The Nation Newspaper

Tag: dream

  • This Nigerian dream…

    We belabour the ‘Nigerian dream.’ We abuse the idea that life will get better, that progress is assured if we keep faith, obey the rules and work hard, that prosperity is guaranteed if we continue to tread the slow, steady path to progress and a prosperous future. And in pursuit of these lofty ideals, we pervert the steady, measured, impartial course of the universe; hacking pliant paths to our dreams, from the crossroads where gluttony fosters depravity.

    Eventually, we awaken to a cold, bitter truth: We are being sacrificed. The Nigerian dream we are sold isn’t worth our sacrifice. And the individual dreams we pursue, aren’t worth a smidgen of what we make them out to be. By the time we all struggle to achieve our dreams; Nigeria will be finished. Given that each tribe may finally achieve its dreams of nationhood via secession, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw to mention a few may establish their new nations.

    When we do, the swollen belly of our idiocy and pride shall become clearly visible to us. When it does, it shall suddenly dawn on us that, all along, we had been blindly acting to a script prepared by career predators from Western nations of Europe, America and our ruling class.

    The truth shall become clearer to us in intensity and impact and we shall hopelessly realize that we are being sacrificed. We will all be sacrificed; some of us much quicker than others. As it is now, so shall it be in our new nations, the Biafran youth, Ijaw youth, Oodua youth and Arewa youth to mention a few, shall become disposable indices in the scheme of things.

    But until then, we will continue to have today and squander it on the altar of racism and greed. Today, it’s impossible to see any offspring of our ruling class engage or become embroiled in the familiar tragedies that mar our lives. It’s always the children from the breadlines, struggling middle class and backwaters that are involved. We are the youth divide traditionally expected and required to function and serve as unquestioning muscles and ordinary cannon fodder in the ruling class’ blueprint of pillage and destruction.

    The decline of Nigeria is a story of gross injustices by the ruling class to the citizenry. But that is only an aspect of it, the greatest injustice is that meted out by individual citizen to self – the youth particularly. And this predominant malaise often plays out in our corruptibility and disinclination to foster a more humane leadership and society.

    Today, we suffer declining standards of living, stagnant and falling wages that are hardly paid at due time; we suffer curtailment and absolute denial of our basic wages, long-term unemployment, slave labour, escalating crime wave, among other ills.

    Together, we perpetuate gruesome realities of the weakest being crushed decisively and maniacally by the affluent and strong. Together, we perpetuate a story of unbridled sectarian, ethnic and corporate power that has taken our government hostage, overseen the dismantling of our cultural heritage, societal and entrepreneurial values.

    But if the ruling class, in connivance with predatory nations and institutions from the so-called ‘first world’ is responsible for plundering our natural resources and bankrupting the nation, we, the youth, are responsible for even worse atrocities.

    We serve as the tools by which the ruling class and its cohorts overseas plunder and destroy our nation. The virus of political corruption, the perverted belief that only political and material profit matters, has spread to distort our thoughts and understanding of right and wrong. Today, it manifests in endemic proportions plaguing our communities with religious and political terrorism, economic and cyber-terrorism to mention a few.

    Today, the Nigerian society dies a gruesome death basically because we lay to waste, our youths and we, the latter, by our suicidal actions and thoughts, submit ourselves as hopeless prey to the Nigerian ruling class and their cohorts overseas.

    Everyday encounters with gluttonous gangs of struggling youth reveals among other things, that many of us are the same social products as our peer from the aristocratic divide. Conditioned by life’s harshest vicissitudes to survive at all cost, we lay in wait, striving and bidding our time until we are ably positioned and strong enough to serve or rob the rich whose life we earnestly covet and decry.

    A visit to any night club, party, religious organization or office still attests to this fact. Ambitious and upwardly mobile youth from the breadlines or struggling working class families engage in a variety of excesses to the applause of mates yearning to be in their shoes. Either as advance fee fraudsters, bankers, journalists, accountants, secretaries, factory hands or ordinary clerks, youths from the breadlines daily engages in a bitter, desperate struggle to chance on the shortest possible cut to sudden and stupendous wealth.

    We seem beset by a greater and unexplainable fear beyond the fear of poverty amongst other harsh realities of their lives. Fear plays a greater part than hope: we are infinitely buoyed and obsessed with thoughts of the money that we could make or the possessions that might be taken from us or elude us, than of the joy and value that we might add to our own lives and to the future of our fatherland.

