What is the Nigerian Dream?

It was in United States of America some years ago when a human right activist, Martin Luther King Jr. said and I quote " I have a dream, that one day, my four little children shall not be judged by the colour of their skin, but the content of their character", "I have a dream, that one day, black little children and white little children shall hold their hands together in brotherhood" unquote. This was the era of great discrimination and suppression of the blacks by the whites, one of the darkest eras in American history.

To those that are spiritual, the words of Martin Luther King Jr.  were prophecies that has been made manifest in Barack Obama becoming President of the United States of America and the current inter-marriages between black and whites in the States, but to realist, those were just visions seen based on foundations laid and the believe that these foundations laid will allow the vision to materialise. That is why the vision of America and her slogan is "Dare to Dream".  Dare to dream for the system will make your dream real. The American system, the foundation laid, allows your dream to work.

WHAT THEN IS THE NIGERIAN DREAM?

Mr Isaiah Ekpenyong

If there are  places in the world that many have died with unfulfilled dreams, it is in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. A land where the system is structured to kill dreams, a land where dreamers are seen as competitors that must be kept at arms length and a land where people take pride in destroying others so that they must not be heard. Africa, nay Nigeria never invented religion but have been so divided by religion, we never invented the word ethnicity but that has been our major problem. It is very sad that the Nigerian system breeds injustice. Injustice in schools where brilliant children from poor homes cannot acquire education,  injustice in our market places where people will deliberately hike prices of goods with no agencies to checkmate them, injustice in our political scene where it has become winners take all, injustice in government and private offices where you must be connected before you can be employed no matter how you are qualified, injustice in our policies where quota system is used to uplift the less qualified and bring down the qualified. Injustice, injustice, injustice everywhere.

Like Martin Luther King Jr had said, I want to say that, I have dream that one day,  my little children shall be judged not by religion and tribe which is our first point of assessment now,  but by the content of their character, I have a dream that one day,  little Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba,  Efik, Fulani, Urhobo, Isekiri, Ijaw, TIV, Idoma, Igede, Jukun, Kanuri and other tribes in this part of the world will hold their hands in brotherhood and fight together as Africans to liberate Nigeria and Africa from neo-coloniaism.  I have a dream that one day, a God-fearing President will take over the mantle of leadership and unite all the tribes and ethnic nationalities and make us see ourselves as one. I have a dream that, all these my dreams shall only work In the atmosphere of a restructured Nigeria where the terms and conditions of our unity is well spelt out such that it respects the components that makes up the country.  A restructured Nigeria that allows for attainment of basic education without any form of discrimination, a Nigeria where all men are seen as equal before the eyes of the law, a Nigeria, where no tribe feels superior to the other; a Nigeria, where employment opportunities are given based on merit and not on who you know; a Nigeria where the system will allow the sons and daughters of poor men and women rise to any height in life without connections; a Nigeria, where policy makers will think of Nigeria first before their tribe or religion; a Nigeria where nobody will be denied any good thing of life because of his/her tribe or religion.

I pray for this type of Nigeria to come, so help me God

Ekpenyong Isaiah,
Commander, Infantry Pen Battallion
isacool4good@yahoo.com