Have you seen a documentary titled, 'Naija' by a gentleman named Jide Olanrewaju?
If you haven't then I seriously recommend you do. You're guaranteed an action packed two and a half hours of Shock, Intrigue, Laughter, Tears, Horror, and outright Dumbfoundedness.
Whilst watching it with my very good friend last Saturday afternoon we couldn't help but continuously repeat the phrase 'Can You Imagine?!' during the whole duration.
The documentary is a detailed illustration of Nigeria's Political and Economic plight since independence.
From the aristocratic accents and mannerisms of the likes of Tafa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, and Odumegwu Ojukwu (those guys' English accents make mine sound positively plebian), to the shocking abuse of public funds by Awolowo, to the horrifying treatment of the Igbo people, you're in for a roller coaster ride of the most acute of emotions.
So marvellously captivating is this documentary that I could go on about it until Jesus returns. It brilliantly brings to light the myriad of problems that have plagued Nigeria for well over half a century. These problems have never gone away. They simply rear their ugly heads in different forms from one dispensation to another.
But for the sake of your sanity let me just make two blindingly obvious observations.
1. Corruption didn't start in the 70s or the 80s. Corruption started as far back as 1960; probably even before then.
Our greatest enemy has always been Ourselves.
We choose not just to allow Corruption but gleefully revel in it.
We choose to allow a Perverse System to continue to prosper.
We choose to Ignore our Fundamental Right to Basic Public Services.
2. Unless we hold our own Peace and Reconciliation Process in Nigeria, the wounds of the civil war will never heal.
Whether it's the North's belief that they have a divine right to rule Nigeria, the Igbo people's chip on their shoulders about who they are and who they can trust, or the Yorubas' penchant for stabbing friends and allies in the back for the sake of power, the simple fact is that the numerous suspicions which lie beneath this somewhat strained union that we call Nigeria will forever remain just a few degrees off boiling point - capable of overheating to unbearable and unmanagebale temparatures at any time.
Whether we want to admit it or not, our parents' bias against one ethnic group or another is smeared into our subconscious.
Let's be grateful that the recent elections passed on peacefully; grateful that Jonathan wasn't hell bent on holding on to power.
Until there's some sort of Reconciliation Process, Igbo people will forever be suspicious of their brothers and sisters in the north and south west. For in their time of need the Igbos' were brazenly betrayed and abandoned.
This nation will forever be walking on very thin ice unless three things happen.
1. The North and the South West formerly apologise to the Igbo people for the atrocities committed during the civil war.
2. A Peace and Reconciliation process is initiated to heal those very deep wounds that have never healed.
3. Go back to the drawing board; the way the demographics of this nation was designed by our former colonial masters destined it for either outright failure, or a calamitous cycle of 'flatter to deceive'.
If our leaders really want Peace, Unity, Progress, and Prosperity, then they must implement the above three points.
Otherwise I for one cannot see a way out of this Vicious Cycle of Lies, Thirst For Power, and Unbridled Corruption.
But as always the question is "Do They?"
Do Nigeria's leaders Genuinely Want Peace, Unity, Progress, and Prosperity?
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