Time to revisit our past

Long down memory lane was a time like no other when motives behind every single action and inaction by heads, chiefs, rulers and leaders and coming down to ordinary people alike were all positive, all inclusive and in the best interest of all. The opposite is what we now have! It was a time when […]

Long down memory lane was a time like no other when motives behind every single action and inaction by heads, chiefs, rulers and leaders and coming down to ordinary people alike were all positive, all inclusive and in the best interest of all. The opposite is what we now have!

It was a time when positive ideology, patriotism, selflessness and excellent togetherness played to their peak and naturally disabled an inbuilt desire for man to resort to the direct opposite of the said attributes which ultimately play out today. This time existed in the past and reminiscing it however keeps the mind longing for a return.

The excellent togetherness exhibited then was simply amazing. It was in the spirit of inculcating and sustaining this noble attribute in the minds of the people, the youths especially, that the pristine setting of the time were not in any way rejigged let alone tampered with. Not tampering with the setting as it was then was what ensured and snowballed incessant rolledup benefits from which a leaf can be borrowed to help dig deep down and offset the intricacies of today.

Though the environment then was not as sophisticated as it is now with virtually little or no ingredients of a modern life for most communities; cars, TV, cameras, phones, fridges, electricity, tap-water etc., life went on very warmly and in very many ways fulfilled. It was an atmosphere where the people were in total appreciation of their being very close to nature and the bunch of goods it had to offer; the wonderful and lively ambiance of calmness free from all forms of disturbances, distractions, unrests, agitations and insecurity as these aptly describe our present day Nigeria.

It is regrettable however to say that our country may perhaps not in the near future, if at all possible, be seen to have these uniqueness and humaneness in its people simply because long ago the tenets, guidance, counselling, teachings and traditions of our past were swept under the carpet and laid to rest. Reason is that our good old norms and values are very much behind us. Now that Nigeria is 58, an age without much to show for it, revisiting our past to do the needful is the way to go, and not staging all manner of celebrations for really no genuine causes for it.

Mustapha G. Jama’a, Makarfi, Kaduna State