Do We Really Need Patriotism Campaign? -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

It was on Monday (this week) that the federal government launched what can be called a national campaign aimed at promoting responsible citizenship, patriotism and public accountability. The initiative, called “My Nigeria, My Responsibility,” was unveiled at the State House in Abuja by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris. It was launched apparently to prepare the minds of Nigerians to embrace the tax regime which implementation, all other things being equal, is just about a month away.

For instance, at the launching, Idris said “Patriotism is in the taxes you pay.” That is true. Every patriotic citizen should be willing to pay tax especially when they are reasonably taxed by a reasonable government. What Idris did not mention is what the government has been doing or failed to do with the tax being paid by the citizens.

Highlighting the necessity to pay tax, Idris described taxation as a “concrete transaction of trust between a citizen and the state.” This, in reference to Nigeria, is theoretical and idealistic. The truth is that there is no trust between the Nigerian citizens and the Nigerian state. Many Nigerians, up till today, do not know what the money saved from the so-called oil subsidy removal that threw the masses into a direful living condition is used for.

Ask an average Nigerian, and they will probably tell you that the savings from subsidy are being stupendously and calculatedly spent on governors to key them into the Emilokan project and lure them to start singing the “on your mandate we shall stand” lyric. Take a look at the opposition governors who are yet to sing the “on your mandate we shall stand” song publicly; they are either warming up to join the APC or have fixed the date of formal admission into the ruling party.

Given this background, do we really need patriotism campaign? We should not lose sight of the fact that this is not the first time to launch such campaign. In the past, we have heard “Re-branding Nigeria” which was aimed at changing the way Nigerians have been perceived both locally and internationally. The outcome was disastrous because it failed to improve the country’s international image.

We also had the “Change Begins with Me” campaign, which turned out to be a huge scam. It failed because the so-called rulers who launched it weren’t ready to change themselves. Thus, the change could not begin with them. It is disappointing that it was during this period that Nigeria was described as a shithole.

It is axiomatic that people often emulate the character of their rulers. If the rulers are good and surrounded by good people, the masses will be responsible citizens. For instance, there would be no need for a campaign to sermonize people to pay taxes, because the masses would not need to be told to do what they are convinced is their civic duty and responsibility.

In his 1892 article published in the North American Review Vol. 154, No. 425, page 385-400 tilted “Patriotism and politics,” James Gibbons explained that patriotism is a sentiment, but not born of material and physical well-being. Patriotism is rather, he averred, “a sentiment that the poverty of country and the discomforts of climate do not diminish, that the inflictions of conquest and despotism do not augment. The truth is, it is a rational instinct placed by the Creator in the breast of man. When God made man a social being, He gave him a sentiment that urges him to sacrifice himself for his family and his country, which is, as it were, his larger family.” (Page 387).

Gibbons sounds religious. He was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. Read the quote above again. Who among the current Nigerian rulers can be considered patriotic? Who among them has the sentiment that urges him to sacrifice himself for Nigeria? Did anyone observe the fast, vicious, sweet, and decisive attack launched by President Tinubu, through our gallant military men, against the coupists in Benin Republic to reinstall the democratically elected president? That gave him a headache, and he quickly found solution to it.

However, the killings all over Nigeria apparently do not disturb the peace of our rulers who want the citizens to be patriotic. Until the US President Trump threatened to invade the country, our rulers were cocooned and undisturbed in their fortified homes. It would have taken just a little exhibition of patriotism to launch offensive attacks against bandits, kidnappers, unknown gunmen, and other agents of Satan who are intent on setting Nigeria on fire. But where is the patriot who would do that?

A patriot, according to Chinua Achebe, “is one who cares deeply about the happiness and well-being of his country and all its people…A true patriot will always demand the highest standards of his country and accept nothing but the best for and from his people. He will be outspoken in condemnation of their short-comings without giving way to superiority, despair or cynicism.” You can find this quote in Achebe’s 1983 book titled “The trouble with Nigeria,” page 15-16.

“Let us reignite our patriotism in action” is another quote attributed to the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mr Idris. If Idris is serious about his call for a renewed sense of shared responsibility, he should take that campaign to President Tinubu. He should politely educate him that a true patriot should always demand the highest standards of his country and accept nothing but the best for and from his people. He should be outspoken in condemnation of their short-comings. Idris should not forget to tell the President that his appointees should be committed patriots with track records. He should also be time conscious; five minutes should be enough to do that especially if the first lady is present.

I have not seen the President doing any of these. But I have seen the President appointing people either with questionable characters or under questionable circumstance. How can the government expect Nigerians to be patriotic when patriotism is known not to be rewarded in the country?

How does the government intend to convince its citizens that it is patriotic with its nonchalant attitude towards the daily loss of lives of the masses to marauding bandits? Although the US President Donald Trump recently galvanized Tinubu into action. As a result, among other measures taken to tackle insecurity, he gave directive that men in uniform should be withdrawn from protecting the VIPs and go back to their posts where they would be assigned to their constitutional duty of protecting the country and the citizens. By this directive, lawmakers and ministers will also have to go around without a retinue of policemen giving them protection. This is a welcome development and the President deserves out commendations.

Yet, it is not a display of patriotism. I have not seen the President ordering his son to stop that abuse of power that makes him move around as if he is a president in his own right with heavily armed men, whom Prof. Wole Soyinka considered to be large enough to stop coup plotters in Benin Republic.

Soyinka whom many believe to have lost his patriotic voice that habitually condemns government’s wrongdoings immediately found his voice at the sight of crass abuse of power by the President’s son. How patriotic is the president who denies his ministers and lawmakers the protection of heavily armed men but allows his son that has no constitutional role in government to move around with the same heavily armed men that are large enough to quell military coup in foreign country? This abuse of taxpayers’ money is a serious indictment of unpatriotic behavior.

Mr. Mohammed Idris might go ahead with “My Nigeria, My Responsibility” initiative, but the campaign should be directed to the right quarters.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen 

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com