Effectuating and Achieving the Societal Changes We So Much Crave

"Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey...." I watched as my neighbour's kids solemnly and harmonously belted the Nigeria's national anthem with the glow in their eyes reassuring enough to create a fresh and renewed belief that this beloved country, Nigeria wll eventually be great one day. Many of us as tiddlers had bellowed this anthem truthfully by heart with no proper understanding of the meaning each phrases in the song hold. The quatrain of the first stanza will serve has the theme through which today's topic will be laid bare. 

"Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey. To serve our Fatherland, With love and strength and faith." 

It's quite disheartening to know that most Nigerians hold these lines of the anthem with jocoseness. Some even find these phrases unfathomable.

History was made after the March 28th presidential elections with General Muhammadu Buhari emerging deservedly victorious as the president-elect of the country. It is so conspicuous that most Nigerians voted him into power because of the 'change' slogan employed by his party franchise. However, noone has ever thought that this highly anticipated socio-economical changes might actually take a longer time to materialise if we ordinary Nigerians refuse to be partake in the nation (re-)building project. I know the questions reeling through your mind now. 

"What is my role in Nation building? How am I supposed to contribute to Nigeria's renaissance when all resources required to elevate her economic, financial and security status is only within the grasp of the Federal Government?"

Julia Carney, an American educator and poet famously wrote, 

"Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the beauteous land. Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, make our earth an Eden, like the heaven above. Little seeds of mercy sown by youthful hands, grow to bless the nations far in heathen lands."

The key to a greater Nigeria is in our hands. Yes, every individual including those strolling down the street, commuters hustling from places to places, that rich man chauffeur-driven in that 'air-conditioned' vehicle, the privileged and less privileged. And it all starts with our cognitive belief towards alleviating the societal rancidity in our own little ways. It is high time we do away with the-government-is-empowered-to-do-it-all mental attitude. The sooner we realise the grassroots is ours alone to develop, the quicker will it aid speedy development. Purported societal developmental programmes by the government at times or most times take donkey years to materialise. The only way an accommodative and developed society can be achieved is if every individual -concerned or unconcerned - decides to seize the initiate on societal infrastructural development without relying solely on the government.

My street wasn't quite motorable for over two decades with the road in a derelict state. During election periods, greedy politician vying for posts in my local government (LG) use it as campaign promise. The nation has held three elections since I moved to that area but the status of the road remained the same, save for when a shabby drainage system was constructed halfway down the street at a time. The situation grew worse especially during rainy season as motorist were subjected to harsh road conditions. Two years ago, the Landlords Association decided to put heads together to find an assuaging solution to ease the plight of the motorists and passersby. That thoughtful decision yielded a better drainage system and road network in no time.

It is crystal clear that accessibility to infrastructural development is not rocket science. Only if privileged Nigerians will think and conjure ideas that will solve basic societal problems. Social amenities like rural electrification, accessible portable water, public toilets controlling the traffic and rehabilitating roads,culverts and the drainage in the community etc. can all become a past problem if individuals in areas lacking such comfort come together in one accord to set out successful plans to achieve these feats.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where elites capable of single-handedly creating a complete make over of dilapidated societal system will rather fold their hands or stand akimbo and watch as the society deplete beyond feasible reparation. What such people fail to understand is that an affluent man amidst the needy will eventually become indigent when the tatterdemalion filled society form a revolt. Moreover, products of a failed society will become a nemesis to them in the long run in life.

However, one doesn't have to be rich, famous, privileged or aged before impacting judiciously and meaningfully towards the transmutation of the society. One can be poor, immature or underprivileged and still have a positive influence on societal development. Malala Yousafzai -the youngest ever Nobel Peace laureate at age 17 - was barely 12 years old when she started the human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Yousafzai's advocacy has since grown into an international movement. After surviving the assassination attack by the taliban in 2012, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Yousafzai's name, demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015; it helped lead to the ratification of Pakistan's first Right to Education Bill. In her small way, she brought education to the whole of Pakistan. Future female lawyers and doctors in Pakistan will be forevermore grateful for her singular act.

Anyone can take up the mantle to become young Malala, likewise anyone can act out the older version of Malala. All we need is to be convicted in our hearts that the key to the development of a glorious Nigerian future is in our hands. It all begin with understanding the fact that the government can not do it all alone. Well-meaning Nigerians and concerned bodies should rise up to the societal challenges and heed to the distressed clarion call of our decaying environmental structure. Your impact could be in any form. Sponsoring the education of a poor child in your vicinity, providing some the basic needs including food and clothings for the underprivileged in your area, creating micro job opportunities for jobless youths, creating avenues for skill acquisition and self-empowerment, advocating for education of the ordinary Nigerian chid etc. are many but few of the initiatives that can be put in place. These are tall orders, nevertheless achievable ones. These formidable acts will go a long way to obviate the society from nuisance and social vices and most importantly serve as fulcrum to which a greater Nigeria can be built.

So next time you hear the Nigerian national anthem or hum it, let it ring at the back of your mind that you owe this great nation an irrefutable service. Whether young, old, rich, poor, mature, immature, privileged, underprivileged, please note that you're duty bound to effectuate the change Nigeria truly deserve. All that is required is your own truthful smidgen contribution. If we want change, we've to initiate one ourselves. With love and strength and faith, nothing is unattainable. We've got all it takes to make Nigeria tick. Therefore, it begins with YOU! 'Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria's call obey!'

On this note, we bring today's edition of Midweek Drive to a halt. God bless you all as you embrace the spirit of togetherness, civic responsibiliy and citizenship towards the betterment of the Nigerian society. Have a blessed week ahead, see you next week!

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Author: LAMBE OLANREWAJU
Column: Midweek Drive

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