The National Pledge… Should it be re-written?

LEVI UGOCHUKWU

“I pledge to Nigeria my country,
To be faithful, loyal and honest…”
The above lines constitute the most important part of the pledge which we recite regularly to remind ourselves the enormous duties we owe to our fatherland. In fact, it forms the fulcrum on which the entire contents revolve.

I would  have loved to stand aloof, watching in isolation the unfolding  and perhaps unending absurd National developments which are threatening the survival and stability  of our cherished nascent democracy, but the more I try, the more I am caught up in a  whirling vortex of emotion to scribble down a few lines in other to draw the attention of my compatriots to the words of the national pledge yearning and yelling for implementation.
I remember in nostalgia a song that ushers us into the classrooms from the assembly ground during the primary and secondary school days “On my honour as a scholar, I will do my best” and the chorus says “Do your best now” The time is always right to do right because the foundation of a better tomorrow is laid today just as the foundations of corruption was laid many years ago in this country.

I remember in nostalgia a song that ushers us into the classrooms from the assembly ground during the primary and secondary school days “On my honour as a scholar, I will do my best” and the chorus says “Do your best now” The time is always right to do right because the foundation of a better tomorrow is laid today just as the foundations of corruption was laid many years ago in this country.

I am not writing to condemn anybody but for  those that make up the government at all levels irrespective of position and those that make up the populace irrespective of status to know and understand that the recitation of the national pledge should not be restricted within the confines of ceremonial functions but ought to be stretched to a practicable application in all ramifications so that we can collectively stem the tide of corruption prevalent in all the sectors of the economy.

Therefore, permit me to state unequivocally without mincing words but with absolute humility and allegiance to my fatherland that the national pledge be re-written to suit the prevailing mood of the Nation or be accorded the requisite respect as a National identity by working in absolute conformity with it’s dictations and principles.

I implore you to pause for a while, recite the national pledge from beginning to the end, analyze and bring out the salient words, then look around and see if the activities of the leaders and the led are portrayed in those words. Your guess will be as good as mine because conscience is an open wound which only the truth can heal.

To say that this country has an effective and  efficient economic system with reference to her comparative advantage over the neighboring countries in the west African sub-region is an over statement.

Over the years,  there has been steady growth in  population rate, a situation which ought to be taken care of by the provision of adequate lucrative means that will ensure even distribution of wealth, instead  the implementation of harsh policies which deter economic development becomes the order of the day extending the margin between the bourgeoisie and the proletariats.

The wound inflicted in the hearts of Nigerians as a result of the January 1, 2012 fuel subsidy removal by the federal government is still gushing out blood but instead of ensuring healing, it has been reopened with the introduction of  5,000 naira note into the nation’s money market which will obviously cause inflation as well as erode the value of naira before the international money markets.

Nigeria is by far the most populated of Africa’s countries, with more than one-seventh of the continent’s population, blessed with both human and natural resources but inefficiency in it’s management as well as administrative instability have been her greatest  undoing since independence and yet we recite the national pledge, oblivious of it’s  demands from us.

It behooves the entire citizenry irrespective of class to subject fully to  the dictates of these lines in review. There are three words assuring us of a stable, comfortable and reliable nation state if fully incorporated in  the scheme of things. “faithfulness, loyalty, honesty”. These words can transform Nigeria into a country where the  state controlled socialism and bridled capitalism will be a thing of the past, where the needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich, the right of the workers  over the maximization of profits, the preservation of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion.

, and production to meet social needs takes precedence over production for frivolities, where the principles of constitutionalism, rule of law, checks and balances, respect for fundamental human rights and civil liberties are in place, where ethnicity and tribalism do not determine who gets what, where, how, when and why, where there is even allocation of seats irrespective of religious affiliations, where justice, equity and fair play become the by-products of every government’s policy and programme.

It is indeed distressing to find  out that the distribution of income and wealth in Nigeria is so inequitable that it violates the minimum standard of distributive justice.

Therefore government at all levels as the sole custodian of national honour and glory should strive to maintain faithfulness in governance, uphold public opinion as a way of demonstrating loyalty to the electorates from whom they received mandate and support, enshrine honesty as not only paramount in individual characters but integral in the performance of governmental functions.

It is only when these are achieved that the relevance of the national pledge when recited will be significantly revealed before the glaring eyes of all and sundry.
National Daily