When Shall It Come...?

When will change come? When shall our expectations be met? When will the common man start to smile? When will the children on the streets find warm shelter? When will our politicians begin to truly care for the poor and down-trodden?

When will truth and justice prevail in governance? When will righteousness and fairness be the order of the day? When will our police force become beacons of law and order? When will corruption be put to shame?

When will our homes be constantly powered with electricity? When will the youth of this country be driven by noble dreams? When will their untapped potential be unleashed?

When will Nigerians unite in humble prayer to God? Who lifts nations and casts others down? Who delivers people from captivity, and swallows evil leaders up in raging seas of vengeance?

When will our leaders fear God, if not their fellow men?

Maybe it shall never be. But while life remains, hope also remains. We will continue to thrive on hope. We will continue to labor till freedom comes. We will continue to beleive that a brighter future awaits all of us.

Till then...

Happy Birthday Naija!! - 2

Fellow Nigerians. How was the birthday celebration?
As I looked around my environment, I could see Nigerians greeting one another with, " Happy Independence!".Text messages were flying all over the place. Radio stations announced special anniversary events and TV stations gave us highlights of those events; where Nigerians came out dressed up in green and white, and all kinds of tributes were made to our uniqueness as a nation.

In a way it was a nice experience...seeing taxi cabs and even personal cars flying small green-white-green flags, hearing people congratulating one another. But at some point I wondered whether these displays of nationalism were truly heartfelt or Nigerians were simply happy for another excuse to stay away from work and party all day long. Trust Nigerians, we love to groove!

It remains to be seen whether one day of national unity and pride will give birth to a season of progress and positive change in society. It is my prayer that it does. If Nigerians could celebrate their independence and value the priviledge to be able to pursue their own fortunes unhindered by any form of colonialism or slavery, everyday...in other words if we could have one whole year of consecutive 1st Octobers!, then maybe a sense of nationalism and hunger for forward movement would prevail and be sustained.

I would be happier seeing a series of forums where Nigerians sit down and analyse where we have come from, where we are now, and what it would take to get to where we ought to be.

Well, for now I will continue in the spirit of celebration and say...Happy Birthday Nigeria...long live the federal republic....May God bless her citizens with wisdom and prosperity.
I believe change can happen. I believe in a greater and better Nigerian society. And all who believe with me say...hip...hip...hip...HOORAY!!!!

Happy Birthday Naija!!

Fellow Nigerians,

The reason I haven't updated T2S in a long while is because a lot of happenings in this country have rendered me 'speechless', (and consequently, "blogless", pardon my poor french!#$%%&^)

Indeed it is not easy to keep the fires of hope and optimism burning when it's raining heavy showers of corruption, chaos and crime all over the land. Not to say that there have been no good happenings at all. But everytime a ray of light breaks through the dark clouds, it immediately starts to rain again,...this time with lightening and heavy thunderstorms.

But in all of this, we must thank God who has brought us this far. For the past three decades that I have been alive, there have been no all out wars like those in countries like Sudan and Liberia. There have been no mass genocides or epidemics that have wiped out whole communities. Except for the occasional ethno-religious outbreaks of violence, and the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the kidnappings in the south-south and south-east, all has been relatively stable.

Yes electricity supply is at its worst, and state governments are sitting idle as their states rot in decay. However in some parts of the country, visible development is occuring and new and innovative ideas are transforming lives.

Most invigorating of all are the encounters with young and talented Nigerians who are either blazing a trail of diligence and excellence at their places of work, or creating and developing dreams of their own, setting up companies and enterprises.

Yes hidden between the cracks and broken down walls of our decayed society are tiny green shoots of new life that are destined to blossom into great flowery and fruit-bearing trees, providing shade and shelter from the harsh elements above.

So at this time I choose to look up and smile at Naija, my beloved homeland, with all her pimples and scars; I look up, smile at her and say...Happy Birthday Naija. And many happy returns for all your suffering. May the labors of our heroes past not be in vain. May the labors of our heroes present be fruitful. And may the labors of our heroes yet unborn be more of harvesting rather than planting. That they may have plenty of good seed to sow again and again.

Long live Nigeria!!!