    Most of us, like our more privileged peer crave the best of everything without actually sweating for it. And when we do sweat for it, our industry is tainted by vigorous dashes of impatience and duplicity. In our work, we are haunted by jealousy of competitors, and a fleeting interest in the actual work that has to be done. We spend greater time and passion defending unjust privileges that we are desperate to enjoy.

    Such appalling youth constitute a greater segment of the human element expected to salvage Nigeria from eternal ruin and bloodbath. Consequently, our society becomes more rudderless and unstable and vulnerable, on our watch. Now that Nigeria as our fathers, ‘the wasted generation’ made it, and we the youth, aggravate it, have begun to collapse, we withdraw from the possibility of rebirth, and instead choose to exploit the infinite possibilities in our fragility and predicted collapse.

    It’s about time the Nigerian youth started postponing immediate gratification and endure hard sacrifices, spurred by conviction that the future can be better than the past. Beyond the politics and inanities of our existing ruling class and political parties, we face far more difficult questions at our moment in history: How do we reconcile reality with promises that have been made to us? How do we make the best of our circumstances at the backdrop of indefensible leadership failure and disillusionment of the citizenry?  How do we evolve and nurture to fruition, a new vision to help us deal with our gruesome realities, even as we chart a promising story of the future? How do we divorce ourselves from the pains and disappointments of the past – particularly those that many of amongst us had no stake in but yet internalize and perpetuate unexplainable miseries thereby?

    How do we redefine “Peace, Unity and Progress” with our lust for “Life, Liberty and Happiness?”  How do we become more humane than we are now?

  • Living their dream

    Living their dream

    At the University of Lagos (UNILAG), some young students dreamt of starting a web consulting business. Today, they are living their dream as the business has grown into a big concern. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Dreaming of a business in the university is one of the easiest things students do.

    But, following it up is an herculean task for young people, who think mostly of white collar jobs on graduation.

    Innovative Entrepreneurs Network (IVEN), which was conceived on the campus, is a different ball game. It has grown into a multi-million naira business.

    IVEN is the brain child of students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) aged 18 and 27. They had 15 mentors, most of whom are parents.

    Today,the group has established a technology business with a large clientele across the country.

    It provides modern services, including website development, search engine optimisation and branding.

    At the university, they learnt information technology (IT) skills. Before long, they designed the UnilagFaces website, launched it on March 14, 2006. Then they approached the American Embassy at the 2006 CTO fair to be allowed to cover the event online.

    Their proposal was accepted. It was during this time that the then Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia, became interested in their business and used IVEN Tech to publish his address at the event. This opened  the door to another level.

    A medical  doctor and Business Development Director  of the Group, Becky Olofin,  said their  entrepreneurial spirit shone during the exhibition.

    At the 2007 CTO, their first product, EasyLaw, a piracy-immune software, was displayed. It contains laws of the country from 1958 to 2007. They didn’t stop there; they started an interactive website -www.nigerianeasylaw.com. known  as LegalpediaOnline.

    Since then, the group has not looked back. Instead, it has made tremendous attempts at building capacities and bringing people to do business using technology and new applications.

    They developed products and applications to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owners to improve  productivity, market  efficiency and more effective business  practices.

    Today, IVEN is a large enterprise. Within the team are strong women founders charging ahead, bringing a unique background as software developers, researchers, marketing professionals and others.  The team provides affordable marketing plans for various small business and entrepreneur needs. These include using search engine optimisation tools to help business owners and entrepreneurs  increase search engine rankings, attract more web visits, gain more leads.

    One of the key packages they offer is helping entrepreneurs to build and nurture customer relationships, and grow sales with effective email marketing campaigns.

    On how the idea came about, Olofin said: “One of our mentors had an idea and he told us, we then went on to build on it.”

    They have been in the business for 10 years. She added:  ‘’We started with next to nothing mainly with an idea and from presenting that idea we got funds. Today, the business is worth N300 million.’’

    They have 50 members of staff. On what have been some of their failures, and what they have learned from them? She said: “Focusing on the product instead of the customer.”

    To generate new ideas, they brain-storm and listen to what clients request or challenges and create solutions.

    Her advice for young entrepreneurs:”Think through your plan, but don’t wait to get everything right before you act.”

    Her most satisfying moment in business: “Doing what everyone says is impossible.”

    Where does she see business in 10 years? She said: “In 10 years, I see us positively impacting and influencing younger entrepreneurs. I see us becoming a relevant point of reference for many businesses worldwide.”

