There are many problems facing the Nigeria today –teenage pregnancies, a soaring divorce rate, a declining number of college students, a growing number of males within the penal system, chronic unemployment, an expanding underclass, and yes, the residual effects of racism. Moreover, within one generation, the social fabric of the black family unit –which had survived middle passage, slavery, reconstruction and segregation –has ventured precariously close to decimation.
Far too many children grow up in a world torn by violence, destroyed by poverty, decimated by despair, and devastated by insensitivity. Many social programs have answered the call for more government involvement.
Typically, both political parties have spent enormous energy blaming each other and pointing their collective fingers at host of external factors. But the underlying cause of the ills facing the Nigeria has nothing to do with external factors. The root cause and solution can be found in the heart and soul of Nigerians itself.
A nation of children without fathers is not going to outcompete Japan or Western Europe. A nation unable to distinguish between right or wrong won’t raise our standard of living. A nation of moral misfits will eventually become a nation of economic misfits. As a race, neither our means nor our worth is measured by money alone. If we possess a hefty purse and lean heart, broad estates and narrow understanding, what will we gain? What a dreadful sight to see: an old man who has spent his entire life getting instead of growing. The spiritual and moral well-being of a people is forever linked to spiritual and material riches of a people.
Clearly, what is needed is this hour is the one quality that is greater than wealth; the one treat that would make anyone rich beyond his or her means; the one virtue that is above all others. Try as we might stifle the voice of the mysterious angel within, she always says yes to right actions and no to wrong ones.
The power of character lies within the soul of its people. Truth strikes a common chord that can be felt throughout the universe. A book or work of art puts us in the mood or train of thought of the person who produced it.
During the darkest period of slavery, Nat Turner’s name was the watchword of the Deep south. While the conscience of many of many a slave echoed the words of Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln, subconsciously, each slave spoke Turner, thought Turner, and prayed Turner.
Y’all hear it all the time, the clang and clatter of those trembling and trepid souls who regularly remind you “it can’t be done” and we’ve never done it that way!. But you know this to be true: that no great plan is accomplished without overcoming endless obstacles which test the mettle of your determination and the endurance of faith.
The man or woman who wins may have been counted out several times, but he or she didn’t hear the referee. Suppose Columbus had allowed himself to be disheartened by much wiser, more seasoned sailors, suppose Moses had chosen to be the son of Pharaoh’s daughter rather than a liberator of his race; suppose Nelson Mandela didn’t yield to the treat of apartheid. Not only would the stream of history have been changed, but what a loss it would have been to the dignity of mankind!. What heart and soul doesn’t enshrine the power of character?
