WOYAYA: SONG OF AFFIRMATION
Life in Nigeria has been hard, muddy and rough but we will get there, writes O. Jason Osai
In the 1971 classic of the Rock genre titled “Woyaya, the Afro-Caribbean band Osibisa, fervently and passionately said a positive prayer in song, thus:
We are going
Heaven knows where we are going
We know we will
We will get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
It will be hard we know
And the road will be muddy and rough
But we’ll get there
Heaven knows how we will get there
We know we will
The peculiarities of Woyaya are one, the members’ strong belief in God and two, the resolute determination that they will get to the zenith of their career irrespective of the daunting odds stacked against them. The personnel of Osibisa were drawn from Ghana, Nigeria and the Caribbean and they were swimming in the croc-infested waters of the White-dominated music establishment of Great Britain. The odds were therefore mountain-high hence the frustration and determination reflected in the lyrics. Similarly, in his pre-election message in mid-February 2023, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, Senior Pastor of House on the Rock church, spoke futuristically thus: “We will get there. Obviously, a restatement of the essence and exact words of “Woyaya.”
In its topicality that was focused on the band’s aspiration more than one-half of a century ago, the essence of Woyaya, uncannily, reflects the contemporary mood in Nigeria. Millions of well- meaning Nigerians hold tenaciously to the lyrical determination in Woyaya thus:“the road will be hard, muddy and rough but we will get there! We know we will”.
A professor of sociology conducting research in a multi-religious community in India accosted a little girl of about 10 years on the street and asked if she was Hindu, Christian or Moslem. With a wry and dry mocking smile, she answered thus:“I am hungry”. Thus, the little girl spoke volubly and eloquently to the inconsequentiality of religion and other sociological factors in the welfare of human beings. The little girl also found the question rather amusing under the obvious circumstance of her abject poverty as reflected by her ragged clothes and churning stomach. Nigerian masses must transcend the primordial sentiments of religion, ethnicity, etc., and see the real dividing lines as purely socioeconomic.
The branded face cap is incapable of covering the agonies of hunger on the face for four years neither can that 50kg bag of rice and five liters of groundnut oil feed the individual (talk more of the family) for four years. That T-shirt is not bullet proof; so it is incapable of protecting you from the bullets of bandits, armed robbers, armed herdsmen, etc. Five yards of Ankara cannot cover any individual’s poverty for four years neither can N10,000 solve all the problems for the term of office of the politician.
Therefore. if the best candidate by your assessment does not have the chance to win, waste your vote on him without a second thought. That way, you live with your conscience knowing that you did what you believe was right. You voted against the perpetuation of cross-sectoral decay in the society. Given this, you have a chance to air your opinion publicly in the future without your conscience pricking you.
No individual is suffering as an Ijaw, a Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, etc., but as a Nigerian. Therefore, people should reject all ethnical cards that are unfavorable to the collective interest of the nation. Election is local but politics is international. The outcome of the election will not only affect you, it affects all Nigerians irrespective of where they are , where they come from and what alien religion they practice. So, think about the character and integrity of the candidate you intend to vote for: what do you know for sure of who he is in terms of his background details? What are his antecedents in public service and office? To what extent does he identify with everyday people, which includes you? What is his record of accessibility while in office and as an individual? These factors are very critical in evaluating the acceptability of an individual office seeker. These factors are the fundamental determinants of what to expect of him in office.
Noam Chomsky holds that “a lost nation is one in which hungry and jobless people blindly support those responsible for their poverty, agony and misery”. George Orwell offers that“A people that elect corrupt politicians are not victims; rather, they are accomplices”. The characteristic chicanery, cavalier and corrupt practices of Nigerian politicians clearly indicates their lack of patriotism and sensitivity to the needs of the people. Their psychopathic sadism and Luciferian savagery find expression in their weaponizing poverty and systematically inflicting pains on the people in perpetuity.
Nigeria has been referred to as a country where the eggheads are taciturn while the pea-brained are loquacious; a rather worrisome combination that has the proven propensity to damage a society. Interestingly, Nigeria has never experienced the prevailing degree of organic grassroots enthusiasm and collective sense of hope spreading across its ethnocultural mosaic. Same as in the song, Woyaya, life in Nigeria has been hard, muddy and rough but we strongly believe that we will get there! We know we will. Osibisa expressed their deep-rooted determination to survive and excel in the rugged European music industry in the lyrics of Woyaya. However, they backed it up with hard work and perseverance hence the global acclaim they enjoyed even beyond their era.
According to a patriotic Nigerian, February 2023 election is “An essential and existential election. It is a make-or-break moment in our history. Future generations will not forgive us if we make a wrong choice”. Therefore, Nigerians should not stop at joining Osibisa and Pastor Paul Adefarasin in saying “We will get there”. Nigerians should brace themselves to be part of governance by constantly taking studied interest in what happens in government and demanding probity and accountability from authority figures and public officers.
Osai, PhD, is Professor of Development Studies,
Department of Political Science
Rivers State University, Port Harcourt
