Patriotism: 10 New Insights to Know about It

Here are some common slang terms among Nigerians today. “If you cannot beat them, you join them. “Nigeria is our country, and we should be smart enough to have our share of the national cake.”

These are the languages of some Nigerians who are not nationalistic. They are not patriotic but only work simply to enrich themselves to the detriment of others. What is your desire for your country?

1. The Meaning of Patriotism

Wikipedia defines patriotism as the feeling of love, devotion and a sense of attachment to one’s country.

This attachment can originate from our close association with the language, culture, political or historical evolution of our native country.

For instance, citizens are patriotic when they are loyal and dedicated to their country through serving in the military, police, civil service, the public service, and educational or higher education institutions.

Patriotism expresses itself when private business owners, farmers, market men and women, students and all Nigerians show a high level of commitment to the good of their country.

Citizens will not be corrupt and tribalistic in the discharge of their duties to the nation. The patriotic citizens will serve the nation diligently and sacrificially wherever they find themselves.

2. Who is a Patriot?

It has been said that patriotism is having a feeling of love, loyalty, devotion and a sense of close attachment to one’s homeland or country. Therefore, a patriot is someone who loves his or her country and is willing to defend it at all costs.

The life of a patriot is marked by an understanding of a nation’s history, accomplishments, and positive contributions to its culture.

3. Differences between Patriot and Nationalist

Thus, patriotism means complete loyalty to one’s country with the readiness to stand and protect the integrity of the nation whenever it is necessary. However, there are differences between being patriotic and being nationalist.

A nationalist believes that their own country is superior to other nations, while a patriot exhibits love and devotion to their own country.
A nationalist places more emphasis on the heritage, culture, and language of a nation, while a patriot places emphasis on the values and beliefs of a country.
A nationalist has the tendency to unite citizens against a common external enemy or hostile foreign country, while a patriot deals more with the well-being, welfare and prosperity of a nation.
A nationalist exhibits a more aggressive nature, while a patriot exhibits a passive nature.

Some people have great affection, even pride, for their country. Some others love their country, try, but because of the corrupt political system, they begin to develop anxiety and fear about the direction they see their government heading, and they withdraw.

4. Characteristics of a Patriot

We are expected to be patriotic citizens of our nation with the following characteristics:

He/she should show great interest in the welfare of their country,, i.e being a problem solver and not a troublemaker.
He/she should show full support for their country over all other issues anything anywhere.
He/she should work hard for the development of their country, be it in the social, economic, political and religious aspects.
He/she should always be ready to help get rid of political, religious, economic and social oppression.
He/she should always be ready to defend their country from either internal or external aggression or attacks.
He/she should strive for the betterment of the less privileged, the aged, the needy, and the vulnerable citizens in society.
He/she should display high tolerance for the opinions, culture and religious beliefs of others.
He/she should respect the law of the country and foster peace in society.

5. Patriotic Leadership

Patriotic leadership refers to people in leadership positions whose love, commitment, and loyalty are to their nation. From time to time, people are elected into different positions as political, religious, or traditional leaders to lead the people.

Very often, some of these leaders do not show patriotism; instead, they demonstrate disloyalty, cheat, and rule authoritatively over the people without fear of God.

They do not know that leadership is a gift from God, and it is expected that all leaders should display a high level of patriotism to their country and the people they lead.

For example, countries like the United States of America, China and India have risen to prominent heights economically and militarily because their leaders displayed patriotism.

However, Nigeria can also boast of past patriotic leaders who sacrificed their comfort for the well-being and progress of this nation.

The leaders we are talking about are as follows: Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and others. They gave their best to secure independence for Nigeria and worked hard to sustain it until their death.

There are also patriotic leaders in the Bible, such as Nehemiah, who was a Jew. Even though he lost his homeland to a conquering invader, he used his office as the king’s cupbearer to rebuild the fallen wall of Jerusalem.

He was a patriot at heart;t th,s; he was able to encourage his countrymen to partner with him in the project, and he was able to say, “So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work”. (Nehemiah: 6).

6. Qualities of a Patriotic Leader

Patriotism, as we understand, is a love for our homeland, and leadership embodies the ability to guide and inspire others. As stewardship principles that fit perfectly within the spheres of patriotic leadership.

Jesus taught us to “love our neighbour as ourselves”, and in the context of patriotism, are we not all neighbours in this beautiful country of ours?

7. Meaning of the Patriotic Leadership

Patriotic leadership refers to people in leadership positions who love, are committed to, and remain loyal to their nation. From time to time, people are elected into different positions as political, religious, or traditional leaders to lead the people.

Very often, some of these leaders do not show patriotism; instead, they demonstrate disloyalty, cheat, and rule authoritatively over the people without fear of God.

They do not know that leadership is a gift from God, and it is expected that people and leaders should display a high level of patriotism to their country and the people they lead. John Quincy Adams affirmed, “A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not.”

For example, countries such as the United States of America, China and India have risen to prominent heights economically and militarily because their leaders displayed patriotism.

However, Nigeria can also boast of past patriotic leaders who sacrificed their comfort for the well-being and progress of this nation.

The leaders we are talking about are Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and others. They gave their best to secure independence for Nigeria and worked hard to sustain it until their death.

He was a patriot at heart; thus, he was able to encourage his countrymen to partner with him in the project, and he was able to say, “So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.” (Nehemiah 6).