  • Ogonis can dream again

    SIR; Several issues have emerged since the judicial murder of the stormy petrel of Ogoniland; the late Kenule Saro-Wiwa popular known and referred to simply as Ken. Part of the bequest of Ken is the sense of valour and fearlessness in tackling matters pertaining to the exploration of oil in Ogoniland and the attendant destruction of lives, the environment and properties. They were beaten and bloodied. They were used by rampaging trigger happy military personnel for target practice but they were not cowed into subservience. Curiously they refused to retreat and give away an inch of their soil to the combined might of the military, Shell and their local collaborators. They fought to retain self respect, overcame the intimidation and the pall of fear that wrapped the community like a dark blanket.

    Since the death of Ken, the Ogonis have taken with equanimity all that life with its vagaries has hauled at them. They have learnt so much but their major sources of knowledge are principally three books: the Bible, the UNEP report and the literatures of Ken. The Bible provided the anchor of faith that the turbulent years of their lives will invariably come to an end. With the UNEP report comes the knowledge of every kind of carcinogens that are prevalent in Ogoniland. Their conversations are always lavishly sprayed with names of chemicals like benzene, hydrocarbon, trace elements of chromium, metals such as iron, copper and vanadium. These are chemicals that the UNEP report said existed in Ogoniland at about 900 percent higher than acceptable standards. They quote copiously from the works of Ken to back their arguments which has given Ken a cult like followership in the land especially recalling his last comment. That statement rings through the creeks, the hamlets and the towns of Ogoniland egging them on to keep faith for victory. Ogoni has become the metaphor for the wrong choices made in building a sustainable energy livelihood in the country.

    The Ogonis have through the period acquired a very high level of numeracy especially the numbers that reduced so abruptly and sharply the life expectancy of the Ogoni people to just 50 years. Many of these innocent people have for no fault of theirs bathed in rivers flowing with chemicals, eaten produce that are tainted and inhaled hydrogen spiced air and have been exposed, all of their lives to the ravages that are unacceptable in any human habitation. Organ failure is more common than common cold in Ogoniland. There are a couple of families where the next in rank to the oldest person is merely in his or her thirties. With the cleanup they believe that life will be kinder and less brutal for them. That life will no longer be short and brutish. That life will once more be blissful, that they can sit by the fire and tell stories of how long ago they had to battle forces of environmental terrorism to get freedom from pollutants. It is a 30 years journey but with hope renewed at the launch there will be springs in their steps, songs on their lips and joy in their hearts. It will certainly be a less tedious walk for the people of Ogoni.

    Let the clean up as it has begun with the sense of euphoria and expectation for the most good for most of the community be a moment for dreams of development and growth and not a period to worry over the memories to catch and hang vultures.

     

    • Tive Denedo,

    Lagos.

  • The dream teacher

    In the not too distant past, teachers were revered. To be a teacher then was the wish of many. Parents willingly handed over their children  to teachers to be trained and disciplined. Many of my age mates grew up as teachers’ wards; they only went home once in a while to see their parents. For long, they knew no other home than their teachers.

    Parents harboured no fear about their children being maltreated by the teachers. They had implicit confidence in the teachers to groom those children as theirs. And the teachers trained those children along with theirs without any sign that they were not their biological fathers. Teachers earned their stripes then because they were strict and stern. They brooked no nonsense and it was obvious  that they were men of honour and integrity.

    It does not take long to recognise a principled and straight forward person. Teachers had these attributes and more then. They will not give you marks for money or sex. You have to earn your marks. As small as we were, we knew that our teachers could not be compromised and we worshipped them for that. You could only be your teacher’s boy if you are brilliant. You do not need to curry his favour by bringing him gifts, expensive perfume, ornate wrist watches and fanciful shoes.

    The teacher was the ultimate in self respect and self esteem and everybody wanted to be like him. Teachers were second to none. Only reverend fathers came close to them. Because then, Nigerians did not wear their religion like a badge, the clerics were heard but rarely seen; teachers were heard and seen. They were the eyes, ears and mouths of our parents.

    But these days when things should be better, with the coming of technology and other state-of-art gadgets to ease learning, teachers have turned into monsters, devouring their pupils. I wonder if they did not pass through the teachers of yore, who did not make hell on earth for their pupils. Teachers are supposed to be role models; those that their pupils can look up to and aspire to be like.

