Psychologists would tell you that the best therapy for dealing with pain is to forget and let it go. It’s a no-brainer why this is so. In that moment you forget, you are numb to memories, immune to despair and deaf to worries; you can put up a smile and actually be convinced that it is coming from your heart.

Unfortunately, much as it is a useful tool in enduring the travails of this life, we Nigerians seem to have perfected the art to our detriment. Nigeria is a giant that has withstood many vices, the question is how much more can it take? One of my favourite church renditions is “Giants do die” (in this case, an allusion to Goliath). Even though Nigeria is no Goliath, it is still a giant. It is our duty as good citizens to make sure that the flag keeps flying proudly, not hanging limp from some rusty pole whose maintenance funds are regularly diverted to other uses

I had mixed feelings when I read on the BBC news website that Nigeria had topped the world happiness survey carried out by the UK New Scientist Magazine. I was glad because, for once we were not topping the corrupt nations list, but I was burdened because it signalled one thing to me – people were and still are leaving in denial. I call this denial – ‘E Go Better’ Syndrome.

The same day bombs were going off in Abuja, the trending topic on Twitter among fellow Nigerians was #celebperfumes – where we cracked ingenious jokes about celebrities both home and abroad. I really found them amusing, but one part of me was in pain for the lives lost. In my chat with a friend who recently left Britain to join her family in Jos late last year, she said no one budges at the sound of a gun – it has become that common-place. Things have aggravated from machetes and cutlasses to bombs, and my people are still smiling. We are smiling and shrugging helplessly, hoping it will not be our turn one day.

Amnesia can be beautiful. Have you ever dreamt of utopia, so sweet and so blissful you don’t want to wake up? This time around, I plead with you to wake up; while you go to the wash-hand basin and dab water on your faces, reflect on where we are coming from. Let the pain course through your veins, feel it, and get fired up for change.

This was not how our fathers planned it. Children and women were not meant to lose their lives on the grounds of religious squabble. Children were not born to be kidnapped because their dads refused to give an uncle money. We were never meant to lack basic amenities; the resources were and are still there at our disposal if only they are properly managed. Men were never meant to die trying to protect their families because of a poor security system. Ritual killers, armed robbers and ‘one-chance’ were meant to be alien terms. “One day, one day e go better” says a popular Nigerian musician. But please, even if you won’t do anything about this, do one thing; do not forget. I repeat, do not forget. Brood and mull over the state of our nation, before long, you will know what to do. And if you don’t you will tell your kids, perhaps they are the beautiful ones Ayi Kwei Armah refers to in The Beautiful Ones are Not Yet Born. They will have their lifetime to think about a change strategy. Do not give up.

On that note, I will share what a tweetizen said concerning the coming elections,– “Drop your mental guns and use your physical thumb.”

VOTE this 2011.