A former member of the Nigerian Senate where he represented Edo South, Ehigie Uzamere, has lamented the contradictions in episodic seasons’ greetings in the context in which sanctity of human life no longer exists.
He highlighted the irony of life in our worsening nation’s socio-economic and political conditions in his message entitled: “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY”.
Read the message hereunder:
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President.
It is October 1st and anniversary of our independence. We are all inundated with our most popular cliché, our stereotypical greeting; happy Sunday, happy independence, happy Monday, happy everything. We seem to find solace in that euphoric greeting. We are so consumed in it that we forget to analyze our dire economic and social situations.
The way we are going today, there is no sanctity of human life. We daily hear of attacks by men in uniform, unknown gunmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani herdsmen. Entire villages are wiped out, families decimated, gory pictures of decapitated human heads, fatally shot and battered human beings, and yet we wish each other happy one thing or the other.
Our rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness has been debased and almost nonexistent. Are we truly happy? Circumstances we find ourselves in today, do they make for happy times? What is really there to cheer, when each breath we take may be our last? What is there to be happy over, when the guy standing next to you is an AK-47 wielding man waiting to release volt of shots to end lives. Are we happy that Nigeria has been re-colonised since independence, by an ethnic minority of less than 5% of our population? Can we surmise that Nigeria died the year she was born?
If however we are happy for a better tomorrow come 2023, we implore, that God has mercy on our nation. But we have to change, so that our wishes for happy days and events, will elicit true happiness. We have been praying. God is not deaf. It is time we galvanised ourselves into positive action, rather than remain comatose, suffering and smiling. Thomas Jefferson aptly captured the essence of life in his words quoted above. May our nation witness true happiness bestowed equitably to us all.
May God give our nation peace as we mark our 61st independence anniversary.
In God I trust,
Senator Ehigie Uzamere
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