    Unfortunately, today’s teachers are different from their counterparts of old. What matters to them is to become rich quick and at the expense of their pupils. We have been crying for years that the standard of education is falling, heaping the blame on pupils and their senior counterparts in higher institutions. What we don’t seem to know is that teachers may be the major cause of the problem. They leave what they should teach to engage in unethical activities. They want to make it big at all costs. We are not advocating that teachers should be poor; no, never.  But any teacher interested in wealth should kiss the classroom goodbye and head for the boardroom, where luck may smile on him.

    In their desperation for wealth, teachers have devised means of ripping off primary, secondary school pupils and students in tertiary institutions. They impose all sorts of levies on them. They do not care if parents cannot afford the levies. They take joy in parents’ inability to pay so that they can harass the pupils, especially the girls. It is a shame that in this age and time, teachers can descend so low as to assault girls old enough to be their daughters all because of what they want to eat. What is in these girls’ bodies that they have not seen before? In the past few days, the media have been awash with reports of sexual assault against a teacher at the 89-year-old Queen’s College in Yaba, Lagos Mainland. This is a school, which many parents, whether rich or poor, will do anything to get their children admitted into.

    Queen’s College is among the best in its class and it is the last place where you will expect such a thing to happen. But it happened, according to Chinenye Okoye, who claimed on social media that her daughter was sexually harassed by her teacher, Mr Olaseni Oshifala. We are waiting for Okoye to come out with her daughter and prove her allegation against Oshifala. The Federal Ministry of Education has raised a five-man panel to probe the allegation, which the Queen’s College Old Girls’ Association (QCOGA), has declared is ‘’not unfounded’’. The old girls claimed that such allegation against Oshifala was not new. It may be so, but what did the association do before now to make him pay for eating the forbidden fruit?

    If the association has been in the know of such a weighty allegation against Oshifala since 2005 and kept quite, does that not make it an accessory to the case? This is a serious matter and the government should not rest until it gets to the bottom of it. Who is Chinenye Okoye? Is that her real name or a pseudonym? Who is her daughter? What is her name? What class is she? How did she come in contact with Oshifala? Does Oshifala take her class? Okoye and her daughter are key to cracking this case. Oshifala, we already know, and hopefully, we will soon know his accusers too when they meet at the panel’s sitting, where the whole truth is expected to be unearthed.

    The QCOGA statement is not cheery at all; it calls for concern. Could this have really  been going on for over 11 years, with everybody, especially the principal, the vice principals and their predecessors, looking the other way, despite allegedly knowing about it? Why did they do such a thing to girls put under their care – to protect and to guide? Can they be said to have discharged their responsibility as in loco parentis to these children? Why did they keep quiet? Why? Would they have kept silent if those girls were their biological children? Why did they breach the trust parents reposed in them?  To protect Oshifala and save their school from public odium? With what is happening now, what will they say is the wisdom in their action?  

  • ‘It’s still a dream that my husband is missing’

    ‘It’s still a dream that my husband is missing’

    •He will return home, says father

    Where is Godwin Nwaeze, a worker with the Federal Palace Hotel (FPH) on Victoria Island (VI) Lagos?

    Nwaeze, 43, according to his wife, Mary, has not been seen since he left home last February 25 for the bank.

    “He said he was going to look around for a shop for me after leaving the bank. That was our last discussion”, Mrs Nwaeze, 34, told The Nation yesterday.

    “My children got to know their father is missing through my prayer points. Even when they kept asking after his whereabouts, I couldn’t say a word. I feel the world has crumbled in front of me,” she added.

    Mrs Nwaeze said she dialled her husband’s number mobile line at exactly 4pm, but he didn’t pick his call.

    She said: “I thought he had left the bank and was in search of a shop for me because where I usually sell was affected by road construction. I dialled his mobile line again around 6pm but this time, it was switched off. I began to panic. I informed his sister and afterwards we went to Oke-Odo Police Station same day and later Federal Palace Hotel, where he works but that day was his off day at work.”

    Describing her husband as easy going, Mrs Nwaeze said: “Whenever he leaves the house, he goes to my shop. He doesn’t drink or smoke. It hasn’t been easy for me. Our two children are between ages six months and nine years. I don’t know where we went wrong with God. I have not relented in my prayer. My hope is high.”

    She said police promised to get back to the family but nothing has been heard from them.

    His sister, Mrs Blessing Ehiwarior, said she saw her brother that morning polishing his children’s shoes, adding that he promised to visit them when he returned.

    “It is still like a dream. When we got the bank, we were told there was no transaction by that name on the day he got missing. That means he never reached the bank. Only God knows what happened,” she said.

