Dele Momodu
30 August 2008
column
Lagos — The chronic deficiency in an average Nigerian, as much as we love our country, is our inability to sacrifice everything for our nation. We are a nation of garrulous people.
We can bring the mountains down with our tongues, and build skyscrapers with our lips. Wherever two or more Nigerians are gathered, the subject matter, or topic, cannot be anything other than Nigeria. We talk and talk and talk, but find it difficult to do anything about our chronic ailments. Everyone is an expert on Nigeria. We know all the problems, but we lack the solutions.
I had been invited to Scotland for lunch some years back by Ambassador Antonio 'Deinde Fernandez and his ex-wife, Olufunmilayo Aduke, an American by birth. We drove to a beautiful restaurant in the city of Edinburgh, and settled at our reserved table. Wea were offered drinks, and ordered our meals from the elaborate menu. We got talking for the next twenty minutes, and Mrs Fernandez watched on incredulously as Ambassador Fernandez and I engaged in serious discussions about Nigeria. At one point, the lady could no longer take it, and she interjected, "I thought we came here to eat and not to waste all your energy on talking about Nigeria. If you guys love your country so much, how come you can't do anything about the problems of the country?" We had no answer to her indictment.
Such is the passion with which we all talk about Nigeria, and wish some miracle would happen in our country. We need to do more. I intend to continue my sermon today that we should take a new approach to dealing with the issue of Nigeria. My thesis was further reinforced last week, by a very interesting encounter I had with a taxi driver who drove me from the airport to my hotel, as we landed on the beautiful Island of Seychelles, on the Indian Ocean. My expectations were high having read so much about this exotic island, and I was looking out for roads paved with gold and diamonds. But what I found was a long-winding, and dangerously narrow road, most of which was in pitch darkness. In truth, I was deeply worried as my driver meandered through the endless curves but could not betray my fear.
I asked questions about the island, and the driver painted the image of a paradise: "This is the best island on earth. We don't have thieves here because everyone is working. If you don't have a job our, government would find one for you, or pay you some money. Our weather is this good all year round." I could not believe my ears, and was almost telling myself, why did God not send me to this kind of place? I would encounter another driver the following afternoon as I went in search of our friend Cecil Hammond who had invited us to witness his sacramental vows to a most adorable bride, Keke Adenuga, on a beachfront. The select guests on the marathon journey included the publisher of the Vanguard newspapers, Mr Sam Amuka-Pemu, Chief Hope Harriman, D'banj, Mrs Hilda Funso-Williams, Ben Murray-Bruce with his wife and two sons, and his brother Roy, and Olori Ladun Sijuwade. We all wanted to explore the much talked-about island, so I took a cab from my hotel.
I have never met a more patriotic man than my driver. He rhapsodized all the way about Seychelles Islands. The journalist in me kept asking probing questions that must have provoked him at a stage. I began to feel some irritation in him, and quickly soft-pedaled on him, as I remembered that he had said he was a major domo in karate, and did not want to invite the wrath of a black-belter. Anytime I asked what sounded like a stupid question to him, he'll reply with a subtle violence in his voice. He over-praised his island, and I was forced to acquiesce and nod my head like a lizard. Yet a third driver on the day of the wedding proper made me feel the same way as we drove to the very remote venue of a most stylish wedding.
As we raced through the thick forests, it occurred to me that we could build a hundred Seychelles, if not more, out of Nigeria. Seychelles reminded me of those unpolluted villages of my youth. I recollected the Erin-Ijesa water-falls, the Ikogosi warm springs, the Oke-Langbodo, or Igbo Irunmole, of Oke Igbo, in Ondo State, powerfully described in the epic novels of Daniel Oroleye Fagunwa, and many other forests and coastlines and ranches, scattered all over Nigeria.. We had our tales by the moonlight before our kids were indoctrinated on the new books and addictive computer games of the West. And it pained me that Nigeria has failed to indoctrinate our citizens on our traditional values. The beauty of Seychelles to me is in the preservation of its natural beauty, not so much about the desperate modernization going on all over the world.
We must have a new beginning. We must begin to promote the best in us. We have so much that is good. The monkeys among us can continue to jump from tree to tree in search of juicy fruits to steal. This should never deter us from matching on, and forward. We are blessed with some of the most beautiful human beings on this planet.
