By Ekerete Udoh
The point that we are a heterogeneous society where shared and
commonality of ethos and values are deeply desirable yet elusive has
been made and over-flogged in multiple platforms and foras. It is a
known fact that we lack a thoroughly internalized national narrative-in
the mould of American exceptionalism and the can-do-spirit that defines
the typical American psychological platform.
The topical American believes that he is the world, and the world
revolves around his or her shadows. In sports, pop culture,
entrepreneurial spirit, technology, governance etc, Americans believe
they are the load star. A baseball game that involves two New York City
teams. The New York Mets and the New York Yankees for instance, would be
called , World Series if the two teams met during the post-season. It
doesn’t matter that the man from my village in ONNA Local Government of
Akwa Ibom state may never have heard of the word baseball and cares
less about what motivates two grown men wielding bats and slugging a
tiny little ball and the accompanying frenzy from devoted fans. Tell the
same man about Lionel Messi-the Argentine soccer prodigy, and he will
give you a biographical lecture of the soccer maestro. Put simply,
Americans have internalized patriotism; they project it, live it and are
not shy to proclaim the majesty of their country in every aspect of the
human condition.
As programs are being unveiled to commemorate the anniversary of what
many have termed a marriage of convenience administered by Sir
Frederick Lord Lugard and arranged by his worthy consort-Florence Shaw,
ours is still not yet a perfect marriage. The heartbeat of the marriage
appears to be on life support as many destabilizing forces keep circling
around the couple-each feeding the other stories of lack of fidelity
to the union, of brazen infidelity, of deceit, sly and pernicious
tendencies, of designs to render and deprive one of the partners their
conjugal and property rights. The result has been a marriage that is
devoid of bliss and the nourishing ingredients of faith and trust. As in
most marriages-especially if the couple are willing to make it work,
counseling and a return to those things that once had sparked the fire
of passion can restore the luster and dash to the marriage.
That luster in Nigeria’s own case is being restored through the
instrumentality of soccer and to a large extent, music. The recently
concluded African Cup of Nations in South Africa where Nigeria won the
gold has shown us that though we may not have a perfect union, that
there are still certain elements in us that speak to unanimity of
purpose. The patriotic fervor that enveloped everyone-from Lagos, Uyo,
and Abuja to down here in the Diaspora was infectious. Everyone was
united in our hopes and prayer for the success of our national team-
there were no Hausa/Fulani, no Yorubas, no Igbos, no Ibibios, Ijaw,
Annangs, Efiks, Idomas or Tivs, we were all Nigerians united and
galvanized by one abiding impulse-the impulse of victory.
As Sunday Mba may have proclaimed loudly to the Bukinabes Mba, I won’t
let you win on the day I was born-Sunday and scored a goal that ESPN
here in New York described as classic, Nigerians let off a thunderous
shout of celebration. At the Tropical Grill Restaurant and Grill here in
Queens, New York, where Nigerians and other Africans had congregate and
watched the game, you could see an unbridled display of patriotism and
pride in one’s nation and it got me thinking: Why can’t we weave a
national narrative around the things that speak to our unity and
diversity? America, apart from being the sole hegemonic power of the
world that has deployed both its hard and soft power to shape the world
in its own image and thus maintained its strategic national interest,
has deployed the awesome power of its pop culture-music, sports and
movies to define and shape what we internalize about the country. The
result of this over-sanitized definition is that we have come to
celebrate everything American as the gold standard.
We can use the power of sport and music to do same for Nigeria.
Nigerian music, like soccer has grown exponentially. I was amazed and
pleasantly so, when I was in Nigeria last month to observe that night
clubs no longer play American music-its Nigerian music all the way. I
remember attending a party last October that the Group MD of UBA , Mr.
Philip Oduoza hosted in honor of the conferment of the National Honor of
the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) on Mr. Tony Elumelu- the
immediate past Group MD of UBA and the Chairman, Heirs Holdings and
seeing everyone get up to do different versions of Etighi dance made
popular by Iyanya’s monster hitKukere.
Here in the Diaspora, at African-themed lounges and clubs, all you
listen to, are Nigerian and African music. We should use the sweeping
power of our pop culture-soccer and music to develop a sense of
patriotism that may permeate other stubborn aspects of our drive to have
a united, prosperous society where our diversity is not seen as a
drawback but a source of strength.
