Nigeria made history on October 1, when its caterers build and unveil the world’s largest cake. The 65,000kg cake, was unveiled at the National Stadium, Abuja, and was intended to beat the current Guinness World Records.
Each state of the federation is expected to get one ton of the delicacy which is billed to enter the Guinness Book of Record as the world’s largest cake.{div width:200|height:90|float:right}{module Inside Advert 200×90|none}{/div}
It is also expected that Nigerians from every ethnic group would be at the stadium at the time it will be cut so that they can have a share of the proverbial ‘national cake.’
Thus, according to the initiator of the cake project, Mr. Victor Oluwafemi, Nigerians will have the opportunity to enjoy the literal translation of the ‘national cake’ into reality.
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According to Oluwafemi, many Nigerians will not have the opportunity to taste the anniversary cake to be cut at the Aso Villa. So, he is providing a larger percentage of the population the opportunity to share in the ‘national cake’.
But no matter how hard Olufemi may try, only an infinitesimal proportion of the population will taste the cake, no matter how large. But the talk in town is that the Independence anniversary has provided many Nigerians, both in public and private sectors, the opportunity to bake their own cakes.
A printer rebuked one of his workers, “You heard that the Federal Government is spending N10bn on 50th Independence anniversary and you are wasting here; what are we making from this budget?â€
A civil servant, on the other hand, lamented, “A lot of papers are flying around for Nigeria@50. We have to be careful.â€
The logic is: find a way to bake your own cake if you can’t get a cut of the ready one. And Nigeria@50 provides a wonderful opportunity at a time like this.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nigerian schoolgirl weightlifter Augustina Nwakolo scooped the first gold medal at the Delhi Commonwealth Games on Monday, dashing hosts India’s hopes of claiming it for themselves.
The 17-year-old jumped into the arms of her coach to celebrate her victory in the women’s 48kg category, which she nailed with Games records in both the snatch and clean and jerk for a total of 175kg.
Local hopes rested on Soniya Chanu’s shoulders but the pre-event favourite failed to match the Nigerian and had to settle for silver with 167kg ahead of compatriot Sandhya Rani Devi, who managed a combined 165kg.
Devi was tied with Malaysian Zaira Zakaria but clinched bronze on account of her lower bodyweight.
“I knew … I believed I could beat them. I had trained well,” Nigerian national champion Nwakolo, who turns 18 in December, said. “The records … I have done it before.”
The Delhi Games was the first international event for the high school student, Nigerian national weightlifting coach Bassey Patrick told reporters.
“She was ready for every situation, both mentally and physically. We used to train her on different parameters,” Patrick said.
Indian weightlifting coach Harnam Singh apologised to the host nation for the missed gold.
“The failed attempts during the snatch let Soniya down. It was difficult to come back after that. I say sorry to the whole country,” Singh said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Partnership with SuperSport goes into an early extra time until 2015
Since February 2010, Bundesliga has been viewed across the whole African continent.
The response from African viewers has been so overwhelmingly positive that the leading pan-African sports broadcaster SuperSport has opted to secure Bundesliga’s broadcast rights for a further three seasons (from 2012/12 to 2014/15) only a few months after having commenced its Bundesliga coverage. The respective deal with DFL Sports Enterprises was sealed accordingly.
The partnership with Bundesliga was initially agreed for 2,5 years until the end of the 2011/12 season. However, with the new contract the successful collaboration between SuperSport and DFL Sports Enterprises has been extended for another three years and will now run until the end of the2014/15 season.
