ROME WAS NOT DESTROYED IN A DAY
the actor, ran into some serious health issues recently. He cried out for
financial help to undergo foreign treatment. Pronto, Nigerians reacted
overwhelmingly. But wait. I did not hear anybody talk about Daba’s
religion or ethnic group. The people who tweeted and retweeted his
appeal for help, and those who contributed money, were certainly not
from his village. I was so so so so so happy. It confirmed, yet again,
my pet theory about Nigeria — that we do not hate each other. We are
just victims of the unending political manipulation of ethnic and
religious identities for selfish gain. Evidently, ordinary Nigerians
have the “Nigerian spirit” in their DNA. Indeed. I have met extremists
and chauvinists from across religions and races. I am yet to hear
anyone declare that we were not created by the same God. One of the
most astonishing things about life, to me, is the fact that although
we can choose to be Muslims or Christians, and so on, nobody can
choose to be Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Yoruba or whatever. We just woke up
one day to find ourselves as members of one ethnic group or the other.
It was not our making. So why should you discriminate against me, and
hate me, on the basis of an ethnic identity that is beyond my control?
Is it my fault that I was born into a family that was clearly not my
choice? Today, I am going a little bit practical on how we can renew
our minds. There is a saying that Rome was not built in a day, a
proverb originated by the 19th century English playwright, John
Heywood, who also gave us immortal expressions such as “out of sight
out of mind”, “better late than never”, and “the more the merrier”. He
said Rome wasn’t built in a day “but they were laying bricks every
hour”. This, in some sense, tells us the value of consistent hard
work, perseverance and conscious efforts at construction. If Nigeria
is going to change, therefore, we must alienate those who see
themselves, first and foremost, as ethno-religious champions. It all
starts in the mind. But, pardon me, Rome was not destroyed in a day
either. It took ages to build the city but took a much shorter time to
destroy it. Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 AD. In three days,
they looted, burnt and wrecked the beautiful city. That hastened the
collapse of the Roman Empire. Same thing applies here: the destruction
of Nigeria by ethnic champions and religious bigots will not happen in
one day — it is a gradual, steady process. That is why we the people
must guard our hearts jealously before we are recruited into the hate
brigade under different guises. Those already recruited can decide to
desert straightaway. We need to build, not destroy. My suggestions. To
start with, do not participate in the sharing of messages and
materials that are clearly intended to preach hate and prejudice.
Saying “shared as received” is pure hypocrisy. You can be critical of
leadership without attacking or disparaging their religions and ethnic
origins. As a matter of principle, I do not share messages that are
clearly meant to spread hate. It is a duty I owe my conscience. We all
have terrible things to say about other people. If we do not allow
love to guard our hearts, we will keep adding fuel to fire. Therefore,
before you press the “send” or “forward” button, ask yourself: what is
my motive? Unto thyself, be honest. Also, do not feed your children
with hate and prejudice. Fill their hearts with edifying things. A
senior colleague of mine, a Muslim, married a Christian, who then
converted to Islam. He told me he once engaged the services of a
cleric to teach his children the Qur’an every Sunday. One day, he
overheard the cleric telling the children not to drink from the same
cup or eat from the same plate with their aunts, who were living with
them, because they were “infidels”. My colleague fired the “afa” on
the spot. He remains a devout Muslim, sure, but he saw danger and
immediately quenched it. This kind of hate messaging certainly fuelled
the mindset that birthed Boko Haram. This is how hate works: it
focuses on what divides us rather than what unites us. If there are
Qur’anic verses that say Muslims should love and care for Christians,
the hate merchants will focus on where Christians are called
“infidels”. If there are verses in the Bible that say “love your
neighbour as yourself”, the messengers of hate will focus on “what
fellowship does light have with darkness?” There is nothing you want
to justify with the scriptures that you won’t find. If you truly have
love in your heart, you will focus on the verses of love. The God that
forbade eating four-footed creatures is the same God that ordered
Apostle Peter, in a trance, to kill and eat! To the pure all things
are pure. And this is how prejudice works: because Chief Obafami
Awolowo did not declare Oduduwa Republic in solidarity with Biafra in
1967, every Yoruba is a traitor — including the one that was born
early this morning. Because an Igbo chap was arrested for 419, every
Igbo person — dead, living or unborn — is a fraudster. Because Barkin
Zuwo struggled with speaking English, every northerner is an
illiterate; in fact, no northerner has a brain. Because of the insane
activities of ISIS and Boko Haram, every Muslim is a terrorist,
including your friend. Tragically, there are people that the only
thing they can see in you is your language or religion, not the
content of your character. Let me quickly say this before I shut down
my laptop and take a stroll: it is very difficult to resist the
message of hate and prejudice in a society already polluted by
manipulative politicians, their overpaid sidekicks and our inept
leaders. I know. When everybody is saying there is casting down, it is
very difficult to go against the grain and say there is lifting up.
You just go with the flow. But maybe the “casting down” gang is not as
big as the “lifting up” brigade — just that the latter has been
intimidated into silence. They must begin to speak out. Rome was not
destroyed in a day. Those working to destroy Nigeria neither sleep nor
slumber. As for me and my house, we resolved long ago that we would
never feed our children with hate, prejudices and biases. These things
are usually passed on from generation to generation. I resolved to
follow the example of my grandmother by celebrating the best in others
rather than focusing on their worst. I would rather talk about the
dignity in labour you find among the Hausa, the creativity among the
Igbo and the industry among the Yoruba. Accuse me of living in denial
and I will accuse you of living in bitterness. Accuse me of being
politically correct and I will accuse you of being self-righteous.
Accuse me of being naïve and I will accuse you of being jaundiced.
It’s all in the mind
BY THE @THEBOSSLADY