Nigeria needs love!

When friends watched the National Conventions of both the Republican and the Democrats of the United States last week, they were thrilled beyond measure with the level of event organisation, quality of speeches, calibre of people on ground and on the podium, and the incisive analyses of every incident and utterances. A friend asked on his facebook wall after  the conventions: “How do we replicate these in Nigeria?”

I answered him: “With love’. Sincerely, Nigeria needs love to live, to grow, to compete among nations and to exhibit such that occurred at those convention grounds last week. Even though I have always known, according to Anthony Robbins, that any action/speech of man always has two motives: that which you want people to see, and the the other real one in your mind; you can still decipher from majority of the speeches at those grounds that those guys actually mean well for their country. Speaking and acting, across the two main parties, irrespective of the values differences, you would feel the sense of love and the commitment to “We the people..”

Though, I was actually almost answering him: “With education”. But then I realized that only knowledge and awareness could not do the job. Many learned Nigerians would even prefer to be brain drained out of the country, instead of raising the flag, not because there is no feeling for the nation but because the country, through her leadership, refuse to return the love. It has to be mutual you know! Nigeria needs love, and Nigerians need love.

The current “leaders” and the aspiring ones need to really have passion for the country, and not only for their tribes, family or pockets. It is only with real love and passion that leaders will understand the suffering of the masses and make genuine concerted efforts to right the root cause(s) of the anomaly. Only love for the nation will inspire the leaders to make right investment in education, health care, security and the environment for the betterment of the current generation and even the ones coming. Without love, which should create beneficial policies, there will never be level playing field for investors to operate, for real businesses to thrive and by extension, creating real employment for the vast number of jobless citizens. When real love is present in the hearts for the green-white-green, we would be able to see, not only such displays at the conventions, but also real implementation of ideas.

But do they care? Michael Jackson aptly sang it: “All I want to say is that, they don’t really care about us.”

However, Nigerians owe themselves a duty, and a great one at that to the coming generations, to “shine their eyes” very well in the next electioneering exercise. Pick and vote candidates with real affection for the nation. Not the ones that will perpetuate destroying our health care system while they get treatment abroad,  not those that are keen only in building “class rooms” but not real school system while their own wards fly out for foreign education. And not the ones that will produce graduates and refuse to bother about their lack of, or under, employment, while allowing foreigners (even with less skills) come in and edge the locals out of work. We really have a job at hand. How do we know them? By their fruits of course!

Hopefully, one day; for the sake of our children; Nigeria will be blessed with loving and caring leaders.