The Nigerian Dream

Grief is the only emotion that can be felt after engaging in deep thoughts concerning the state of this nation. I recently engaged in such and wanted to know the real cause of the country’s gross underdevelopment, especially in the midst of abundance. After 50 years as an independent state, we are yet to crawl, let alone run or fly. It hurts and it does badly.

We lament the state of our beloved country a lot. We sometimes proffer solutions, at other times we merely lament, yet the situation remains the same or even worse in most sectors of the economy. Without knowing the cause of an ailment, there is bound to be no cure. If at all there seems to be improvement in the situation, I can assure you that you are only treating the symptoms NOT the disease. This perfectly explains the situation of Nigeria, a country without vision, plans and road maps for development.

It is the reasonable thing to do as a person who is ambitious, sensible and responsible to plan our lives, income, future etc. As the popular saying goes; he who fails to plan, plans to fail! It really is that simple. This is not rocket science or brain surgery, it is mere common sense. A young elementary school student knows the importance of planning; he knows he has to get his homework done over the weekend for school on Monday, he knows he has to study in advance for his exam to make meaningful success of it. All these are ways of planning to succeed is his academics.

We, as a nation, have lived our lives blindly and in the dark. We have vast amount of resources committed to us but like a 14 year old child whose billionaire father bequeaths his wealth to, we did not (still do not) know what exactly to do with the money. That obviously is the reason for the high level of corruption and waste experienced in the country. Without plans, budgets and strategies, everybody tends to just deep his hands into the pot of soup and at the end of the day nobody gets to enjoy the soup.

After independence, we discovered crude oil, a source of wealth and development for most nations but instead, a source of pain, war, anguish, greed, tribalism and all sort of vices in Nigeria. Countries like Norway, UAE, and Saudi Arabia are few of those who have benefitted immensely from God’s gift (crude oil) to mankind. How come we chose the path of Rwanda and Liberia, who turned a blessing to their curse?

With trillions of dollars realized by the Nigerian government from the first day oil was discovered, what good thing can Nigeria boast of? The Lagos-Ibadan express way is arguably the busiest road in the whole of Africa and one of the busiest in the world, yet it qualifies to be one of the worst roads in the world. Does it even qualify to be called a highway or an express road? It is nauseating to think Africa’s busiest road is a pot-hole-infested 4-Lane road (2-lane on each side, which narrows out to 1-lane where some trailers have chosen to park and the government dares not challenge them). What is even more disgusting is the fact that Nigeria (only Ondo state as a matter of fact) has the second largest deposit of bitumen in the world and it is the purest in the world, yet Nigerian roads are death traps.

The Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, was built pre-independence, pre-oil era, yet it is still Nigeria’s biggest and most beautiful campus. What are we using the so called oil wealth for? No Nigerian university is rated top 500 in the world, yet we claim to be giants of Africa. Universities worldwide carry out ground breaking researches; when last did we hear the report of ANY research done by a professor in a Nigerian university? How do we even become professors? By copying and pasting other people’s works? Where and how much is government grant to universities for researches? Where are the labs and research institutes? I shake my head!

Government officials travel abroad for medical attention. That tells us that there is no hospital in Nigeria fit to take care of human beings, let alone save lives. Where is the oil money going to?

We cannot boast of having the tallest building in the world, the largest aquarium in the world, the biggest airport, the longest bridge, the best rail system, the best hospital or school, the best urban water system, the best sewage and drainage system, the biggest farm, the best electricity system, the best security or intelligence network, the best army, the biggest refinery… the list is endless. Not even any mega structure that can be associated with Nigeria for national pride. Where is our own Eiffel tower, where is our Statue of Liberty, where is our Taj Mahal, where is our Sydney habour bridge (3^rd mainland bridge, eh? LOL!)?

Chief Sunday Inengite an indigene of Oloibiri in Bayelsa state remembers the day oil was struck in the community marking the first time in Nigeria. "They made us happy and clap like fools, dance as if we were trained monkeys," he says. Years later, the now 74-year-old looks back on his youthful enthusiasm with sour regret.  Nigeria has become one of the world’s biggest oil producers, but the people of Oloibiri complain they have not seen much of the money made in the 52 years of oil production. "It smacks of wickedness, hard-heartedness," he says.

