Gradually, a pseudo-Latin song whose most popular lines include a continuous repetition of the word ` Dorime’ has become the anthem of Nigerian debauchery, holding young people in its toxic thrall.
It has not just become the favourite tune of many nightly wild parties, the Nigerian entertainment industry which embraces artistes, comedians, disc jockeys and hype men have all seized on it to create many moments that effortlessly send many young Nigerians into a frenzy even on the coldest nights.
Simply put, the song tells about extravagance. The song extols extravagance and the glory that comes from lavish unrestrained spending. The song has become wildly popular and the reasons are not far-fetched.
In the present age of social media, there is a tendency for the grass on the other side to look much greener than it really is. Thus, with Nigerian celebrities falling all over themselves to create their own style, draw a huge following out of Nigeria`s young people and of course rake in millions of naira, all manner of things is put out there to whip the impressionable into a frenzy.
Thus, a decadent culture where anything and everything goes is fostered. With the country coming apart at the seams as insecurity and poverty run riot, Nigeria`s young people are forced to bear witness to the horrific disintegration of their dreams even as they hold shards of promises made to them but broken in their hands. To cope, to somehow survive, a sort of escapism is eminently necessary. Thus, what is really sought in the crimes which convulse Nigeria are escape routes. There are the wildly popular cyber-based crimes that are proving a handful even for Nigeria`s most sophisticated crime fighting agencies.
What do many young people want these days? A painless effortless life. Cursed with toil when the ancient judgment was pronounced and unlike Job, many a wary young Nigerian want a travel without toil. But is that possible? In a country broken by the avarice and kleptocracy of those entrusted with the public funds, is that even remotely possible?
Nigeria`s giant Finger of Blame for the moral morass eating up its young people must mercilessly rake the backs of those who have directly held public offices – and those who in holding leadership positions in traditional institutions, religious organizations and the private sectors have indirectly held public offices in Nigeria. In many ways they have contributed to the rot eating up the great hopes of the Giant of Africa. All of them will have questions to answer at the tribunal of history.
Nigeria`s young people must stare back at the beast staring them in the face with dignity and defiance. The benighted Giant of Africa depends on them. The redemption of the country will come from the big hearts of its young people. It will come from home and within. The desiccated leaves of the gnarled tree of a giant country can again come alive with greenness. Then the sirens of greener pastures in faraway countries from whence dangle the chains of slavery, ancient and modern will one day fail to lure so that away from every distraction, Nigeria can concentrate on building the country that Nigerians, Africans and the whole world have been waiting for and dreading for so long.
Hope used to burn brightly that Nigeria would become the world`s first superpower from Africa. But that hope has long withered, strangled by a combination of abysmal governance and intractable corruption. Where the trappings of the world`s first African superpower are supposed to radiate, there are instead the tatters of a country in the throes of desolation, despair and disrepair.
More than any other Nigerian demographic, it is the young demographic that most feels the pinch of a country lurching about in darkness. So, if the crime rate is rising, it is because so many young people have nothing to do. If terrorism now has a seemingly inexhaustible pool from which to draw conscripts, it is because so many young able-bodied men are idle and without hope.
The road to Nigeria`s recovery looks a forbiddingly rough one and Nigeria`s young people must be prepared to travel it. Thus, they must do everything within their powers to stay away from the dangers that lurk in the sirens which tickle their fancy.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