    Also yesterday, a civil servant, Sunday Ojelabi, whose son, Michael Oluwatomiyin, has been missing since January 20, said he is still positive about his son’s return.

    In a phone conversation, Ojelabi said: “My family and I won’t relent in our prayers. We are yet to get any information.”

    Four-year old Michael, a Nursery 1 pupil of Mafina Primary School on Great Challenge Road, Unity Estate, Iba was abducted by an unidentified woman around 3.30pm.

    It was learnt that he was returning from school with his sister, Oyindamola, when he was snatched.

    The woman escaped with Michael on a motorcycle.

    Ojelabi told The Nation that the family was still on the matter, adding: “I still believe he will return that is why my family and I haven’t relented in prayers. I just pray he is in a good state. I just resumed work and my wife is yet to return to her business. It hasn’t been easy but we won’t stop praying.”

    The Ojelabis are pleading with the public for information on their boy’s whereabouts.

    They can be contacted on: 08024371127, 08028287574 while the Nwaeze’s can be reached on: 08177546855, 08029161084.

  • Childhood dream fulfilled

    Childhood dream fulfilled

    A book, The Sun Will Soon Shine, written by Mrs. Adejoke Ajibade Bakare, a Corporate Communications specialist at an oil and gas company, was presented in Lagos last Thursday, NNEKA NWANERI writes.

    Mrs. Adejoke Ajibade Bakare’s life-long dream was fulfilled last Thursday at the LCCI Conference and Exhibition Centre, Alausa, when a collection of her poems entitled: The Sun Will Soon Shine, was presented to the public.

    To bring life to the writings, she recited two of the poems. With passion in her eyes and strength in her voice, she acted out every word from I Am Woman and Arise Naija, both excerpts from the book. Everyone in hall listened with rapt attention.

    The book is a documentation of her thoughts at  every stage of her life. The author confessed that the unveiling of her book was a day she had anticipated for a long time; a dream she had nursed till she found her voice in poetry.

    On her journey into the world of poetry, she said: “Poetry found me as a form of expression. I needed a way to let it out in my own way, so one day in the United Kingdom, while I was pregnant during my master’s programme, I picked up my pen to jot down my first thoughts.

    “Since then, I have come to know that it is a beautiful thing to write because poetry has a lot to offer the world and make it a better place.”

    The book was reviewed by three people. Mrs Bridget Nwokocha, a quality analyst, said the descriptions in the book are as vivid as watching a movie.

    “Though Joke is a busy person, she takes time to view the little things around her. Her poems are an influence of the environment. This book will take tension away from the reader and help one relax.”

    An engineer and the CEO of Pekulia Production Limited, Mr Bambo Oguntoyibo, also reviewed the book, which he described as a classic chronology of tales from the womb to the tomb, with something for every age grade. He also noted that some poems in the book will give hope in a challenging country.

    “In this book, she creates imagery from everyday happenings with all forms of literature encapsulated in it.”

    The author’s boss and Corporate Affairs Manager of Total, Mr Albert Mabuyaku, who said he met Joke three years ago, said he knew there was something unique – one who is full of dreams and ideas.

    Mrs. Fatima Ololade, a literary editor, who gave the last review, added that the book is a unique biography of the phases and faces of womanhood; with personal glimpses into the transition of a girl-child into womanhood – an inventive documentation of our being.

    Naval Captain Bayo Adekoya described the title of the book as prophetic and a harbinger of hope, being timely, apt and relevant.

    Students of Taqwa Primary School, Iju performed a poem from the book entitled: Each one of us a Chibok girl.

  • Playing at the Olympics will be a dream come true – Mordi

    As a kid, Jeremiah Mordi’s ambition was to do Nigeria proud at international sporting events and despite leaving Nigeria at the age of five, he has not jettisoned his goal.

    The 23-year-old basketball star is in the running for a place in the NBA draft in June after propelling the Queens College Men’s Basketball Senior team to the top and creating records along the way.

    Mordi, who visited Nigeria recently, told Sportinglife that he was ready for a try-out with the national team, D’Tigress, noting that his inclusion would give the team more attacking options.

    “My ambition has been to play for the Nigerian team ever since I started playing basketball at the age of six. My resolve was strengthened after I watched the team play at the 2012 London Olympic Games. I was happy to see my country play in the basketball event of the Olympics and I felt I had a chance if given an opportunity by the team handlers.”