Congratulations to coach Stephen Keshi and his courageous players who
let it all hang out on the field of play and showed that if we were to
apply a robust sense of determination, we can be all that we wish to be,
including developing a nation that thrives less on zero-sum
machinations but puts accent on shared goals and dreams.
DIASPORANS ON EL-RUFAI’S BOOK- THE ACCIDENTAL PUBLIC SRVANT
Last Sunday, before the soccer match commenced, most of the Nigerian
Diasporas that had gathered at Tropical Lounge took time to comment on
the book by former Federal Capital Territory Minister-Mallam Nasir
El-Rufai entitled, The Accidental Public Servant. The book has opened a
can of worms on what had transpired during Mallam Rufai’s time in public
service as Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and
later as Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister. Opinions are divided
on what motivated the former minister to dig dirts on his former
benefactors and exposed things that should otherwise have called for
greater sense of circumspection.
According to Akin- an IT Specialist who works in a Fortune 500 firm in
Manhattan Mallam El-Rufai’s lack of tact shows a grave error of
judgment. I mean, you can write a book that detailed what you saw while
in government, but you don’t have to denigrate the very people who gave
you a foot in the door in the first place. There are ways to bring to
the fore the rot in the system, which we all know and acknowledge but
calling people names, accusing the dead-former President Yar’Adua of
suffering from inferiority complex, when he is not alive to defend
himself, I think that was a low blow. His account reminds me of a
whistle- blower and even in developed societies like the U.S,
whistle-blowers don’t fare too well after the initial public accolades.
We all want our public officials to have their feet put on fire if they
sacrificed people’s trust, but I won’t have any future dealings with a
man who was a part of a process and whose counsel he freely provided
while an insider, only to come out and castigate for narrow and selfish
purpose the very process of which he was a major actor.
Sally- a physician from Harford, Connecticut, disagreed with Akin, I
think El-Rufai is a hero. The more we expose the shenanigans of our
leaders and bring them to public opprobrium, the better our march to
having a sane society would be. Nigeria must be rescued from a cabal of
narrow- minded and ethnic potentates who think they alone, have the
solutions to our national woes. I commend the ex- minister and I have
already ordered 10 copies of the book which I hope to give out as
Valentine’s Day present to my friends.
To Emeka, a businessman, from Brooklyn, El Rufai reminds him of Dick
Morris-the former political Adviser to President Clinton who after being
caught cavorting with a prostitute before the 1996 presidential
elections, and stupidly giving the phone to the prostitute to listen in
on a classified discussion he was having with the President of the
United States ( in an effort to show how important he was in the perking
order of the Clinton Presidency) was subsequently sacked by Clinton,
when the prostitute went public about her dalliance with Mr. Morris.
In anger and filled with a spirit of revenge, Dick Morris openly became
the darling of the Republicans and the conservatives who were looking
for anything to tar and deface the Clinton administration in order to
bring him down. The Monica Lewinsky sex scandal provided Dick Morris an
opportunity to stick it out to the Clintons, as every classified
material he was privy to, every private conversation he was privileged
to have been a part of, an every concerns and thought that the
Clintons-Bill and Hilary had ever reposed in Dick Morris, were now made
public and to the most vitriolic haters of the Clintons.
This betrayal went on till last November presidential elections when
after concocting all sorts of outlandish theories about the Clintons and
the Obama presidency, Fox News, the only platform he had to mouth off
his conspiracies finally told him they had had enough of him and yanked
him off air. As we speak, Dick Morris is a reviled, hated human being
that no one wants to touch. The lesson in this is that one should be
careful in biting the fingers that once fed him. El-Rufai, in my opinion
may be basking in the glory of the moment, but I can assure you that
most people-even those that are celebrating him today will be careful
about what they let him into for fear of turning against them when the
friendship they currently have with him is challenged. I hate to see
that happen to him because a few years ago, I paid for a ticket to see
him here in New York when the Nigerian Lawyers Association honored him
with a Lifetime Achievement Award, because of the admiration I had for
him. I think he should have concentrated on the issues as opposed to
attacking the character and integrity of people with whom he had
dealings with in the past. In my judgment, it was not a smart approach.
But I still like what he did-the innovations he brought to bear in the
management of the huge behemoth that is the FCT Ministry.
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