Nigeria and the Generational Challenge of State Building

When the United States President, Donald Trump and his North Korean 'peace-ally', Kim Jong Un were planning for the just concluded historic bilateral summit, the question of venue was a matter of greatest concern. The stakes were high from the point of view of ambience, security and effect. So top political appointees, ranking diplomats and senior intelligence operatives weighed and assessed the suitability of tens of putative locations. These included such serene and high profile European capitals as Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki Fortunately, I was privileged to have served as Nigerian Ambassador in all the places listed, few years back and attest that mankind has no better places to live than these. Undoubtedly, they boasts of some of the highest human development indices in the world. Geneva, regarded as 'neutral' and was mentioned is itself is sort of a second capital for most diplomats. Also mentioned was the Bohemian city of Prague, capital of Czech Republic, with its picturesque setting on the Vltava River and its rich historical monuments tells that it was once the epicentre of European culture and civilization. Prague was my first diplomatic post in 1983. Other places mentioned include the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar; the demilitarised zone between the North and South Korea; a location at sea like Jeju Island; etc.

Finally, they settled for South East Asian c ity of Singapore. Why? Because the city has some of the most modern physical infrastructures, exquisite scenic beauty and humanistic values in the world. By all standards, the island state is today considered one of the best places to live by any standard. It is very safe and has one of the world's most successful economies and social circumstances.

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