Custodian or Citizen

Hello, its been a while, trust you are doing great and getting ready for your voice to be heard through your vote, remember no apathy for a change agent. Anyways let's get down to the business of the day: Custodian or Citizen. Which one are you?

I checked my Encarta Dictionary to find out more on what Custodian really means and here are definitions by Encarta: Person responsible for something valuable: somebody responsible for holding or looking after valuable property on behalf of a company or another person (2) Upholder of something valuable: a protector and upholder of something seen as valuable and endangered such as traditions or moral values. I will stick with the second definition. I see a custodian as an upholder and protector of moral values.

I just put the definition down to enable us have an understanding of who a custodian is. So who is a citizen? My Encarta also puts it this way: Legal resident of country: somebody who has the right to live in a country because he or she was born there or has been legally accepted as a permanent resident. From the two definitions, we can comfortably define which one we are. So I am asking you, are you a custodian or citizen?

It’s not difficult to identify where you belong, I can tell you that, you know why? Because you know yourself, you know what you do everyday. You know if you are a citizen and a custodian of this nation when you ensure that moral values you have learnt over the years are upheld by you and yours, when you try everything within your powers to protect your integrity knowing that it will invariably rob off on the nation at large, when you speak the truth at all times not minding the consequences, when you preach and encourage unity in all fronts, when you are eager to show love to your neighbour, when you are ready to give your all towards a good course, when your heart bleeds on the news of kidnapping, looting of public treasury and robbery.

You are a citizen and a custodian when your passion is on national transformation, when you will do everything to improve the lives of people around you, when your heart bleeds because your nation is topping the list of corrupt nations in the world, and the passion to have that impression corrected eats you up. You are a custodian when you are selfless in your service to your nation; you don’t see leadership position as a means of enriching your life but an opportunity to be a servant leader, one who can stand for integrity no matter what.

You are a custodian and a citizen when you always pray for the peace of your country, when you carry out your civic responsibility without apathy. Election is around the corner, a custodian and a citizen will not stand aloof and watch corrupt leaders take over the mantle of leadership when he understands the important role his vote will play.

But you are just a citizen when you are legal resident of this country, pay your tax, utility bills, have a good job, you are not bothered about political or economic condition of the country, what is important to you is your life, family and work. Every other thing as to what happens to the country where you are resident does not bother you. So many of us fall under this category, some belong here because they have given up on this nation and the leaders, they have concluded that nothing good is going to happen, so what’s the point in disturbing their lives over values and concerns for the nation.

I have an advice for you, come join us, as a custodians, we don’t give up hope, we don’t give up the fight for our right. We have learnt lessons from people and nations who never gave up and won the battle in the long run, we will keep protecting our nation, upholding our moral values until victory is achieved. President Barrack Obama captured my thought well during his inauguration, hear him “"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task".

Nigeria suffers more from our continued inaction than from the problems, fellow Custodians, don’t give up, quitters never win and winners don’t quit, I know what you think, the situation seems gloomier than ever, but remember that the darkest night is close to the day. Nigeria will get there as a nation, but not without you!

Change begins with you!