NIGERIANS...STAND UP!

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen”…Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) was a British politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.

What is Nigeria all about…really?

Or maybe we should just simply ask, what is it about Nigeria? And with her constant negative scores, failing and falling face down for the entire world to see, why even bother her if she has yet to muster the required resolution to stand back up?

Think about it though, Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world with about 180 million intelligent and resilient people naturally spread within about 911 square kilometers inside a geographical terrain, which is the gulf of Guinea of West Africa, trust me when I concur with the intellectual gatherings that have superficially predicted that the next emerging ‘Einstein’ of Africa will be the one that can effectively capture Africa’s long lost historical chronicles.

“There’s something magical about putting yourself into life. You’ve got to stand up and take responsibility for your own life and cannot abandon that.”…Bill Kurtis (1940 - ….) American television journalist, producer, narrator and news anchor.

Potential Prospects

Nigeria is a prominent member of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This inclusion only arose due to natural providence, which of course has the affinity to make a people complacent, and also creates a window that can make it more of a jinx than a blessing especially when the glaring potential is not maximized.

Currently, the Nigerian economy is in shambles due to her long dependency on US Dollar monitored oil. Corruption, non-diversification, lack of transparency and inaccurate accountability have proved that the proceeds were grossly squandered, stolen and mismanaged with massive cover-ups that have led to huge and nationally embarrassing scandals, leaving the leaders of tomorrow stunned and hopeless, bewildered of what the future holds.

“Nobody in Africa loves to be a beggar or a recipient of aid. Everywhere I go in Africa, people say, ‘when are we going to stand up on our feet?’”…Mo Ibrahim (1946 - ….) A Sudanese-British mobile communications entrepreneur and billionaire.

Apparent Future

Nigeria has a reputation for being corrupt and lacking basic infrastructure such as good roads, power, premium medical care, competitive education and lots more even with all the money she has.

The Nigerian society has also been massively criticized for accepting mediocrity over acumen, letting tribe and religion dictate her vision over the divinely set principles that govern the earth.

Little wonder there isn’t much left to admire of a great people as such even in the 21^st century.

How bleak can a future be, with an exponentially increasing population of unpowered and disempowered people that haven’t quite figured out an actual direction worth heading?

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”…H.G. Wells (1866 - 1946) Herbert George Wells was an English writer.

Incumbency

Yes you guessed it, Nigeria is broke and broken because we do not love her, and this is a clarion call to every Nigerian to pick up not just the broken pieces, we also must pick up ourselves, and then our work gear in order to really get to work and make Nigeria actually work.

We keep admiring America and all want to migrate there because the people are great, but we fail to realize that America is what it is because her citizens love their country and themselves.

Look at the recent Hurricane Harvey that caused huge flooding in Texas for instance, in response to the disaster, lots of volunteers have gone out of their comfort zones to help affected people, even risking their lives in the process.

Back in Nigeria, perhaps due to fear, police harassment, low self-esteem and apparent poverty, chances are we won’t go the extra mile to help the needy, we’ll only condemn them from afar, or even blame the poor victims for being unfortunate. 
Where is the love? That is really all that matters.

As usual, we just try to analyze the trends and share our view, and we do know that we definitely cannot thrash it all in one piece, else we'll have to write several books and start our own think tank. So till we meet again, happy sallah celebration to my Muslim friends.

Thank you and be awesome, because you are.

Akin Abimbola.

(akinzogee@yahoo.com, akinzogee@gmail.com)

Twitter: @akinzogee

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Sources: Brainy Quote, Britannica, Google, Good reads, Punch, 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 usually fictional, consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.

DOES NIGERIA WANT TO SUCCEED?

“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful” …Eric Thomas. Born Sept. 1970. American motivational speaker, author and minister.

What is Success to you?

There is no ounce of a doubt that success means distinctive things to different people. I once met a man whose definition of success is to retire together with his wife to a modest country home sitting on an acre of farmland without modern gadgets, even after having excelled in his career and business.

I also know a number of people that would only find themselves successful after amassing all the wealth in the world, driving the most expensive cars, flying jets and living a life of luxury.

It is probably wrong to judge people for their individual characterizations of success, notwithstanding, one’s dominant environment does play an important part in how people choose their apparent success story, which is usually wrapped in lucid fantasy. As strange as it may seem though, some people have not yet decided if at all they want to succeed in life in the first place.

 

“The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda” …John. C. Maxwell. Born 20 Feb. 1947. American author, speaker and pastor who has written many books primarily on leadership.

Being Organized

If you are quite familiar with, or you live in Africa, Nigeria to be precise, you are probably aware of popular sayings such as ‘They keep telling us that we are the leaders of tomorrow, yet the same old people still rule autocratically’ and ‘Our government lacks maintenance culture, they are insensitive to the people, we lack data, our leaders are just too corrupt’ etc.

As local and simple as these complaints of the masses may be, they are probably the core of any nation, people’s reaction to the consistent attitude of government.