I say that is the result of lack of vision/planning!

Our problem was/is planning. We have NEVER at any time had a concrete road map towards nation building. By that I do not mean any of the jamborees we have done in the past that have been branded economic committees or technical working committee on national planning and development. All such committees only seat for as long as the administration they are serving lasts, without any whitepaper (or green or blue or any color at that), master plan or realistic and achievable set goals for our nation.

The kingdom of Nigeria is like a man who doesn’t know and increase his income, neither does he know the number of children he has. He keeps impregnating his wife and virtually every 9 months there is an addition to his family. His income will most likely dwindle as his responsibility keeps increasing. The lack of family planning will eventually create poverty in his family; his children will be sent out of school and will become street urchins, his girls will most probably take to prostitution, his wife will abandon him for their landlord and on goes the catastrophe.

Until he puts a stop to his ‘madness’ and starts making serious plans to alleviate is poverty, his situation and that of his family will only get worse.

If you ask any member of the Federal Executive Council what the ‘real’ population of Nigeria is, how many federal government owned hospitals there are, how many government owned secondary schools there are, the population of school-age Nigerians etc. the answer without doubt will be: ‘Hmm…  I’d have to check’, or at best you’d probably get some fictitious figures just for them to get rid of you.

Do you realize that the question we have asked is of what is already on ground, not what will be? Then I can imagine us taking the challenge to our ‘leaders’ to tell us how many new cities will spring up in the next 20 years, how many hospitals we will have in the next 50 years, how many megawatts of electricity will be the generated by the year 2075, what will be the country’s GDP by the same year.

What a shame it is to know we are a nation without NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN!

There is indeed no successful corporation today without a vision statement backed up by clearly articulated strategies. This is what guides you, it is what keeps you going, and it is what the people run with and hold on to for HOPE.

To buttress my point, Nokia have their vision as: "Connecting people"! It is now connecting people to what that matters - whatever that means for each person - giving them the power to make the most of every moment, everywhere, any time. Connecting the "we" is more powerful than just the individual. That's how Nokia is needed to help make the world a better place for everyone.

There is what we have all come to know today as the American dream; what is the Nigerian dream? What do we promise ourselves? What do we hope to achieve in the short, medium and long terms? This is our collective destiny; we ALL deserve to know!

For clarity, I am not talking just about ‘The Sovereign National Conference’ though I strongly support it but what I am clamoring for in this paper is STRATEGIC NATIONAL PLAN, ECONOMIC PLAN, INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN, URBAN AND REGIONAL PLAN etc.

The Lagos-Badagry express way is being reconstructed from a 4-Lane road to a 10-Lane road with 2 additional rail tracks. Did I hear you say bravo? Yes bravo! Bravo indeed! Before we ‘bravo’ all we want, can we ask some fundamental questions here please? How many buildings had to be demolished for this great feat to be achieved? How many families and businesses were displaced? How much was wasted in the demolition exercise.

Without taking anything away from the brilliant idea to make that road a 10-lane road, I insist there would have been no need to demolish and waste such huge resources had proper plan been put in place by the government that constructed the road initially. They built for 1980 not 2010. In 1980, there were few settlements along that road, so a 4-lane road was very adequate for what was needed then. But with proper planning and vision, someone would have realized that the population of the area will grow from 200 thousand to 2million in 30 years, and the road will need to be expanded.

In simple terms, even if the government did not have the means to build a 10-lane road then, why not build your 4-Lane road then put measures in place to have enough building setback, disapprove construction on the proposed expansion site and successive governments can add 2 extra lanes to the existing one. As such, there would be no waste of resources on demolishing and clearing of buildings.

When I said we should be reluctant to shout bravo, even for the laudable move to expand the road to 10 lanes, my reasons are these;

1.      If the population of the area is around 2million now, what will it be in 50years time?

2.      When expansion is needed in 30 years time, how many more houses will have to go?

3.      Should there be no room for future expansion, where will the alternate road be constructed? No plans for that as well? Hmmm!

