NATIONAL PATRIOTS, NIGERIAN NATION Patriotism is a belief of supporting one’s country strongly. Every Nigerian citizen is expected to be patriotic no matter his/her tribe, faith, job, gender, political divide and social status. In other words, a patriot is loyal, faithful, committed, devoted, dedicated, dependable, reliable, steady, constant, trusty, hard-working, steadfast, redoubtable and unwavering towards the healthy growth and development of his/her country. In extension, a statesman or stateswoman should be a product of patriotism and should be seen as a national patriot who encourages and prays for the success of any legal government in power no matter his/her political alliance and also advise the government when necessary. He should not be offensive in his choice of words, rather should be exemplary in his speech and actions. Simply put, he/she should be a nation-builder. Our dear country, Nigeria has not attained the status of a “nation” because most of our leaders were and are not national patriots but regional patriots. The continued lack of national patriots will only keep retarding our growth and development as a country and our parading-acclaimed leaders would only be sneered and laughed at by their counterparts, leaders of other nations of the world for not being sincerely-statesmanlike in their quest for a better Nigerian Nation. The lack of national Patriotic leaders, always intermittently leads to political brouhaha, commotion, tension, furore and frenzy hence, the polity is heated up: this in turn, seems to paint a picture of political instability. The picture so created by our Politicians, does the most regrettable to the great innocent Nigerian Youths, which is, scaring investors away from our lovely clime. No thanks to the politicians that claim to be leaders but have the penchant of going outside our shores only to advertise our lovely country in bad lights. We regard such leaders as Ambassadors of Doom because they cannot be able to tell the number of foreign investor the dissuaded from investing in our country and the number of youths they have denied work opportunities. Most politicians, no matter the political divide they are in, if they are on seat will readily remind us that, only God ordains rulers, but would hurriedly forget the same belief they once professed, any moment they are no longer on seat, what an irony. Politicians in the opposing side, should imbibe the spirit of national patriotism and also, seen to be encouraging positive steps taken by our legal government no matter its political alliance, while criticizing constructively with a sense of responsibility any step taken by the government that tends to set us back in our quest for growth and development as a country. The media are not left out in patriotism. No rational patriotic reporter, will after asking the government to allow him freedom in the name of information gathering and reporting and at the same time refuse to observe his/her obligation to the country. It should be a two-way thing, the country has given the Media that freedom we all cried for, and the same country expects the Media to observe its obligation to the country by not painting the country bad in the eyes of the world, by refusing to be an instrument of propaganda, destruction and by not encouraging politics of calumny among politicians. The country simply expects the Media to show a sense of responsibility in doing their work, in so doing, discourage politicians from thinking and believing that they can say anything they like and it will be published and broadcasted in the words and manner they said them. In fact the fourth Estate of the Realm should be part and parcel of our nation-building. The Press or Media inherited the name, Fourth Estate of the Realm in 1843 because of their being perceived, to be powerful as the other three traditional Estates of the Realm (the Crown, the House of Lords, and the House of commons) the Media cannot afford to shy away from this onerous task of national building. The issue of heating up our polity should be addressed by the Media, for it lies in their jurisdiction and control as the Fourth Estate of the Realm. They should observe their obligations by discouraging any of their activities that tends to boil our polity. When intentionally, a reporter goes looking for a disgruntled politician to comment on national sensitive issues, what do you think will ensue? Why do reporters lure politicians into answering questions as regards next election when they know we are years far from the election year? Why must some reporters always on the lookout for our past leaders to comment on political issues of the day, knowing that these past leaders have proper means/channels of advising the government of the day, if need be? If any of the politicians sought after by these Reporters eventually made an offensive statement (which may be accidental) against some people or politicians, the same reporters, with the speed of the light will hurry to the doorsteps of the receiving end of the offensive attack in order to get their reactions. Does such situation, heat the polity? The Political class and the Media are expected to be stakeholders in our nation-building not for the destruction of our cherish country. The Politicians and the Media should also exercise restraint in their speeches and reports respectively. None of them should mortgage the well being of our dear and only country on the altar of self aggrandizement. History is recording. Odor Michael C. Nigerian Graduates Diplomatic Association (NIDGRAS) nidgras@gmail, 08036649656, 08060100343
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 23:55:40 +0000
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