NIGERIA: WHATS REALLY WRONG?

“Nigeria has had a complicated colonial history”…Chinua Achebe 1930 - 2013 Nigerian Author and poet. Author of Things fall apart.

History.

There is hardly a Nigerian family that doesn’t wish that at least one of their kids grew up to someday become a doctor. Beyond the apparent stereotype of a doctor’s heroic splendor, they really are brilliant by virtue of their training, and one impressive common sense trait they have is inquiring a patient’s medical history.

Relating this to Nigeria, which is no doubt not in the best state of health, it would be rather unfair to consistently criticize her without taking a sacred journey back into her history in order to fully understand her, and then possibly, like a doctor, diagnose her, and possibly find a cure.

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it”…Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955 German born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics.

Corruption.

It may seem too early to bring this up, but if we want to hold our heads up high as people of honour and integrity, we might as well be honest with ourselves. No matter how hard we try to conceal or deny it, Nigeria has amassed an enormous reputation for being corrupt and surprisingly financially dull, and by implication unnecessarily wasteful, plunging Nigeria into economic crisis, which now resembles sabotage designed to annihilate the country.

“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the mother, father and the teacher”…A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 1931 - 2015 11th president of India.

It is true that you cannot give what you do not have; it sure tallies with the type of leadership that has steered the ship of the nation without any meaningful results to show, which is not only shameful but also absolutely destructive.

“Many people are looking for the answers to what is wrong with the world today. The answer could be quite simple. It is all about the worldview. 

It is how we see the world around us and what we, as humanity, make our top priority. If our worldview resonates with the natural order and the laws that govern the Universe, then we are able to find harmony in life. If our worldview is distorted, the Nature will try to do its best to guide us back to the path of spiritual evolution through accidents, problems with health, personal and professional life.

If we want to find the solution to the material problems, we need to look on the next level of consciousness, on the level of higher consciousness. In order to change the world around us, we first need to identify what is wrong with it, and not only on the material level since it is quite obvious, but also on the level of higher consciousness”...Dmitriy (Life script doctor)

“Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation”…Atifete Jahjaga 1975 -  .  4th president of Kosovo.

Mediocrity!

A school of thought describes madness as a repetition of a certain process while expecting a different result. You certainly cannot plant corn and expect to harvest yam, otherwise nature seizes to be fair. This scenario seems to be the exact ‘happening right now’ in Nigeria. So many things have gone so wrong that we fail to realize that we need to come out clean so that we can know how to tackle our innate problems.

For instance we know that in Nigeria, round pegs are being forced into square holes, people are placed in high offices regardless of their competence making intelligence our blind spot, and by extension what you see is what you get. We are being over-charged for issuance of passports and licenses without proper accountability, despite the general low earning power of Nigerians. 

The arms of government that happen to be cost centers are very ill funded because some government officials divert the funds and no one is held accountable while the nation further crumbles, yet we award jobs and contracts based on tribal sentiments. Do you want to see how the camel’s back broke? Imagine the way food items meant for IDPs were deprived the needy and taken some place else to be sold. We all know what’s going (wr)on(g), yet we keep quiet, and surprisingly, we complain that things aren’t working well, seriously?

“In all cities, the better classes – the business men, are the sources of corruption, but they are so rarely pursued and caught that we do not fully realize whence the trouble comes”…Lincoln Steffens 1866 - 1936 New York reporter.

Complacence!

I’ve read many articles and even watched countless interviews where successful people talk about how they stayed hungry even after surpassing their targets, but it surprises me how extremely satisfied the Nigerian government seems to be even after achieving absolutely nothing.

Nigeria is like a host of an open season where it is a free for all affair. The foreign investors strike back door deals, the rich folks front for several government officials and get mega deals and illegal waivers, those in the corridor of power siphon the national treasury without proffering any practical economic relief for the masses even as simple as basic amenities, and to top it all, they take all the stolen monies out of the economy weakening it, and import expensive liabilities further impoverishing the people, and wait for it, they also oppress poor people that didn’t get the same opportunity they did, hmm.