4.      If or when Nigeria develops to the point where there will be gas pipe into every home, where will the pipeline be? What of water pipe, electric cables, sewer pipes etc?

5.      When and where will Nigeria have its subway rail line in the already existing cities?

There are many questions begging for answers.

Ever before owning an apartment of my own, I already planned what I wanted my apartment to look like. Though I didn’t have the means to rent, buy or furnish an apartment, I had a dream/vision in my head of how I wanted my apartment to look like, so when the means to do it came, I did not waste time in realizing what I had set out to do. And making such plans as an individual is not peculiar to me. So what is wrong with us as a nation?

We can only succeed with well laid plans and strategies that will be clear to and understood by all Nigerians home and abroad. With such vision and strategy, every Nigerian knows what we had, what we have and ultimately what we will have.

If we start now, there will be an 80yr old man who will be contented knowing that, come 2032, his remote village somewhere in Kogi state will be on the world map because in the national plan, we have planned to build the world’s biggest fishery in his village which will draw so much development to the village, turn it into a city with all social amenities and bring economic emancipation to the people. Even if the old man doesn’t live to see it, his soul will indeed ‘rest in peace’ knowing his children and generations after him will not live in such inhumane state he did.

The United Arab Emirates is a classical example of a nation that thrives on good national plan. The UAE consists of 7 emirates which were independent but decided to forge unification. Abu Dhabi is the richest in oil (the major source of national revenue) but reports have it that he oil in Abu Dhabi will dry out in 150years while that of Dubai in about 10 years. In 1993, while Nigeria was busy annulling its ‘freest and fairest’ election, the UAE were busy planning and building for the future without oil.

They planned to build cities that will attract the attention of the entire world. That they achieved and have not relented on their mettle. The success they achieved was as a result of strategic and realizable plans. When oil dries out, the Emirates have created for themselves a source of wealth that will never dry out. While building a beautiful country, they were creating jobs, generating revenue, building lasting legacies, building national pride and importantly this was done in record time.

That is the result of planning; you achieve your goal better, cheaper and faster.

Lack of planning encourages corruption, greed, blind leadership and followership and ultimately encourages mediocrity. It is lack of vision that makes a state government give out taxi-cabs to degree holders to operate in a state that is agriculturally viable. Annoyingly, the same people whose rights are being trampled are the first to jump to the support of the underperforming governor. In the same vein, Nigerians were quick to celebrate the administration that gave out licenses to private mobile network operators in 2001, when Japan was already using mobile phones in 1979 and Bahrain in 1981. The same Nigerians have forgotten to ask the government what happened to the government owned telecoms firm. Mind you, in as much as there are other mobile network operators in the UAE, the state owned Etisalat is a big international player.

Lack of vision indeed celebrates mediocrity and breeds underdevelopment.

The challenge is on us now to start planning the Nigeria of our dreams. Even IF the money is not available to build now, let us make the plans in every sector; education, transportation, health, security et al. We can achieve the Nigeria we want ONLY if we DREAM of it and turn our dream into a workable PROJECT!

This is a good place to say; Yes, We Can! Why? Because, we can!

Let us dare to dream!

God has Blessed Nigeria!

AWOLOWO: A LEGEND LIVES ON

AWOLOWO believed that educationally developed people are easy to lead but difficult to cheat

• First Stadium of international standard in Africa

• First Television station in Africa

• Free and compulsory primary education for ALL residents of the region

• Made provision in each Secondary School to admit 5 students from the Northern Region to EACH CLASS in order to accelerate educational progress in the North

• Free basic healthcare for ALL people of age 18 and below regardless of ethnic divide

• Several industrial estates which are still functional today in areas as Ikeja, Ilupeju, Ikorodu, Yaba, Ibadan, Benin, Warri, Asaba and Epe

• First modern housing Estate located in Bodija and Ikeja

• First non-colonial University; unarguably the biggest in Nigeria and one time Africa’s most beautiful campus: Obafemi Awolowo University

•  One hospital for each of the twenty-four divisions in the region which did not possess one yet