As I write this article, I'm already in Johannesburg attending the South African Women Investors and Innovators Symposium (SAWIIS), which is being packaged by the famous Pan African Women Inventors & Innovators Network (PAWIIN), the brainchild of a Nigerian lady, Mrs Bola Olabisi. This world acclaimed organization was founded by her in 1998, to spotlight "how women's creativity is increasingly a resource for Africa's social advancement and economy." Olabisi, who holds a Master's Degree in Law, is the Vice President of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs. She sits on the European Commission's Network of Women in Decision Making in Brussels. In 2003, she received a special invitation from Her Majesty the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to Buckingham Palace to mark her contribution as a Pioneer to the Life of the Nation, for her work with the Women Inventors. She's been generously featured in the Reader's Digest.
Olabisi did Nigeria proud last Wednessday, as she received President Thabo Mbeki and the Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South Africa, a few Ministers, and over 2,000 women inside the Galagher Estate Conference Center in Midrand, Johannesburg. Yet not much is known at home about this brilliant and influential lady. She had complained to me once that all attempts by her to host the Women Inventors and Innovators Awards in Nigeria were boldly frustrated. I could never imagine what this lady was able to achieve these past days in South Africa. We do not know how to celebrate our own. This is the bane of our society. We can not afford to lose our leadership role in Africa, and indeed in the world. Look at the Olympic mess. Our athletes were like orphans, rudderless and defenceless. We sent them to war without weapons of war. I met Sampson Siasia before he left with his team to China, and was very ashamed to learn of the way they were shabbily treated. Yet this great coach motivated his boys to the level where they almost gave us the gold in soccer. I hope they would be amply compensated for their great patriotism. I was moved to tears while watching the British contingent to the Olympics as they landed at London Heathrow. They were personally welcomed by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had waited over one hour for their flight to arrive. Who wouldn't want to die for such a country?
Also, see the way United States has forced all of us to enjoy the political process in America. We now keep sleepless nights monitoring developments in the battle of wits between Barack Obama and John McCain. It is the power of indoctrination when politics is elevated to the level of religion. The Americans think first and foremost about America. Everything else is secondary. We must rise up to this level in the world. The main weapon the Americans have is not their Nuclear power, but their near monopoly of the world media. No country can go far in the world today if it must wait for outsiders to promote it. You would hardly see any foreign news on the local channels in America, except it has an impact on American affairs and interests.
This is what we must emulate. The big players in the Nigerian economy must be encouraged to look inwards and invest heavily in the Nigerian media. This is not to say they can not invest in the foreign media. When we have a stable society, where most of our youths are gainfully employed, business would grow with time. And you and I would be able to sleep with both eyes closed. A situation where most of our CEOs now drive bullet-proof cars, and carry battalions of bodyguards should be a major source of worry to all. Who says Nigerian taxi drivers can not be indoctrinated like my drivers in Seychelles? It is not so difficult.
We are all witnesses to how the young Governor of Lagos State is quietly re-orientating Lagosians into dropping the terrible habit of filth. Lagosians are being forced to appreciate their environment through the generous planting of flowers. Passengers coming from the Lagos airports at night can now drive through the glowing street lights that now adorn the long road of Sir Mobolaji Bank Anthony, and from Maryland to Ikorodu Road. Lagosians now queue patiently at bus stops. Our God, how excellent is thy name! The example of Lagos is one of the reasons I have been imbued with renewed confidence and faith in Project Nigeria. We only require more of our leaders to believe in the collective interests of Nigerians, and not in the foolish greed of a few irritants.
What's Going on at CNN in Africa?
As Nigerians continue to rush their adverts and faces to CNN, there are indications that all is not well between the powerful news medium and its key African workers. In the past few years, CNN lost two of the most brilliant and hardworking Aficans on its channel Tumi Magkabo, the beautiful presenter from South Africa, and my favourite presenter, Jeff Koinange, the exceptionally talented Kenyan hero, who filed great reports from war-torn Iraq, both under mysterious circumstances.
The latest casualty at CNN is no other than our own sister Femi Oke, who was practically forced to throw in her letter of resignation recently. What makes her matter sad is that this was the lady who only recently attracted so much attention to the CNN/Zenith Bank deal on the weekend programme, INSIDE AFRICA. When she came to Nigeria she was celebrated rightly like the media goddess that she is. No reporter ever simplified weather forecasts like Femi Oke. She brought so much style to her reportage. Yet, we are told she was never regarded like a true star by her employers. Some people have alleged some racial undertones. And they seem justified when one considers the fact that the CNN reporter, Richard Quest, who ran into a major scandal recently has been amply protected and rehabilitated by CNN.
I pray that that the last woman standing, Aisha Sesay from Sierra Leone survives the politics at CNN.
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