“We are very satisfied with the audience ratings for Bundesliga and are delighted about our early contract extension,†says Imtiaz Patel, Group CEO of Multichoice South Africa (and former CEO of SuperSport). “Bundesliga is one of the top brands in international football and we are anticipating a very strong international growth of this premium property in the coming years. With the extension of the contract and the subsequent securing of the broadcast rights until 2015, we are sealing the beginning of a long-term partnership with the Bundesliga.â€
“We are very pleased to have won Africa’s leading sports broadcaster as a long-term licensee,†says Jörg Daubitzer, Manager Director of DFL Sports Enterprises. “This is fantastic news, especially against the backdrop of this year’s World Cup in South Africa, which clearly lifted the Bundesliga brand to another international level. The early extension of the contract is at the same time a successful kick-off for our new round of international licensing for the seasons 2012/13 through 2014/15.â€
Bundesliga is broadcast in all 208 FIFA member states and can be seen by over 700 million viewers. “The intrinsic value of Bundesliga rights is now more and more reflected in our license revenues. However, the additional income generated through international TV rights is only one side of the coin. “The contract extension with SuperSport definitely brings home the message that on the back of our international TV rights we have the ability to significantly expand the added value,†says Daubitzer.
On SuperSport: SuperSport, Africa’s leading pay broadcaster, reaches over 3.9 million subscribers in almost 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the adjacent islands. SuperSport broadcasts up to four live Bundesliga matches per match week as well as the preview show “GOAL! – The Bundesliga Magazineâ€, extensive matchday roundups as well other Bundesliga-formats.
Across various territories, SuperSport features all important football events such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro Championships, the Copa America, UEFA Champions and Europa Leagues, FA Cup, English Premier League, Spanish Primera Division, Carling Cup, French Ligue 1, six African Football Leagues (including the South African PSL as well as other top sports events).
SuperSport was founded 24 years ago and broadcasts 24 channels across sub- Saharan Africa. Its sole owner is MultiChoice, which belongs to the MIH Group. The MIH Group is a subsidiary of Naspers Limited, one of the world’s leading media houses, which is listed on the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Last month, impostors pretending to be Togo’s national soccer team traveled 3,500 miles from West Africa to the Persian Gulf, where they played a match against the national team of Bahrain. Bahrain won easily, 3-0, which was unusual enough for Bahrain that it made the team suspicious—Josef Hickersberger, Bahrain’s Austrian coach, noted in surprise that the Togo players “were not fit enough to play 90 minutes.” When word of the match traveled back to Africa, the Togolese soccer authorities were shocked. “The players who took part in the friendly against Bahrain were completely fake,” thundered Gen. Seyi Memene, the president of Togo’s soccer federation. “We have not sent any team of footballers to Bahrain.”
Togo, which occupies a sliver of land between Ghana and Benin on the Gulf of Guinea, is a soccer-loving country, and the news that a mysterious group of easily winded players had impersonated the national team provoked a public outcry. Investigations were launched, and the nation’s sports minister muttered to the press about “shadowy handlers” and “mafia groups.” After what must have been a grueling piece of detective work, the investigators pinned their suspicions on Tchanile Bana, a former national-team coach who had recently been suspended for taking another fake team to a tournament in Egypt. Bana confessed, apologized, was banned from the game for three years, and insisted—maybe a little too fervently—that he had acted alone.
In the United States, Bana’s misadventure caused a minor ripple of amusement, then disappeared as soon as the next prostitute-soliciting high-school football coach rolled into view. In Togo, however, this bizarre story has continued to dominate the public’s attention. Over the past few weeks, it has gone beyond a simple case of mistaken identity to include layers of conspiracy, fraud, corruption, political instability, and horrific violence. The fake team that played in Bahrain, then, can be seen as a stand-in for all the difficulties that face African soccer, where sports and political instability are often juxtaposed and where day-to-day reality can be starkly different from the cheerful picture painted during this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
To understand the situation in Togo, you have to go back to the afternoon of Jan. 8, 2010, when the national team—the real one—traveled by bus into Angola’s Cabinda province, the site of its first match in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. The game never should have been held in Cabinda, an oil-rich region with a long history of violent secessionist conflict. The decision to stage part of the Cup of Nations there was widely seen as a move by the Angolan government to reassure oil companies that it was fully in control of the province.
