By Hashim Suleiman
As is customary with Nigerians over negativity that we are working hard to curtail on a daily, the well-advertised and chosen Logo by popular vote from Nigerians was again put to criticism by naysayers and I found that most unfortunate, to say the least.
Those who accused the portrait quoted Alrosa to have said that “The Dynasty is the largest polished diamond with the best clarity characteristics throughout the Russian jewelry history,” they also quoted President Muhammadu Buhari to have said that “he was informed that the selected option depicts our togetherness; a country of over 200 million people, whose natural talents, grits and passion glitter like the precious diamond we are,” shortly before unveiling the logo. What on earth is the difference between the portrait and the intent it was meant to portray as was highlighted by the President.
Furthermore, worthy of note is the fact that the logo was a popular choice from Nigerians and a democratic setting will only respect such choice and a well-intended one for the good of the nation. Attempting to spite Nigerians over their choice of what they considered the most appropriate to showcase who they are as a nation only goes to show how much some of the elitist class are hell-bent on setting a narrative of nothing works around here and they have always failed and have failed again this time around.
What will bother someone, even more, is the fact that some of these naysayers are the masters of copy and paste whether through their social media handles or the number of times they have had to apologize over publishing inappropriate stories et al. The choices of the majority cannot be subject to ridicule by a hypocritical minority who are themselves not any better. Some of us will stand to speak for such emptiness.
We are in a digital world and a simple search for a word like ‘best diamond’ could produce the image of the diamond in question which has been touted to be the largest polished diamond ever. How on earth is such an honest intent a crime if not in Nigeria where we love to politicize anything and everything no matter how cheaply. If the honest Nigerians and their choices could be a little vulnerable with such misleading stories, the reasonable elites should be made to understand better.
In saner climes, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy should be given a thumbs up for letting the choice of what we are to celebrate to be conducted in a democratic manner where our true picture of ourselves will be depicted. Such has been done, the message has been passed and the intention was sincere for the love of the nation.
I have always clamored for continuous conversation over national issues so that cheap issues like these can be discussed and curtailed for the sake of deterrence. We must as a people be seen to be promoting oneness and unity and not disseminating information that will further divide or diminish the love for the country while the blame will be apportioned to Buhari whose intention is as noble as letting Nigerians choose what they feel best depicts what they see themselves to be after 60 years of nationhood.
The politicians should sheath their swords once again, 2023 is still a little far away. Now is time for nationhood and celebration of 60 hearty years of a diamond of a people that we are and that was well captured in the Logo for the 60TH-anniversary celebration.
Hashim Suleiman can be reached via oneheartnaija@yahoo.com