Feedback of citizens directly affected in any circumstance may come as denunciation, but criticisms very well go a long way in shaping actions and aftermaths of people and government’s activities.

By principle, and by virtue of the knowledge we have gathered from recent developments, you are better off not embarking on a project at all if you have failed to adequately plan for it.

Other countries like The United States that Nigerians perpetually idolize and imitate have not actually applied rocket science to become what they are, Nigeria can be better than them, but is yet to quite figure out how to escape from the seemingly self-inflicted slavery. Nigeria is not dead yet, meaning there is hope and all she requires is adequate planning and organization coupled with a project that should be embarked upon to inspire and salvage our youths.

“You will never be completely ready, start from where you are” …C.J. Hayden MCC. A certified professional and personal coach, seminar leader and popular speaker.

Heart

Believe it or not, I once heard a story a a sick lady who's dear hubby cared for and carried to several doctors. Upon arriving a spiritualist who promptly asked her a rather silly question "Do you want to get well?" only to receive a shocking answer which was an emphatic "No!" Upon inquiry as to why she wouldn't want to get well, she replied by saying that anytime she was unwell, her hubby usually becomes the most caring man in the world to her, so she'd rather he stayed with her just like that for as long as can possibly be. foolish you may say.

I scoffed not to say the least when I saw the re-branding project embarked upon by the Ministry of Information some years back when they came up with ‘Nigeria, good people, great nation’ like seriously? It’s like resulting to flattery and tomfoolery.

In as much as I understand the effort, having genuine love for a people of a nation goes way beyond cosmetics approach, which the whole world sees but realize that it won’t last, not just because we have a reputation for being inconsistent, but that we are insecure perhaps due to deprivation, greedy due to lack of wisdom, dishonest inspired by hate and discontent due to lack of compassion.

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive” …Dalai Lama

We need to consciously energize ourselves to offer selfless love, and ultimately love our country, it requires hard work and by implication, innovation, even if we make mistakes, just like John C. Maxwell says, we can fail forward.

It has become imperative for us to have an open and positive mind, so that even if we fail, we can laugh at ourselves, as life is neither perfect nor that hard. This humbles us and allows us to see the good in every situation, even in the flaws and imperfectness of others. We need a little more heart to make good of bad situations, and what amazing discoveries we might encounter.

“If you are in trouble, or hurt or need – go to the poor people. They are the only ones that will help. The only ones” …John Steinbeck. (1902 - 1968) Was an American author who won the 1962 Nobel prize in literature ' for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception'.

 

Poverty: Are we really poor?

You have probably heard of the saying that some people are so poor that all they have is money. Yet we all still hustle for money like there is no tomorrow, only to use the money to buy expensive stuff that we probably don’t really need, to impress people we don’t really know nor care about, sounds like we are simply trying to impress everyone other than ourselves.

No one really becomes rich unless he is content and happy with what he already has. If at all we are actually poor, it is due to our massive rate of illiteracy, our blind and ignorant obsession for religion without sacrifice, and self-deception that we need to pilfer and stockpile money at all cost, only to waste it, and then deprive the needy of a comfortable life, which includes basic infrastructure.

“Three rules of work. Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” ...Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) German born theoretical physicist. Einstein developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science.

So, what are you going do…about it?

There are definitely loads of stuff we can do, for instance I have taken the initiative to talk about it on the social media platform, which is my blog that you are currently reading. You too can create a platform where you can either constructively criticize current happenings by government and other people that matter, or you can encourage them if they do well.

You can teach or sponsor vocational skills or simply spread the word of hope that everyone can contribute a vital role towards making our nation greater than it is.

We need to be positive and hopeful in the midst of the apparent hardship, hopelessness, negativity and impulsive anger, disappointments and hate.

Does Nigeria want to succeed? This question depends on you, whether you want to succeed, and what your definition of success is. How badly do you want to succeed and what effort are you making towards such goal? That’s how Nigeria can and will succeed eventually.

Thank you, and be awesome because you can.

Akin Abimbola.

akinzogee@gmail.com

akinzogee@yahoo.com

Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin Abimbola

Twitter: @akinzogee

Instagram: akinzogee

SOURCES: Brainy quote, Good reads, Google, The Secret to Success, Time, Wikipedia

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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 usually fictional, consequently, people’s names appearing are purely co-incidental, except for quotes and news that are typically referenced.

HELP! WILL NIGERIA SURVIVE?

“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage” …Seneca (4BC – 65AD) Roman Philosopher

Who we are

Believe it or not, who you are really does play a vital role in how the world eventually turns out, perhaps that is why the environment can become subjective because there is always an opportunity to recreate one’s self.

So who are you? Would it be accurate to assume that you are a good person? If so, what does good really mean, especially in the world we currently live, and what good does your kind of apparent good do to poor humanity?

There is crisis the world over as you are reading this article, this is because accidents happen, but also, some people are deliberately causing chaos due to the evident facts though hidden in plain sight that there are benefits gotten at the expense of human lives.

