Nigerians on ground and all over the world, of all backgrounds and ages, can attest to having the most delectable conversations with fellow Nigerians in the living room. The “parlor” conversations as some would call it, covers topics ranging from Nigerian politics to people in the social spotlight or unraveling the puzzle behind the present aberration of Nigerian football. Undoubtedly, the dynamic of these conversations is worthy to behold. I had the pleasure of indulging in one similarly with some Nigerian friends this past weekend, and the topic of our discussion was Greed.
Here’s my POV in short:
Many individual Nigerians you and I know or have encountered are likely very opinionated and innately prideful. A Nigerian’s pride is one that demands honor and respect. Now, how is this pride conveyed and displayed to others? In Nigeria’s case, starting from the very top of the hierarchy, judging from past woes with our government policies, constant instability in power, ethnic and religious disintegration, even up until the recent melee that occurred in the House of Rep gathering in Abuja, it is most certainly safe to conclude that to a degree, pride has also caused us extreme hurt and misdirection. This pride that resides within the Nigerians has been clearly exercised more negatively than positively in our nation’s politics and hence a reason to ponder if this will be a constant cycle.
(These are our leaders!)
This harmful strain of pride breeds greed, selfishness, scorn, conflict, ignorance and the oft used synonym to Nigeria, corruption. Greed is what I believe spurs all the other destructive traits. Pride, all in all, with its good and bad, has been a gift and a curse.
Nigerians, as a unit, we need to challenge ourselves to uphold our nation as the Pride of Africa but on an individual level turn our show of this Pride to others as one that steadily breeds humility, selflessness and solidarity.
What’s your take?
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