In Guyana, they did it swiftly under the supervision of Reverend Jones.
In Nigeria, we are doing it slowly, painfully, and in installments by gradually surrendering our right to transcendental thought and imagination beyond personalities.
Never lose or surrender the ability to imagine your country beyond the immediate predilections and preferments of the political juggernauts of the moment.
Trump, Clinton, Romney, Sanders, are doing the calibrations, recalibrations, alignments, and realignments of the present. People are following and discussing these things as they should but if you are an investor in the spaces of American public intellection, you would have noticed that nobody has surrendered transcendental thought to the daily shenanigans of these politicians.
There is a much higher level of discourse in which people are imagining the march and future of America in the context of the great themes of the future – nationalism, national choices, globalization, American exceptionalism. Issues are being vigorously engaged beyond these dramatis personae of the moment. In fact, in the context of these conversations about the future and direction of America, personalities matter little, ideas, paths, and choices matter far more.
I’ve been very despondent about Nigeria lately. There’s been a colossal surrender of the public sphere to the peccadilloes of transient politicians and other political actors.
The right and responsibility to think and discourse Nigeria into big ideas, big issues and pathways to the future have completely been surrendered to daily droning about the need to wait for Buhari to make up his mind about 2019, the need to wait for Atiku to make up his mind about 2019 or visit the US.
The southwest has been particularly hard hit by this wilful submission of the self to the inertia of thought. It is has almost become taboo to engage in transcendental thought beyond personalities. How can you imagine the future when Tinubu has not made up his mind about this and that? When Buhari and Tinubu have not either parted ways permanently or made up quietly?
If Asiwaju has not decided, who are you to be dreaming about the future? Transcendental thought about issues and the future is thus surrendered completely or made inferior to the choices, preferments, and moves of one man. Whether he will consolidate his legacy or lose out is elevated to and equated with the survival of a race or a geopolitical region. This is as perplexing as it is unacceptable to me.
It used to be that Kwara was the model for this sort of self immolation. No Kwaran was allowed to think until Oloye had decided. And Oloye would keep them in suspense: “I am still praying to Allah to reveal who the next Governor will be to me” or “I am still praying to Allah to reveal Kwara’s next political options to me.”
And Kwarans would wait while the only public intellection that was allowed was daily speculation about what Oloye’s choices would ultimately be or monotonous punditry urging Oloye to make this or that choice. There usually was no space in Kwara to exercise the imagination in transcendent ways beyond the persona, choices, and preferments of Oloye.
Now, the southwest says she cannot think until Asiwaju decides.
Now, Nigeria says there is no room for thought until Buhari and Atiku decide.
There are social dynamics tied to our very existence as a people waiting and begging for transcendental thought and application. These are bigger, much bigger than personalities.
Suspending your ability to imagine the big picture until mortals like you have made personal decisions and choices is the equivalent of self-annulment.
Somebody from the southwest wrote yesterday to ask me why I have not commented on the Asiwaju issue. My response to him: apart from the fact that I do not care about Asiwaju and do not follow his politics, I’m at a level of reflection on the Nigerian project which privileges grander visions about nation and people above the minuscule shenanigans of political personalities.
I then gave him an assignment: personalities and eras will change, but certain issues will remain. They are bigger than personalities. They affect your life and can shape your future.
Identify one such issue.
Assert your right to think about it.
Tell yourself that you have a responsibility to imagine that issue into the future, your future.
Tell yourself that it is irresponsible to wait till Asiwaju, Buhari, Atiku, etc, have decided before you can dream and imagine…
Tell yourself.