It didn’t work. As the Togo team’s bus crossed into Cabinda, armed soldiers from a separatist sect opened fire, killing the driver and two staff members and wounding several players. The team’s French manager, Herbert Velud, was shot in the arm. For around half an hour, the rebels fired on the bus with machine guns and fought with the team’s Angolan security force while the players crawled under the seats. After the attack—which the Angolan government used as an excuse to crack down on human rights activists—Togo withdrew its team from the Cup of Nations. Incredibly, this withdrawal led Togo to be banned from competing in the next two tournaments. The ban was later rescinded, but not before Emanuel Adebayor, Togo’s star striker, retired from international soccer, saying that he was “haunted” by what had happened in Cabinda.
Long before the bus shooting, Togo had one of the most dysfunctional soccer cultures in the world, one marked by a range of scandals and tragedies that extended from World Cup labor disputes to helicopter crashes. Only a month before the attack, FIFA had disbanded the country’s soccer council, which was headed by the brother of Togo’s semi-dictatorial president, and installed an interim committee led by Gen. Memene. The interim committee was supposed to be replaced by a permanent federation this July, but—partly due to the chaos that followed the Cabinda attack—its mandate was extended by three months, with new elections scheduled for October.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
As race for medals begin this morning at the 19th Commonwealth Games in India with the swimming events, Nigerian officials have said they aim to finish as the top African teams present here. Dr Patrick Ekeji, director general of the National Sports Commission told The Times of India at the weekend that Nigeria was at the competition to win medals.
“Our main target is to ensure that we finish as the best African team at the Games,” observed the former Green Eagles player.
At the last edition in Melbourne, Australia, South Africa finished as Africa’s best team with 12 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze medals, while Kenya finished five places below with six gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.
Nigeria placed 12th with four gold, six silver and 7 bronze medals with special sports athletes contributing three of these gold, while Monday Merotohun and Segun Toriola got the country’s other gold in the table tennis men’s double event.
Nigeria will compete in track and field, boxing, weightlifting, wrestling, special sports and table tennis.The country’s hopes will again be in special sports, athletics and table tennis with the multi-talented Blessing Okagbare, the star at the recent African Athletics Championship in Kenya, Nigeria’s biggest medal prospect.
Okagbare will feature in the 100 and 200 metres sprints, the long jump as well as anchor the 4x100m relay team.Ajoke Odumosu, who set a new national record of 54.68 secs in the 400m hurdles in Split, Croatia, last month, is also expected to medal, while British-based triple jumper Tosin Oke, gold medallist at the African Championships, is favoured to reach the podium in Delhi.
Sprints star Olusoji Fasuba, who won silver in the men’s 100m four years ago in Australia, is not part of Nigeria’s contingent to the games after falling out with the authorities.
“We are presenting athletes who we are sure will give us medals. The era of taking a crowd to international competitions and creating a lot of scene is over. We want total concentration and not confusion in the camp,” insisted the president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Solomon Ogba.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
As the Commonwealth Games gets underway on Monday, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) says it is not worried about the make up of Team South Africa’s track and field contingent.
The sporting body’s CEO Tubby Reddy says there is no need for criticism after top athletes Caster Semenya, Khotso Mokoena and Mbulaeni Mulaudzi pulled out of the games in Delhi.
“Our team is our team based on our selection policy; those are the people that have qualified. All of them are here on merit,†says Reddy.
He says the atmosphere at the games is now far more positive after Sunday night’s flawless opening ceremony.
Meanwhile, the event, which is already under fire over security concerns, construction issues and living conditions, has also been hit by the confirmation that an official who had been living at the athletes’ village has been diagnosed with dengue fever.
