NIGERIA's SALVATION IS IN US

Reform never comes to a class or a people unless and until those concerned have worked out their own salvation.
Joseph Ephraim Casely-Hayford (1866 - 1930)
Ghanaian journalist, lawyer, and nationalist.
Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


I just love this quote. Its message is spot on and poignant. Reform never comes to a class or a people unless and until those concerned have worked out their own salvation. Nigeria hear this! We cannot expect emancipation or change or whatever miracle of societal change we can conceive to come from International Aid, donors, expatriates etc.

Let’s say you are walking around your house one early morning and you discover the whole house is infested with cockroaches. They’ve virtually taken over everything. You see little droppings of cockroach turd all over your kitchen. Now do you sit down at your work desk and begin to draft letters and proposals to foreign agencies to help you clean up your own mess? Or do you sit down and begin to cast blame? “It’s colonialism! These white men who enslaved us brought these cockroaches upon us!”

That would be ludicrous.

I think it would be wiser and more economical to start to focus on the problem and work out a way to get to the root of the matter. Find out what’s making your house so attractive to roaches and get the necessary skills and tools to exterminate them. Of course you could hire a professional to do the job. It may solve the problem but until you take certain steps yourself, the roaches might just make a comeback. If you keep leaving leftover food in your kitchen sink overnight you can be sure there’ll be a part 2 episode of ‘The Roach Invasion!’

So Nigerians, let’s sit down at the drawing table and seek out the path that will rid our society of the roaches of corruption and poverty that infest our very existence.
A word is enough for the wise. But I welcome extensive comments because on the Nigerian issue, a word once spoken is hardly enough.

OIL SMUGGLING in NAIJA! Ha!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7519302.stm

Just click on the link(open in another window)above and get the full gist. I always knew there had to be an answer to the stupendous display of wealth among some category of Nigerians while others wallow in abject poverty and squalor.

Presently I'm residing in one of the northern states in Nigeria. I've seen some of the most recent models of cars on the streets. But the state is one of the most under developed. On the streets of Abuja I see teenage girls driving convertible Audi's and BMW's, young kids flashing their parents wealth. I see young men having opening ceremonies for multi million naira mansions. I see folks like myself...only not like myself when you consider the aura of wealth that surrounds them.

I often ask myself, 'how does a young man of 22 years get to own the latest C class Mercedes Benz, live in a mansion all by himself, spend almost twice my yearly salary in one night of clubbing in Abuja in the Nigeria that I know?'

Inherited wealth most likely. At 22 years?! Inherited. But where does all this money being flung around come from when most Nigerian families are basically struggling to survive?

I have not lived an opulent lifestyle. So when I see such displays of wealth, my antennas go up on their own accord, and begin to search the waves for something 'fishy'. I thank God I grew up this way cos I have learnt that everything under the sun has it's purpose and that purpose is for good. So when I see wealth being thrown around and squandered, I know that something is wrong. Either with the source of the wealth or the present owner of the wealth.

Please don't mind me, I'm just a little frustrated with Nigeria right now. We have so much oil, gas, manpower, intellectual strength, spirituality etc but at the same time so much chaos, poverty, failed systems of leadership and government, evil and satanism.

I cant right now, authoritatively state or quote any sources of info, but I know for sure that all that oil smuggling, pipeline vandalisation, niger-delta militancy and so on, is the work of a handful of Nigerians who have formed cartels and mafias; and who are ultimately responsible for the decay in todays society.

So what can people like me do about it? Little you might say, but a little can do a lot (Remember David and Goliath?)

This is what I suggest for now. Evil thrives under the cloak of secrecy. Henceforth, lets do all we can to expose such evil. Not necessarily mentioning names but just letting people know more about the evil going on under their noses. By so doing, the perpetrators will begin to get uncomfortable. And someday, the masses will be sure that they are fed up.

Also let us advocate for efficient systems of punishment for crime. No one should be above the law. I have said it countless times before and I will keep saying it:-

If only we can change and cause a revolution in our law enforcement agencies, I believe some order will be brought to society.

So read this post again, click on the link:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7519302.stm

and spread the message.

LET US PRAY...AGAIN

I pray for Nigeria...May she blossom like a flower in spring

May her children find within her borders, peace and prosperity...

May her citizens enjoy freedom....

freedom to learn,

freedom to work and earn...

freedom to speak http://soulofabrother.blogspot.com/2008/10/freedom-of-speech.html

freedom to return to the homeland and not get arrested unjustly...

I pray for Elendu...

May God keep and strengthen his wife and kids and loved ones...

May justice and sanity prevail...

I pray for other bloggers...

May God protect and keep us

May He keep our pens and keyboards ever busy...blogging

I pray for True2society and other pro-Nigerian blogs...

May we blog Nigeria into her full glory and potential....

ELENDU STORY-IT GETS WORSE

http://www.nigeriancuriosity.com/2008/10/disturbing-news-on-jonathan-elendu.html?showComment=1225211100000#c1017171828479246054

Following this story is like a nightmare or horror movie that just keeps getting worse as it goes on. My concern is that the noise about the Elendu issue is more on the internet than in the country itself. The question then is, how much impact can noise on the internet have in influencing the case as a whole. How can bloggers really create a wave of opinion that will get Elendu real global attention? My fear is that things may deteriorate and he may just become another sad story in the history of human rights abuse in Nigeria.(God forbid)Well maybe I underestimate the power of the internet. If that is the case, then I beleive as we take a stand on the issue, come friday 31st, we just might change the story for the better.Amen

NIGERIAN BLOGGER ARRESTED!!! HABA!!!

http://www.nigeriancuriosity.com/2008/10/nigerian-blogger-arrested.html

I am very disturbed by the news. I am concerned that this will foster an air of insecurity among free-minded Nigerians like you and I and other bloggers, who only do what we do to stimulate an intellectual revolution of positive change.
I wonder whether those who arrested him feel that doing so would silence any percieved opposition to the government. Nay, I say. We will show that people like us may have to have our tongues and hands cut off if we are to be silenced.
Nigeria belongs to us all. If my belle dey pain me, I have to halla! Abi?

Ignorance as a way of life

Some people choose wisdom,

Some choose discipline

Some choose the path of ignorance

Not that they are ignorant

But they choose to act like they are

After all, its not what you know that counts

But what you do with what you know

A man might know the ills of smoking

And even think about it while he is smoking

He might know the ills of unprotected sex

But still dive "skinless" into the laps of a stranger

So is there any difference between one who is truly ignorant

And one who knows but refuses to act on what he knows?

Or maybe he only thinks he knows

True knowledge is like a light

That’s shows the way to go when on unfamiliar terrain

Choosing ignorance is like choosing to enter the darkness

Shunning the light

Doesn’t seem right, or natural

But think about it for a moment

Are we not all guilty of this crime?at some point or another

Have we not chosen our own way

Rather than the higher way?

So why do we do it?

Is it indiscipline, or laziness?

Is it some form of inherent nature?

Is there an intrinsic spirit of rebellion in everyman?

Or are we naturally primed to self destruct?

For some this may be true

But for others, they choose the path of wisdom

They tread the hard and narrow path of discipline

They abhor ignorance and seek for light

To illuminate their way

Why do they do this?

Is it an inborn spirit of obedience to truth?

Or simply a genuine love for self

Or love of life?

Or a hatred of everything that reduces the dignity of life?

Well, the way of man is mysterious

And the deeds of man are manifold

Some choose wisdom

Some choose discipline

Some choose the way of ignorance

What will you choose?