Nigeria really needs to take a cue from developed nations where young people really do have a future without the senior citizens interfering in the affairs meant for youths to research and blend in for the future. It seems Nigerians are stuck in the past and have grossly failed to evolve, destinies are so well delayed that it seems the country is structured for the citizens to fail, or not make a headway until they are old, thats why old folks call the shots, so much for "godfatherism".

“Truth hurts, but lies can kill”…Karen Marie Moning 1964 -  . American Author.

Truth hurts!

Are you still with me on the doctor story? Well another thing the doctor does is hurt you now so you can feel much better later. He gives you bitter pills, painful injections or life-threatening procedures to rectify a problem in your system in order for you to live. You cannot be sick and then hide it because it could be the end of you. So rather than to keep managing the poor health of Nigeria, lets get a doctor to diagnose her and treat her so she gets better in all aspects.

Criticism has its highs and lows, sometimes intriguing, but at other times it can be lackluster, yet imperative though, and hence in some way effective.

God bless Nigeria!

Thank you, and be awesome because you truly are.

Akin Abimbola.

Contact the author: (akinzogee@yahoo.com, akinzogee@gmail.com)

Twitter: @akinzogee

Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin Abimbola

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Sources: Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Learning mind, Wikipedia

This article is an original piece, which was reasonably researched contains considerable opinion and is composed in a unique style of the author.

The names in actual stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are fictional. Consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.

inaija! IS NIGERIA A SMART COUNTRY?

“We are what we believe we are”…C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary icon, essayist, broadcaster, lecturer and Christian apologist.

The economy and us!

I remember loving economics so much back in school, but I can’t really remember why. Maybe its because I had a wonderful teacher or perhaps the terms “human behavior” and “forces of demand and supply” have a hidden spell that sends some thrilling sensations of apparent business acumen down one’s spine, did the imaginary trick work? Who knows? But I later found out that I was yet to understand and fully appreciate economics in the real world where the blank spaces of economic art were yet to be filled and coloured with actual humans and their predictability.

Get it? Me neither, but how awesome, anyway, hold that thought though.

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think is still the secret of great creative people…”Leo Burnett (1891 – 1971) American advertising executive.

Still on getting it, maybe the question we should be asking is, are Nigerians smart (at all)? Smart enough to use their unique powers (if they have discovered it by now), economics inclusive, which virtually goes into everything, to hold the country together for as long as necessary? Or till when it is uhuru, if ever.

Are we even serious? The whole system is obviously breaking apart and away and we still have the time to amass wealth only to waste them on vanity luxury items that further impoverishes us and spills our guts to the public arena as we foolishly and wickedly seek to oppress the less privileged that are only devoid of opportunity, come on.

Nigeria has evolved to be as laughable as can be. Brewing to become a nation designed for people to be corrupt and to fail. We fail our children, we fail the legacies of our fathers, and we constantly fail our future by being untrue, unfair and cowardly to face our demons to defeat it or die honorably.

We have celebrated mediocrity enough, its high time intelligence and excellence took the center stage, else we sleep, yes, the sleep of death.

“Even truth needs to be clad in new garments if it is to appeal to a new age”…George C. Lichtenberg (1742 – 1799) A German scientist. He was the first to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics in Germany.

No doubt it’s a new age!

Some cars already run on battery, maybe water will be the next fuel for vehicles as well, just much later. Africa will definitely over-populate, Lawyers may run out of business, talent won’t matter anymore and many folks may relocate to Mars.

This is the new world we live in, and some people already have their heads in the clouds.

My point is that we are in a new age where virtually anything is possible as long as we are still breathing and our research still churns out discoveries and creative fallouts. But there is a problem, the kids. The kids are not the problem really, but wouldn’t we know that we haven’t set a good precedence for them in a world that we have literally destroyed?

We have accumulated huge economic debt for them to pay, we have degraded the environment and expect them to clean it up, we blasphemed and let nature’s wrath hurt them.

During the times of our fathers new vegetables were eaten and fresh juice was being consumed, but now we feed our kids with degraded and processed foods ranging from pizzas to hot dogs and burgers, copying the western world and opening them up to obesity and other health issues such as cancer which is an entirely different story, we really are not nice.

