B MARTIN AZUBUIKE UGBOMA

We are indeed grateful for a new year.

A time we make new year resolutions and hope and pray for new beginnings. It is also time for us all, Nigerians, to take a decision on chewing bitter leaves or using same to make bitter leaf soup.
The health benefits from chewing bitter leaf are numerous as they contain Andrographolide and Labdane diterpenoid which have been scientifically proven to have significant health benefits. However, the popular leaf chewed in Africa is Khat, an evergreen shrub used as a narcotic.

It is obvious that the bitter taste of the bitter leaf has left many deaf to its considerable health benefits. Consequently, relevance is largely in the preparation of bitter leaf soup, a delicacy, especially among the Igbos.

However, a new trend has emerged. In recent times, Nigerians, in great numbers have chosen to chew the bitter leaf and complain about its taste, rather than make the bitter leaf soup they cherish. This would have been a healthy development if the newfound love for chewing bitter leaf is associated with its known health benefits. But that is surely not the case, as Nigerians chew the bitter leaf only to lament and complain about its bitterness.

Each new day floods our WhatsApp pages with lamentations about the poor state of our dear country. Every Nigerian has become a Prophet of doom, seeing nothing but rot and bitterness in the country we all call home. Interestingly, no one apportions any blame to themselves. Civil servants revel on the dirt and sloppiness in the organizations they recently retired from as Top Dogs. Ditto for Bankers and senior military officers.

Yes!! They did no wrong in their time as very senior officials and were all renown system purifiers. Yet they fail to see the folly in their condemnation of the fruits of their 30 years of meritorious service.

Nigeria!!

Where every former state Governor displays cabinets adorned with plaques from various organizations proclaiming them Best Performing Governor.
Nigeria!!

Where the mind-blowing sum of $970m is the daily spend on online betting.
Nigeria!!

Where Betta Edu is appealing to all to wait for the dividends of Emilokan regime in 2025.
Nigeria!!

Where my tribe glamorized inexplicable and sudden wealth as “Ogbugo ozu na high sea”.
Nigeria!!

Where Hushpuppy will be released from jail and still become a Senator of the Federal Republic. It seems to me that an overwhelming majority on a road journey from Lagos to Onitsha only remember their android phones have cameras when they get to that awful stretch of bad road. Everyone starts a live stream, hissing, with the usual talk of how the country has become a failed state.

Led by a popular figure, we have the “in China” group with regular posts on technological wonders achieved by China, filled with Ai generated images. They are chased by the Canada party where a local vulcanizer will inexplicably raise millions in pursuit of a visa to Canada or anywhere, totally ignoring the potential transformation that applying the same funds to his business will propel.

We have the Head shakers Group. Everything about Nigeria is bad or must be bad. And they shake their heads and whisper how sorry they feel for us. As if they live on Mars!!

As kids, we were reminded that the grass is always greener on our neighbors’ lawn. Tragically, we mostly lived in houses without lawns, so the message was surely lost in translation.

An analysis of the bulk of unsolicited WhatsApp messages forwarded to our phones daily reveals a cacophony of videos, tales, skits all showcasing the tragedy of the nation we have all built, and in which we still hope to prosper.

The Holy book says all have sinned and fallen short of His glory.

And our religious leaders will remind us that acknowledging our sins is the first step to redemption. There is no excuse for all those bribes we have given for our driver’s licenses; for that bribe for our son’s university admission; for staying in line waiting for our turn to hammer in the same manner the people we call corrupt have accumulated wealth.

We have chosen to chew the bitter leaf to complain about its bitterness.

Making bitter leaf soup is not about playing the ostrich as we all live with the Police force that hounds and hunts citizens like a pack of wolfs, very few, if any Nigerian has ever experienced 24 hours without a break in public power supply. Our homes must have their own boreholes (For which states now charge for a permit), power generators, iron bars on doors and windows. We have all been chased by siren blaring convoys of Government vehicles in a rush to nowhere – leaving shards of shattered side mirrors and more in their wake. And have watched in shame as our leaders display stupendous wealth as if in competition with Davido and Burna boy on social media.

We live the annual ritual of replacing shock absorbers and exhaust pipes on our cars – parts that most car manufacturers say have a lifetime warranty. We have FRSC officers in rickety vehicles telling us our tires are expired. The Police ban and unban to charge for approvals, then ban the use of tinted glasses on cars. Our graduates roam the streets and are compelled to pay hefty bribes for jobs in Government offices.

They say if you live long enough, you will see enough.

So, in this storm, the gods have blessed us with patriots who decided to make bitter leaf soup.
Some of us witnessed the transformative leadership of NAFDAC led by Prof. Dora Akinluyi; and the total elimination of the decade’s long trauma of perpetual backlog for Nigerian Passports driven by the Minister of Interior, Olobunmi Tunji-Ojo. We say little drops of water………..We must pray that the gods provide us many more of these patriots who have demonstrated what we can all achieve with a positive mindset.

The sad reality is that this is the house we all built. And Martians will not appear to turn it to the utopia we desire. We, Nigerians, who have collectively built this house must awaken from our slumber and get to work!!! Sharing of videos highlighting our failures on social media will not wash away our transgressions. We should stop chewing the bitter leaf and instead, make bitter leaf soup.

For those who insist on chewing the bitter leaf, my prayer is that we focus on its health benefits which in this instance will translate to reminding all the roles we have played in creating this mess. And forcing us to repentance by doing all we can to bring about positive change within our circle of influence. This will be a good development in our quest for the Nigeria of our dreams.

Even then, in the words of Sir Shina Peters, I wish them “soonest recover”.
As for me and my household, we will make bitter leaf soup.

And continue to thank the gods for their numerous blessings on our dear country, while striving to build a nation true to the words of our anthem

•“Though tribe and tongue
•May differ
•In brotherhood we stand
•Nigerians all
•Are proud to serve
•Our sovereign motherland”

UGBOMA
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