    Mordi, who also played American football, but had to abandon the game when his parents expressed concern over the dangerous nature of the game, said that he had worked so hard to get to this level since playing competitive basketball for the first time in his seventh grade. “Playing at the highest level is every player’s dream and I would love to play at this year’s Rio Olympics.

    “I have put in so much hard work into my game and getting the basics at high school have prepared me for the challenge ahead. As an athlete, I have always worked hard and playing at the highest level for the Nigerian team will be a dream come true. I saw them play against the USA at the last Olympics and I was impressed though they lost. But the team has grown and watching them win the Afrobasket for the first time last year was a delight. And I must say that I am happy to see basketball grow in the country.”

    The point guard said he wasn’t trying to join the team because of what it has achieved, but noted that he has a lot to contribute to the team if given a chance to play. “I must make it clear that I am not trying to come into the team because it has qualified for the Olympics, but I am sure that I can add quality to the team.

    “I am familiar with some of the players on the team though I have not related with them at close quarters. However, Chamberlain Ogwuche who emerged the as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) at last year’s Afrobasket and many others on the team started their career in the United States.

    Speaking about his attributes, he said: “I am an excellent shooter and I play as a point guard and a shooting guard. The Nigerian team has three guards, but with my inclusion, it (the Nigerian team) can have so many other options on the court.

    Mordi, who hails from Delta State, noted that playing at the Olympics would give him fulfilment.

  • Nigeria of our dream

    Imagine how lovely it would have been if a Kunle from Osun can boldly go to school in Zaria or establish a million dollar industry where a Chinedu from Imo state can be the secretary. It would have been good if Ahmed from Nasarawa can come down to Ekiti State to own a nice shopping mall and enrol his children in a well-equipped public school in his place of residence without being maligned and scolded if he dares to be the councillor of his street through a free and fair election too.How I wish I could attend a university in Yola with the belief that a beautiful Rashidat from a Kano family would end up as my wife? But the sound of bombs detonating every single minute from these regions scare me from wanting to embark on such journey so that my parents will not regret.

    These are the realities and philosophies deeply rooted in the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended (2011) specifically section 40 to 43 to wit. However the shocking reality in Nigeria today is that it is only a wish and not the reality.

    The question often is whether this is the kind of country someone would want to live in and with the hope of raising a family. The answer cannot be in affirmative. Many, especially the youths, may say they will relocate abroad after making some money in Nigeria but the question is whether our value passes for more than second class citizens in a foreign land. If our leaders cannot think let us think and plan and strategise for a better Nigeria that we can be proud of.

    Let us speak up when we see injustices around us – like when women are denied of the rightful opportunities just on the basis of their sex. We must be ready to also speak up when youth are schemed out of a particular position that truly belongs to a youthful candidate as we have seen in recent times.

    Let us speak up. Let us reject the notion that Nigeria can never get better; the notion that Nigeria cannot one day export excess petroleum product and its by-products to Europe, the notion that a particular man from a particular ethnic group cannot be president of the country.

    Our leaders can unite us if they work it out by constituting a commission similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as Mandela did decades ago in South Africa.

    Our leaders can choose to subsidise the Nigerian Law School fees so that a son of a bricklayer can one day dream of becoming a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Why not? After all, we all have the right to pursue our dreams and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria safeguards such with the provisions of section 38 of the Constitution.  I will never stop dreaming of a better economy for Nigeria until God says dreaming is not good for my health.

    If our leaders fail us, we have no moral right to fail ourselves. A sense of service – even in unpalatable situations – should become the hallmark of our culture as a people. A sense of collective ownership and responsibility is all we need.

    The only panacea to this mess is for us all to sit at a table and plan how to overcome the mediocre leadership in this land. It starts with all of us. And that brings up the questions: how well do we articulate the Nigerian national anthem and its philosophy as youth? How well do we understand the import of the Nigerian Motto?  How much do we understand the nation’s history? How much have we done for the Nigerian project? Do we join the clique of Nigerian youthswho have given up on the Nigerian dream? How ready are we to engage leaders and stakeholders to get to the Promised Land?

    Let us prepare for a better Nigeria where corruption is minimised to the barest minimum, a Nigeria where we can be proud to call ours. Let’s not stop dreaming. Let our faith be enough to neutralise the darkness fighting for the soul of our nation.

     

    • Tope recently graduated from Law, AAUA

  • Our dream is to reposition health system — FG

    The Federal Government has said that its immediate target is to build a health sector that is capable of responding to any health challenge.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute, disclosed this when he received 30 motorcycles donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Director, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, at the office of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Abuja.