So who are we? Before I break it down in my own words, there are of course other angles to view the world from.

“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in; he has no choice but to be an outlaw” …Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013) South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

Oppression

You guessed it, we are the bad guys, and when I say bad guys I don’t mean like the types in the movies with guns blazing and those that rip off homes and tear families apart. We are bad guys to planet earth, to nature, to our families, friends and ultimately ourselves.

We are unique beings that have reduced ourselves to a bunch of selfish, greedy, deceptive and insecure people.

Using Nigeria as a case study in the spirit of constructive criticism, there have been apparent surges in virtually every sector of the economy right? Or we might as well say not really, simply because there are massive elements of prematurity, bias and artificiality. Want instances? 

First off, Nigeria has gained an international reputation for corruption as embarrassing as it may be. The corruption which has remained virtually unchecked till date has turned a small percentage of the Nigerian population into shameless billionaires that have failed to give back to the society, and how repressive they are.

Imagine a considerably great country of about 180 million people, huge economy, crude oil, untold potentials, serene weather and no natural disasters, and still there has been no significant development especially in proportion to her population, none worthwhile per say asides the ones that the western world that enslaved us built.

Nigeria is a unique country where her citizens would apparently speak English language better than the British, wear the most luxurious apparel, drive the most expensive cars and invariably claim to do virtually everything the white folks have handed down from skills to material possessions, without building a sustainable future for her up coming generation.

We can build Jets, cars, phones, mechanize agriculture and so much more. If at all they are actually rocket science, which they entirely aren't, we simply need to create policies and enabling environment to make it happen on our father land.

“Aren’t we all slaves? Empty shells in closed cabins, souls for purchase, zombies for hire?

Aren’t we still slaves?

Third generation nations are definitely still slaves either to material wealth or to the western world only in a modern way, although they may be bewildered about it, or they may have knowingly turned a blind eye to the suffering of the masses while the privileged few benefit abundantly from oppressing the people, ignorant or unconcerned of the inevitable aftermath.

Nigeria has had the opportunity to diversify her economy for as long as we can remember, it has always been a matter of initiative, faith, sincerity and priorities, which have been ignored without considering genuine principles.

How high can the insult go? Nigeria is practically itching towards being a failed state as she constantly battles with unstable electricity, terrible roads, unemployment, ridiculous educational structure that foreigners do not recognize Nigerian university degrees, but cherish an average Nigerian’s intelligence independently, poor health system so much that her President Buhari has been out of the country for over two months on medical leave so much that it appeared as a mockery on cnn.

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound by the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word” …Martin Luther King Jr. (1029 – 1968) An American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement.

This is war

If we are not at war, I really don’t know what else to call it. This is a state of emergency, everywhere looks calm because we are used to the rot, and some people are behind the scene packing the dirt and paying for our filth.

We might not be at war with other nations, but with ourselves, how dare we stand akimbo as we watch our kid’s future wither away like smoke which is surely short-lived along the way?

We are so immersed in greed and material wealth that we fail to see that it is all vanity and will become useless even after we are gone away from this world. How can we not teach our children that we can never be satisfied, but that it is contentment that brings forth great wealth?

Look around you, there are misguided youths everywhere, some smoke cigars, cigarettes and even weed without knowing why, some go into internet fraud to get money they don’t actually need thereby wasting it, binging on arrogance and getting hurt, most are exposed to STDs through indiscriminate mating and homosexuality which they really don’t understand, and even the educated ones rely on their brainpower with pride rather than be humble and seek wisdom and emotional intelligence.

“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope” …Barack Obama (1961 - ) American politician who served as the 44^th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He is the first African American to have served as President.

A ray of hope…perhaps

Do you believe in miracles? I do, and I like to see it in different forms. Firstly, what is a miracle? Although some define it as a marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of a divine agent, it is also fair to say it is any amazing or wonderful occurrence.

Going with the second definition means even as mortal as I am, I can perform a miracle. I have been so flat broke before that when a friend of mine saved me by hooking me up with some cash it was really a miracle to me.

Likewise, if I give some random kid who appears to be hungry food or money, perhaps I have restored hope in humanity by that singular mysterious act, and isn’t that what life is about? To show love and compassion towards ourselves in order for there to be a state of harmony for mankind, co-existing without conflict and being able to navigate a prosperous future. I am talking people, but are you listening?

We don’t have to be the bad guys if Nigeria must survive, no not anymore, we know better now, and we need to realize that we are a team of intelligent, good and creative people ready to take on the world, and a chain is as strong as its weakest link.

Thank you, and be awesome because you can.

Akin Abimbola

akinzogee@gmail.com

akinzogee@yahoo.com

Facebook: Critical Lyric by Akin Abimbola

Twitter: akinzogee

SOURCES: Brainy quote, cnn, Financial Times,  Good reads, Google, Holy Bible, Webster’s Dictionary, 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.