‘Can I stand in front of you?’ the man man ask me. This na for airport and I stand for check-in queue.
‘No, you can’t. You need to go to the end of the queue.’ I tell am.
‘But, it’s the same thing. We are all going to get on the plane.’ The man answer.
Inside me, I done dey charge ‘That’s exactly why you don’t need to stand here. If you join the queue at the back, you’ll still get on the plane’.
The man wan begin provoke for me ‘Alright alright! No need to lecture me, young man. All these boys of nowadays…’
I no let am finish before I enter am like say I see am for dream the night before ‘Oga mi, nothing do boys of nowadays! Nothing do us at all! Na you and people like you dey spoil this country. When una spoil am finish, na una go dey shout Jonathan this, Sambo that! In fact, na your generation of people na him spoil this country…’
I no really dey happy say I enter man wey fit be my papa like this sha. I no insult am (as that one no correct at all), but somebody been really need to wake am up from him sleep.
So, I enter plane dey go where I dey go. When the plane done dey reach where we dey go, the air hostess begin announce ‘…keep your seatbelts fastened until the plane has come to a complete stop.’ Immediately, the plane reach ground and begin taxi to where e suppose to stop, people done dey remove seatbelt! I just dey look dem dey wonder if somehow these people no been hear wetin the air hostess talk. The hostess say make we no remove seatbelt until the plane stop. Which part of that statement these people no understand?
As I dey look dem, some people done dey stand up dey try to collect their luggage for the overhead compartment. The hostess begin shout ‘Sirs, please take your seat and fasten your seatbelt. Please, sirs!’ One of the men behave like say e no hear and continue. As e open the overhead compartment, one big bag just fly out and land for one woman head. If you see the quarrel wey start…
Say our rulers (not leaders) done fail us scatter scatter over the years, no be news. Say our rulers done turn us from country wey people been expect great things from to one wey people dey expect everything bad from, na old tori. Say our rulers dey take their biro dey thief money wey even their great grand pikin dem no go fit chop finish, still no be news. But make we think again; na our rulers cause every single bad thing wey dey happen for we country so?
E dey very easy to blame another person for problems wey you get. In fact, e dey easy to blame government for every bad thing wey happen! No be say dem no get blame o, because their blame full basket. But how you go take blame government if as plane still dey move, you stand and when the plane stop suddenly, you fall and wound yourself? But how you go take blame government when your pikin smoke gbana until e mad? Na Jonathan put the thing for him mouth? Or when society woman, wey dress up correct with head-tie wey resemble DSTV dish, go lick ice cream finish and fling the container out of a moving taxi? Yes, maybe government fit dey catch people wey throway something anyhow, but how many people dem fit catch?
The way I think am be say, every one of us get him own contribution to turn this our country from the yeye e be now to something good. We know say with the way some our rulers dey take enter office (through magumagu and jibiti), we no fit control them; no be we put all of them there. But we fit control ourselves as individuals. We fit stand for queue when we go public place and wait for our turn. We fit carry our ice cream container dem reach house and put them for dustbin instead of to drop dem for road. We fit say ‘no’ when somebody offer us bribe to do wetin we no suppose do, instead of to take the bribe, tell yourself say ‘na so Nigeria be’ and then pay tithe on Sunday.
If we dey do the right things as individuals, I dey sure say things go change small. And maybe… just maybe, if one of us manage enter government, e go be leader, not ruler.
This na @nfsqueezed on Twitter
