I remember when we were growing up and being so young and inexperienced, we could not fully make sense of all there was to the Sonny Okosun's classic "Which Way Nigeria". The moderately slow tempo song(adante), for all we cared, was just another beautiful piece by the music maestro whose songs made our day anytime it was played especially at a birthday party.
Whosoever sends you on an errand at the time Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) channel 6, was about airing the music video of Sonny Okosun, would have to deal with a facial expression and moods indicative of sadness, sorrow and sometimes, sulkiness, if for any reason, (as there would always be with NTA then), the music of Sonny Okosun had stopped playing by the time you were back.
Okosun has been gone for over a decade now and his genre of music is no longer "en vogue", as it has been replaced by what some would rather not refer to as music. However his message, especially the wake-up call to those who hold the reins, even with the passage of time and amid the never ending hocus pocus and hullabaloo, all in the name of trying-to-make-it- work, have not been drowned, rather, they have continued to resonate up to the present time when it looks like the centre can no longer hold.
They say that citizens are fleeing in their numbers, the land of their birth, in search of peace and a new beginning. Those of us whose legs seem to be fettered are perhaps done for in a world of uncertainties, amidst growing concerns about a crumbling entity, can only cling to the hope of a better tomorrow, hoping against hope, yet believing and hoping perhaps for a repeat of the miracle of Divine Overflow................ "By this time tomorrow a measure of fine flour will sell for 1-shekel ...............................(2kings7:1).
Many nationalists and believers of a better tommorow say with some uncommon conviction, that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Accordimg to them, some nations who are enjoying economic revolutions in Africa as well as in Europe and Asia, had once been in economic doldrums much worse than we think we are experiencing at the moment.Their views and optimism are however, in sharp contrast to those of the larger populace whose pessimism and reasons to doubt are not entirely unfounded.The basis for their insistence on painting a grim and hopeless picture is the failure of successive governments to uphold rule of law and implement watertight policies that will engender transparency, accountability and probity at all levels of government.
A foreign dignitary once said on a breakfast television show in the country, "I don't envy the president of Nigeria" and what this implies is that she will turn down an offer, even when presented on a platter, to lead this great nation and it's people.The reason for the assertion by the diplomat is not far fetched.Every leader of the country has always grappled with issues borderng on foundation and institution which many say is the bane of our democracy and will continue to plague our nation if measures are not taken by stakeholders to adequately address it.While acknowledging that there is still much to be done, nationalists however differ with the implied views of the diplomat.They say that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown and again, that the great Rome was not built in a day. In furtherance of their cause, they advocate attitudinal change which they say begins with you and me for a better and brighter tommorow for us all.
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