The last time I checked, countless number of Nigerians claimed to be in love with Nigeria. But when critically and closely examined, you would observe they actually meant something contrary.
Sure, anyone can put up a claim as it pleases him/her, but sticking to the true meaning of the claim is a totally different ballgame.
In life, there are two major phenomena you must not take for granted; when you are truly in love, and when someone really loves you. You are bound to understand when your heart is wholly and sincerely attracted to a colleague, relative, associate, friend, or what have you.
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On the other hand, you are required, at all times, to be aware of when someone cares about your happiness. If you take any of these factors for granted, you may live to regret it.
The truth is, life is controlled or governed by a four-letter word known as ‘Love’. This is why the Holy writ stipulates that it (love) is the rudiment of every commandment provided by the Creator.
This is so, because if you really love someone or vice-versa, any rule binding the relationship can easily be adhered to with ease. If you love someone with your whole heart, you can sacrifice anything whatsoever towards ensuring he or she does not lack happiness regardless of the circumstance.
Same is applicable to a pet in your household. If you love your pet passionately, you can do anything to keep it alive. A society isn’t left out when discussing love; if you care about the well-being of a society you belong to, you would never attempt to indulge in any act that would be to the detriment of the happiness of the society in question.
Let’s get it straight; if you are a citizen of any country, and you are of the view that you love it, you would always do things that would contribute to the uplift or welfare of the country.
At the moment in Nigeria, particularly in its socio-political domain, some politicians tend to showcase a façade that they truly care about the country, unknowingly to their unsuspecting followers or the onlookers that they are only interested in personal aggrandizement.
For instance, if the Nigeria’s President erred or erroneously implements a policy, rather than criticizing constructively, they would prefer to display an action that would end up causing more harm to the country.
The truth is that, if you candidly love a country, you would always think of the effect of your proposed criticism on the leadership of the country before tendering it.
First, we need to acknowledge there are some basic recipes that are expected to accompany any criticism. When you criticize, courtesy demands that you proffer a remedy to what is being criticized. The primary aim of every genuine criticism ought to be to correct an error or address any presumed anomaly.
So, if your interest truly lies on the well-being of the affected country, you would invariably focus on how to make amends, or the way forward, instead of constituting more troubles. When you criticize, you are expected to concentrate on the lapse, and not on the personality of the initiator of the policy/process being criticized.
A true lover of any country should be concerned about its uplift, not the other way round. In politics, the reverse is often the case; people claim to love their country but mean otherwise.
If you are a leader of a country and the development of the jurisdiction matters much to your person, you would never be propelled to initiate actions that would yield nothing but good governance.
In other words, you would willingly wish to carry out projects as well as initiate policies that would see to the betterment of the overall people of the country, and so does a good follower.
A good and genuine follower or stakeholder, as might be the case, is always interested in a way forward at all cost; he is tirelessly involved in issues of general interest rather than personal; he is invariably ready to sacrifice something toward ensuring that the concerned society becomes a better place to live.
He’s prepared at all times to compromise some attitudes for the sole interest of the society; above all, he always thinks of other members of the society in all his actions as well as concerned about what their reactions would be as regards any criticism he intends to come up with.
The bone of contention is that Nigeria is not interested in those who claim to love her, but those who genuinely strive relentlessly to ensure that her wellbeing is not tampered, or relegated to the background.
The country is only pleased with Nigerians who encounter sleepless nights while thinking of how to help the government usher in sound governance, which remains the sole dream of the electorate. Nigeria is interested in seeing people who wish to ‘die’ for the good of the country.
To this end, it’s needless to reiterate that anyone who keenly loves his or her country of origin/residence must be involved in activities that would assist the government to succeed.
President Muhammadu Buhari is probably yet to please the majority of Nigerians as the country’s leader, but it’s more imperative to note that anyone who means well for Nigeria cannot participate in anything that would witch-hunt the country, rather, would only be focused on how to make the said government succeed.
Hence, involving yourself in actions or causes that are aimed at generating upheaval or malice among the people is obviously how not to love a country, and Nigeria isn’t an exception.