During his visit to a King’s palace, young Johnny found faults in most of the architecture and decoration in the palace. The 33-year-old Johnny still lived in his parents’ small and old house, since he could not build his own house. Yet, he was quick to see and react to faults in everything, even in his parents’ old house. Thus, people keep urging Johnny to build and decorate his own house, instead of perpetually faulting other people’s houses. For us Nigerians, it may be better to reform our society than to keep reacting to the horrific effects of the inherited colonial system.
It seems that Nigerians now settle for reacting online, offline and news-media whenever a new horror replaces a trending scandal. Politicians and celebrities choose platforms for reacting by condemning, abusing, warning or mandating perpetrators of latest horrors. No sooner had they reacted than they returned to the usual business of observing and surviving. The Nigerian entity seem too complex and difficult for anybody to do more than briefly reacting before continuing searching for food.
The difference between human beings and animals is seen in the advanced degree of human creativity and collaboration. While animals react instinctively to environmental circumstances, humans plan and create the environment they want. Humans work together to create laws for interacting with one another for peace. They work together to build and produce the different structures and amenities they need in their society. This ability to collaborate and create the type of society they want has been the driving force behind civilization.
Regrettably, Nigeria and many other African countries seem unable to create the society they desire, different from the imposed colonial-model. Many Nigerians truly want to reorganize Nigeria, but they are often discouraged by several factors. These factors include incomprehension of the problem’s root cause and remedy, lack of funds, experience and connections, threats to life and government’s attack. Thus, it appears impossible for Nigerians to practically reorganize their society, instead of just reacting ‘upandan’and being pessimistic. Even those who react to the socio-political horrors in Nigeria are often shot or arrested, thereby intimidating the populace. Hence, some analysts insist that Nigeria will never get better, given the structure on ground.
Despite the discouraging social reality, it is still possible and better to create our own society. The main Nigerian problem is the lack of discussion and agreement between the different ethnic communities to live and work together as a country. This lack of agreement in the forced union results in different crises, struggles, deaths, nepotism and underdevelopment. Since it is better to create our own society in Nigeria, the citizens must re-create themselves first. The process of re-creating ourselves in Nigeria, before creating a better Nigeria, includes:
- Individual development of habits of passive and active sincerity. PASSIVE SINCERITY is the act of giving correct information that helps other people achieve remote or immediate good results. The ability to develop passive sincerity requires objective studies to gather authentic and necessary information. ACTIVE SINCERITY is the act of an individual saying what s/he truly intends to do, and striving to fulfil his/her words. The habit of active sincerity requires discipline for fulfilling one’s resolved obligations to oneself, and agreed obligations to others.
- Modestly influencing other Nigerians to adopt this habit of passive and active sincerity in our churches, schools and markets and other institutions.
- Conducting researches about the values and structures of the different ethnic communities in Nigeria towards finding a common ground for agreement.
- Calling for a proper negotiation and agreement between the different peoples of Nigeria for collaboration, productivity and progress.
This process may take some years to achieve for creating the desired effects. Yet, consistence with it guarantees a shift from passive reactions and commentaries, to the actual creation of our society. This process is better to create our own society starting from the individuals before negotiation in families, towns, cities, states and regions within the country.