By Olakunle Agboola – Every country or community is made of citizens, and the strength or weakness of the country or community depends on the character of the citizens.
Nigeria is presently in dire need of love, patriotism, accountability, and commitment of good citizens to her unity and development. It is a country of uncommon paradox: so much wealth and sprawling poverty cum under-development. With a population of over 200 million and a large geographical size of 923,768 square kilometers, stuffed with rich natural resources including oil, the attitude of her citizens has not allowed her to soar as expected.
Every citizen has a role to play in nation-building, and it is sad how the bad eggs have failed Nigeria, and downwardly plunged her glory in the community of nations. Citizenry’s attitude ought to be the bony frame structure and the pillar for Nigeria to stand tall, but it is depressing how the nation is wearing away in a colossal mess, and the failure of her citizens to structure the nation towards national unity, development, public-spirited and patriotism, which will help to galvanize available resources, and generate the necessary ideas for the progress, and well-being of the society.
Infrastructural decay and deficiency, unemployment, poverty, certificate forgery, institution failure, underdevelopment, hunger, high crimes, wild riots, kidnapping, insurrection, political theft, corruption, tribalism, etc., are signs of citizens’ failure. When the truth is murdered on the altar of lies, the citizens gradually slay their conscience, and not too long abnormality becomes normal, as Nigeria now experiences oddity within the political and electorate milieu.
There is a great contradiction between ‘what ought to and what is’ in Nigeria. A good citizen will cry for the nation as it is now, with a high level of moral decadence and lawlessness cum constitution assassination. Looking through the glorious future, one can attest that there is so much the nation can offer amidst her citizens’ attitude of drenched religions and tribalism sentiments. It should be an aberration for any Nigerian citizens to be poor, with the abundant resources the nation begets, but once again, the elites have refused to negotiate an egalitarian society, where all can be equal before the law without intimidation and suppression.
It is the duty of every citizen to understand Nation-building, which is not a tea party, but a creative ability to have a functional society. Nation-building is about the unification of people within a state to make it politically stable and viable. It is a concerted effort of independent nations, to grow and catch up with the modern world. Every citizen must work towards molding their mind to accept different ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups into one nation-state, sharing common values and aspirations. This is a way to create common symbols and promote collectively agreed values cum national identity.
According to relevant literature, every society has its citizens who ‘define the life and death’ issues of that society. As a recent observer notes, the problem with developing countries is the psyche of the citizens to nation-building. A leader is first a citizen and his or her role towards nation-building cannot be undermined. What he does with his office reflects his character as a good or bad citizen. A good citizen as a political leader, will make sure that he is committed to the welfare of his followers and provides them with adequate social services. He will protect them from internal and external dangers, and act as a good manager of resources.
Every good citizen must abide by the constitution, uphold the national emblem, legitimate properly constituted authorities, and help enhance the power, prestige, and good name of the country. Every citizen is responsible for defending the country and rendering national service, as may be required to protect and preserve public property and fight against misappropriation and squandering of public funds. Respect for other people’s religions should be at the utmost heart of every citizen, cum respecting the rights and legitimate interests of others to live in unity, and harmony in the spirit of brotherhood.
Positive and useful contributions to the advancement, progress, and well-being of society should not be compromised. Ensuring the proper upbringing of children to participate in and defend all democratic processes, and maintaining law and order should be of great importance to every citizen. It is up to every citizen to allow candour to align their private world of disorderliness, as this will help to build a vibrant nation where a common enemy will not be allowed to breathe.
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