NEW MUNGO PARKS: TWO PASSPORTS, TOO LOUD

No matter what, do not put down your country, writes Joshua J. Omojuwa

“Getting a foreign (second) passport has its advantages. It also gives one a Mungo Park brain. A sense of knowing it all and that those in Nigeria are daft. I know it because I find myself deploying my “Mungo Park” side on some issues in Nigeria, so I try to put myself in check”. These are the words of Kayode Ogundamisi, UK-based Nigerian activist. He was addressing a Twitter user who appeared to be making a disdainful comment about Nigeria.

This contempt for our country is a mentality we must address. It has come to the fore on account of social media and our ability to read the thoughts of other people by the second.

The Nigerian diaspora has historically been a source of pride for the country. Our people have flown the flag on some of the biggest stages abroad, and more recently as in the case of the Super Eagles, Super Falcons and the startup community are collaborating with those at home to help enhance the image of the country and create opportunities back home.

Most of them take pride in their Nigerian heritage. I have met Nigerian children abroad who are some of the most respectful kids you’d find. They are proud to speak Nigerian languages whilst letting you know they are Nigerians. This assertion does not deny that there are Nigerians in diaspora raising their Nigerian children to forget their Nigerian heritage. This piece is not about those, and I should add, good luck to them.

If you are used to social media, especially Twitter, you’d see that the same people who are quick to share and amplify every negative story out of Nigeria are also the first to knock and at times even insult those who dare to share their unwholesome experiences from living abroad. They have an image of what it means to live abroad that whatever counters that delusion is a threat to their lives.

That would have been okay if such people were not so committed to seeing Nigeria for whatever makes it look bad, whilst always being the first to explain away any Nigerian success when not pretending to be unaware of such.

I am not one to knock those who want to leave Nigeria. Whilst I live in Nigeria, I have lived and retained residency in three other countries over the last decade. I am all for the exploration of the universe and all it has got to give. There are few things I love more than seeing the world and I feel privileged to have so far seen enough to know that every country has got its seamy side.

If you aren’t subscribed to American news, you wouldn’t know that there have been several aviation mishaps in the country this year. In Nigeria, those accidents would have offered opportunities for some to lay more curses on the country. Whilst elsewhere people ask questions and demand for the better, here, the loudest ones are those able to lay curses and insults at everyone.

There is no thin line between those who want better for their country and those who want to see it fail. That line could not be more apparent in the ways they engage the positives and the unwholesome. The group quick to discard progress and also intuitively treat the country with disdain cannot get mixed up with those who whilst asking better of their country, do so with the intent to see things get better. That is why such people are also the first to celebrate any form of progress. They criticize because they want things to get better, not because they want their country shamed.

I have met Nigerians abroad who no longer care about the country. They are solely focused on being citizens of their chosen country. I respect that. Then there are those who as soon as they get their second passport, you start to hear their disdain for Nigeria. This is funny because I know that despite those new passports, the Nigerian bit of their reality will always moderate their engagement with others abroad, even when they wish that was not the case. The way the world is set up, the strongest and the richest countries have designed political systems and cultures that continue to remind people of their initial passports.

Whilst the diaspora holds a great promise for what it can be to the development of Nigeria, the greatest force for change for the country remains within. That is reflected in the fact that at least 85 percent of the Nigerian people will be in Nigeria at any one time — because all of us cannot leave Nigeria even if we wanted – and even now, the richest Nigerians are in Nigeria. So, those who look back at their country with a sneer should learn some humility. Those scathing remarks may earn some attention, they serve no greater purpose. Making condescending references to your first country may feel like some rite of passage to reflect the fact you now have an alternative; one can share news of their new nationality without knocking the passport that began the journey.

There are those who pick and choose when to be patriotic. They hope to choose patriotism when they win or when there is a prospect of winning, they curse the country when they don’t. A group of people were quite noisy about the court in Senegal forcing the hands of President Macky Sall to hand over when he ought to on the 2nd of April. They saw it as an opportunity to again insult and curse Nigeria. Between ignorance and some form of skulduggery, they were blind to the fact that since 1999, Nigeria has never needed any court to force any of its presidents to hand-over power as and when due.

The biggest losers here are those that are still in Nigeria whilst hoping to one day leave and then get another passport, because they are cursing and insulting the country in advance, for a passport that may never come. Intending Mungo Parks I guess.

 Omojuwa is chief strategist, Alpha Reach/ author, Digital Wealth Book