True Independence
When a group of visionaries and patriots were gathering and sharing a roadmap to freedom 64 years ago, they had a plan in mind. A plan to break free from the somewhat regimented life that they grew up knowing. The life that had robbed them of their names and given them identities that did not belong to them. Their lives were being controlled by supposed guests who happened to have overstayed their welcome. Being told what to do and when not to do it had become boring to them and they needed to be a people of their own. Eventually they told themselves that they had had enough and that they were not going to live the way they were living anymore. That mindset gave birth to what we now call the giant of Africa and their act of bravery forged the course of history - the very reason most of us are at home today resting.
At the turn of the latest republic, many had hoped that the then newly found freedom was going to help a nation who had lost its way find its path back to the one initially charted by the founding fathers. Hopes were high and the future looked promising but quarter of a century later, we still do not have a direction back to the identity that our forefather once defined for us. We have slowly shifted from the people who took responsibility for everything that happened to them to people who have become skilled in focusing on irrelevancies while burning issues are left unattended. There is a running joke that suggests that reality shows are employed to distract (especially the youth - the most vibrant portion of the population) from paying attention to relevant happenings and many times, it is easy to agree with that theory as people are more interested in setting up cameras and dancing in front of a ring-light for others who do not care about the troubles they are going through.
The giant in us is in deep slumber and it will take determined efforts from all of us to wake it up. We all have huge potentials within us waiting to be unearthed and these current “colonizers” are very aware of those potentials. They know the power we possess as a collective unit and they will do everything and anything possible to take our focus away from that. When you take a look at our kinsmen in other climes and see how they consistently show that we are a special breed built to excel in anything we set out to do, you will understand why the system at home is rigged against the average individual. The plenty in the land have only fed a few while other bellies are being loaded with hunger and hydrated with thirst. As we have refused to use the freedom, we have lost it. We lost it to “colonizers” who recognise how powerful it is in the hands of the people and they will do whatever it takes to prevent the people from realizing what they have lost.
The dream of the forefathers was not just to self-govern but for every man to be truly independent and true independence comes when everyone is empowered and encouraged to self-develop. But what we have ended up with is similar to how our ancestors used to live. The dream of the forefathers is still alive but we need to wake up to live that dream. Like the forefathers, we need to be fed up with the continuous lack of choices. There should come a time when we will have the best people in their fields stand up and present themselves for service. There should come a time when we will not have to choose the “better of two evils” as a leader. There should come a time when people are elected into positions strictly on merit and not because of the part of the country they hail from.
We have somehow forgotten that the freedom handed to us is still there for us to use whenever we decide to use it. It is unfortunate that by the sheer mass of people who lack value, the entire nation is being subjected to weak ideals and sub-par ways of life and it is clear that these modern colonizers are not willing to vacate till the people know what they want and begin to ask for it. So it is essential that in the different aspects and at the various levels, we each need to begin some form of shift towards freedom so that we will one day be able to retrace our steps back to the point where we missed the way.
The founding fathers did not whine and moan about what they did not like, they got up and took action. All they wanted was the opportunity to be free and when they got it, they made the most of it. Even though they failed to inform us that freedom is not a one-time ticket and that it must be achieved each day, we have by ourselves seen that nobody will give it to us if we do not demand it. As evidenced by our journey as a nation, freedom is not a destination, it is a voyage that requires generations taking turns at continuously powering it. Today is another reminder that independence day celebrations are not a jamboree if we truly have not attained the independence that we deserve as a nation.