Intellectuals and intellectual pursuits are at the heart of most civilizations. In recent times, intellectuals have helped to shape national destinies, illuminate challenges, give pieces of advice to leaders and influence collective thinking. It is generally understood that any society without a bourgeoning class of intellectuals cannot truly flourish. Such a society, it is believed, may stagnate, regress or disintegrate.
The western world is never short of intellectuals; and neither was Nigeria between the 1950s and 1980s. The west had the likes of Lillian Hellman, Henrik Ibsen, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Bertolt Brecht, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Jean-Paul Sartre, Noam Chomsky and Edmund Wilson. And Nigeria had the likes of Kelsey Harrison, Bala Mohammed Bauchi, Kalu Ezera, Chinua Achebe, Attahiru Jega, Wole Soyinka, Chike Obi, Alele Williams, Tam-David-West, Dipo Fashina, Eskor Toyo, Claude Ake, Kole Omotosho, Ade Ajayi, Tai Solarin, J.P Clark and many others.
Not only were the Nigerian titans gifted; they were rigorous, honest and resolute in their thinking and in their pursuits. They helped shape the nature and direction of the country and our institutions. Their writings and pronouncements influenced the output of policy makers. As brutal and unpredictable as the military establishments were, these titans, to a great extent, helped to keep them in order.
Today, Nigeria is different. It is almost unfathomable how the nation went from great heights to low ebbs. Dr. Olayiwola Abegunrin, formerly of Obafemi Awolowo University, now a professor at Howard University, posited that the Nigerian military bear some of the responsibilities for ”destroying our institutions…by some of the policies they promulgated and pursued, beginning from the General Yakubu Gowon era.” Some of the policies they pursued, along with the coups and countercoups, helped weaken, and, in some cases, destroy our sense of nation-building and sense of self.
Many of our national treasures were prosecuted, persecuted, harassed, jailed, or sent into exile; and in some cases, the military simply made life and living miserable and unbearable for them. Civilian administrations also contributed to the malaise. In the end, some of our best and brightest left in search of stability and greener pastures. Gradually, the distasteful and impermissible became permissible and sacred. It became okay to steal. It became acceptable to be a professional sycophant. It became fashionable to be an illiterate in a literate and globalizing world.
According to Mr. Sonala Olumhense, himself a member of the great-generation, ”the flip side of the coin - the ”absence of intellectualism” - is the ”presence of materialism” and the pursuit of the inconsequential. Such pursuits diminish the glory and prosperity of the country. In addition, we honour men and women lacking foresight and brilliance of mind and good character. We look up to, prostrate for and genuflect before men and women with inferior sensibility and dubious character. Great nations or nations of consequence have men and women at the front line of intellectualism and nation building.
In more recent times, especially since the 1990s, the pool of home-grown intellectuals has greatly diminished; and so also has the pool of genuine heroes. Heroes can be found in all walks of life: men and women with unique achievements in sports, medicine and music; and in various fields, including our classrooms and battlefields. We had men and women who inspired us as children and as teenagers, to strive for the stars. These are people without whom our lives and joy would have been limited, our dreams stunted and our imagination blurred. Without these everyday heroes our lives may have turned out unfulfilled.
Heroes can be ordinary men and women, but with great courage and great strength and with life-altering contribution to mankind and our immediate society. In this instance, I speak of men and women of extraordinary political achievements. I speak of men and women who risked their freedom and their lives in the service of their country. I speak of men and women who answered the call of their people; and, in so doing, sacrificed their lives and desires and comfort so their people might proper and be free from the chains of humiliation, servitude and oppression. Every nation has such men and women.
Jamaica, for instance, speaks of Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley. The British speak of Winston Churchill; the French remembers Charles de Gaulle; and the Americans remember Lincoln, Washington, Kennedy and others. The Senegalese, the Kenyans and the Ghanaians remember Senghor, Kenyatta and Nkrumah respectively. Africans in general will never forget men like Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela. Every country remembers and celebrates their hero - every country but Nigeria!
Does Nigeria have heroes‘ day, national monuments or burial grounds for our heroes? Nigeria, it seems to me, is the only country that does not revere her extraordinary men and women. In contemporary times at least, we behave as though no man or woman ever sacrificed his or her freedom so future generations could have a better life. This repulsive attitude can be seen in the manner some Nigerians speak of their nationalists. And on the Internet, some Nigerian have developed the penchant for displaying their ingratitude and contempt for the country‘s heroes
Denigrating our heroes has become the pastime for some of these charlatans. But for our nationalists, Nigeria would have suffered the same fate as Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Algeria and other countries that underwent untold hardship at the hands of their colonial oppressors. To mention the name Aminu Kano or Obafemi Awololwo is to draw a barrage of invectives and unpalatable adjectives. To mention Nnamdi Azikiwe is to invite scorn and ridicule. To speak of Tafawa Balewa is to open oneself to a barrage of tirade and ethnic slurs.
Our heroes are humans. As humans, they made their fair share of mistakes. Come to think of it: they lived in a different time – a time of unspeakable brutality; a time when the colonial powers were interested mainly in exploiting the human and natural resources of Nigeria. It was a time when the colonialists engaged in vile survival strategies, a time of divide and rule. With sheer wisdom, intellect, good sense and common sense, our nationalists were able to free our land and our people. They saw to it that we got our lives and our dignity back. Therefore, whatever we are today we owe to a majestic group of men and women who, in spite of all their shortcomings and frailties, helped realize a free Nigeria.
Because Nigeria is what it is – we have no regards for our heroes. And then we wonder why no one wants to lay their life for a country that does not appreciate her heroes. Why we spend so much time abusing our national heroes is beyond me. Why we spend so much time questioning the motives of such men and women is beyond my wits. It is disgraceful, disrespectful and a dishonour to all the men and women who endured years and years and years of indignity at the hands of the British and their local collaborators.
Considering all that our heroes did for us, is this how we repay them? Is this how we honour their memories and all the sacrifices they and their families made on our behalf? We don‘t hear the Americans, the South Africans, the Canadians, the Australians, Germans and the French and others pilling insults on their national heroes, do we? Why should it be any different for Nigerians?
(Sabella Abidde lives in Montgomery, Alabama.)
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