The Cleaner The Mirror, The Clearer The Image

Last week I wrote about starting with the man and woman you see in the mirror. You and I. Didn’t get any responses. Well maybe nobody has read it yet. No wahala. I’ll keep posting. Like I said recently on my facebook page: Live Your Life….Don’t wait for applause!
So I’ll keep doing what I wanna do.
In this post I’ll be revisiting the issue of the man in the mirror. (I’ve decided to start trying to relate my posts to each other as much as possible. Sounds like good thinking right? Good Thinking. Good product)

I think part of the problem we have in Nigeria is the image we have of ourselves both individually and collectively. On one hand, I don’t even think we have an image that is unique and that everyone shares as a people. What I mean is: I can’t say we have a strong Nigerian image or vision that everyone shares.

For instance you don’t need to be American to know that all Americans share what they call, ‘The American Dream’, or that they consider America to be the ‘Land of the free’. They see themselves as world leaders.

On the other hand, I think we Nigerians have a negative image of ourselves. We hear it time and again from our own lips, “We Nigerians are so corrupt”. Or, “We are so lazy, cunning”. And we see Nigeria as a backward nation, a land filled with problems. This kind of negative imagery, though easy to imbibe considering the frustrating way things are, can’t help us to go forward.

We need to begin to see ourselves as an intelligent, vibrant, creative and progressive generation. Now we are talking about rebranding Nigeria, giving her a new image. That is wonderful and I hope we succeed. But to do that, we need to take the negative stereotypes associated with Nigerians and replace them with something new.

That is why I said, the cleaner the mirror, the clearer the image. We need to refine however we look at ourselves, (the mirror), so that we can have a better picture of whom we are and what we can do for Nigeria (the image).


Let us concentrate less on the negative things about ourselves as individuals and focus on our strengths and virtues. Let’s bring out the discipline, hard work, honesty and righteousness in us. Only then will we find the strength to do what must be done for this country.

Man In The Mirror!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, asking myself this question…How do we go about changing Nigeria? How do we grasshoppers bring down the great giants of evil in our society? How do you slay a dragon that has so many heads? The dragon is Nigeria as we know her today. The many heads are the many facets of corruption and societal ills that plague her citizens daily.
Any ideas anyone?
You know we really have to think about this because most of the talk about Nigeria is always about the problem, hardly about the solutions. So let’s get solution-oriented right about now and task our grey matter till it starts to steam.
…….well here is what I’ve come up with for now.
First step to changing our society is that we must first set about changing ourselves. I know we’ve heard that before probably a number of times. But the truth can never be overstated.
We must create within us, the change we want to see on the outside. Lemme break it down a bit. Do we want to see more discipline in our society? Then we must first instill discipline into our individual lives.
Do we want to see development? Then we must make efforts to develop ourselves. Are we hungry to see increased literacy rates among our people? Let’s not wait for government to make necessary changes in our educational policy. Rather we can start by taking the time to read and study hard ourselves. We must create in our lives the changes we want to see in the society. We must develop our individual potentials.
Obama would never have been seen as the man who can change America, if he hadn’t taken the time to train himself to become someone people can put their hope and confidence in. I’m sure it must have taken him long hours of practice and countless days of diligent study to become as eloquent and composed as he is, when addressing crowds, inspiring hope and confidence in his listeners.
I guess what I’m trying to say is it starts with you and I. Michael Jackson said it all:

“I’m startin with the man in the mirror…
I’m askin him to change his ways….
And no message coulda been any clearer…
If you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself, and then make the change….”

Remember the song? Man in the Mirror?
Yeah we talk about corruption, the lack of integrity among our leaders. If I must see a change in that area, then I guess I have to ensure that I am a man of integrity first. Then maybe that will rub off on others and they too may choose integrity over corruption.

And all this for what you might ask? I mean who cares? Let’s all just take things as they are and live like we’ve been living all these decades. Well that should be ok for those of y’all who don’t see the great potential that lies in this country. But for people like me who get so frustrated when I’m watching Chelsea thrash it out with Liverpool and suddenly the lights go off, or when I’m trying to make an urgent call and the network is so f’’’d up, or when 3 weeks into a new month my salary hasn’t been paid yet, or when I see sick people who need urgent medical care and they can’t afford it, or when the state government fails to employ enough doctors or give them good pay and patients end up seeing quack nurses in general hospitals…..yeah for people like me, solution-seeking is the way forward.

Well, na so. Nuff said.



Selah

A vicious cycle???

Poverty and corruption....twin brothers, lovers...bedmates if you like. Lovers who are entangled in a vicious cycle of sorts.