• First to introduce a minimum daily wage of five shillings from the then existing minimum wage of two shillings and three pence per day

• First pilgrim Welfare Board

• Rubber plantations in the region

•  Cocoa farms all over the region

• Established Farm settlements for the training of young and ageing farmers in Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, Benin, Warri  and Asaba

• First skyscraper in tropical Africa: The Cocoa House (Still the tallest in Ibadan)

• Massive electrification of the region

• First dedicated green area in Nigeria: Aromire/Adeniyi Jones axis. (It was dedicated to neutralize the effect of emissions from the factories

• Agricultural Credit Corporation to lend money to modern small and medium scale farmers at interest rate of NOT more than 2% per annum

• First  to begin the massive expansion of housing for serving public officers and housing loans at little or no interest rate to the other citizens of the Region

• Acquired the commanding shares in Wema Bank and National Bank, as a means of government’s active participation in the financial sector

• Embarked upon long-term development plans of 1951-55; 1955-60 and 1960-65 (My favorite)

• AND MANY MORE

JESUS IS RELEGATED

Growing up, I was made to believe that Jesus Christ was the center and most important personality of the Christian faith.

I didn’t need anybody to tell me that because everything around me depicted it. His picture was everywhere, his name was as well. From radio jingles about Christian crusades to the leaflets and posters to the TV ads and big banners that adorned the streets of Lagos. Everything was about the Master, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of Mary, who according to the Bible, preached good tidings to the poor, healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, fed the hungry, became friends with ‘tax collectors’ so that He might save their souls, chastised the proud and haughty, drove sinners out of the temple, and dealt with men neither with fear nor favor.

That was the man I knew as the center of attention as far as Christianity was concerned.

I dare to say a child born into a Christian home and growing up in this age and time may find the image and importance of Jesus confusing. He might say prayers more fluently than we did and quote scriptures better but certainly this lad’s reverence is not concentrated on one person as it is divided among many notable figures.

Adverts from my day read something like this: “It is time for ABC crusade, holding on the Jan 10th, 1985 at the parade ground Benin City. Come, Jesus will heal the sick, He will make the blind see…” and at the end the popular statement “Jesus is Lord” is stressed out. Throughout the announcement, there is a picture of Jesus...the one we've all come to know very well.

In year 2010AD, Nigeria can boast of having at least a church on every street of its major cities. Churches are proliferated so much that some buildings have 3 or 4 different ‘rival’ churches in them. The pastor with the biggest signage attracts the most customers and to keep them, his voice has to be the loudest by every means possible.

By my observation (correct me if I am wrong), the bigger, bolder and more colorful the billboards are getting the more the content is changing.

That once constant and dominant gentle loving face full of hope and grace has almost been totally thrown in the trash can of history. In its stead are the faces of couples either holding hands or hugging each other on the bigger than life billboards. Their pictures are so well taken and positioned you could mistake them for those of actors promoting their new movie, their names boldly written in caps without missing out their many titles- Bishop (Dr.) Apostle and Rev (Mrs.) Ajanlekoko (Jp).

The face of Jesus disappeared gradually from the boards and eventually His name became smaller and smaller as the faces, names and titles of the Most Rev. Pastors’ became larger and larger. Even the popular slogan, ‘Jesus is Lord’ has conspicuously disappeared completely and the few who feel compelled to have it on make it so tiny it is barely legible.

Recently, I gave a friend of mine with who I was on a journey by road a task to point out to me any billboard/poster of a Christian church, event or program that had the face of Jesus prominently displayed. On this 5 hour journey, he found none!

The same applies to the electronic media where the adverts now read: “The XYZ crusade is going to be explosive. Ministering are, anointed men of God likePastor Godogbo, Bishop Jaguda, Most Rev. Konkobility...” To that they add “the lame will walk, the barren will be pregnant, the….” And it ends with “come and receive!”



It seems to me that these gods of men needed Jesus Christ to promote their churches, events and programs when they were small and ‘nobodies’. Like an apprentice who felt bigger than his master after learning few ‘tricks’, the G.Os and Most Reverend men now feel independent, strong, big, and popular enough to attract large congregations so much so that they have completely relegated Jesus and in some quarters annihilated Him.

