I have always been fascinated by the brilliancy of Martin Luther
King Jnr. From a very early age, I bought and digested every book about him that
I could lay my hands on. His eloquence, his grasp of history and his relative
youthfulness (34 years when he delivered his ‘I have a Dream speech’) were all
massively interesting to me. It is even more intriguing that the enduring part
of the speech was unscripted - a momentous flash of brilliancy that came out of
his deep passion for the cause he championed.
I have watched this speech a dozen times and it has become a
regular fodder for my presentation skills training programmes. I suppose what
was most important for me was MLK’s deep conviction and the willingness by him and
his supporters to push and suffer for what they believed.
As the 50th anniversary of the speech is celebrated today
and with a black man at the White House, it occurred to me that everything is indeed
possible. This gives me hope for my country Nigeria. Things may look bleak at
the moment; we may have visionless leaders, and our people may be enslaved to
corrupt political, corporate and social elites, I can envisage Nigeria and
Nigerians being free one day.
What we must do in the interim, is for everyone who means well for
Nigeria to keep the flame blowing by being the best teacher, the careful bus
driver, the responsible employer, the diligent employee and the involved
citizen wherever they are. The little step taken by each person will become the
giant leap to Nigeria’s future.
Secondly, it is common knowledge that freedom is hardly ever
freely given, it has to be fought for; the lesson of the civil rights movement
is that we must be ready to become the masters of our destiny by fighting for
Nigeria’s freedom. The people who benefit from the inefficient systems of
Nigeria will never willingly vacate their entrenched positions. They have
become a political and economic principality and can only be shifted if and
when, like MLK and his group we hold the same level of conviction and passion
for change and are willing to fight for Nigeria’s freedom. Let’s fight for this freedom through hard
work, responsible citizenship and never keeping quiet about the injustices in
our society. Let’s fight for the freedom by holding public servants and
politicians to account on social media, newspapers and most importantly with our
votes.
I am optimistic that Nigeria’s day will come. PostcardfromLagos
