This is the eighth year of the new millennium. This year 2008 is the year Nigeria will turn forty-eight. So what’s with all the 8s? The number 8 in the Bible represents NEW BEGINNINGS. You may ask - Is it possible for a nation to have a new beginning when so many things have gone wrong for so long? Is it possible to change direction after so many years of heading the wrong way? Is it possible to rub our slate clean of corruption, crisis and chaos? Is it possible to be among the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020? IS IT POSSIBLE? Anything is possible if we let go of the past. Other nations have done it so can we. The US did it after the Great Depression. The Israelis did it after the Holocaust; The Japanese did it after the atomic bomb was dropped in the country. The Germans did it after losing World War 2. The South Africans did it after years of apartheid.
The question we need to ask is, how did these nations get out of the wilderness of despair and hopelessness and into the Promised Land of HOPE and GREATNESS? What did they do right? How can we learn from them? Some of the citizens of these countries decided to take up responsibility. They exercised leadership and took their nations from ruin to riches and from grass to GREATNESS. What motivated them was love for their nation. They loved their nation enough to pay the price for the positive change they desired to see. Where there is a will there is always a way. A British philosopher Edmund Burke once said “Evil will triumph in any society where men of goodwill keep silent in times of moral crisis.” I believe that is one of our problems as a nation. If the men (and women) of goodwill were as passionate in their cause for a GREAT NEW NIGERIA as the evil men (and women) are in their cause for corruption a critical mass of positive social change would have occurred by now. The men (and women) of goodwill need to step up to the plate. They need to see this year as a NEW BEGINNING for Nigeria. They must learn to love Nigeria unconditionally just like babies are loved. Frank Clark once said” A baby is born with a need to be loved and never outgrows it.”
Likewise great nations are born with a need to be loved and they never outgrow it. More than ever Nigeria needs that kind of love from her citizens. Over the years as a nation we have gone round and round in circles. We have grumbled, complained and griped about our weaknesses and our many problems. We don’t speak well of Nigeria or Nigerians. We should take time off permanently from grumbling and listen (for a while) to the way other Africans talk about their countries. They talk about their countries with so much pride and passion, it amazing. Ironically we have many more reasons to be proud of Nigeria yet we don’t appreciate her. Every country has problems and challenges. Do you know that 2 million American children are declared missing annually in the US? This is a country that many Nigerians believe is very secure. This is the most powerful country in the world with the most sophisticated security equipment money can buy. Yet 2 million children just disappear annually! We may be doing a lot of things wrong as a nation but I dare say that there a lot of things we are doing right that we are not even conscious of. Our focus must change. We need to focus on what we can change and not what we can’t change. We ought to make the most of what we have.
We can only reach excellence as a nation when we discover and develop our strengths. Bringing it down to an individual level — you can only become great by locating and cultivating your gifts, talents, natural abilities and strengths. The key to GREATNESS is in our STRENGTHS. Think about it, every great person you know is known for their strengths e.g. Jay Jay Okocha and football, Wole Soyinka and literature, Tiger, Woods and golf, Bill Gates and computers, Thomas Edison and inventions, Michael Jordan and basketball, the list is endless. Do you realize that there are many things that Jay Jay Okocha (and the others mentioned above) can’t do: Jay Jay has weaknesses (i.e. some imperfections and inadequacies) that you and I may never know about, but who cares it doesn’t really matter! He’s discovered and developed his strength and that is what he’ll always be known for and remembered for. Great nations are great (not because they don’t have areas of shortcomings and weaknesses) because they discovered their strengths and that’s what the rest of the world sees. For example: - The French and fashion, the Brazilians and football, the Germans and their industrious spirit. We have to discover what we are good at as a nation and build on that.
Every Nigerian has a part to play. As individual citizens we must discover our individual gifts and become the best we can be in that area. This will help us unleash our greatness. Only great people can build great nations. See this year 2008 as a new beginning for us as Nigerian citizens. Through your strengths be the best you can be and bring out the best in Nigeria and fellow Nigerians. Nigeria will emerge from the cocoon of despair and hopelessness and become a beautiful butterfly of hope and wonder to other nations around the world.
BE THE BEST!
It’s a NEW DAWN!
It’s a NEW SEASON!
It’s a NEW BEGINNING!!!
Let’s go for it! Who knows we may end up becoming
THE 8th WONDER of the World
I will be releasing a book shortly. The title of the book is “THE 8th WONDER of the world – Made in Nigeria.” In this book I have used my training as an architect to create an innovative blueprint for a GREAT NEW NIGERIA. I have also used my sales skills to sell the GREAT NEW NIGERIA to Nigerians. The teacher in me is reflected in my style of writing, which makes it an easy-read. With my ability to motivate, I push the right buttons in the heart of Nigerians calling us all to GREATNESS and calling us to build the WONDER of WONDERS in the 8th WONDER of the world.
