I’m sorry if I’m digressing from the better life gist a little. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel really really moved when I think about Nigeria. Do you? I know I am not alone, I certainly am not. I’m not even the first to feel this way, but I feel so strongly that I must contribute my quota into transforming Nigeria into the future I know it has. We might be divided in our past, but we are united in our future. We might have diverse tribes and languages, but we can aspire to one vision. My destiny and if you think about it, yours as well, is tied to this country! When we pray for the peace of our Jerusalem, we are qualified to prosper in it!
I’ve had an opportunity to attend a few brainstorming sessions recently with Fela Durotoye and a number of other passionate change agents in Nigeria, and I know that the cloud is gathering, and the rain will fall! I have had the opportunity also of speaking with accomplished Nigerian business leaders, and the question I find on the lips of the ones with the right values is, “after we have made all this money what next, what legacy will we leave to generations unborn, is this our best as a country?” Think about it, we all believe we deserve a Nigeria that is better than this. I mean, really think about it, you and I know people who would lead and administer every state, ministry and parastatal better. What will it cost us to have 36 Fashola’s spread across Nigeria? What will it cost us? I’m not claiming that he’s a saint, and really maybe what we need as a next step is not an outright saint, but concientous leaders who believe they owe us something in their tenure as leaders.
I regularly marvel at how blessed we are as a nation. You sit down and think about it, not out of patriotism or anything, but standing outside as an observer, if I wasn’t a Nigerian, I would have said that God favoured this country.
Is it arable land? We have it in abundance! While countries like Japan are chocked up without space, and to survive would build airports on water, we have land mass, not only land mass like they have in the Dubai and UAE deserts, we have arable and fertile ground. We have land that can grow anything without much efforts. CIA reports say that we have very good surface water, Malaysia for a fact proved that we could have made more from palm oil than crude oil. Our problem is not our land.
Is it brilliance or intellectual prowess? I don’t mean to be proud, but I have heard of average and percieved below average Nigerians get overseas {yankee or Jand} and become classified as geniuses. I’m sure a number of you out there in diaspora can share stories and testimonies of how you got to your class with a complex and became a super star in 1yr. Do I have a witness? If you look into different disciplines globally as well, you’ll find Nigerians excelling and in top positions. Our brains are correct. Our problem is not in our brain.
Is it man power? Skilled and Unskilled labour, we have! With a population that makes us the most populous black nation on earth, a quarter of Africa and 10% of the black race. We have the numbers and the cost of living that can help us be the manufacturing hub or IT hub of the world. Our unemployement and underemployments rates are so high, some of us are doing more than we should be doing. We have people that we can direct, we have an army that we can lead. We’ve got the numbers. Our problem is not our population.
Is it natural resources? We have in Nigeria over 37 mineral resources that have been discovered in commercial quantity. This means if we shift our gaze from oil, there are 36 other minerals that can occupy our attention sufficiently. In natural resources we rank among the top countries in the world so blessed. We don’t have a want of what to naturally generate income from.
Is it our personality? Nigerians are some of the most passionate people in the world, if not the most. If you want to know, just get two Nigerians to argue about a football match or anything in particular. I once attended a training in poland where I was approached by some of the facilitators on the account of my contagious passion. I told them, that if they think I am passionate, it’s because they have not been to Nigeria. Passion is that quality that makes you put a lot more into whatever it is you are doing. We are passionate people.
Is it our culture? We have one of the closely knit together cultures in the world. We have very close extended family systems, we are more united than most countries. Telecommunication companies are making a killing in Nigeria because we like to be in touch. If viral marketing can work anywhere in the world it’s with us, if word of mouth epidemic can be spread anywhere in the world it’s with us. If all the nations of the earth do network marketing together we have proven our capacity to be number 1. Our culture is not our problem.
What then is our problem? What one thing will we solve that will make it clear to us that things can begin to change? I believe very strongly, and I have the backing of my elders in saying that that thing, is that we the enlightened rise up and take responsibility for our nation. If darkness reigns it’s because light refused to shine. Darkness has no measure, the degree of darkness we suffer is a direct measure of how lightless we are. For how long will we have candles and not light them up, for how long will we have generators and not switch on the light. For how long will we be slaves in our own countries? For how long? For how long will we travel out of our nation to slave it away for other economies simply because they have better systems and consequently better leaders? For how long? For how long will you and I continue to be spectators in the game of our lives? For how long will we wait for television and radio to tell us the fate of our nation. When will you and I become news makers? When?
The answer my friend is NOW! The future is a moving target that changes with every passing second. To capture the future, we must begin NOW. In the weeks ahead, we will put flesh on it, in weeks ahead we will come out with our strategy. Today, let’s build the workforce and the financiers of the future. You are not alone, we are legion! When we come together our productivity increases by as much as 80%. Together, we must build a critical mass of people who when they put their voices together and step out in the same direction, can steer the direction of this nation. Our quest is simple, we want to deliver for Nigeria, the right (visionary administrators who have concrete plans for Nigeria and have demonstrated the capability to lead us) political leadership, and an enlightened (people that are easy to govern, difficult to rule and impossible to enslave) followership. To Join us, click here.
We will celebrate key milestones. Once we are 100, everybody on the database get’s a congratulatory text message. Our next milestone will be 1000, all the 100 will be required to get 10 of their friends subscribed. Then we will work towards, 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, 100,000, 1,000,000 and 5,000,000. There is no demand from anybody at the moment, but the demands will come – demands for skill, for time, for finance, for vision, for presence. Together, we will make this country work, we will leverage on support in Nigeria and in Diaspora. Our brothers and sisters outside are a great advantage, they can be our voices in the cases where our being on ground can be threat. Our activities will be pro-good governance, we will not be a political party but we will work with all political parties. We will be a voice and an arm in the birth of the future. Am I interested in politics? Yes! Do I want to vie for political office in 2011? NO! If we find someone who wants to and has what we are looking for, we will make them our leader. We need light in this country, in evey sense of the word!
The future is the Voltron, the New Nigeria Club is one of the Lions. Let’s form the Voltron! Join the future movement today, and send the mail to your friends. www.thefuturemovement.org/register
