I come from Jos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A beautiful little city in the heart of\nNigeria,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
dotted with mountains, hills and\nplateaux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were once admired, but there has\nbeen a turn in our fortunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For too long, gunshots have been our\nalarm clocks, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
waking us into the nightmare of\nterrorism,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the horrors of religious violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For too long, fear had been a companion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and pain, our friend<\/p>\n\n\n\n
we had no shelter for from our homes we\nhave fled<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want a change, because I\u2019m tired of\nbeing scared!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s time we bridge the divide of\nethno-religious lines<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it\u2019s\ntime we set aside our opinions or doctrines or rules or creeds<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and\nrealize we are pawns manipulated by the high and mighty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have nothing to gain by these\nkillings and fightings<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it\u2019s time we drop swords, rebuild our\nlands\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
it\u2019s time for a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I come from Nigeria<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the giant of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most populous black nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A land of interesting people, beautiful\ncultures, natural <\/p>\n\n\n\n
endownments and corrupt leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders of today who do not value the\nleaders of tomorrow,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
who\nsiphon monies, using it to build their companies<\/p>\n\n\n\n
coming\nup with policies that favor them<\/p>\n\n\n\n
leaving\nus with dilapidated laboratories and archaic school buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders who mortgage the future of the\ncountry for personal gain,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
who fight to get in to vain positions\nof power <\/p>\n\n\n\n
so they can keep manipulating us, using\nus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but I say enough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lets get up! All hands on deck to save\nthis crippling educational system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No more voting based on tribalism, no\nmore yielding to their sentimental cajoling<\/p>\n\n\n\n
we must put the right people in their\nright places,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
no more \u2018godfatherism\u2019, quit trying to\nget in their good graces!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its time for a change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I come from Africa <\/p>\n\n\n\n
54 countries, over a thousand\nlanguages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s funny when we think about Africa,\nwe think exotic drums<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and wild animals and malnourished\nchildren and corrupt leaders <\/p>\n\n\n\n
and HIV and poverty and ignorance and\ncowardice\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I say Enough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its time for a change!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new Africa <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must show the world that we are\ntruly people of color<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that our ideas and innovations can\npaint the world with hues of progress,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that\nwe blaze the trail in business, in our economy, in our society<\/p>\n\n\n\n
our voices need to be heard in places\nthat matter,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
becoming problem solvers not issues of concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I come from this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A world of young people trained by\ntechnology<\/p>\n\n\n\n
raised by social media,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
so close to\nour phones, but so far from reality<\/p>\n\n\n\n
so self-absorbed, so ill-informed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Young people obsessed with image<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in a world taken over by greed<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but I want a change\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019ll be the change!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having more empathy and kindness,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
caring for those who have no one,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
advocating for those who have no voice,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
empowering those who have no hope,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
making the world a better place for\nthose yet unborn!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am here<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written by <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Damaris Akhigbe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Program Officer, BBFORPEACE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I come from Jos. A beautiful little city in the heart of Nigeria, dotted with mountains, hills and plateaux. We were once admired, but there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":229,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227\/revisions\/229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbforpeace.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}