure, the ordinary man is still excluded from enjoying the benefits of being a citizen of our great country; it is the present administration and their cronies that are benefiting.
When my wife was a child she used to like eating cakes, in fact she still likes cake very much. The problem however was that whenever her dad divided the cake between her and her brother, an argument would ensue. Each of them felt the other person had a larger slice of the cake. After several arguments her dad eventually came up with a very creative solution, he suggested that rather than him divide the cake, they had to choose among themselves, one person would cut the cake and the other would be the first to choose a slice. The result was amazing, whoever chose to cut the cake was always very careful to make sure that the slices were equal, and the one who was first to choose would struggle to see any difference in the size of the slices. From then on there were no more arguments about who had the larger slice of cake.
Children have a keen sense of fairness and justice; Jesus said, "Unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven". In Nigeria we all have our own issues that are very important to our tribe, our region, our religion and so on. We must learn to negotiate and find creative ways of coming to a consensus, but more than that we must unite. I recall the words of Martin Luther King Jr. spoken to men and women like us, men and women struggling and fighting for justice, for fairness, for their basic rights "I want to say that in all of our actions we must stick together. Unity is the great need of the hour and if we are united we can get many of the things that we not only desire but which we justly deserve." "Be concerned about your brother, we either go up together or we go down together".
March 2004
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