It is understood the man could be discharged by Monday evening but the news has sparked fresh health fears at the competition.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
I am an expatriate in Africa. I have been in and around Africa for the last 10 years. I came here with my parents and decided to stay. Africa has beggars, lots of beggars for that matter. The easiest explanation for this would be that, Africa has poverty and poverty has created a huge group of people depended on the society due to the lack of direct financial support to these underprivileged, by the government. This is an easy explanation I would say, its not wrong, but it represents less than 10% of the beggars on the streets.
I would like to go to a specific country for the rest of this discussion, as this would represent a case that can be seen in similar, but localized version else where in Africa.
Rwanda having strict laws against begging and a police force that is considered the least corrupt in the whole of Africa, benefits from having very few beggars on the streets compared to other African countries. By this am not trying to say that there are no beggars in the Rwandan streets. Having spent a long time here and Rwanda being a nation with very high expatriate and general population density it would be a wise and good example to analyse and would be the best example to bring my points across.
The country has seen rapid growth in the last few years, this has resulted in rural to urban migration. Do understand that this is a very small country with an even smaller urban area, the so called urban area would be considered rural in most other places. The most interesting part of the whole scenario is that, in most other places rural to urban migration results in a large unemployed population and they turn to begging. Here in Rwanda this is not what is happening. The beggars are of a totally different class. The beggars are not old or disabled people that cannot find jobs, but they are children and healthy people who are already employed in some way or the other.
The children usually come to the cities, running away from home for some silly reason. Initially they walk around the town and then join groups of similar children in some location in the city, there are several NGOs and there are government initiatives to provide shelter and schooling for these children on the streets, however they do not stay at these facilities.
The other class of already lightly employed beggars, these are young adults with some sort of semi employment, like washing cars, cleaning buildings, selling things on the road etc. This group are opportunistic beggars and does not fit the exact definition of beggars.
These are not the only types of beggars, but they are the most common.Let me try and explain the role expatriates play in worsening the situation.
The general attitude an expatriate in Africa has is of superiority, superior in terms of technology, medicine, financial strength etc. This results in a want to help attitude in most of the cases. It is this state of mind that the majority of the beggars utilize.
The children come around saying they are hungry and that they haven’t had food in so many days and so on. The most important thing to note is that they do not in general approach Rwandans. I have time and again observed this and know it for a fact that they know not to approach Rwandans. The main reason for this is that there is heavy media propaganda through radio shows, news papers etc to discourage such activities. Also the president has been saying over and over again at most international meetings that Africa doesn’t need AID anymore but it need foreign investment. This has created a sense of pride and an attitude to be self sufficient in most Rwandans, thus the children clearly know that if they approach a Rwandan there is high chance that they might end up in one of the many facilities that are working to protect and shelter street children.
Now the next important thing to know is that the money that they make by begging is not spent on food, its usually spent on what they call “Glue” which is a strong industrial adhesive that has a pungent smell, which has an intoxicating effect. The older ones spent it on cigarettes or marijuana. Alcohol gets the least preference due to the fact that it is generally expensive in Rwanda.
The negative effects of these children staying on the streets is usually that they end up in prison as criminals. If we look at it in another perspective these are children with potential to be make something out of their lives that become thugs and thieves. The majority of the children on the streets are boys.
The other category, which is the lightly employed young adults, this category includes both men and women. They usually have small jobs, with which they can make a living if they work hard enough. Now with the influx of a large number of NGOs and other expatriates, they have moved away from trying to work hard to make ends meet to begging. They see it as an easy source of money, it also lets them laze around and spent time doing nothing.
This generally makes them lazy and it results in them loosing the jobs they initially had and generally leads them to become petty thieves. Even this group will be very reluctant to go to a Rwandan to ask for money.
Let me look at it from another perspective, that of the one giving the money. We are walking down the street and young boy of say 10 years comes to us and tells us, in English or French that he is hungry and puts a really hungry expression on his face. The superiority complex (let me call it that way) that most of us expatriates have leads us to put ours selves in the position of the Saviour and what do we do? We give him a 500 RWF note, Which to us is less than a dollar. We walk away having the confidence of helping a fellow human being in need and a boosted ego. Do understand that, the dollar we gave him will not help him in any way but will only lead to him becoming a burden to the society.
