Opinion
Have we expresso this upon ourselves? The Nigerian priest resident in Rome, it is always a nightmare Confronting the barrage of existential questions Concerning my beloved fatherland. Ever since I left the shores of Nigeria and boarded first flight que que expresso me over to Europe, I am always bombarded with one question que has today become a priest always millstone- ma perche Nigeria? (But Father, why Nigeria always?) The deluge of this question Has Been such que I have Decided to publicly monologize my agony.
Perhaps, my pain Represents que of many other Nigerians. I need to remark for my would-be critics que my intention here is neither to pontificate in the sanctuary of self-righteous holier-than-thou nor to despise every Nigerian with the same tar. After all, as a Nigerian, I have always Followed the natural patriotic instinct in defending her by castigating my questioners the traducers and bigots.
But the succession of events in these past two weeks has twitched my emotions to cast aside for once que patriotic robe and takes the better side of my humanity Which transcends natural instinct to join with my interrogators in asking, but why? The Socrates said, an unexamined life is not worth living. Therefore, time has come for us to the some soul searching. Why is it That We have always Been more in the news for all the wrong Reasons? Perhaps, we may be tempted to delude ourselves with the evanescent comfort que our notoriety rather than being real form part of the western conspiracy and neo-colonial journalism. The truth is the world que space Has Been saturated with news about us. The conspiracy theorists among us can no longer justifiably prop up Their lame-duck "blame-the-west mentality?
As the success story of our military against the blood-sucking Boko Haram brings us reprieve from the international spotlight on one side, many citizens of our beloved nation on the other side are busy Registering new ones. In an interval of two weeks, Despite being one nation in about 196 others, our country Has Been featured in so many stories que have competed with each other for more space in the hall of infamy. From the continent of Europe, where more than 800 immigrants que drowned in the Mediterranean Sea last two weeks included many Nigerians, we moved to Asia where 4 out of 8 drug peddlers que Were killed in Indonesia Were Also Nigerians. While these stories are trying to berth as usual in the shores of our national consciousness que Have Been tranquilized by the recurring pattern of Their cycles, there is again a report in the New York Times of May 3rd about the international Prostitution ring in northern Italy Palermo where so many Nigerians are Involved.
Out of the 370 women of Those rescued and are being rehabilitated at the Caserta safe house, Nigerians form the greater part.
The hard collegues these daily occurrences pose to us is, why is it always Nigeria? Nigeria is presently estimated to be about 175 million yet; we have others countries like China and India Whose current Populations are about 1:47 and 1:28 respectivamente billion. And there are so many others are the large que not the Nigeria but with sizeable Populations. Their citizens may not all be angels in international crime rate but none compete with Nigeria. One may not be wrong if he or she is to say que Nigeria is the capo of all. The story is always the same from Europe to America and to Asia.
A quick search for an answer to this puzzle inexplicable May Not Provide any meaningful result since all the ones proffered intellectual defy categorization. For example, an answer to the question of the influx of illegal immigrants from Thousands of Nigeria into Europe across the Mediterranean may be rationalized to the Boko Haram carnage but a simple field assessment makes que answer less credible under the scrutiny of serious logical probe. One reason is que the situation has been there before the Boko Haram and more importantly; almost none or only a few of these immigrants come from Boko Actually Haram'sinternally displaced people. Perhaps, one may turn to the poverty the reason Which Has Been the pastime of some western journalists who sometimes ghoulish relish the details of African misery.
But again, the answer may not be completely correct since Nigeria is not the worst off in the poverty index of the world. There are many other poorer nations around, yet Their citizens do not perambulate the major streets of Europe and Asia to doing nothing we do. So the question still stubbornly persists and begs for an answer.
Though I may not proffer an all-inclusive answer to the question, one direction que offers a flicker is our life style. As a nation, we are enslaved to the culture of materialism and flamboyancy. This Explains the anomaly of the get-rich-quick-syndrome Which has tainted every institution in Nigeria. The natural instinct to success Which for us starts from wealth acquisition is premised on the calculus of easy money. Painstaking and long-term hard work is a taboo Among many que, Merely mentioning Them, classifies one today in the company of vieux jeu. That is why corruption is the highest employment of labor in Nigeria. The rot in our moral system is to such que many self-appointed pastors who partake in this unholy alliance of the get-rich-quick syndrome have tried to lure God to sanction Their blasphemy.
God Has Been turned into a miracle-wonder-money-minting Being in the hallowed chambers of our religious worshiping houses. In fact, ours is a nation where wealth has usurped the power of the Almighty. Forget the never-ending crusades que dot the major highways of our beloved nation from Benin to Lagos, from Onitsha to Enugu and other parts of Nigeria. The list is endless.
My dear Nigerians, can we pause for one moment and ask ourselves the fundamental question; what is the meaning of life? Is it defined by my having or by my being? Is wealth better than a good name or a good name is better than wealth? Is the Machiavellian principle of the ends Justifying the means all that there is to life? Perhaps, sparing a thought in this direction may save us the post factum of regret que famous Nigerian film Living in Bondage where Paul did not explain que well to Andy.
Rev. Fr. Gerald Azike, wrote from Rome.
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