FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY: Setting the tone….

Michael Oluwafemi Taiwo, Ph.D

I will start my first column on this blog with the words of Thomas Paine: These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

Paine’s words were published in an article he titled “The Crisis” in December 23, 1776. At that point, a fledgling nation – the United States – had declared her independence and Britain – then the world’s mightiest country – was going to strip her of it and keep her subservient to the Crown with military force. Britain is the “tyranny” in Paine’s quote. Why would I start a column about career, education and politics geared towards a primarily Nigerian audience with a quote from an era in America’s history?

“Only in Nigeria” is a phrase we have come to identify with the vexing problems that have plagued us as a sovereign State. We feel our national challenges are unique and that the solutions to them cannot be copied from elsewhere. And this is true. No other nation is called “Nigeria,” no other nation has our past and no other nation can have our destiny. Distinct like the DNA, there will not be another Nigeria.

But while our challenges may be unique, they are not new. Nations have been on the brink of destruction or bankruptcy before, and we can look at their response to find inspiration for our struggles. What will help and heal Nigeria is not in a book somewhere, but we study nonetheless because we understand that by knowing about the past – ours and others – we can find guidance for the days ahead.

I will be freely sharing from what I know in the hopes of having a more educated and empowered citizenry. Like the US in 1776, we also have a tyranny that besets us and is hell-bent on enslaving us forever if we let it. It is the tyranny of bad leadership at almost every level of the society. The youths have been disillusioned as to what a proper leader looks like. Our economic, political and religious institutions have a surfeit of leaders who are wanton and greedy and base and vile. They are all tyrants in their little fiefdoms. And while they loot the country, terrorists attack in the North, oil thieves run riot in the South and inter-communal clashes are more widespread and destructive than before.

This is the Nigeria of today. This is the background against which I will be writing. What is right with us though is much more than what is wrong with us. And even deeper, I believe that what is right with us can consume what is wrong with us. I will be the last person to give up on my country. I have seen the resilience of her youth and intelligence of her children. I have no doubt that these are the ones who will rise to light up this present darkness we are in; I firmly believe that our youth are the solution. If, through my writings, I can inspire a single soul as what he or she can do to better the lot of other Nigerians and indeed the world at large, then this column would have achieved its goal.