What is the National Psyche of Nigeria?
The Bible says in the book of Proverbs 14:34 that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people. It is obvious that our nation Nigeria has fallen into the abyss she meets herself today due mainly to our collective willingness and readiness to jettison the truth and righteousness as a people, and our more than readiness to embrace dishonesty and corruption in all their ramifications, in every aspect of our national life.
Where did Nigeria start?
To start with, the foundation of the conglomeration we call Nigeria today was laid not on genuine interest of her people but on a selfish platform purposely built to promote the well being and the imperial objectives of the British colonial masters. The various nations, kingdoms, states and tribal organizations that were lumped together were very diverse culturally, socially, linguistically, politically and religiously that it is yet impossible to this day to mould them into a single entity.
One glaring example of this anomaly is the composition of the regions that made up the country till after the end of the civil war in 1970. The North was left as a single entity while the South was initially made up of two regions before it was again carved into three, vis a vis : Western region, Eastern region and Mid Western region. The North, bigger in land mass and equally as diverse in peoples and creeds remained one.
Where is Nigeria today?
The anomaly and institutionalization of falsehood and inequality have continued to plague the fortunes of our nation, and it has made us to continue living in perpetual suspicion of one another. Nobody believes anybody does anything with good unbiased intention. This can be seen in the present dispensation: The incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari may in truth be fighting corruption, but is the so-called fighting against corruption as holistic as it should be? Is it not a mere selective witch-hunting where only people who are not members of the ruling party are being hounded?
Another issue that readily comes to mind is the ongoing killing of farmers in North Central zone and some parts of North Eastern Zone by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. The president has come out openly many times to say these people are not Fulani herdsmen but terrorists whose mission is to plunge Nigeria into a bloody religious and ethnic confrontation.
Many people believe the president is only saying this because he is Fulani himself and that he is only giving his people the backing they need to realise whatever objectives they might have set for themselves.
Where does this leave us?
It is obvious that our nation is being continually ruined by our people’s blatant refusal to be true to themselves and others. Every section of our society, be it ethnic, religious, vocational, cultural, economic, etc is ready to flaunt its lies as truth towards enhancing its singular fortune and well being. Consequently, genuine progress and development as a nation has continued to elude us.
