Couple of weeks ago, I was in such a happy mood and I began to crave some Igbo gospel music.
My med school friends know that I have the entire lyrics of Chinyere Udoma's album "Well loaded" in my brain.😄
That woman can shaa sing!
But then, her music reminded me of what I have been wanting to say for a long time.
Which is that the summary of the entire lyrics of most of our songs, both secular and gospel, does reveal a very deep truth about we Africans. Our movies speak the same truth. Our conversations tell the same tale. The tale that the cumulation of all African aspiration crystallises into three basic things: Money, marriage and children.
Chinyere sings that God's favour can be summarised into these three things.
"Ha na-ako m onu, n'ihi na m enweghi ego, m enweghi di, m enweghi nwa. (They mock me because I've got no money, got no husband, got no children)."
So, when the Lord gave her these three things, she became settled, happy and a thorn in the flesh to her haters.
Shameful as it may seem, Chinyere speaks the mind of many of us.
There seems to be a glass ceiling to the aspirations of many African people.
We typically stop aspiring when we've got money, a wife or a husband and children.
They are the objects of our hate. We don't go hating on a friend who chooses to dedicate her life to bringing the gospel to the natives of the Amazon forests of Brazil. Our aspirations typically do not get that high.
We hate rather, because she marries a rich man and floods Facebook with pictures of her cute babies, holidays in the Bahamas and lots of jewellery. Because they are all we aspire to.
Our secular music echo the same things. "I don get alert, God win!"
Money, marriage, children.
Our movies revolve around them.
Boy meets girl. Boy has got no money. Parents refuse. Boy travels abroad. Girl waits patiently for him. Boy makes money. Boy comes home. Parents agree. Boy marries girl. They have twin boys. To God be the glory.
Money, marriage, children.
British Prime Minister, Theresa May, has achieved nothing in this life, as far as some people are concerned. Reason: she has no child.
You are considered queer if you do not aspire to these things.
Dr Ola Orekunrin got her heart shattered in pieces when her sister died, a direct result of poor emergency medical services in Nigeria. So, she trained to be a pilot, in addition to her medical training, establishing West Africa's first air ambulance service: Flying Doctors Nigeria.
But, in a ted talk, Ola revealed that her Mum and aunties believe she is cursed. Reason: She has no husband.
Our politics speak the same truth. The peak of all political aspiration in Africa is not to make the continent a better place for its citizens. It is to make money, by hook or by crook, control as many people as possible and destroy what is left of infrastructural development.
If I said that I do expect anything positive from the current political class of Africa's most populous nation, I would be telling a very great lie.
I do not hesitate to say that I expect absolutely nothing positive from that crop of individuals. The reason is very simple. Their thinking cannot go beyond money, marriage and children. They are basically stuck there.
But, can we young people draw a big bold line and say "This mediocrity stops with them."?
Can we break out of this mould of shallow thinking, stretch our faculties to some unimaginable capacity and begin to really think of ways to blast open the cocoon of good things in our continent?
Can we grow?
Friends, all those moments we spend on social media, trolling, bullying, gossiping and generally being cowards can well be used to do more positive things.
Did you study electrical engineering at the university? Can you gather a few like-minded friends together into a think tank session about the country's current blackout crisis?
We can't afford to keep waiting for Fashola. The man clearly has got very little or no clue on what to do.
Did you study environmental resource management? All those moments you spend waiting for a rich man to marry you can well be invested into reading books on waste management, thinking of ways to make our pure water sachets biodegradable, doing wonderful things with our gold, our oil, our diamonds, our sewage.
Graduates of Agricultural Economics, please raise your hands.
Biko, why is there hunger in the land when you are here? Can you think of something fantastic, walk into the office of the commissioner in your state and pitch your goals to him? Like, can you make an attempt at shaming him?
If you studied Education at uni, please, do like this 🙋🏽🙋🏽. Why are you laughing at those guys on Pluse TV prank videos, who cannot spell "management"? Have you got no clue that this is a failure of our educational system? Are any thoughts on how to deal with this problem anywhere near your brain?
It is without a shadow of doubt that even thinking positively in a country like Nigeria is such a difficult thing. But, we cannot afford to give up.
Friends, LET US THINK!
Africa is raw. Africa is Virgin. Africa is untapped.
Until we put our brains to use, the plunder and rape from the west will not stop.
Get off that thinking circle of ONLY money, marriage and children.
Aspire.
Fulfil purpose.
Surprise the devil.
Fly.
Thank you.
Blessings!