I think it is enough of the pampering, we should stop casing the truth in chocolate for the new generation out of fear they won’t take it, we ought to let them hate us now and then love us for our tough love in the future other than the other way around, or else there will be no legacy to leave behind, and by implication, there sadly will be no future.

“The future is certain. Its just not known”…Johnny Rich Education specialist and author of the human script.

Maybe the future is predictable!

Did I just say maybe? Apart from having the ability to predict the future by us actually making the impending occurrences happen or turn out as we desire by altering the status quo, our improvement in technology helps us have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Preparing for the different seasons and imminent natural disasters is one thing, adjusting to unavoidable change, which is the most constant thing is another.

“No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true”…Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 – 1864) American novelist.

Stop lying!

This includes you stop lying to yourself asides other people. Why can’t we just tell it as it is? Psychologist Guy Winch who writes for Psychology Today says even little white lies creates something called cognitive disorder when you say everything is fine, perhaps even when you are in crisis or at a diner unsatisfied with the meal. Your brain while trying to conceal your true feelings allows you to give a higher tip than normal

I’d give kudos to Fela Anikulapo Kuti for speaking Nigerians’ true feelings especially in his popular “suffering and smiling” song. It seems he’s about the only one that was not a coward while alive.

Come to think of it, we were designed to tell the truth so that we can remain in a state of harmony, not trying hard to remember what we said and manufacture more to cover up, it hurts our brain.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education”…Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement.

Intelligence: An imperative prerequisite!

I once knew an old lad whom used to emphasize to young folks “By all means necessary, get education!”

I totally agree with this guy, but there is one thing I think we should strongly consider, as you are probably familiar with the sayings “more than meets the eye” and “read between the lines”, we certainly should establish what education really is, and perhaps marry it with it’s offshoots, which are important key words that our kids also must appreciate.

Look at Nigeria for instance, rich folks send their kids to school abroad and enjoy how illiterate fools idolize them back home, aren’t they ashamed that a bunch of hungry and misguided beings loiter around them constantly? Haven’t they discovered the power of empowerment? This is the secret of the American success story, they give their citizens a voice, a sense of belonging, infrastructure and the ability to become as great as they want to be.

Nigerians can pray for Africa, and yet sit around like a spoilt kid without initiative yet expecting a free meal, are you kidding?

As we speak, a bunch of jokers with nothing to offer are running the state with the sole purpose of milking the nation dry through contracts and massive procurements while hunger ravages the land and while the infrastructure rots away and the people perish. One thing is for sure, taking a cue from history, nature and the heavenly principles, if Nigeria continues at this rate, it won’t matter if Nigerians are smart, rich, holy or greedy, because at some point, she will seize to exist, just like the smoke that caresses the skies.

So are Nigerians smart? Well, maybe that’s not the question, but whatever the question is, Nigerians need to be less cowardly, and become proactive enough to start a true revolution, a revolution of the mind.

God bless Nigeria!

Thank you, and be awesome because you truly are.

Akin Abimbola.

Contact the author: (akinzogee@yahoo.com, akinzogee@gmail.com)

Twitter: @akinzogee

Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin Abimbola

Instagram: Akinzogee

Did we make your day? Spread the word.

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Become a fan, follow us and share our content.                  

You can also become a critical lyricist!

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What did we miss?

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Be grateful for being alive and let your content flow…

Remember! You are precious.

Sources: Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Lifehacker, The human script, Wikipedia

This article is an original piece, which was reasonably researched contains considerable opinion and is composed in a unique style of the author.

The names in actual stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are fictional. Consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.

IS NIGERIA REALLY FREE?

INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION EDITION

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves”…Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865): 16th President of the United States of America

Oh Africa!

Have you noticed something quite peculiar about African countries? They are constantly criticized and even indicted for violation of human rights, incompetent leadership, war crimes, corruption, power-drunkenness and above all, ineffective management of relationships with the international community, which is often times attributed solely to the assumption that the dark skinned race are not as intelligent as their fair skinned counterparts, did you just read ‘skin’? Yes you did.

