23/07/2021
There is nothing more important than the understanding of our God given purpose and looking back over the years, I am grateful that I am not where I want to be but I am also not where i used to be. As i celebrate MY BIRTHDAY and look forward to the future, I have decided to share my "7 Notes For A Great Nation"....with emphasis on Nigeria...
1. Ideas Rule The world - Just yesterday i read another interesting story
"In 1998 Tower Records took on $110 million in debt to fund
aggressive further expansion. This wasn’t, as it
turned out, the best of timing. Tower Records were established giant in the music industry.
Well, the first portable digital music player went on
sale the same year. The following year brought
Napster, the first global file-sharing service
allowing users to freely share music online. By
2000, Napster hosted 20 million users swapping
songs. Then in 2001, Apple’s iPod and iTunes
arrived, and when the iTunes Music Store
opened in 2003, Apple sold over a million
songs in the first week. Tower Records are now history since 2006. How many ideas do you need to be a successful Nation? My answer is simple "as much ideas that can work". We need ideas to solve the challenges of this age and old ideas like Tower Records in the Digital music space will fail.
2. Education is not cheap - The UK made over 25 billion pounds from Education tourism in 2019; which is around 15% more than the Nigeria budget of 9 trillion naira. This is why the country is still struggling to get its graduates to be productive. The educational system is slightly 5% of budget allocation with only 20 million dollars invested in research annually making our students socially literate and mentally handicapped. Students are relying on a failed system to buid a powerful dream. Education is a tool for growth of any generation and greatness for any Nation.
3. Everybody is not a Leader - The personal leadership bandwagon was more than a euphoria, it became a misunderstood creed. We have within each of us the capacity to direct our lives but to direct others requires a mix of knowledge, skill, experience, clarity of purpose and vision and so on. Leadership is a serious demarcation for developed and developing nations. A nation's greatness is forged by leadership that works. Nobody should attempt to lead others because they assume that they can. This is an attribution error plaguing developing countries. History provides many examples of these attribution errors and unfortunately, nothing is new under the sun. When we get leadership right, we see alot of impact like the works of Angel Merkel of Germany.
4. Culture is a Mindset - Years ago the term "cultural shock" became a cliché because everything was disrupted by the social media bubble. The people suddenly accepted virtual identity which was a pseudo - reality. It became difficult to understand most of the trends and their impact especially because of the global barrier that was broken. It became important to understand your personality and not get intertwined by the internet. What became more fascinating was the explosion of new forms of movement with these virtual identity defying the culture and demonising the African lifestyle. While the Caucasians have been very progressive in addressing mankind's discrimination, they have also been very poor in promoting uniqueness. By influencing the mindset of young people, they were able to infiltrate our culture and infuse their agenda. Culture is what makes a Nation different from another nation and it enhances development in its own way. Lets assume we teach our students in yoruba or fulfulde, they will understand faster because these languages are communal. However, we use English as a language for learning thereby acclimatizing the people. Consider passing the "Test on English as Foreign Language" after which you discover that Americans and British are failing same test but getting admitted into thier institutions and how much money they generate from this test by African migrants. This has reduced our indegenous languages to irrelevance and then when we try to enhance these languages, it becomes ethnic jingoism. Culture should be respected and promoted and while some parts may not be in alignment with modern times, it behooves on us to unlearn and this is easy when we agree Culture is a Mindset.
5. No place for Religion - A story is told in Torah about a man sent by God to a city to proclaim destruction and he refuses. We cannot tell if he was swallowed by a Whale Shark of over 41 feet long in size but after three days, the storyline says he arrives and gives his message. The people hearkened and their lives were saved and this guy seems to be angry even though he was a messenger of God. The people were saved because they had no place for Religion but rather opened their hearts to the voice of God. One of the problems with unproductive countries is caring too much about heaven and caring less about mother Earth. Nobody is closer to God in the world and this means we are children. In fact, when the people accept the role of childhood towards God, they become teachable. Every form of accumulation in the world means nothing after now. Whether we accumulate wealth, women, men or power, these are temporary. Nations with the understanding of God's love for Everyone exist with tolerance. When you begin to exercise tolerance for the next person, you have created a positive impact for more tolerance in others. If tolerance is not present, unity and development remains an orphan.
6. Result is Victory - With the system of government practiced, it is expected that the nation will enjoy accountability and progress which is result. However, the structure of the government has created acrimony over who is in control and who is the subordinate. The government officials continue struggle to pass policies because they are not interested in synergies but controversies. The Elected officials cannot deliver dividends when they are running like lone rangers. The system provides everyone with the option of making their input but this is not visible in results because inputs are not respected. During the pandemic, the government of a developed country gave a single individual the responsibility to fight the virus. Elsewhere in Africa, we had and still have committees upon committee members looking for ways to collect the rescue funds for personal use. These committee members are not interested in salvaging but they choose ravaging and then we can't identify the results; its a who said, who should and who didn't scenario. No results means no development and we are yet to vaccinate 1% of the population. The solution lies with the Citizens and they must begin to demand for accountability and results from all levels of the government.
7. Blended Generation - The stereotyping of the generation has created a mindset shift that may become a threat. This gap in generation thinking is affected by all six notes stated above. The ongoing evolution is going to tip towards a mental revolution before any meaningful change can occur. The generation Z are more purpose driven, more progressive, more divergent thinking, digital natives and more spontaneous. While these may sound like positive attributes, it will require a guided gen Z to manifest these characters. Alot of this group are likely to be caught up in the fast pace environment and choose to live in a virtual identity and pseudo-reality in the demography of Africa. Only the minority of this generation will escape the taunts of overnight successes and work to enhance personal vision. This means the government, the non-profit organization, and the preceding generation has to invest in this generation by playing the role of mentorship and modelling. Nations are built by successful generations heralded by another. Most previous generations accross Africa have not been successful but then changes and miracles do happen when we decide to take action. The preceding generations have the God ordained purpose to effect a better country and stop foisting their failures. The foundation is more important than the structure.
Nigeria must be Better in my time should be a creed for those willing and committed to leave a legacy for the next generation.
Oghwere Ejiroghene Henry!
God Bless Nigeria!