In the entertainment industry, certain names pull the crowd and patronage with relative ease, hence, every movie producer wants them on his set. That is the case in Christendom now. Without God or Jesus being mentioned at all, certain ‘gods-of-men’ pull the crowd and by consequence their ultimate goal; the offering and tithes.

So who needs Jesus Christ when an ‘anointed’ Pastor XXX can perform the miracles?

Has the Nigerian Church officially become the biggest business enterprise in the country? Has Church become a scam? Are the followers too blind, gullible and brainwashed to see anything wrong with all these?

Pitifully, the scammed is the protector of the scammer!

Do we not need Jesus Christ anymore?

Has Jesus Christ been relegated?

A FORCED MARRIAGE (Part II)

The well documented European invasion of Africa in the 15^th century, especially that of the British in the 19^th century is without doubt not for the benefit of Africa and Africans. It must be noted that no invader has the interest of the victim at heart. No matter how well he camouflages his interest, the ultimate goal of an invader is to rid his victims of their possessions and or lives.
 

Invasion should not be seen as a military action only. It could be sublimely and deceitfully done without a bullet fired or an arrowed shot. The British used both methods in achieving their goal in the region they later christened Nigeria. They had infiltrated the southern region by deceit in the name of missionary work. They came with the approach of a friend when indeed they were enemies. They gave bible, medical supplies, mirrors and western form of education in exchange for the people’s land, their religion, morality, children as slaves and ultimately their soul.

The white-mans’ increased greed was met by a strong resistance in certain empires but the white men responded with greater force borne out of covetousness for his ‘neighbors’ things; destroyed all that was on their path until they had subjugated those resisting empires. The case of the Benin kingdom is a typical one.

The British, in March 1892, through Captain Gallwey moved to make the Benin Kingdom a British protectorate. Although the king of Benin, Omo n’Oba Ovonramwen, was skeptical of the British motives, he was willing to endorse what he believed was a friendship and trade agreement. The Benin king refrained from endorsing Gallwey’s treaty when it became apparent that the document was a deceptive ploy intended to make Benin kingdom a British colony. Consequently, the Benin king issued an edict barring all British officials and traders from entering Benin territories. The British authorities considered the ‘Treaty’ legal and binding; they deemed the Benin king’s reaction a violation of the accord and thus a hostile act.

In reaction, On 12 January 1897, Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson was appointed by the British Admiralty to lead an expedition to capture the Benin king and destroy Benin City. The operation was named Benin Punitive Expedition. The question which arises from this is what sin is being punished? That a man rejects your gift is considered a sin to be punished?

On 9 February 1897 the invasion of Benin kingdom began. The field commanders were instructed to burn down all Benin kingdom’s towns and villages, and hang the king of Benin. Immediately after the British invaders secured the city, they began looting and destruction. Monuments and palaces of many high-ranking chiefs were looted and destroyed, and finally on the third day the looted Benin king’s palace was deliberately set ablaze. Most of the plunder was retained by the expedition with some 2,500 (official figures) religious artifacts, Benin visual history, mnemonics and artworks being sent to England.

At this point, the main purpose of British invasion of Nigeria became overly clear to be one of greed, lust, covetousness, hatred, and racism. So, all the missionary works and humanitarian services were merely a means to an end. A means to acquire as much as they could, expand their territory and world dominance, increase their economic might and much more.

After conquering the south and on January 1, 1900, obtained what was then known as the southern protectorate, they moved to the north. Empires and kingdoms of the present day northern Nigeria were conquered in turn through various means. Eventually there came the northern protectorate.

An interesting point to note here is that funds to run the administration of British protectorates were generated within the protectorates as no monies were sent from London to run the affairs and government of each protectorate. It was against the policy of the British government to use their taxpayers’ money to run their protectorates. Isn’t this an example of a Yoruba saying that you entertain Abu with his own money? Do you give scholarship to a student with the money you forcefully take from him? That was exactly what the British were doing!

