The speech that never was

– Heh, wake up man, what’s wrong with you, talking in your sleep.– Oh, so it was a dream. I thought it was too good to be real.– What?– I was at the banquet hall for the Centenary Celebration.– Oh no, not again.– Oh yes I was. In my dream, I heard the asking the […]

– Heh, wake up man, what’s wrong with you, talking in your sleep.
– Oh, so it was a dream. I thought it was too good to be real.
– What?
– I was at the banquet hall for the Centenary Celebration.
– Oh no, not again.
– Oh yes I was. In my dream, I heard the asking the people to stand up. Everybody stood up, then the camera panned to those outside the hall watching from giant flat screen television sets in the expansive parking lot.
– Yeeesss!
– And then, as if in a well-rehearsed play, all the people stood up.
– Really!
– Yes, and then the president, clad in black, head bowed approached the podium and spoke into the microphone with tearful eyes.
– What did he say?
– Fellow compatriots…
– Yeeess!
– Would you let me recount the speech as I could remember?
– I am eager to hear it.
– He said “I requested you all to rise for a reason and I’ll get to that reason very shortly. But first let me situate the reason in very short sentences. In the last 13 years, our nation has gone through very trying times. Yes, the tree of democracy has not yielded the fruits to assuage the hunger of our people, nor has the waters of its brooks quenched our thirsts life, for justice, equality and fairness…”
– You mean President Jones said all that?
– In the dream.
– Go on. I am eager to hear it in your dreams.
– “So, fellow compatriots. When we began the preparations for the Centenary celebrations, our reasons were altruistic, to count our blessings from where we came. We were, like all of you, disappointed that we are not where we set out to be 100 years ago. But you agree with me that our nation has passed worst times, survived the civil war; several other skirmishes that made history of nations stronger than ours…”
– Tory!
– My point exactly, but he wasn’t done. So he continued …”we have trudged on, keeping faith with hope and looking forward to our Eldorado. Compatriots, we are not at Eldorado, and if the voice of the people is to be believed, it appears we haven’t found its road. In all honesty, I often feel like a blind leading the blind. This is hard for me to admit. Truth is, six years ago, I underestimated the challenges and kept telling myself, like Obama famously said – yes we can!”
– Dreams.
– Yes, dreams. Because the people echoed back – ‘yes we can’.
– Really?
– He continued….’but I don’t want us to just echo ‘yes we can’. I am happy tonight, that we called out our former leaders. General Yakubu Gowon steered the ship of state at a time when most people his age would’ve been overwhelmed by the challenges he faced. But he has kept faith with our nation. President Olusegun Obasanjo who has had the opportunity of leading this nation twice, a feat most dream but won’t dare ask God.”
– True.
– “President Shehu Shagari who just celebrated his birthday a few days ago. General Muhammadu Buhari, the man who twice ran against our party but yet threw political differences aside today to show up here”. And here, I heard a few shouts of ‘Sai Buhari’. But President Jones continued…”President Ibrahim Babangida”, here I heard a few chuckles. “Chief Ernest Shonekan on whose shoulder the military president dumped the ship of state when the ‘heat’ was unbearable. Two of our leaders since the Gowon era have passed, may their souls rest in peace.”
– And the people shouted ‘amen’, even for the goggled general?
– Shut up man, I am trying to reconstruct a speech that never was here.
– Yes you were.
– So, he continued “So, we called all these people here not knowing what fate had in store for our nation. Fellow compatriots, as I said before, we have gone through trying times and they are not over. I know it; you all know it, so no need to beat about the bush. These are trying times. The last two years have been most difficult for us as a people. The plague called Boko Haram has ravaged our land leaving in its trail, sorrows, tears, blood and a nation torn apart. A few days ago, over 50 children were murdered in their sleep in Buni Yadi. We could not have cancelled today’s celebrations because we have invited honoured guests. So I asked myself, how best we can defeat the psyche of fear unleashed on us like a looming shadow. I have decided to make us all stand while the minister of information and national orientation read the names of each of those children to our ears as solidarity with their parents and a nation in unprecedented grief.
– Whao, so they read the names?
– Yes each one and a tolling bell broke the silence and the sombre atmosphere, but you woke me up from the speech that never was.