Tomorrow marks my last day working as a journalist under my current media house. As decisions go, it’s one of the biggest I've ever had to make, maybe second to dropping out of university.
The last couple of months I’ve worked there will go down as the most productive of my entire life. Journalism is very demanding, all day every day at all hours. When you’re not on the field looking for stories you’re at the desk calling, transcribing, writing.
Even when you’re home your brain is on overdrive, thinking about ideas for exclusives. The job requires every bit of mental acuity as well as physical stamina and to this end I can look back at my time here and say that I gave my all. That is, for me, the ultimate form of satisfaction.
Informing my colleagues about my decision came with mixed feelings. I had established friendships with some of the most resilient and hardworking people working in an environment that demands unflinching dedication. So it came with a tinge of sadness having to say goodbye.
As I have explained to a couple of friends, I need some time off for rest, reflection and a plan for the next phase of my career. Writing is a lifelong calling for me so rest assured I’ll never quit that.
However, at this juncture in my life, I want to be very intentional about what I do and I have no shame in taking some time off when the demands of work begin to take its toll. Suffice it to say that you should give any journalist friends you have their flowers. It really is not easy.
With that out of the way, here’s a reminder that Nigeria turns 61 on Friday. The mood of the country however, is anything but celebratory.
Only a few days ago, the NYSC in its updated handbook warned members of the corps posted to volatile states in the country about the attendant risks of travelling along federal roads while telling them in certain terms to brace themselves for the possibility of being kidnapped, as well as an advisory on what to do in the event that it happens.
Among other things advised was the need to have ransom on ground, being friendly with one’s captors (Stockholm revisited) and the grim warning—DO NOT BE A HERO.
As is typical of Nigerians, we’ve made light of the matter, generating a host of memes on Twitter which in all candour sent me in rapturous laughter and yet, one cannot help but look back and ponder how the country has sunk to its nadir.
There was a time when news of terrorist attacks in the Middle East would rock the airwaves and we would say ‘that cannot happen in Nigeria’. At the time, Nigeria was the happiest country in the world. We're a happy people, no way would we plunge those depths. Yet, here we are.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, poignantly captured my thoughts when he remarked, “Even during the civil war, I do not believe that we devalued humanity as much as we do today. It’s like something has broken in society, in something I used to take for granted.”
A protester walks around the city of Port Harcourt with the Nigerian flag. Credits: Emmanuel Ikwuegbu/UNSPLASH
In November last year in Zabarmari, a village in the northeast of Nigeria, at least 43 farmers were gruesomely beheaded by Boko Haram. We moved on like it was just another day, barely any protests. Meanwhile about a month earlier in France, a French teacher was beheaded sending the nation in indignation along with cries for justice.
Contrasting the two responses, it may appear as though Nigerians have become apathetic. In truth, it’s not so much that Nigerians don't want to protest. We have done so with our voices and our feet and the heavy price for that has been the loss of lives.
I would be remiss to not hoist up bloody October 20, 2020 as a sad reminder of how Nigeria failed us. A day in which something finally gave way in our hearts, perhaps irreversibly. The Nigerian state opened fire on its young, marking an inflexion point for many—the point where any spark of hope in Nigeria became completely extinguished.
So when Zabarmari happened, we had no more care to give. We had become victims of compassion fatigue, numbed to trauma and reduced to counting days till a new government comes to power.
Something is indeed broken whichever way you look at it. Be it the economy, education, healthcare, politics or society as a whole—there’s a spectre of despair just brooding over everything and everyone, evidenced putatively by an unprecedented upsurge in the number of Nigerians leaving the country or planning to do so.
Take a look around. Those we once looked up to as champions of the common folk, prominent critics of the government, are either incarcerated, compromised, loving Nigeria from afar or dead. All these and more redound to our present realities.
This pops up an irony in my mind, how the late Sound Sultan who sang that classic with the hook ajo o dabi ile, died and was buried in a foreign land.
So at 61, one of the few things I think is really worth celebrating is that we’re still alive. Life expectancy in Nigeria is about 55 years. Congratulations are therefore in order if you’ve made it past the mark, and for all those still breathing there is something to look forward to. As they say, where there’s life, there’s hope.
Forging ahead in these trying times is tough. Nonetheless, I like to remind people that in this pressure cooker that is Nigeria, people are still doing amazing things. When I take a cursory look at the tech, literary and entertainment spaces for example, I am offered some comfort that hope lies in the horizon.
Young Nigerians are still doing their bit despite being in a country hell-bent on thwarting their aspirations one way or another. It is from them and many others that I draw inspiration and promise that we will surely overcome.
If like me, you are cautiously optimistic about our country’s prospects—regardless of current circumstances—know that I am your comrade in arms and will within my abilities contribute my quota towards providing uplifting through my writing.
Here’s to us and to the future. Happy 61st birthday Nigeria, may we rise again.
Sound sultan who sang Ajo o dabi Ile was buried in a foreign land...that one really touch me... We can only HOPE for a better NIGERIA. GOD helping us!!!
Great writing as always Stephen. I am glad you are putting yourself first and taking time off to rest. I am sending you a thousand virtual flowers. You have earned it. There is nothing celebratory about Nigeria's independence day and I must add that Nigerians are too occupied fighting hunger and trying to earn more as our economy declines to worry about people dying and various injustices left, right, center, everywhere really. Na who don chop get power to fight. Our leaders know this and use it to control the masses. I don't blame those who love Nigeria from afar. It is exhausting. However, I am cautiously optimistic as you are. We can only try after all. Enjoy your recess. I can't wait to hear what exciting things you decide to do in the next phase of your life. Cheers to clarity.