When we give a beggar some money ,we are trying to make a quick fix without taking any effort, what so ever to find a real solution to his problem and in most cases the said beggar has no problem except laziness in the first place.
So the next time you want to do something good to a fellow human being, go volunteer with some NGO. You can easily find an NGO in most parts of Africa. IF you have come to Africa as part of an NGO then do understand that you are already doing enough to help fellow human beings
I would also like to add that a good number of Expatriates give money out of guilt of having money when they don’t. Even in this case giving them your money will only lead to their degradation in the society.
Let us not promote the degradation of the African society, they have gone through enough already.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the banned Action Group and leader of the Yorubas of western Nigeria, was born on March 6, 1909. Son of a farmer and self made man, Chief Awolowo was educated at Anglican and Methodist schools in Ikenne, his home town, and at Baptist Boys’ High School in Abeokuta, Western Nigeria. His education being curtailed from lack of money, Chief Awolowo worked as a pupil teacher and then went to Wesley College in Ibadan, the then capital city of Western Nigeria, to attend a course in teacher training. Leaving Wesley College, he studied shorthand and typing, and after working for a while in Lagos, returned to Wesley College in 1932 as a clerk.
Two years later, he became a trader and a newspaper reporter. He organized in the late ’30s the Nigerian Produce Traders Association and became secretary of the Nigerian Motor Transport Union.
Not satisfied with his education, Chief Awolowo took up part-time studies and, after matriculation in 1939, went on to obtain a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1944; in that year he was also editing the now defunct Nigerian Worker. In June 1940, he became secretary of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Youth Movement ( NYM )and, in this position , led the agitation for the reform of the Ibadan Native Authority Advisory Board in 1942.
He was CO-founder of the Trade Union Congress Of Nigeria in 1943. The following year, he went to London to study law and founded the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, a Yoruba tribal society. After qualifying in 1947, he returned to Nigeria to set up legal practice and continued to work for the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, becoming general secretary in 1948. Two years later he became moving spirit in organizing with other Yoruba leaders the Action Group, which won the then Western Region elections in 1951.
Chief Awolowo was a leader of Government Business and Minister of Local Government from 1951-54 when, with the introduction of the new Constitution, he became the first Premier of Western Nigeria. Chief Awolowo, who is highly competent, full of initiative, original in thought, practical and very often stubborn when he his convinced about something, built the Action Group into what was then described as ‘the best political party south of the Sahara’.
With an able and efficient team, both in Government and in making the Western Region the cynosure of the rest of the Federation of Nigeria. He resigned the premiership of Western Nigeria in 1959 to contest the Federal elections but, failing to win, became the leader of the opposition in the Federal House Of Representatives. Chief Awolowo led his party’s delegation to the London Constitutional conferences in 1953 and 1954, and to a later conference in Lagos in 1958.
So excellent was the administration of the Western Nigeria during Chief Awolowo’s tenure in Office as Premier that when in 1953 the British Government announced its intention to grant self-government in 1956 to any Region desiring it, the Action Group Leader asked for and secured it in the same year.
Chief Awolowo is an unyielding advocate of a federal constitution for Nigeria. He is also a strong antagonist of the North’s feudal system and its spread to other parts of Nigeria; an advocate of the creation of more states in Nigeria.
A fight broke out in the Western House of Assembly (May 25, 1962 ) following an attempt by the Action Group to discipline Chief Awolowo’s next in command, the late Chief Samuel Akintola, who was then Premier of the Region. The Federal Parliament met four days later and decided to declare a state of emergency all over the region. Chief Awolowo and the main leaders were put under restriction, but later the Action Group Leader and some of his aides were detained following the discovery of a plot to overthrow the Federal Government.
