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Continued from part 1. Click here to read Part 1 if you haven't.
Whether we see their political tactics
as unwarranted shenanigans or permissible cleverness, those approaches are what
they believe will work in Nigeria. It has worked for them before. Perhaps, it
is still working for some of them. And in places where poverty and illiteracy
continue to prevail, it may keep working. So, it’s not a question of whether it
is right or wrong. The real question is, is that the kind of politics we want
to have? Without considering any data source, I would take the risk to predict
that you (the reader of this article) are not among those that are influenced
by that kind of political strategy. Though it’s a wild guess, I know that most
of the Nigerians whose politically will can be influenced by petty cash are not
likely to have access to smartphones, the internet or blogs like this. Some of
them might be uneducated. Some might just be seeking how to survive each day of
overwhelming disadvantages or how to have their next meal. But, all of them have
something in common; they do not have the viable options, the dignifying survival
instinct, the inexplicable grace that you often have.
The truth is, a man is only as
disciplined as situations allow him to be. You cannot withstand external
pressure when you do not have the innate or mental capacity to do so. Only men
who can afford to lose their lives, their peace, their beloved, their
opportunities and even their plans can withstand any kind of external pressure.
Such men, who can lose their lives and their everything for others, are very scarce.
They are in extremely short supply. Why? Their lifespans are often short and
even when they exist and live for long, they are often almost irreplaceable.
But that is the irony of life. Those who must do good must fight evil. The more
the good you want to do the more the evil you will have to fight. So, you see,
everyone actually has a breaking limit. Everyone has a yielding point. Everyone
has something that can be used against them. Given the most perfect circumstance
for their own kind of customised failure or submission to wrongdoing, even the strongest
of supermen and women will yield to pressure.
So, that is why it is important for
good people to always come together. To support one another. To form formidable
groups, and if possible, an overall formidable group. To overlook the
differences that do not affect our humanity but rather strengthen what we all
have in common, the good of all people. Whether you’re Yoruba, Igbo or Niger
Deltan, Hausa or Fulani, or of any other tribe, the onus is on all of us to
look beyond religion, tribe, origin and all other secondary attributes and
focus on a culture of common good. A culture of unity. A culture of what is
good for us. It is our collective responsibility to help the weak among us, the
illiterate among us, the disillusioned among us, the vulnerable among us. If we
do not do this, we will keep running around in circles. The strength of water
is in unity. The strength of electricity is in bulkiness. The strength of fire
is in its size. No matter how strong one individual is, they cannot be as
strong as they will be if they are joined by other people.
Let’s unite together to solve our
problems. They are not other people’s problems; they are our problems. Though a
lot of us didn’t contribute to the creation of most of the problems we face
today, they are now our own. They are ours to solve. We shouldn’t multiply
them. We should mitigate them. So, let’s become the problem-solving generation.
Let’s initiate the beginning of a new history. Let’s live and let others live.
To be
continued.....
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