JAMES’ JOURNAL (Entry 21)

November 25

Quite a number of times, the question of what is wrong with Nigeria comes up. Why is a country as blessed and rich as ours so messed up and finding it hard to get her act together?

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of common answers: the government, corruption, terrible education, the fact that we were colonised… yada, yada, yada.

Sure, these are all problems. However they are not THE problem. What’s wrong with Nigeria? You and me.

Nothing is going to change in this country if we keep pointing fingers at each other, thinking we personally are not to blame.

These leaders you see up there, they didn’t spring from the cesspools of corruption and greed just like that. They were once normal citizens like us…citizens that got to become the elite. They were brought up to believe that stealing and half-truths are normal.

I’ve heard people say that we should overthrow them and let the young ones come into power. But I tell you that it’s not going to change a single thing. I have mates who say if they find themselves in politics, they would steal as much as they can too. Are those the people who want to change things? People run by greed, who are only looking out for themselves? Nah.

Nothing is going to change if we simply cut down what’s been planted. We need a total uprooting, and then planting of new seeds into the younger generation’s minds. Seeds that will grow into trees of genuine love for the country and the desire to see if move forward.

This will be hard and would take a long time to achieve. But it is possible. I’m not sure how far gone from help my generation is, but the young impressionable minds should be shielded from the erroneous notion that corruption is normal, that it is okay for the country to be in shambles, that when things go wrong, we should look for the nearest person to blame.

One thing I think can impact these young ones is the media. The media has power like no other, even more than that of parents and peers. If little ones are exposed to cartoons, music, literature and whatnot talking about bringing out the good in the country and being responsible for one’s actions, then we are one step towards the betterment of the country.

And of course, you and I have personal roles to play. Try not to read this and forget what’s been said. It’s time to stop blaming others for our calamities and be responsible.

Now that I am done with that bit of weird patriotic rant…

I’d like to say I have nothing to write about. But I do. Just that there’s only so much you can put up on the Internet. Some things should be private.

School is taking up most of my life. Not a Monday goes by where I don’t have a test scheduled. It’s annoying because I have to spend most of the weekend studying. Then there’s the 8 – 5 classes with some breaks in between. On some days, we have 3-hour classes straight, and others are a mix of 1 or 2 hour classes. It’s easier to assimilate in the shorter classes; I dunno why the people that make the timetables not realise that. Why do they make students sit for 3 hours at noon, sometimes in a humid environment? I wonder if they have forgotten what it’s like to be students. Oh well…

I can say the semester is going by smoothly. 98% of my tests have been fab. I still hate Parasitology, although they’ve started talking about insects, and that is interesting. What’s with all the names sef? Urgh… As if it isn’t enough that I have to remember my lecturers’ and classmates’ names, now I have to remember the names of bugs and protozoa.

I sometimes think I’d like the course I was doing more if it was taken more seriously. Don’t get me wrong, I like vet medicine. I chose it myself. I want to be able to help animals that are sick. But getting into the system has made me realise that it’s more than just liking the animals. It’s a very challenging field to be in, as challenging as medicine, if not more. But we don’t get some of the perks medical students do, like hostels to themselves, an almost separate timetable, convenient means of transport – stuff like that. Instead we were thrown into the outskirts of the school where cabs would rather not go. We have to wait along with the rest of the students to get our accommodations sorted. Out Clinic sef is even small and nothing to write home about.

I read somewhere that you can get a good idea of how a country treats its humans by the way they treat their animals. I agree.

Then, there are some uninformed people who think all I’m going to be good for is checking meat. Lol. If I didn’t check the meat you are eating, you’d be infested with tapeworms and some horrible nasty shii that’s almost enough to turn you vegetarian. But I’m not here to throw shade.

My phone is still at the repair shop. I’m currently using a device that has a very fucked up battery and little memory space. It’s been a month and some days, but these people keep saying that they are still waiting for parts. I’m angry. But there’s nothing I can do. The repairs are free. I did go there with the thoughts of showing my anger awhile ago, but the person behind the desk started to plead that I shouldn’t be angry and stuff like that. I realised it’s not even to them I should complain. I’m just frustrated. Some of my notes are in soft copy. I need to use YouTube videos to supplement my knowledge because I remember what I see and hear very well and I zone out easily in class. It has forced me to pay more attention but still…

One thing I miss the most however is my music. Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, The Script, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Glee, Reliant K, and most importantly Owl City. I honestly got so depressed one time just because I hadn’t heard them. Lol. Chai. But I’m managing a few songs on my temporary device.

Posts are going to come up a bit more infrequently from me. I don’t even have a lot of time to play the guitar. I also don’t want to write unless I have something tangible to say… Or I need to reduce some of the load in my head.

I’m tired and it’s only Tuesday… *sigh*

Written by James