In America, every fourth of July, they remember and celebrate an experiment in freedom. It is an experiment that continues to change the world, based on the gamble that people govern best when they govern themselves.
Here in Kogi state, we watch movies, eat too much food, get a day off from work or school (public holidays), and we throw words around like “freedom” and “revolution”. We celebrate those words like the Americans, but have forgotten that they fought so hard for them, and they attempt to remember how they achieved them.
Rarely, however, do we discuss words like “sacrifice” or “responsibility”, but we may want to start. I often think about the risk it took for people to leave their homes and come to the New World. There were no airplanes, no computers, no internet, and no machinery. They spent months on a ship, where many of them died, and then they settled a land with no guarantees if they would thrive or starve. When settlers left to come there, they had nothing, but risked everything.
And, I think about those who at one time or the other fought for independence. They knew that they might die fighting for their freedom, but they fought anyway. They felt a “responsibility” for establishing freedom and made the ultimate “sacrifice”.
Struggle and incredible sacrifice built the foundation of the United States of America and we in Kogi state should be prepared for same as we owe our predecessors a great deal for all they endured for the chance to be free. As a phrase of our for National Anthem reads “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain”, they had no security, no guarantees, and no safety nets. They only had the chance to create the lives that they wanted for themselves and for our great national Nigeria.
Today, Kogites, you also have the opportunity to create the life you want! And, you don’t have to cross the Atlantic in order to live that life. You don’t have to build a house on unsettled lands, and you don’t require a Squanto.
You don’t need to fight off cholera or wild animals, either. The only animal that you have to face is your own temptation to run to safety and comfort.
You have the luxury to create the exact life that you want to live starting today. Because of our incredible abundance, there is a trend today of choosing “comfortable” over the living the life that you really desire. We fantasize about comfort like it is the end goal; we subsidize poverty, live on credit, and bail out those who fail, and this is how we get through hard times.
But our grand experiment was never built on the idea of being comfortable or having an easy life; we were founded on the idea of creating life by our own means which in Kogi state, we have all it takes. God has endowed us with much mineral resources for self sustainability.
Those who fought for freedom had no safety, and they had no guarantees, but they changed the world. Because of them, we now live in a world where anything is possible.As for me, far be it from me to choose comfort over our freedom as I believe it is same with all sincere advocates of a freed kogi state.
So as we prepare for the 16th of November, consider these questions:
Are you defending your morals and values as strongly as they defended theirs?
Are you standing for something, or are you running for safety?
Are you representing the change that you want to see in our dear state?
Are you fighting as hard for your dream as the American founders fought for freedom?
Remember, you have more opportunity than anyone else in history. You can contact anyone with the push of button, travel anywhere, and do anything that you’ve ever wanted. Be conscious of that, and do not squander it; many men have fought for you to have this incredible abundance.
Today, you will hear the fireworks, you will eat a hot dog, and you will hug your cousins. As you do, remember that your dream is possible.All it takes is for you to fight for it as hard as your predecessors fought for you to have the opportunity.
– Gideon Ayodele, a Kogi-born publisher, writer and media practitioner, writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
