Home is where the heart is

 Photo Credit: Courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Ofuani (Country home, Ubulu-Okiti, Delta State, Nigeria).

This picture reminds me that there is beauty everywhere and in everyone. There are countries that have been written off, but I have learnt to turn a deaf ear to stereotypes and information that have negative impacts and can turn one’s judgement into an essay of bias notions. In my home, we have the potential to be beautiful but sometimes it seems like we are afraid of our light, and all we can do. In fact, I attended a book jam recently where the host asked us to explain in our own words what we thought the quote for the day meant. After debating and discerning, that the Author meant sometimes people are afraid of how great they could be or having to live up to high standards, which will all know is very difficult and demanding, some of the members couldn’t help but laugh with wry humour. To them the Author was talking to us. They felt defeated, asking when things would change if ever. I was the youngest person in that room that evening and somehow I had the confidence to give a poem talking about my love for my country. A country is only failed when its citizens no longer believe in it.  A country is a thing, and its citizens are the ones with the power to choose if it will be an important or useless entity. There was a time in my life, when I really felt lost. My family travelled a lot to different countries, so it was really no big deal to me then. I could not understand why people yearned to be citizens of other countries when those other countries had their own problems to deal with. Either way I joined. I disliked going to my village or involving myself in country activities.

 Photo Credit: Courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Ofuani (Country home, Ubulu-Okiti, Delta State, Nigeria).

2 years ago, my Dad forced me to come to the village with the family. Of course I was reluctant. I was still very young and very ignorant. By the time we arrived, I was amazed by what I saw. I saw everything in a new light.  From that day till now I have been really proud to call myself a Nigerian because it wasn’t Lebanese, German or Swedish architects that made our village as  beautiful as it could be, it was Nigerians. Maybe if we believed in ourselves a lot more, tried harder to see all the things we can accomplish as one, we would indeed be one of the top countries we admire so much.

Anyway, I’m just a teenager, with a long way to go and a lot to learn. Even if what I say doesn’t count now, I hope it inspires other people to want to be a part of their country’s development and see it get to where it should be.

Written: Friday, July 27th 2012.

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