I see a vision for Nigeria.
We stand, hands held together, all seemingly joined together by an invisible cord. And at that moment, language, religion, gender, economic status, skin colour, and culture does not matter in the least because we all share a common goal.
At that moment, we truly feel unbeatable.
I see it for what it is – unity in its purest form. And it is the most powerful force ever, one that could move mountains.
Take away the unity of a nation and watch it burn to the grounds. And this is why the vulnerable place to cause confusion and divide is to pose an attack that hinders unity.
I will give a little illustration. For this illustration, we will use a local broom. Why do we sweep with a bunch of broomsticks and not a single stick? Your guess is as good as mine. It would be ineffective, inefficient, and time-consuming.
But tie the sticks in a bunch and watch them instantly yield faster results.
In the same vein, a popular tale I heard while growing up comes to mind, which highlights the significance of unity.
A man had many sons. Unfortunately, there was discord among them, and this brought great worry to him.
After one particularly violent episode, he resolved to teach his sons the essence of unity and gathered them together. They were asked to bring a bundle of sticks.
He gave each one a bundle and asked them to break it. Turn by turn, they tried with all their might, but of course, their attempts were futile. Soon after, they gave up trying.
The father then asked them to untie a bundle and gave a stick to each one to break. This time around, it was much easier, and they were all successful.
The father addressed his children. “Sons, now you see that when you stand as one, it will be difficult for your enemies to break you no matter how hard they try. If you are all divided, you will be as easy to break as that single stick.”
From that day, there was a complete turnaround in the behaviour of his sons as they realized there was strength in unity.
As a nation, we have gone through different tides of emotions this past couple of weeks. From hope to anger, frustration to helplessness, guilt, and back to feelings of defeat. These emotions have been amplified these last few days, fuelled by the senseless killings of citizens by those in power, some of which are still ongoing.
The only thing that can get us through this wave of insanity is unity. For Fatima, Ada, Yetunde, Tunde, Obi, Efe, Adamu, and Akpan to come together in unity and leave behind whatever differences they may have.
Because we are all humans, and that is enough classification. United we stand but divided, we all fall.
So, I dare ask: Has the spirit of Ubuntu gone? I certainly hope not because, without it, great change can never happen. And we owe it to our fallen heroes to stand united to ensure that their deaths are not in vain.
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Love,
Diane