    Awute assured Nigerians that the government is committed to achieving a strong and resilient health system capable of responding to any health emergency.

    He noted that support from partners and UN agencies would help significantly to move the health sector forward.

    While thanking the WHO for its gesture, said the world health body had been offering valuable support to the ministry.

    He went down memory lane, recalling the role that the WHO played last year during the period of the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, describing it as highly commendable.

    The WHO Country Director, who was represented by the National Professional Officer, Health Emergencies, Dr. Ifeanyi Okudo, said the donation was to complement the efforts of the ministry in the areas of health surveillance and emergency response.

    Earlier, the permanent secretary led directors of the ministry on a facility inspection of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

    The National Coordinator, NCDC, Professor Abdulsalami Nasidi, assured the permanent secretary that the NCDC reference laboratory and administrative offices would be ready for commissioning before the end of September 2015.

    The permanent secretary was impressed with the level of work on the projects.

    He said when completed, they would be enduring legacies that would compare with state-of-the-art facilities in advanced countries.

    When in operation, the NC DC will also serve as the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Disease Control.

  • Our dream Super Eagles

    The Super Eagles will be the Cinderella at the Russia 2018 World Cup, going by the indices available. Pointers to this dream are the novel changes in the system, starting with the conscious attempts by NFF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick to run the body’s affairs differently.

    Pinnick’s insistence on scientific approaches to the way things are done at the Glasshouse is chiefly responsible for the new dawn in the Globacom Premier League, where referees have been exemplary in the manner in which they have handled matches. There have been startling results, with home teams losing games and the fans walking freely out of the stadia.

    Of significant importance is the new drive for getting the biggest sports brand solvent through interactions with the business sector in and outside the country. Gone are the days when NFF chiefs look towards the Federal Government for cash to fund all its programmes.

    Eagles chief coach Sunday Oliseh is billed to ring the bell at the Stock Exchange on August 17. Is this not the new dawn people have canvassed for? Oliseh’s presence at the Wembley Stadium last weekend to watch John Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi is also remarkable.

    Seeing pictures of Oliseh and Moses raises the hope that the coach knows where the shoe pinches in the team. Gone are the days when Eagles coaches and key players quarrel over little things.

    If the players are happy and feel wanted, they will give their best. Coaches must be told that without the players, they cannot function. Only the players enter the pitch to play. There isn’t anything a disciplined coach can do if the players choose to play badly to frustrate him. Therefore, Oliseh’s visits to key players set the tone of what to expect from the players when the matches begin.

    I can see the light at the end of this tunnel, but Oliseh must be sincere in his choice of players. He must adopt the right strategies for the team to excel. Teams that have won the World Cup are not spirits. They are human. They achieved this feat using scientific methods, buoyed with good planning and adequate funding. We are not lacking in getting the players to actualise our dream of watching Nigeria play at the finals of the Russia 2018 World Cup. Please, don’t wake me up from this dream.

    Am I being too ambitious? What is giving me this conviction that Nigeria will shake Russia at the 2018 World Cup? Have I considered the troublesome NFF and its coaches? Have the players changed their attitude towards playing for the country? Who are the players in the Super Eagles who have given me this confidence? Or do I think the World Cup is another bazaar for everyone?

    The World Cup is the platform for excellence. It is the big stage for new kids eager to redefine their careers and expand the frontiers of the game in their countries. Besides, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) has sustainable developmental programmes meant to discover, nurture and exposed budding talents across the globe.

    Indeed, most of the new lads discovered at the senior level most times have made their names in FIFA’s age-grade competitions.

    Other discoveries have come from the integrated programmes found in the 209 countries affiliated to FIFA. The mill to produce talents is enduring for those who apply the extant rules to the letter – those aptly tagged the soccer nations.

    Countries serious to make an impact at the World Cup don’t do so with a pilgrimage of appearances. For instance, Senegal hit the quarter-finals of the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup in her debut outing, losing because the players lost focus and we were contended with what they had achieved.

    A star such as Lionel Messi hit our consciousness with his exploits at the 2005 World Youth Championships held in Holland, defying his morphological deficiencies to dazzle the world with his silky skills. Messi hasn’t disappointed soccer fans with his breath-taking performances since that time, churning out sterling performances which have earned him all the accolades that there are to be won in the beautiful game. Sadly, Messi hasn’t won the senior World Cup, even though he is being rated alongside the game’s greats, such as Erantes de Nascimento, aka Pele, and Diego Amando Maradona.

