What’s the Nigerian Dream?

I slept on this thought and woke up forgetting all that I thought of while I was groggy. I started pondering on this after seeing the “How not to kill the Nigerian Dream” article in Vanguard Nigeria, published on the 22th of January. I excitedly had opened the article only to be disappointed. It was a well written piece publicizing a book written by Gani Fawehimi. I had no problem with the article except that it made a promise that it didn't keep.
I, however keep wondering, what exactly is the Nigerian Dream? The article does not explain, talk less of say how to kill it. I am still intrigued by the idea. Maybe it has to do with the current situation in our country, maybe not. I wonder how we would characterize the Nigerian Dream. If I ask Sikiru, the roadside vulcanizer, what would he say? If I ask Iya Tunji, the puff-puff hawker, what would she declare the Nigerian Dream to be? If I ask Chigozie, the recent graduate who hasn’t gotten much luck in his job search, what shall he say? If I ask Nuru, the nomad, wetin he go ansa? But pray I ask Senator whomever, what answer shall I get?

Although each individual response may vary, something tells me that it would all have the same underlying message. A chance to dream, see and feel it. But as I start to feel happy, a thought flashes that bursts my optimistic bubble. Is it actually a Nigerian Dream or is it a transposition of an American Dream with the word Nigeria in front. Is there really something as a Nigerian Dream? Maybe that’s the reason why Japhet Alakam didn’t define it in his expose.

As I ponder, my mind drifts to Ije – the movie I am dying to see. There is this phrase that haunts me. Chi says as she steps out of the yellow cab, “They say America is the gateway to heaven, how many ever get to see the other side.” Maybe I plugged in this quote where it does not belong. But America being the gateway to heaven is part of the American Dream brand. Yes, the American Dream is an idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all people have the potential to live happy and successful lives. But it’s more than that, it’s an aura, a feeling, something intangible but you know is there, something that is consistent and constant. At least we think so. Ask any Nigerian at the American Embassy what the American Dream is, they will tell you the same thing. The American Dream is to achieve prosperity and success regardless of your status as an immigrant or a non-immigrant.

Every country has its ups and down, its uptown and downtown and its rich and poor, but the success of a country depends on the hope it gives everyone. The best a country can give her people is the knowledge that they can be anything they determine to be. That you need to dream it, stick to it, weather the storms (because they shall surely come) and you can achieve it. However, we live or we are part of a country which boasts proudly of a large distance between the poor and the rich.

If you ask me, my Nigerian Dream is a Nigeria where my kids can dream and realize their dream(s) without the help of their parents. My Nigerian Dream is knowing that my kids are proud of their mother and learn about strength from her. As I write, the movie Secretariat, comes to mind. My Nigerian Dream is to be Penny Chenery Tweedy. Only the horse is something different. At this point you may think, surely she is tripping. All she listed are just mere dreams and aspiration. Why make it national and believe that I might relate with it? To your thoughts I say, "That’s because I am coming from nothing to building an empire." My Nigerian Dream is the idea that I can make it. That it doesn’t matter where I come from. Whether my father is Sikiru; or my mother, Iya Tunji; or Chigozie, my brother; my uncle, Nuru, yet I am able to dream big and achieve it.