I am very sure as you read the title of this post you might probably be reminded of the classic track ''Man in the Mirror'' by the legendary Micheal Jackson blessed memories which was part of my inspiration to write this post and of course a bunch of other realities i experienced in Nigeria and a lot of other people might relate to across Africa.
I took this photo above as part of my tag in relation to this post and it really got me thinking and asking my self questions like what was my purpose in life and what can i do to make a change in Nigeria and the rest of Africa where the problems are peculiar;problems of corruption,greed,bad leadership,wars,starvation,poverty,underdevelopment,and the list goes on.these thoughts and questions got me into a quest for answers and i got into discussions with Nigerians and other African alike.
My discussion started with a group of enthusiastic graduates in the diaspora that just graduated from school with wonderful grades and dreams of changing the world.in the midst of our celebration i asked these question;hope you shall all return home with this quality of certificate and heart to make a difference? and this question opened up a different level of insight into the minds of these enthusiast.some were of the opinion that Nigeria and the problem of corruption is embedded in our culture and would take a lifetime to change,while others were hopeful a change can be made by the new breed of leaders that are been created and they believed they were one of them and others were too furious to take a stand.
We all went home with our opinion and could hardly tilt those on one side to another but those who stayed neutral were able to take a stance for either the better or worse.what was quit interesting about those who had taken the stance to ''blend in'' was that the system of corruption is so structured that those at the top replace the system with their relatives or loyalist and an outsider given an opportunity to be in a place of position of any sort would have to either conform to the ''norm'' of corruption or be thrown out and by that analysis they would rather ''blend in'' than try to make a change,while those with a positive energy which i was part of where just hopeful and did not really know how we were going to make that change in this generation where corruption truly reign supreme.and my little innocent question left me devastated because to imagine that lads in my generation could actually take a stand for corruption,this got me thinking widely and a search for further answers.
I came across a fellow African whose country just got out of a civil war a few years back and over the table for lunch i was excited to ask of his own view about the problems facing Africa and where he stands on getting his country back to a place of hope and growth,and my excitement soon turned sour because he came harder than my Nigerian brothers did a few weeks back but the joy of my discussion with him was that we had an incisive talk and a resolution into the peculiar problems of Africa and how change would be difficult or almost impossible to achieve,but there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
He told me that me that we all come from a home or community were people look up to us in several ways and our change should start from there,he said that difference might never be know to the world or at least Africa.but he believes that looking at a change in Africa from a smaller perspective is visible,rather than focus on a top-bottom change we should look at a bottom-top change.
My question to all who read this is; what change can we make in our own little Africa/Nigeria where others look onto us for directions?i believe if everyone take a critical look at the man in the mirror we can all make a change.
Much Love.
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