On November 2, 1962, Chief Awolowo and 28 other members of his party were put on trial for treasonable felony. After a hearing lasting eleven months, he was sentenced (September 11, 1963) to ten years imprisonment, and, on appeal to the Federal Court the sentence was upheld.
He spent just over three years in calabar prison. He was released on August 3, 1966 with a state pardon. Nine days later, amid jubilation he was unanimously elected leader of the then 10,500,000 Yorubas and leader of the Western delegation to the All Nigerian Conference on the future association of Nigeria.
Chief Awolowo was married and has four children. While he was on trial, his eldest son, a Cambridge law student, died in a car accident near Ibadan.
Chief Awolowo was an author whose publications include Path to Nigerian Freedom, Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution (which he wrote while in prison,he advocated a confederal constitution as the only way out of the impasse in Nigeria).
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Nigeria at 50 : Independence Speech of Obafemi Awolowo (If he was alive today)
All protocol observed. “ Possible Solutions to Nigeria’s Problemsâ€
Fellow Nigerians; Good day and happy golden independence anniversary celebrations to you all my fellow country men. Officially, three of us (Tafawa Balewa, Azikiwe Nnamdi and Myself ) were invited few months ago to grace this golden occasion of this great nation, but we decided not to come to express our grievances on the bad state of the country. It evident that our successive leaders had ruin this nation and make it what great Chinua Achebe refers to as: “This is an example of a country that has fallen down; it has collapsed. This house has fallen.†The country have suffered and sunk in pervasive corruption, social catastrophe and economic dilapidation since we left the for the great beyond few decades ago. Our much respected values of patriotism and uncompromising emphasis on integrity and honesty have been thrown to the winds. My wife said, it has gotten to a state that you cannot trust anybody again. The leaders are despots. Education in ruins. All inherited infrastructures are in shambles. Health care have been neglected. Security of life and property is no longer guaranteed. The image of lawlessness is seen everywhere. Nigerians lives in frustrations, regrets, dejections, hopelessness, misery, pains and sufferings. Almost 80 percents of Nigerians are in poverty line while a few clique are stinkingly rich. Politics has turned to “do or die affairs†and “winner takes allâ€. Democracy is now coined to mean “government of some people by some people and for some peopleâ€. To be honest with you all, we have seen and heard a lot of things up here.We could not sleep for three days when Gani Fawehinmi joined us. He gave us the full situation reports of what has happened in Nigeria. We have been very sad with the situation of the country for the past three decades. The past despots refused to deliver our independence speeches. It is so sad that, only very few of the leaders we left behind maintain their status quo. The rest have joined the maddening crowd.
Most of them have lost their integrity and dignity because of money. They have lost their sense of reasoning because of naira. They have ruin the future of Nigerian youths because of greediness and lust for power. The world’s largest oil producer refused to develop because of its leaders who are reckless and self-centred. The country has both human and natural resources that can make her greater than any country in the world. I remember what my political son, Chief Bola Ige who once commented on the strength of Africa giant. He said: “The resilience, the wonderfulness, the energy – Nigeria can be compared favourably with the United States of America. I put it crudely sometimes that if you know how to package shit, you can sell it in Nigeria. I want this country to be the first black superpower.†The world largest supplier of oil, with huge fertile land and human resources are now suffering in the midst of plenty. There is no country in the world where you will not find Nigerian professionals or a Nigerian community. And there is no human being on earth that have not received Nigerian 419 scam letters on their mail box. That is the end results of what bad governance can do to a nation. There is a need for urgent and radical solutions to revive the falling giant of Africa.
Nigeria is our country and there is no other place to replace our fatherland. Now is the time to re-build the falling house. History teaches us that every problem has a life span. Like I have said before, I do not have a monopoly of wisdom, but I will provide five important possible solutions which am very sure if it is taken with all seriousness, the nation will have reasons to celebrate in nearest the future.