One leads to the other and vice versa. Though some argue that while poverty does not have to lead to corruption, corruption always leads to poverty. However you look at it, there is a strong symbiotic relationship between the two.

Let me share one of my own personal stories. Currently I'm working in the northern part of Nigeria. Far north to be "almost" precise. A place so hot, I sweat like a pig about to be grilled whenever am indoors and PHCN cuts the power supply. One of the most backward states in Nigeria actually.

There are a lot of issues about the state that make you wonder wether the state government has literally blinded the eyes of the people, but one of the most aggravating is the issue of fuel.



I've been told that tankers of petrol meant for the state are routinely diverted to the border, where they are sold for profit, leaving people stranded in queues at filling station. Infact, there are some stations that have never had fuel in the 8 months I've been here.

There are a couple of filling stations that almost always have fuel, but at such places it is sold at at 80 to 100 Naira per liter, instead of the recommended 65 per liter. The interesting thing is that at every station you find black marketeers buying fuel in hundreds of gallons, to be sold later at exorbitant prices to stranded vehicle owners.

Barely 2 hours ago I was queuing up at such a station and I painfully observed what was going on. At that time I frankly didn't give a rats ass about the price. I just needed juice in my car. I contemplated feeling angry at that point, considering the stinking fact that because of the hard-heartedness of the state government, we had to be starving in the midst of plenty. And I was tempted to direct some of that anger to the young black marketeers that were pestering the station attendant to fill up their 25 litre jerry cans.


But I took a closer look at them and I was filled with nothing but pity. I mean you could see poverty written all over their sunburnt faces and cracked feet. Tell me why they wouldn't connive with whoever to make sure that petrol was scarce, so that it could be sold at higher prices. In a country of over 120 million people all hustling for scarce Naira, people will do whatever to feed their stomachs.

Pity!

The corruption of the elite that steals the future of the masses.

Visit: www.humanrights-geneva.info/Corruption-nourishes-poverty,3534

They make the fuel scarce so that they can make profit. And the poor help them to achieve their goals because in doing so, they can make a few bucks to see them through their miserable lives.

I wish I could write this article with a knife, using the skin of some corrupt leader as my paper so y'all can see the blood and tears that are sacrificed on a daily basis. Needlessly for that matter.

But...(if wishes were horses, then plastic surgery would be hot cake for our upcoming doctors!)

Well folks, I've come out of my shell after a long period of silent observation of Nigerian society. I hope after reading this piece, you will feel what I feel and make a commitment to rid this country of the twin evils. No matter how long it takes!

ENFORCING CHANGE Part 1

Alan Cohen:

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

Andy Warhol:

They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Barack Obama:

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

Felix Adler:

We cannot adopt the way of living that was satisfactory a hundred years ago. The world in which we live has changed, and we must change with it.


These are just a few quotes that help me to think about the change we need in our world today as citizens of this country. What stares me in the face as I read about change is the fact that change is not a function of time but rather a function of individual and collective responsibility.

I read somewhere a few days ago that responsibility is simply 'response-ability'. That is the ability to respond. We all have the responsibility to effect a positive change.

When we are confronted with unwanted realities, our response-ability is to respond positively by being pro-active about what we can and should do to remedy the situation. Most of us are just reactive rather than proactive.


We don't have to do things the same old way. Kudos to governors like Fashola of Lagos state and Namadi of Kaduna who have decided that out with the old style of governance and in with the new! Who says successive governments have to keep battling with the unfinished projects of their predecessors? Who says traffic in Lagos can't be improved, and old rusty railway tracks in Kaduna can't once again function the way they were originally designed to. Now people can get from one part of Kaduna state to another cheaply and easily. Kini big deal (what's the big deal) about that you might ask? Well you might not get it if traveling by train is taken for granted where you reside. For me it's a big trip cos I get high on progress. Years back I used to travel by train to boarding school. It was so easy and stress-free. But like a lot of other things in this country, the whole system just collapsed. I just hope the progress can be sustained. One day, like a slowly growing forest fire, the whole country will be lighted up with a fully functioning and well connected railway system. Then people will remember it started with just one state.

Whether it comes slowly or at lightning speed, one thing is sure- change is inevitable. However it must be the kind of change we want- positive change. And that my friends depends on our ability to respond (remember? - responsibility?)