I love my country I no go lie
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he determined the times set for them [to be born, raised, and nurtured]
and the exact places where they should live. Acts 17:26
I get bitten by the bug of noblogging every once in a while. There has been a couple of times that I have started off a post without being able to go past the first line. No, it is neither writer's block nor busy-ness, it is just some sort of withdrawal beyond me. I have enjoyed playing catch up with my favorite bloggers, and I must say that I feel blessed to be a Nigerian. I am always proud of the spirit and fervor with which some of my fellow bloggers write. The intelligence and wittiness of some of the writers I have encountered is quite commendable.
I am a firm believer in the notion that we are all born into a particular heritage for a purpose. I feel blessed and fortunate to be born into my Nigerian heritage, the richness of the culture, the depth and diversity of her languages, the beauty and intelligence of her sons and daughters, the spiritual consciouness of the people, the pride of her daughters, the vastness of her resources, and so on and so on.
However, it is these same blessings that plagues Nigeria. The rich culture at times becomes an affliction in its bid to "keep things the way they are", or "protect one another" and so we repress good change and keep the potbellied and greedy politicians from the 1900s who fail to do us any good. We "protect" corruption and greediness in the name of not "washing our dirty laundry outside" hence we propagate the unending cycle of stagnancy. We misuse our intelligence to get "quick" money and we have turned ourselves into walking red flags instead of the lush green and spotless white flags our fathers envisioned. We use spirituality to promote subjugation, poverty, and oppresion and we move even the Almighty himself to ponder in soberness at our inability to truly love and care for one another as He does for us. Our leaders refuse to love by forgetting the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the old, and the foreigners among us. I remember when we were chasing Ghanians out, look what Ghanians have done for their country now. The reason why America is the most powerful country in the world is because it opened its doors to all peoples thereby gaining different skills and labor for its development. Our pride causes us to look down on one another, the "owambe syndrome" the I am better than you and I can outdo you mentality. It is a shame really.
Nonetheless, I am a proud Nigerian and I will hold my head UP anywhere and anytime to engage others in my God given heritage. Like Ayoke brilliantly said in one of her posts, the perpetrators of shameful acts shouls be ashamed, not her. Not me either, I will not be ashamed of who I am, Nigerian, American, female, born of spirit, no I will not be ashamed. I refuse to deny my heritage because of stupid 419ers who dupe people all over or cower in shame because of the state of the country. Let the perpetrators be ashamed...not me. I felt the strong urge to make this declaration after an encounter I had with a fellow Nigerian this past weekend. We were engaging in general conversation about Nigeria when this individual felt the need to make known her shame for the country. She made clear how she always made sure to always steer clear of disclosing her Nigerian identity. I was shocked, troubled, baffled, upset, and concerned...for her, her children. The situation was made worse by the fact that I couldn't respond to her the way I would have wanted to being that we were not alone...there were other people like me in the conversation who looked up to her. I am talking about someone who is well learned and highly respected. Somehow, I think that exaggerated the shock for me. I think it is sad when we have to deny a portion of our identity because of what others think. I strongly believe that is unhealthy and it propagates prejudice and inferiority complex.
So I call you today sons and daughters of my father's land
Raise up your head
Brace yourselves
Speak out in humble pride
Of the land that bore you
That nurtured you
That shapes your faces and laughter
Speak of your mother's land with joy
Sing her praises
Applaud her achievements
Deny her not
For though she falls
She will rise again
Oh yes she will
She will rise above her past
Over her scars she will soar
For the Almighty will bear
The moans and cries of her daughters
The anguish of her sons
The dreams of her unborn children
Moans and cries for freedom
For freedom will come
Scars of wars
For she will win the battle
Anguish of poverty
For she is blessed
Dreams of greatness
For she is great
Rise Nigeria
Rise my land
Rise and shine
For your light is come
And His glory is risen upon thee
--------------original writings of songreach 2006
I love my country I no go lie.........no I will not!