    Africa is always being tipped as the best outsider to lift the World Cup outside the Europeans and South Americans. Those who hold this view have it reinforced anytime African countries win the world cups at the cadet levels. Not a few cynics have sneezed at Africa’s feats in age-grade competitions, largely because the products fade away when the world waits for them to blossom.

    Nigeria has been champions at the cadet levels, producing great lads such as Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Victor Ikpeba, Jonathan Akpoborie, John Mikel Obi, Taye Taiwo, Tijani Babangida, to mention a few. Kanu and Ikpeba went on to be crowned African Footballer of the Year.

    Indeed, Kanu won this diadem twice. One player the system under-developed is Akpoborie – no thanks to the coaches that have handled our senior team. After he shone at the 1985 WorldU-17 Championships in China, Akpoborie became Nigeria’s biggest export in Europe. That Akpoborie isn’t one of the lads whose exploits with the Eagles we would not talk about, tells the story of our coaches’ fixation. Scoring goals yearly to rank among the top five in the strong German Bundesliga was enough to earn Akpoborie a regular shirt in even the German side. Not in Nigeria. This explains why the cabal ended late Rashidi Yekini’s meritorious career with the Eagles. A few players felt that the late Yekini was earning the glory of their collective efforts and shut him out. The Eagles died, their careers ended abruptly and new stars were discovered.

    Many have forgotten that Mikel and Taiwo fell behind Lionel Messi in 2005 World Youth Championships held in Holland. The difference then wasn’t as alarming as it is now, given the incredible manner in which Messi has transformed into one of the world’s greatest players.

    Attempts to change the face of the game here have been politicised. At other times, sentiments ruled decisions, such that we seemed to take a step forward only to realise that we have indeed engaged the reverse gear, crashing into the ditch. With every fall came the corrupt phrase – going back to the drawing board. For the coaches, rebuilding became a lingo, even when the teams were winning matches and trophies.

    Under such settings, what we recorded as pyrrhic victories came back to haunt us as we lost out in big competitions that opened new vistas for better prepared nations. However, the changes being put in place to ensure that the Eagles return to winning ways are such that throw up Nigeria-born kids, such as Jordaan Ibe, Alex Iwobi and Chuba Akpom as the missing links in the team. Our players’ attitude to matches must change now that we have an NFF that is willing to make them comfortable and resolve their complaints.

    Ibe (forget about the cheap talk that he has dumped Nigeria) Iwobi, Akpom and indeed the legion of Nigeria-born kids’ inclusion in the team will bring back the required mentality of playing for the country to win laurels, not playing because they think they are doing us a favour. This new mentality will eliminate the sickening tradition of protests and revolts that belittled us in the polity of football nations.

    Oliseh knows that the Eagles are a jaded side, especially as most of the players cannot make the Russia 2018 World Cup. He needs to get young boys into the team to increase its speed, endurance and zeal to excel. Most of the players are no longer motivated to give their best, having won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, been to at least three uneventful World Cup and honoured with MON, OON etc. The presence of players who are in the twilight of their careers explains why it is easy for them to be swayed into revolts. They have nothing to lose anyway.

    A top Green Eagles player told me how at half time during one of the Seoul 1998 Olympic Games qualifiers, the late Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji asked three big men in the team why they were not passing the balls to him. The late Okwaraji walked up to them as they sat together. He held his shirt and asked: “Is there any difference in the jersey that I’m wearing and yours? Let me know so that I can tell the coach to give me another one since I cannot understand why nobody passes the ball to me, even when I’m unmarked.”

    The former player said he was deeply touched by the late Okwaraji’s statement and talked with the clique to ensure that he got passes. The defender said Okwaraji scored in the second half and was awesome in the game and subsequent matches until his death on August 12, 1989 at the National stadium in Surulere, Lagos.

    This defender was buttressing the fact that the Eagles had cabals that determined those who should play and those who shouldn’t. Oliseh must crush them all. Players must accept to play for us without conditions or stay in their clubs. No player should be indispensable. Anyone who misbehaves should be shown the door and quietly dropped from the team until he shows remorse.

    Oliseh’s search for new kids who have been developed in other climes is because he wants to hit the ground running, knowing that coaches are as good as their last results. The Eagles’ camp isn’t for learners. Rather, it is a place where certain things are given. Players are told what tactics are to be played and when they need to change as the game progresses. Since systems are universal, it is expected that they know what every strategy demands. This is why Oliseh is insisting on those who play regularly and for top teams.  Isn’t he right?