Martin Luther King: An icon for Nigerians
It is exactly fifty years since the death of Martin Luther king Jr. He lived all his life fighting for a course that up till today the world still commemorates his demise.
Being a black African-American, Martin Luther, became a social activist to wither the social inequality, racial discrimination and injustice perverting the communal relationship between the white and black communities in the United State of America.
Interesting enough is that he did not do this only for the Americans but every black race. Though Luther knew he might not live to witness this egalitarianism, but the people one day will surely see this. This was prophetically stated in a speech penultimate day to his death when he says, “I’ve been to the mountaintop. I’ve seen the promise land. I may not get there with you. But as a people, we will get to the promise land.”
He never fought for only his state or religion to have freedom; nor a political party to clinch power but for social justice to prevail in the American social affairs. He offered himself as sacrificial lamb to this noble course that even after his death, the generation unborn will live to testify.
He never sees colour or ethnicity for judging one’s content. But he believes in credibility of character as a yardstick to that. In one of his popular speeches in 1963, he says, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Though fifty years now after his death, America cannot beat its chest and say that all forms of social injustices have been eliminated.
But to a large extent has remained one of the most open societies on earth. As no one stands to deny the fact that the emergence of Barack Obama as the first Black-American president is attributable to this.
To plant his crusade across the globe, Martin Luther travelled to Ghana in 1957 to grace the independence and swearing in of the country’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. And three years later, he did such to Nigeria in 1960 for its first president, Nnamdi Azikiwe. Though the fire of oneness and Nationalism was already blazing as ignited by the trio of Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Azikiwe; concerns by panAfricans like Martin Luther added more fuel to it.
However, events have changed so far with Nigerians taking different dimensions of course and beliefs. Ethnicity, religion and political affiliations now taking the centre stage. A northerner never sees a southerner as a compatriot. And a Christian hardly sees his Muslim neighbour as a fellow countryman.
Politicians have far succeeded in planting spirits of divisiveness at the expense of oneness, equality and social justice. Painful enough is that the so called youths that should be at the vanguard of justice and fairness, are now drummers of hypocrisy and social difference. Martin Luther King was at his youthful age when he started his dream of an egalitarian society. He did not crusade his course on the altar of political creed or religion even as a Baptist minister. Sentiments have beclouded sense of constructive reasoning. Therefore electorates fail to vote by credibility but instead they go for political affiliations and regions.
Hence, if Luther was to crusade on political parties, religions and regions, where would America and the black race be today?
Isaac B Bahago, Minna , Niger State