Promise Adiele

On the 29th of January 2020, the Hubert Humphrey Alumni Association in conjunction with the US Consulate held a lecture at the prestigious Mountain Top University to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. The lead speaker Segun Awosanya, popularly known as Segalinks, who originated #EndSarsNow, spoke glowingly on the need for every Nigerian to become an activist seeing that our country is presently caught in a searing crucible of injustice, poverty, insecurity, and all manner of depredations. 

When the Public Affairs Officer of the US consulate in Nigeria Mr. Russell Brooks spoke, it dawned on me that Nigeria is in the same cesspool as America which led to the emergence of Martin Luther King Jr. In Luther’s America, there were racial injustice and inequality but in today’s Nigeria, in addition to different anomalous conditions, there is economic meltdown which admits new members to the poverty clan without any signs of abating. While racial injustice produced Luther, Nigeria has more than enough reasons to produce one hundred Luthers but unfortunately, there are no genuine freedom fighters in our country.

When the clips of Luther’s ‘I Have a Dream’ were beamed on the screen, I wept for my generation in this country. I critically reviewed all the contemporary issues in our country and found myself weeping the more. To retain my sanity, I activated my creative template and conjured a Nigerian version of ‘I Have a dream’. These are my thoughts and it is within my rights to at least think, bearing in mind that Thought Police is yet to be introduced in Nigeria. I was motivated by the millions of helpless, impoverished, brutalized, and marginalized Nigerians who live in febrile anxiety and struggle to make a living under excruciating conditions. As I looked at Luther on the screen, I imagined he was a Nigerian making the following speech:

Ladies and gentlemen, children of God, it grieves my heart today to stand before you not as your representative in any capacity but as a concerned citizen, who has witnessed our daily progression to existential purgatory since independence but heightened in the present era. While democracy in other climes ushers in good governance, freedom of speech, economic liberty, security, law and order, it appears that the Nigeria brand of democracy has brought anguish to us.

We have found ourselves subsumed in a superstructure that imperils our potential daily. In our present reality, unemployment has hit an all-time high, infrastructural decay, police brutality, insurgency, nepotism, pilfering and plundering of our collective commonwealth, comatose educational system, and a dysfunctional health sector have all become the order of the day. But there is hope. There is hope if we can join hands and snatch back our destiny from the hands of marauders and predators in the corridors of governance. There is hope if we can vehemently reject poverty and refuse to be trammelled by a coterie of demagogues whose motivation is self-enrichment. I have a dream that the glory embedded in Nigeria will return, I have a dream this is possible.

I have a dream, that one day, the right persons, educated, young, and vibrant will ascend to leadership positions in this country. This is possible. The era where semi-literate people with questionable academic qualifications and falsified ages, rise to power in our country must come to an end immediately.

I have a dream that one day Nigerians shall enjoy uninterrupted power supply. The days of underhand criminal conspiracies with electricity distributing companies shall become a thing of the past.

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I have a dream that one day our public universities will be equipped to produce graduates who can compete with their counterparts across the world. This is achievable only when those who are educated and appreciate the importance of education rise to power. I have a dream that one day nobody will travel out of this country for medical reasons because all the public hospitals and teaching hospitals in our country will be world-class, fully equipped, and functional.

I have a dream that one day, our judiciary shall be free from executive manipulation and interference, so that, as the last hope of the common man, we can easily approach the courts and get justice.

I have a dream that one day Boko Haram will be a thing of the past, the gruesome murder they perpetuate every day will come to an end. The killings, beheading, burying alive and all manner of invidious things they do must all come to an end. However, when they are caught, they must face justice. It is an illustration of justice in parody for Boko Haram to be pardoned while ordinary Nigerians languish in jail for mere offences motivated by a need for survival. Divine justice frowns at such practice.

We have long been soaked in the morning dew of quota system, therefore we appear inelegant in the court of competence and performance. The time has come for us to change things, my friends. I have a dream that one day merit shall be the determining factor for admission to universities and recruitment into various security apparatus across the country both for the Southern and Northern youths. It smacks of injustice to give a Northern youth preference over his Southern counterpart who is more educationally qualified, thereby promoting and rewarding mediocrity while undermining brilliance and excellence. This is what has defined our corporate existence today.

We have serially been pounded by the mortar and pestle of exploitation as ingredients with which the menu of misrule is cooked in our country. I am sure that with the right attitude and fervent prayers, Almighty God will listen to our voices and restore us to a place of glory. Please be reminded that God cannot act unless we act. God is waiting for us to act because He will only work according to the power that works in us.

I dream that the Nigerian passport shall no longer be a pamphlet that confers disgrace and ignominy on us. Our days of respect in the comity of nations must return. Our youths who have turned to despicable means of survival must repent too. I know many youths have embraced the devil as a response to the conditions in the country, but remember, two wrongs cannot make a right my friends.

I have a dream that one day all Nigeria’s stolen wealth starched in foreign lands by desperately wicked politicians shall be returned to Nigeria to set up industries so that our youths can have employment. I have a dream that one day distinguished, honourable people will populate our legislative chambers, those who have the interest of the people at heart. One day all Nigerians will rejoice and let out a shout of joy for real freedom and those who have relocated, scattered in all parts of the world shall return, joining hands to build their fatherland. The destinies of the youths of this country are not located in the hands of any potentate. Our God-given destinies are in our hands. God bless Nigeria mightily.

Dr. Adiele teaches in the Department of English, Mountain Top University via [email protected]