8. Qualities of a Patriotic Leader

Patriotic leaders possess some qualities that differentiate them. For instance:

Commitment and dedication to his country for progress and development.
Incorruptibility: A patriotic leader should not be dishonest or show an act of immorality. He cannot be persuaded to do something wrong or dishonest, even when there is an offer of money. Instead, he should have a higher reputation for incorruptibility.
Love and loyalty to his country at all times, within and outside the country.
He gave his best to the country. This could be in terms of his skills, services, knowledge, sports, military services and so on.
Leadership by example. A patriotic leader should lead his followers by example. He should be a mentor to others so that they will learn from him.
He should be optimistic. A pessimistic cannot be a patriotic leader because he will easily lose faith in his nation’s ability to progress and become great. However, an optimistic leader always seems to have a solution and also knows how to inspire and reassure their followers.
Inspirational leaders must be focused and communicate such to their followers to inspire them. They should be good communicators to motivate their followers to give their best to their nation at all times.
A patriotic leader should be a man of integrity who people can look up to for guidance and direction. He should be firm in decision-making.
A patriotic leader should be a man of courage who can lead others well during a crisis. A timid person cannot be a patriotic leader.
Patriotic leaders are often people who have the fear of God and do His Will. They stand in the gap for the nation and the people. They are usually prayerful people.

9. Importance of Patriotism

We have discussed so much about being patriotic to one’s nation, and its importance to any nation cannot be overemphasised.

This is because patriotic acts play an important role in the development of any nation, including our country, Nigeria. The following are some of the important ones. aspects

It leads to a stronger nation.

Most nations of the world that are strong politically, economically and militarily usually have a sizeable number of dedicated patriotic citizens. Nations such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, to name a few, are where they are because of the patriotic acts of most of their citizens.

In the same vein, when the citizens of Nigeria have the same positive patriotic sentiments, we will become a strong nation.

We will overcome all our challenges, whether economic, social, educational or security-wise. Above all, every Nigerian will see the problem of the nation as theirs and work together to overcome it.

It unites a nation.

Unity is very important now more than ever in our country. Perhaps Nigeria is underdeveloped because of a lack of unity and patriotic leaders. The results of the 2023 general election in Nigeria show that the nation is more divided than in the previous elections.

Worse still, some sectional policies of the Federal Government divide the nation more along ethnic and religious lines. But when we have patriotic leaders with a patriotic mindset and attitudes, the nation can be united to face the challenges confronting it.

It leads to development.

The prosperity of a nation depends on the productivity output of both the leaders and the followers. These followers are basically the factory workers, civil servants, teachers/lecturers and the market women that keep oiling the wheel of the nation’s economy.

Their sacrifices will lead to patriotic acts that will lead to increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the nation. The so-called highly placed people, the politicians and business owners, are also concerned. Their positive attitude towards the nation will enhance the country’s development.

It saves a nation from national disaster.

It takes patriotic acts by the citizens of a nation to save the nation from an impending manmade or natural disaster. It took a great deal of sacrifice and patriotic acts of Nigerians to escape the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged the whole world from 2020-2022.The

Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970 was also fought under the slogan of “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.” Patriotic Nigerians fought to keep the nation as one.

10. Benefits of Patriotism

The following are the benefits of patriotism.

It promotes peace and tranquillity.

When the citizens of any nation display patriotism, it results in peace and calmness for every individual. People will live together in love and oneness, and there will be a bond of relationship between different tribal and religious groups within a community.

This is even more desirable in a nation like Nigeria with more than two hundred ethnic groups, who also belong to different religious inclinations like Christianity, Islam and other indigenous African religions.

Selfless dedication

Patriotism encourages selfless dedication to the cause of the. A patriotic citizen will be more dedicated to their work, thus increasing productivity.

Individual motivation

One of the benefits of being a patriotic citizen is self-motivation for the course of the country. In other words, individuals will be self-motivated to work towards the development of the nation.

Increased productivity

Increased productivity by patriotic citizens is sure, as well as increased foreign exchange earnings for the nation.

Reduction in the rate of immigration

When the citizens in a country are patriotic, they will work hard to ensure that the nation moves towards economic prosperity, which will enable people to stay in the country to develop it. Only citizens will migrate or relocate to another country for greener pastures.

When the citizens of a country are patriotic, the tendency to be involved in criminal activities will be drastically reduced or even eliminated.

It promotes better governance.

Patriotic citizens always work towards ensuring that the nation is well governed. Martin Luther King, in the United States of America, fought hard to promote equality for blacks and whites. Consequently, a racism-free society in the United States of America has been partially achieved.

Commitment

More people will demonstrate faithfulness in the discharge of their duties when people are patriotic to their nation. Businesses will thrive because the environment will be conducive enough for people to do business and succeed.

Increase an individual’s efforts

Patriotic citizens carry out selfless activities that will make their country stronger economically, socially, financially and otherwise. Business owners will become employers of labour, and they will pay taxes regularly to the government.

Conclusion

It has been discussed that patriotism is the act of showing love and dedication to one’s country of birth. We have also discussed its benefits to the nation and every individual.

Patriotism itself is a basic concept that brings citizens together to do what is right, just, and fair to all.

It believes in promoting equity, fairness and equality. When citizens are patriotic, there will be peace and harmony, and development in all sectors. Such a nation will be able to cope with other nations of the world in terms of development. You can learn further on this page.