Beyonce sings Nigerian National Anthem

On Saturday, October 7, in a jam packed Arena, Beyonce Knowles, as part of her performance for the night, sang the Nigerian National Anthem.
You may ask, “what was she doing, singing that?”
Well, she was amongst foreign artistes (Snoop Doggy Dog, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Ciara, Jay-Z, En-Vogue) and other Nigerian artists (King Sunny Ade, Seun Anikulapo-Kuti, Dare Art-Alade, Weird MC, TuFace, Majek Fashek) who came to perform at the maiden edition of ThisDay Music Awards, which was organized to celebrate Nigeria’s 46th independence anniversary (on Oct 1, 1960).
Some school of thought have it that since such a group of prominent musicians have been able to make it to Nigeria (popularly called Naija for the uninitiated), then the country is not that bad. Or rather, it is definitely on the way back to the “top”.
There have been no reports so far (is it too early to tell?) of molestation of the musicians, neither have they reported hearing gunshots/seeing mayhem on the road. Of course there is the argument that they must have been under tight security so nothing “untoward” could have happened to them. But still, the way the country is reported in the foreign media, you would have wondered that such people would have ventured to have stepped foot in Nigeria. And they did not just come to Nigeria, they came to Lagos, which had at some point been categorized as one of the unsafest cities in the world, full of hoodlums who brazenly waylay innocent citizens in broad daylight.
Ahh…you say, that is an exaggeration. Nobody has ever reported Nigeria to be like that. I might just beg to disagree. Some few weeks back, some colleagues from the London offices of my firm visited. The norm in Nigeria is to pick expatriates (or Oybios as they are popularly called) from the airport with police escorts (without the sirens of course!). By the third day of their visit here, some of my visiting colleagues were saying “wow! didn’t know it was going to be like this; thought we would have to be going around all the time with armed personnel. This was what we heard in London but here we are, just driving around town with you folks, taking walks on the street without anybody harassing us.
Aha! How about the expatriates being kidnapped in Niger-Delta (for those who actually know where Niger-Delta is) I hear you ask?
Well, frankly I don’t have an answer to that. That is wrong I will scream boldly from a hilltop. But hey! Is that enough to say the whole country is a killing zone? Nigeria has problems no doubt but is that enough to demonize the country? I do not think so.
As we celebrate this 46th independence anniversary, as we recollect how great the country was (as told us by our forebears/parents), we need to remember that we have a role to play in moving Nigeria forward. It is not enough to scream that our leaders are corrupt. We have to at our individual levels, decide to be persons of integrity, develop a personal high standard (this has nothing to do with religion) and try to maintain it. If we can do this, then we can carry out more exploits, the same way Nigerians shouted a resounding “No!” to the third term agenda.

Contradictions

“NEPA!!! They have struck again…
“Come on, it’s not NEPA. It’s PHC – Power Holding Company..”
“Whatever….bottom line is – no light, as usual. Which kin country be dis sef?”
Ask me oh! I tire sef. No light, no roads, even the small road we have, traffic full yanfu yanfu everywhere..
“Okada sef wey poor man dey ride, dem don ban the thing.”
“MTN, VMobile, all useless companies. Before your call even connects, they’ve started charging you…”

And on and on, goes the litany…
The summary..? Check out of Nigeria. Go to “God’s Own Country” where the land flows with milk and honey. Or if you can’t afford it, then move on to Jand. In fact any country where the white human specie is predominant is better than Nigeria.
It seems like the yearning of the average Nigerian youth (resident in Nigeria) is to move abroad. Even the university graduates are not left out. They can not wait to graduate from university, apply for a graduate degree program and move abroad, with no plans to return (except to visit or get married). They’ve already planned their lives the 4-bedroom duplex, with the two cars parked in front. The more imaginative ones can already see themselves on MTV’s “How the Rich & Famous Live”.
There are others who do not plan on such an ostentatious lifestyle. They just want to work hard, earn some good money and live in a quiet and secure place where things work, where they will be appreciated for their brainwork and rewarded accordingly. The common trend amongst these two groups is the belief in the failure of the Nigerian state and the fact that life “over there” is definitely rosier or totally stress free.

There is another group of Nigerian nationals, mostly those who obtained their first degrees from foreign universities (American & British Schools mostly) who are rushing to come back.
“Haba! But Why? Why are you coming back? You want to leave ‘Obodo Oyibo’ to come back to Naija? What are you coming back to?”
“Well, there are no jobs.”
“How can?”
“And transportation in London is very expensive.”
“All your salary goes on bills – power, phone, tax. You can’t evade/avoid tax. You know over there, there are only two things that are for certain – death and tax. At the end of the day, you have only a small amount left in your pocket.”
“But come on, life is beautiful. You don’t have to worry about robbers. You have good roads, light, water. And you live in all those big houses…”
“Bros, it’s not like that. Yes you receive the services you’ve paid for. But all that big house and cars, you’re seeing, it’s all a farce. They’re all on credit. People live “large” and then die in debt passing it on to their children.”
“So, but you’ve enjoyed life. Your children will pass it on to their own children. What business is that of yours?”
“Well, bottom line, life is not easy there. You have to work very hard for everything you earn. I better come back to Nigeria where at least my parents have a big house and I know I have a room and probably a free car. Worst case scenario, there are relations to fall back on here, people/friends to help you out with a few “coins” and the right calls.

So there it is….Traffic both ways
The people here want to get out at all costs & go over to the land flowing with Milk and Honey.
The people “there” want to come back after having acquired the White Man’s knowledge. After all, here if nothing else, they can be a big fish in a small pond.

You don’t know what you’re talking about. Your statistics are all wrong both about those trying to leave and those coming back. Things are not as bad as you make it sound over there. If not why is it that those who are leaving Nigeria after their first degree do not come back?
“Simple! Ever heard of too broke to travel? They are too broke to come back.”
“Or too ashamed. How do you explain to the folks back here that you went to Obodo Oyibo and couldn’t make it. Tufia! You can’t do that. So you stay, trying to move from cleaner to superintendent. Besides if you do come back, what are you coming back to? Your mates who stayed here have moved on. Do you want to go to their office and become a beggar?
So what is the way forward? The 411 as my people would say..
“Just stay here and work towards making this place better. After all, America only became better because the people there stayed and did their work. Do you think they didn’t once have obnoxious laws? Look at Israel. That country is supposed to be a desert and their people were all scattered. But today, they go to the states, acquire the technology and go back to Israel to apply the technology. You want to enjoy life? Stay back here, build your own niche and enjoy life. After all there is no place like home.