In this modern age, people still measure intelligence by the colour of their skin, how ironic.

However, in my opinion, it is still fair to say the cause of the apparent complex analysis and defamation presentation is a cause by non other than Africans themselves.

In as much as there is temptation to proffer a superficial justification for the innate actions ranging from embellished culture to utter inexperience of the secrets of the universe and how the world works, in our hearts we know that Africa still holds the keys to the future, and from all indications, Nigeria is best positioned to blaze the trail.

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government”…Edward Abbey (1927 - 1989) American author and essayist.

Where are the patriots?

If there are patriots in Nigeria, its either they are very few or they just like to work selflessly in the background.

A burst of positive jealousy runs through me when I hear Americans express their love for their country, and you can see in their eyes and actions that they actually mean it.

Most Nigerians simply pretend to be loyal to their country by paying lip service, but they are quickly contradicted by their actions. 
If the entire Nigerian population had the chance to flee the country, about 80% would migrate without blinking.

We don’t seem to believe in Nigeria, and ultimately ourselves, that’s why everyday is like a living hell, because we expect something from a system where we invest nothing.

“The ultimate test of a man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks cannot be heard”…Gaylord Nelson (1916 - 2005) American polititian and Environmentalist.

Love and sacrifice!

It is interesting that for centuries, no one still has been able to accurately define what love is. Some say love is an ability to make sacrifice, while some just relegate it to expression of emotion, but perhaps it isn’t meant to be defined, maybe we just need to act it out, show it through true action, genuinely express it, and the feeling of satisfaction we derive from it from time to time will make us fulfilled and the world will be a better place.

Maybe Nigerians have an open mind when it comes to the subject of loving their country, but when we gauge reality; we discover that they have been placed on compulsory high jump, you can’t care about loving your country when you must jump an obstacle to save your life.

Nigerians believe that they have to chase money every time for both the things they need and even the things they don’t need. The things they need helps them survive, the things they don’t need doesn’t let them get entirely oppressed psychologically.

“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice. If you are a man, you take it”…Malcolm X (1925 - 1965) African American Muslim minister and human rights activist.

Freedom!

So is Nigeria really free and genuinely independent? Trust me, you know better, look around you and tell me you don’t see traces of evasive puppeteers.

Our youths are greatly misguided to choose wrong priorities. The live fast, die young syndrome has infected them, and now they want to have all the money now and live out their future today.

They are in so much frenzy that they may not be qualified or even around in the future because they have run out of patience; they don’t know that even nature isn’t in a hurry, and it seems that even we are terrified to tell them, we need to teach history to our kids so they understand that the future has happened before.

“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better”…Albert Camus

We need roads, hospitals, schools, homes, parks, moral centers, role models, mentors, our languages and culture or else the kids will think its okay the way it is and only seek to preserve it as it is if at all, otherwise our legacies might as well crumble when we are all gone.

No we are not free, because we don’t love ourselves and we are not united. We don’t know what we want, we don’t know what we are doing, and we are not even doing anything.

The western worlds have imprisoned us within their economies even when we have ours. They have made us feel inferior to ourselves so that we can buy their drugs, and we are taking the bait, even oppressing ourselves in the process while they smile to the bank and laugh hysterically at us. We are not free yet, but if we want to, if we are ready to, yes we can be, but it is up to us.

Happy independence anniversary Nigeria, one day we shall be free indeed.

God bless Nigeria!

Thank you, and be awesome because you truly are.

Akin Abimbola.

Contact the author: (akinzogee@yahoo.com, akinzogee@gmail.com)

Twitter: @akinzogee

Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin Abimbola

Instagram: Akinzogee

Did we make your day? Spread the word.

Tell them it happened here.

Become a fan, follow and share.                  

You can be a critical lyricist!

Talk to us.

What did we miss?

What do you think?

Be grateful for being alive and let your content flow…

Sources: American history, Britannica, Brainy Quote, Google, Good reads, Wikipedia

This article is an original piece, reasonably researched and contains considerable opinion and a unique style of the author.

The names in actual stories are not real and the stories in this write-up are fictional, consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.