Lord Lugard, the then British governor general felt the north was poor and had no resources to run the protectorate. He said unlike the south, the north had no sea and educated people, so generating funds internally was quite difficult. So to him amalgamation of the South and North (not of the people) became of crucial importance to British business interest. He said the North and the South should be amalgamated.

In 1914, the amalgamation was completed, of course, without the consent of the people.

The amalgamation was solely a business venture for the British. The love of the peoples of the region was not considered, their compatibility was not in consideration, their sovereignty and independence as different people mattered little or nothing to the colonialists. The amalgamation was done in the same way as that of mating dogs for commercial purposes. You as the breeder determine the breed you want to raise but never consult with the dogs if they liked each other.

That in simple term is a forced marriage.

Yes we live together but our hearts are far apart. We do inter-tribe marriages but tribal superiority remains an issue. No tribe agrees to be the lesser of the other, every tribe claims superiority, and tries to dominate the others. Every tribe seeks for his own to be head and others to serve.

This trend is evident in our daily living, in our national life, in offices and businesses. Taking a closer look at different government organizations and parastatals, you will notice the dominance of a particular tribe over others. The Nigerian customs is a clear example where majority of the officers and men are from a particular region; the ministry of education; the old Nigerian Railway corporation has people of a certain ethnic nationality more than others.

That is what you get when you force people together by marriage without their consent. The consequence of it is what has bedeviled the country’s politics through the years. Since the forced marriage in 1914 through independence of the nation in 1960 till now, most of Nigeria’s political parties are formed on ethnic sentiments.

The dominant political parties between 1914 and 1966 were:

Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) – Dominated by the Hausa/Fulani of the north

Action Group (AG) – Dominated by the Yoruba people of the south west

National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) – Dominated by Igbo people of the South east

Others were United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC), Borno Youth Movement (BYM), Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), Igala Union (IU) etc. – They were mostly regional parties, which was a reflection of the will of the people to be independent and sovereign nations.

Down the line, the covert desire of every tribe, region and ethnic group to be sovereign has been present and it is a major issue today as it was during the Nigerian civil war of 1967-1970, when the Igbo people of the south east sought secession from Nigeria. Although we might be quiet about it for fear of being labeled a secessionist or unpatriotic, the issues of every nation in this forced union seeking to be a sovereign state cannot be overemphasized.

As at today the 9^th day of January, 2011, people of southern Sudan are voting in a referendum to decide their secession from the central Khartoum government of Sudan. This is coming after years of civil war and talks which culminated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), also known as the Naivasha Agreement.

Not many countries have had such relatively peaceful disintegration and examples abound. But what is imperative is that a people should decide their own fate. A people should decide if they want to be married or not. A people should decide if they want to live together or not (except they are prisoners).

We the different people of the land called Nigeria should as a matter of urgency and importance decide if indeed we want to live together as an entity. Do we want to form a nation or we want to be independent of one another? This is a solution to the lingering tribal and religious battles, killings and incessant bombings.

Instead of killing one another and for lasting peace to be ensured, LET US DECIDE FOR OURSELVES NOW!

THE FORCED MARRIAGE (Part I)

The geographical site called Nigeria comprises of about 250 ethic nationalities with specific cultures, traditions, languages and even religion, pre-intrusion of the Portuguese in 1472AD.
 

Some of these 250 nations have long and rich history dating back to the pre-existence of Christ.

Archeologists claim that some of the earliest terracotta sculptures found around the area were made by Nok people who dwelt there. And these sculptures suggest that an ancient Egyptian style of social structure, and perhaps religion, existed in the area.
 

The Igbos are people of the Nri kingdom which dates back to the 10^th century AD.

The Hausas have an almost aged history and a very interesting one at that. According to tradition, there were seven "true" states. In the myth of origin, Bayajidda, the son of the king of Baghdad, arrived in Daura via Bornu. He killed the snake that occupied the well, denying the townspeople access to the water. As a reward, Bayajidda married the queen. Their son Bawo was the progenitor of six sons, thereby founding six states—Daura, Katsina, Zazzau (Zaria), Gobir, Kano, and Rano. Bayajidda's son by his first wife, Magira (a Kanuri woman), founded Biram, the seventh state.