Fellow Nigerians, my first important possible solution might come to you as a surprise. This is a four letter word call LOVE. This country is in a precarious situation because there is no real love within the entire people. Since independence, all Nigerian tribes; Hausas, Ibos, and Yorubas have only unite on “geographical expression†and not in the real sense of it. We still don’t regard ourselves as one nation-one destiny. It is has been very difficult to find unity and peace among the Kanuris, the Fulanis, the Hausas, the Gbagyis,(Gwaris) the Tivs, the Nupes, the Yorubas, the Edos, the Urhobos, the Igbos, the Ijaws and the Ibibios. Ironically, the Nigerian’s motto of “Unity and Faith, Peace and Unity†that act as a guide to people’s conduct does no longer reflect in all people actions. Where there is no love, unity, peace and progress can never exist. Love defines essence of living. Love guides, love protects, and love leads to the end. Love is the only road that leads to true peace. Our wellbeing will be developed if we love and care for each other. That was the first thing that inspired me on my first day in Europe. I saw how people in government transcend love to their citizens through provision of all the basic fundamental human needs and how citizens in turn provide certain responsibilities towards the government. If there is love, all Nigerians cannot still be living in darkness with irregular power supply at this 21st century. If there is love, oil and gas revenue can develop all States of the federation like Abuja city. If there is love, the regions that produce oil for the whole nation will never be in such a state of environmental disaster to its people. If there is love, a leader will never think of looting all the treasury and leave his subject in abject poverty and squalor. If there is love, no man can kill another human being for religion, political, economic or ethnic reasons. Our rulers can provide all the basic fundamental human needs for its citizens if there is love and feeling for humanity.
All these will never happen if we don’t love our neighbour as ourselves. What is then the essence of having churches and mosques in every ten metres on the street of Nigeria if we cannot live with love? The problem is not religion, but ourselves who are still languishing in mediocracy of religion. There is no bad religion. What we have is bad people. If we have to be sincere, there is no living Nigerian who have no link either directly or indirectly with other person of different religion at home or place of work. We are all brothers and sisters worshiping the same one Creator called by different names. Those who kill others are worshiping Devils. We should not see ourselves as enemies.When you are good to others you are best to yourself. Human beings are created to be bundle of joy and blessings to his or her generation. Our generation is not yet wasted.That is the only point I do not agree with Soyinka. This is the golden time for personal repentance and national renewal to move Nigeria forward. The situation in our country is so seriously that all we need now is to LOVE each other. This four letter word conquers all Nigerian problems from A-Z. According to the Holy Bible, in the book of 1st Corinthians 13:4-8; It states thus;“Love is patient, love is kind.It is not jealous, is not pompous,it is not inflated,it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,…it bears all things,….endures all things. Lover never fails.†Also, the Holy Quran preaches love, patience, generosity and honesty in all ramifications.. The following two verses from the Holy Quran testifies for this: “Verily man is in loss, except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds, and join together in the mutual enjoining of truth, and of patience and constancy.†Holy Quran 103:2-3 This second verse gives the meaning of Islam as peace and submission to the will of God and not to the will of people; “It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West. But it is righteousness to believe in Allah and the Last Day, And the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; To spend of your substance, out of love for Him, For your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves;To be steadfast in prayer and give in charity; to fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain and adversity and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth,the God-fearing†Holy Quran 2:177 .
