Subscribe to our RSS feeds!

You Are Welcome!

Published by toyin on Tagged Nigeria

I was so perplexed with the realities in our country that I decided to start this site firstly as a motivational tool for the downtrodden and those who desire a direction for their lives and secondly as a socio-political platform to unravel the mystery of governance. I hope this journey would be both exciting and rewarding as we try to proffer solutions to the many ills in our society even as I attempt to run a very educative commentary on our leaders and their style of governance.

One of the major if not the most important issue starring us in the face in Nigeria is unemployment. A multitude of our youth both educated and highly skilled is unengaged. As an idle hand is the devil’s workshop, any surprise at the level of insecurity in our country? The measurement of the potential in the future can be genuinely determined by the level of productive engagement of the present. As true as this is for each individual, even more significant it is for a nation.

Nigeria is extremely blessed by God. There is absolutely no way one can describe the level of blessings we are talking about here. It has been ascertained that all the weather conditions of the various continents in the world are present here in our country. We have the sea (a major determinant of growth anywhere in the world), the lagoons and the rivers encompass us round about as if to assure us that indeed we cannot thirst!

Our human capital is second to none in the world. I’m too sure that the name Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala rings a bell to most people and not only here but across the world. Why? She is the Managing Director of the World Bank. A no mean achievement and she is ‘our daughter’. What about Professor Wole Soyinka? Literary icon and Noble Laureate, he’s been a consistent voice against the heartlessness of our rulers over the past unfortunate years.

Chimamanda Adichie, Philip Emeagwali, Jim Ovia, Mike Adenuga Jr, Erastus Akingbola, Aliko Dangote etc have all distinguished themselves internationally. Compared to their peers from other climes and taking into consideration our peculiar circumstances; they stand out!

Despite the commentaries that our educational systems are down and our universities have become shadows of the past, I feel a sense of pride each time I watch Nigerian students roundly defeats opponents from across the continent in the Zain Africa Universities Challenge competition on television. My pride stems from the fact that despite our poor infrastructure particularly electricity, chaotic transportation system and unending strikes, our students, by and large have given  very good accounts of themselves.

There’s hope for this country! This hope is in you and I; if only we can pull ourselves together and fight hard for our country. The time is here for us to rub minds together and decide the course of our future. Our collective decision would eventually determine where we end up. Like Barack Obama, I say to you today-Yes we can!

July 25th, 2009