The Yoruba mythology states that Ile-Ife is the source of the human race and that it pre-dates any other civilization. The Yorubas are descendants of Oduduwa and through the years have become a powerful nation with different kingdoms.The kingdoms of Ife and Oyo were prominent in the 12^th and 14^th century respectively.

The Binis of the Benin Kingdom; the Ibibios; the Efiks; the Ebiras; the Itsekhiris; Tivs, Igalas etc. are few of the numerous independent and powerful nations that make up Nigeria.

The incursion of Africa by the Europeans brought about slavery, looting, desecration, dehumanization and destruction of the people, their temples and properties. Servitude and carting away of Africa’s finest continued formally for hundreds of years until slave trade was abolished in the 19^th century. Though it continued thereafter but it was done illegally.

To think that slave trade was once referred to as a legal trade is sickening.

By 1852 Britain had established its presence in the area later to be known as Nigeria. In 1885, British influence on West Africa received international recognition and in the following year it formed the Royal Niger Company under the leadership of George Taubman Goldie to acquire territories as Real Estate Properties. In 1900 the company's territory came under the control of the British government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the entire Niger area. On January 1, 1901 Nigeria became a part of the British Empire.

Many wars against the subjugation and oppression were fought by the kingdoms and empires that make up what later became Nigeria against the British Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Notable of those wars were the British Conquest of Benin in 1897 and the Anglo-Aro war from 1901—1902. The restraint or complete destruction of these states opened up the Niger area to British rule.

Need one be told that slavery was still fully in existence at that time? How would you leave your territory, travel thousands of miles land and sea to take another man’s land, religion, beliefs, wealth and take his sons and daughters captive. You in return give him your own religion which teaches thou shall not covet your neighbors’ things.

SMH! That is the height of hypocrisy!

Some geographers and travelers had referred to the area which was a real estate property of the British government as Central Sudan. But in 1897, an alien, Flora Shaw, who worked as a journalist and married to Fredrick Lugard, the Governor of the protectorate, preferred to shorten the name “Royal Niger Company Territories” to Nigeria, a compound word formed from Niger (the river) and Area.

In Africa, a child is named by his parents and never by an alien. There is more to a name than just a tag to our people. That is why before or when a child is born, a name is well thought out. A name that will be an identity and most likely depict the future of the child is given.

The Europeans not only took the wealth of Africans but also attempted to take away their history and identity.

Administratively, Nigeria was divided into the northern and southern provinces and Lagos colony. That was the beginning of the problem.

A people so diverse and independent are forcefully merged together with a river (or two) dictating the terms of administrative division?

What a shame!

The history of the Ibibios has to be studied to understand how powerful a people they are. So is that of the Yoruba people: a proud and mighty nation with unique religion (Ifa!) which the entire world has come to terms with regarding science, mathematics and information technology.

How do you then merge these two mighty nations together without their consent? How do you marry two highly independent and successful people without seeking their opinion? Pre-independence, the Europeans imposed several constitutions on Nigerians without the Nigerian people deciding their own fate.

Doesn’t common sense teach that before you get married, you date/court the person you intend to marry in a bid to prove compatibility or the lack thereof before you proceed to (or not to) marry him/her?

What makes it even worse is that this marriage is not between two (2) people but between Two Hundred and Fifty (250) people.

OMG! How do you manage such a large, diverse and forced union?

To be continued!

Welcome!

Some decades back if you had any information to transmit to people far away from you, you would most likely send a letter through a post office or at best have your work published in a book, journal or newspaper. That obviously would take a lot of 'unavailable' time and effort.

Today, the world has moved on incredibly at the speed of light, perhaps faster! To be in tune, you have to follow at the same speed. This makes living interesting or cumbersome, depending on the side of the divide you sit.

Here I am publishing my first post on a blog. Late may be but definitely better than never.

I shall be stating my views on different global issues but my effort will be concentrated more on the
socio-political situation in my country of birth Nigeria and by consequence Africa and without doubt the entire human race.

It is great having you all on board. Let's fly!