Lori iro -By Tobechukwu Johnpaul Nwabuisi

About a year ago, precisely in the month of February, Nigerians burst into a bout of bland excitements as social media platforms glistened with comments and reactions on the trending hashtag ‘Lori Iro.’ This defunct hashtag came in timely as the customary valentine celebration was bellying up. Nigerians made use of this hashtag to raise pertinent questions about the foundation of modern day relationships which today is characterized by numerous lies. Unarguably, this faulty foundation has only birthed suicides, murder, revenge, retaliation, blackmails and heartbreaks. Hence, it is no longer surprising that abominable, awful and appalling news all in the name of relationship inundate Newspapers, radios and social media platforms.

‘Lori Iro’ the colloquial Yoruba expression, translates as ‘lies on top lies.’ It suggests a situation wherein an individual professes, confesses, and expresses lies. Undoubtedly, many people lie about their feelings; people lie about the prices of goods and commodities; people lie to curry favor; in sum, people lie about so many things. Sadly, the Nigerian government has its own share of the cake; how can we forget in a hurry how the purported sincerity of our government belies their historical record of uncountable and unquantifiable lies?

The point here is that the problem of lying which gradually, but gratingly became pronounced last year spoke more to a broader spectrum called ‘insincerity.’ Insincerity entails hiding the truth, being pretentious; two-faced, and not being genuine and truthful. Unfortunately, this virulent disease has eaten deep into the finest fabrics of the Nigerian polity leaving unmistakable signs of grief, pain and unaccountability. Thus, many Nigerians have been forced to experience unwarranted suffering under the pangs of economic instability, poor infrastructural development, kidnapping, election violence, insecurity, corruption, insurgency and a political system that is built on insincerity and thrives on insincerity.

As a nation we must realize that we all are involved in this fight against insincerity for the word ‘insincerity,’ the idea, the act, has gained enormous potency in every facets of our nation. Some of its bold and bloody footprints include the perversion of the legal system, bribery and corruption, padding humongous amounts of money into private pockets, awarding jobs based on nepotism, tribalism and religious grounds, and the celebration of criminals and criminality. If we must build a better nation free of its present prevalent predicaments, the need to embrace truth and cultivate the attitude of sincerity cannot be jettisoned. Chimamanda Ngozi-Adichie asserts that “there are tarnished things that need to shine, broken things that need to be made whole again;” it is only by leading sincere lives and valuing the truth can these tarnished things shine and these broken things be made whole again. It may have been ugly, but Nigeria can get pretty again on its finest features, as we work together to rewrite the Nigerian story and showcase our inherent goodness and potentials.

Tobechukwu Johnpaul Nwabuisi, melchi5801@gmail.com