Meanwhile, my second solution to Nigeria problem concerns electing of our leaders to hold public offices. This has been our problem since we got independence in 1960 . We have not been fortunate to have good leaders. What we have been having is what Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah tagged “accidental leaders.†The most sad thing about them is that after being sworn in with the Oath of Allegiance of good conduct, then they will proceed to churches and mosques with their family, relations and associates for thanks-giving services. By the time you see them again, they have already looted the whole treasury. Dr. Akinola Aguda keynote address at the 3rd Obafemi Awolowo Foundation on December,1994 on a leader that Nigeria needs explained that it : “…is not a semi-educated person lacking in intelligent, ability and transparent honesty.â€. Prof. Jega, the new INEC Chairman actually gives the best description our past leaders, when he said in a recent lecture in Abuja that; “If the truth be told, past Nigerian leaders with few exceptions were self-serving rulers, not leaders. Some were even despots…There is perhaps no other country in the world where power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely as in Nigeria…They have generally lacked vision, focus and selflessness and even enlighten self-interest. Many in leadership positions are unimaginably corrupt, they are greedy, they are vindictive, they are reckless and in many fundamental respects,senseless. Virtually, whoever has access to power attempts to abuse it.†I don’t think there is another words to describe them than this.
Nigeria needs leaders that will base their greatness on the services they render for good of the citizens rather than the property accumulated within shortest time .We need people who are ethical and who can convey a strong vision of the future. We need trusted leaders and achievers who will build a humane society capable of looking after the legitimate needs of the citizenry. Leaders in this context does mean the President alone.With good leaders, all these socio-economic and political problems will be history. It does not take good leaders two years to solve the problem of epileptic electricity supply and irregular pipe-borne water supply. Libya got her independence in 1969, Kenya in 1963, Algeria in 1962, South Africa in 1961, Ghana in 1957, Morocco in 1956 and their electricity supply have been stable for many years. The issue of electricity needs to be addressed immediately for meaningful development to take place in this country. With good leaders, all the cities in Nigeria will be like Abuja city. Good leaders will know how to rehabilitate all infrastructures inherited which are in shambles. Concern leaders will make provision for standard Health Care Centres in all the Nigeria 774 local governments. Good leaders know that if agriculture remains stagnant, industry cannot grow. Reliable transportation system should be in place to improve the quality of life. We refuse to make use of our potential population as China is doing now. All these things are possible. As Napoleon Bonaparte would say: “Impossible is a word only to be found in the dictionary of fools.†You just need to go to Lagos state and see what Fashola has done to let you know the meaning of good governance, transparency and accountability. If the new Lagos State we see on You Tube, and what Mama and Wole told me of the new-look Oshodi market, the New Nigeria is imminent and possible. Great men or leaders are great because they willed to be great. We have to be very concern and careful in electing person of intellectual capability, trust and integrity to run the affairs of the country or the states. The size of a man is not determined by the length of his legs, but by what’s in his head. We have have to be very concern to put people where they can be productive-men of virtue and example of modest. We have to recruit professionals to head sensitive posts. It is only in Nigeria, where you have a graduate of history as a Commissioner for Agriculture and natural resources when there are Agricultural science graduates, or you have a beautician to head a sensitive political post all in the name of party allegiance. They prefer mediocrity to meritocracy.
This is stupidity and not in line with principles of effective and efficient administrative policy. That is more reason why they do not have positive results. This is very wrong in anywhere, even here in heaven. Leadership is to render qualitative services. We have not heard of an ex-football international player to head the country’s football body. How do we you expect our Green Eagles to fly when it has no wings. A country of more than 150 million of people cannot produce thirty best legs to rule the world in South Africa . Wole even told me that Nigerians, now prefer to pay to watch English premier league football match on big screen than to watch Nigeria premier league soccer match live free of charge at any stadium. You can see what our so-called administrators have done to the system. Leaders are servants of the people and the people are their pay-masters.You do not need to contest for an election if you do not want to be the servant of the people. Leadership is not for glamour, pleasure, privilege, fun or opportunity to buy mansions here and abroad while your people are dying of malaria and squalor. Leadership is not opportunity to loot the state treasury and keep the money in foreign accounts while his people cannot afford three-square meals a day. Leadership is not stealing the government money and donate it to churches or mosques. Leadership is to bless the life of others. I will use this opportunity to inform all Nigeria political parties to base their selections and appointments on qualified professionals with integrity in all sensitive posts and not solely rely on party allegiance which had ruined the last regime.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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