Our Culture, Our Guide To The Promise-Land

  Deji Sule Odu

If we must insist that leadership is the bane of our predicament in Nigeria, then we must also appreciate the fact that, we are also lacking in good followership… This in essence, is due to the fact that no one is particularly born a leader, but people grow from being followers to becoming leaders. It then goes on to show the need for all and sundry to as a matter of urgency embarked on total Value reorientation, if only we must begin to head for the promise land. Nigeria, like every other Africa countries has been richly blessed in Cultures and Values; we have always been a respecter of human lives, we have always shown respect to our elders, our wives and even our children. We have always respected our individual beliefs, as well as shown much love to our neighbours just as much as ourselves. Nigerians have always shown pride in each others. But all of a sudden, these are becoming a thing of the past.

Fellow Change Agents, you could not have loved your neighbours just as yourselves and also wished him dead, you could not have ever wished he didn’t live a good life, you could not have ever wished his children never had access to good education, you could not have loved him and ever wish he lives in abject poverty… We must all learn to love and tolerate each other all over again, we must begin to consciously respect and tolerate each other’s differences and views, we must be concern about each other’s feelings and wellbeing, and we must be conscientious enough to do the right thing, that way we shall begin to have a better Nation that we can all be proud to call our own. That way we shall begin to effect the desired change we have all longed for….

Each of the developed Countries we are talking about today, has been able to achieve this much solely because of respects for their cultures and Values. Once you happen to find yourself in America, for you to be able to excel, you must be able to Americanize yourself, once in England then you must be able to live an English… the same goes for Japan, china, and all the likes. At the same time the reasons why whatever works in those countries, never works here, in Nigeria is simply because we refused to give consideration to our cultures and values. I bet you once a developmental plan working anywhere in the world, is ready to put our cultures and values into consideration, then such plans will begin to work here in Nigeria. Therefore, as Nigerians we must bring back our cultures and values into cognizance, we must begin to respect each other once again, we must begin to see each other just like one big whole family; north or south, west or east, we are all Nigerians; One Nation, One destiny…. We must begin to sincerely from the bottom of our heart, love One another; it must not just be a lip service.

Even, the multi racial United State of America sees itself as one big indivisible Family/Nation. How much more here in Nigeria where all of us are blacks… I assure you that, once we are ready to accord due respect to our cultures and Values, then there we go… straight to the promise land!