I woke up that Saturday morning with an excitement and enthusiasm that was beyond circumstances. I had this huge inner turbo-charge and a forceful go-go tug that had absolutely nothing to do with the situation on ground or the reality in my country as (under)reported by the media. And, I assure you, I was not high on anything, neither did I get a credit alert the previous night or early that morning. Far from any of all that. The excitement I had was beyond ordinary. It had everything to do with an inner conviction and nothing to do with outward circumstances or stimuli.
I just have (and I have had it since my days in Secondary School way back in the 80s!) this seemingly irrevocably fixed inner conviction that, despite all its self-inflicted pains and developmental backwardness, Nigeria will, slowly but surely, overcome all its malaise and organize itself well enough to come into genuine growth and development, until it becomes the best place to be born and to live and do business in Africa and one of the top-ten best places to be born and to live and do business on Earth. All my work and engagements, both public and private, draw motivation from that inner conviction.
On the strength of that inner excitement, I literally bounced into Gotel FM studios, in Yola, that Saturday to present my weekly programme, "The Nigeria Of My Dream". The programme is a collaboration between me and Gotel Communications, aimed at bringing enlightened motivation to Nigerian youths to push themselves for self-actualization, as they reach out for the highest and the best in life. It acts on my well-publicized social law which states that "the strength of a community is the cumulative strengths of the individuals and institutions that make up that community".
The success of Nigeria, therefore, starts from building and equipping individual Nigerians with functional education and modern skills that will secure their self-realization and self-improvement, leading them to success in life. Their collective success, in turn, becomes the framework and engine holding up and fuelling the success of Nigeria. To build a successful and great Nigeria, therefore, we must build functional and successful Nigerians. That is what all great countries do. It is the people that make the country great, and not the other way round. Build the people and the people will build the country.
You see, genuine and sustainable national development and prosperity is, first and foremost, human (social) before it is economical or infrastructural or anything else. Without social development, comprising adequate and equitable social welfare services and social justice, all other forms of development will not stand the test of time, and will, sooner than later, be inundated and destroyed by disorder, corruption, poverty, violent crime, nepotism, bigotry, etc. And that is exactly what is happening in Nigeria today: the chicks of long-standing disinvestment in social welfare and social justice and general human capital development have returned home to roost.
That is why I tell people that corruption, crime, disorder, intolerance, disunity, insurgency, separatism, etc., are all symptoms of social dysfunction occasioned by the failure in the social welfare and social justice systems. Fighting these ills without a corresponding commensurate genuine attempt to fix the social root causes, therefore, is like fighting Typhoid or Malaria, or any other pathogenic disease, with painkillers: you only suppress the dis-ease for a while without killing the pathogen. It, obviously and unfortunately, will bounce back stronger and deadlier. If we truly want to win the war against corruption and violent crime and other related ills, we MUST fix our social welfare and social justice systems. Period.
That is where my radio programme, and many other related efforts, come in. Without allowing myself to be bogged down by a mere recitation and recounting of our well-known national woes, I pick any given developmental issue and work on it, proffering better alternatives and encouraging our youth to rise to the challenge so as to ensure that they do better in their turn. I delight in providing solutions. I have no pleasure whatsoever in reinforcing failure and negative stereotypes.
So, that Saturday morning I spoke with a particularly forceful zeal and infectious passion as I called on our youth to uphold and promote education and skills acquisition, enterprise and industry, self-improvement and self-actualization, orderliness and social decorum, constitutionality and the rule of law, human value and human rights, friendship and acceptance, honesty and truthfulness, etc. I then went ahead and painted the glorious future and prosperous Nigeria that is possible if we all, from government to the organized private sector and the society at large, truly adhere to and promote these universal principles. From the phone-in responses I got I knew the show that Saturday morning was a huge hit. People called and spoke about how they are motivated to do more for Nigeria and for their personal growth and progress.
After the show, I drove from Modire Hills back into metropolitan Jimeta, stopping at a chemist shop to buy some prescribed medicines. I met two gentlemen there who, coincidentally, had tuned into and listened to that morning's show. They immediately recognized me and walked over and, having politely greeted me, went on the attack. They told me, point blank, that I was naive to believe that things will ever get better in Nigeria. They concluded, with some degree of relish, that things will only get worse and inevitably end in the breakup of Nigeria.
I stood there and listened to their recitation of woes and the ill-informed and misguided finality in their conclusion, saying nothing, not because I lacked what to say but, because I knew it was a waste of time and energy responding to such characters. Their minds are made up and, in a self-serving and self-fulfilling push to actualize their prophecy, they actively participate in the negative happenings to bring the country down. That is why they find such enlightened motivation, as my programme gives, a direct threat. So, instead of rejoicing in the possibility of a truly great Nigeria where things are working and dreams come true, they actually fear it and, misguidedly, work against it. They, hence, view people like me who believe in the possibility of a great Nigeria as a threat.
Well, after giving it to them that they were entitled to their opinion as I am to mine, I paid for the drugs and walked back to my car. Driving away, I felt a strong wave of discouragement wash over me. It was a bad feeling, a down feeling, an anti-climax, to the feelings with which the day started. I felt bad, not because I believed their gloomy diagnosis or, even for a moment, entertained any fear that their prophecy may one day come to pass but, because it was so disheartening to see two young men holding such negative and hostile opinions against the possibility of a great Nigeria.
Such energy as they put into working against the possibility of a great Nigeria, if they turn it around and put it into working for a great Nigeria, will go a long way into helping them attain massive individual success and, thus, helping Nigeria come into greatness. Yet here they were, working against the country of their birth, under the illusion that it will soon breakup and, in the resultant chaos and fragmentation, they will find the country of their dreams. What a negative mentality.
Anyway, I have my conviction intact and I continue to motivate our young men and women to work hard and smart, as they reach out for the highest and the best in life. All things are possible and a great and glorious Nigeria is a possibility. I see tangible possitive indicators and signs, amidst the mountain of challenges and difficulties, that things are changing for good. It is a trickle, for now, but it will soon turn into an unstoppable torrent. Nigeria will soon come into it's own and stand up, tall and strong, as the Giant of Africa and the Leader of the Black Race.
My young friends, leaders of tomorrow, be positive and channel your huge energies, relentlessly and tirelessly, into self-improvement and self-actualization efforts. Build yourself up, tough and strong. Be the best that you can be.
Nigeria needs you.
Nigeria waits for you.
Nigeria needs you capable and successful.
You can do it.
It is all within you.
It is Agoso Bamaiyi, your friend for a greater Nigeria and the best things of life.
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