November 24, 2008

The Miracle of Nigeria


It had never happened before in the history of Nigeria, but it just happened, or was it a dream? The Electoral process this year was impossible to toy with, the nation was almost unanimous in it’s vote for a true leader. The voice of Nigerians was not muffled, it was loud and clear! The time for change had come, and even the weather bore witness with it’s stillness and calmness. A rainbow stained the skies, it was as if the divine supported us with a message of not forgetting. With the unity characteristic of Nigerians only in the support of our national team, Nigerians were united and with a landslide victory declared the end to the rule of recycled furniture (sorry I meant leadership) and substandard officers. The wind of change blowing all over the world, had made it’s way to Nigeria! The results had just been announced, and the people had been rewarded with a leader they could call theirs.

The government has not started to operate, it hasn’t been sworn in, but already the hope in the air is so thick it can be felt. The people are celebrating and excited! They say beginning is half done, it feels like it truly is. All our unsubstantiated proclamation of a New Nigeria now seem real, all our cries to be the most desirable seem no longer a pie in the sky. Our differences seem buried in a new vision to be a part of the new, and dissociate from the old. We score more airtime on foreign stations than even our own, the world is awed. The world seems as confident in our future as we are. It all seems amazing and like a dream. I cast my mind back and asked my self,”How did this happen, how did we do it, what did we do?” I remembered the faces, some names, some voices, one by one it all came back to me, I remembered the people that brought about this great change, and my heart was gladdened. It had taken us a few years, but alas! Here is how it all started. Continue reading

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November 8, 2008

We can make a difference!


I’m sure by now it’s no longer news, that a convoy of armed Navy men, maltreated a young lady by the name of Uzoma Okere. They beat her up and stripped her of her blouse, leaving her bra exposed on the streets in broad day light. This constitutes a breach of fundamental human rights, a lack of respect for human beings, and a national shame at the time when the world celebrates democracy.

There are some things within the events that have unveiled that I actually am happy with, and I want to take it up as a conscious effort we can make. Within 3 days, the media had responded, the matter had reached the senate, the Governor of Lagos had called her up and a lot seemed to be happening. It seems like it deserved to happen like that, but that’s not the Nigeria I knew some years ago. The speed of circulation of information about this matter could not have happened 8yrs ago! As a nation, we are changing, to get better, we must take responsibility, and yes we can!

Here are a few key highlights of what happened that was good, and how we can all help to replicate it. Continue reading

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May 12, 2008

Nigerians? – Be Very Careful


Today, history was made. We successfully closed a business deal that will become the biggest business in a particular industry in Africa. I have, by God’s grace been able to close a business deal to be an exclusive business partner for a high profile business for the entirety of Africa. About two months ago, the same deal was closed for almost all of West Africa, but in the course of the last two days in the UAE, we have the whole Africa covered. I’m still steaming from the movie of the secret that I watched, but I can understand the dynamics of our chemistry working, somehow I believe that things have worked so easily because the laws of the universe were in alignment, and God was in control.

In the course of the meeting however, something stood out for me, and made me feel bad about my homeland. I had a meeting with two German guys, we had to move to a number of places so I could see their factory and their sales offices. We moved in between my apartment and their offices and back, so they could drop me off, while they attended another meeting and later come back to pick me. It took almost two hours to come back in their Ford Explorer to pick me up. When they came, we chatted and laughed as we had somehow gotten our chemistry and flowed well together. In the course of our chit chat, they relayed to me an incident that happened in their last meeting. They wanted to close the meeting quickly so they told the person ( a Dubai Citizen), that they had to go back to the hotel to meet with their partners from Nigeria. The person they were meeting, blurted out almost instinctively – “Nigerians? – Be Very Careful!” That’s painful, and really heart renting. Continue reading

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