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The
wife of the outgoing Greek ambassador, Mrs. Eva Dafaranos, was quoted
as having said the following about her experience in this country:
“When I came to Nigeria…I said to myself: the Nigerian people are so
happy. There is something different about Nigeria; no matter the
diversity, the people are happy. They are kind to each other and they
believe in God. I feel Africans and Nigerians are the best of the human
race.” This characterisation brings to mind a similar one made by the
former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros
Ghali,who is said to have called Nigerians the happiest people in the
world and would wish to be born a Nigerian, were he to have a second
life. The BBC also reported in October 2003 that a study of more than
65 countries suggested,“the happiest people live in Nigeria”.

When those
statements were made years ago I felt rather good about them, believing
that they paid tribute to our resilience as a people, able to keep
their spirits up even in rather trying circumstances.

We’re obviously a
fun-loving people, drumming and dancing, seeking every opportunity to
throw a party, and apparently quick to shrug off whatever problems
assail us as God’s will. Life must go on.

This time around,
however, reading Mrs. Dafaranos’ declaration, I felt very bad indeed,
almost insulted. Six good years have gone by since 2003, and I wonder
if that characterisation still holds – or indeed, whether it is proper
for it to still hold. Those of you reading these lines, are you happy –
truly happy – about our current situation as a country?

Actually, I hold no
grudge against Mrs. Dafaranos; I am sure she is paying us a sincere
compliment. The problem is, I wonder whether this might not actually be
an indictment on us? That is, with all the difficulties facing us now
as a nation, we still come across as a happy people! Is something wrong
somewhere?

To my mind, there
are at least two ways to explain this phenomenon. The first is that
such characterisations might be based more on observations made on the
minority, party-throwing Nigerian population. After all, which category
of Nigerians do ambassadors hobnob with? Certainly not the ordinary
people on the streets! I am not sure that happiness is so easily
discernible on the face of the labourer struggling hard to eke out a
living, going home to his family of five at the end of the day with
less than the equivalent of one dollar in his pocket.

When the minister
of education feels comfortable enough to throw a lavish party at a time
when all the public universities in the nation are closed, then he must
be an incorrigibly happy person. When leaders celebrate their
children’s weddings with sums of money that far exceed the budgets of
federal institutions (hospitals, universities, etc), then they must be
truly happy, for they obviously see themselves as having been so well
favoured by their circumstances (that is, the public positions they
occupy), and they just have to let it be known.

The second possible
explanation might be even more worrisome, for it suggests that we are a
bunch of unthinking people, unable to recognise or feel the gravity of
our situation and act accordingly – and this is not limited to the
leaders or the society’s crème de la crème, sadly. It’s like we’re
morons living in an unreal world, a world of make-believe. We close our
eyes to the reality and continue on our happy-go-lucky way.

Many of us fall
under this category. We readily overshoot our financial abilities when
there’s an occasion to celebrate, mortgaging children’s school fees and
other important considerations in favour of a talk-of-the-neighbourhood
party.

We decide on an aso
ebi that is beyond the reach even of some members of the immediate
family – but they just have to find a way to pay for it, and they do!
People travel five hundred kilometres in ramshackle buses on terrible
roads for the burial ceremony of their boss’ friend’s husband’s
grandfather, telling themselves that they absolute have to be there.
Some of us cannot survive a party-less weekend; we are addicted to
pleasure – and the country might fall apart if it pleases! I wonder,
how did Ghana manage to turn things around for itself – by pursuing the
happiness road? I remember that when I was an undergraduate in the
seventies some Ghanaian students once came for the West African Games
and their situation was so pitiful, we had to contribute money to buy
soap, toothpaste and other basic needs for them to take back home.

Now, thirty years on, Nigerian children are applying to study in
Ghanaian schools because we have chosen to leave our own educational
institutions to rot. And I’m being told we’re a happy people! A version
of this article was first published on July 23, 2009