Thursday 15 August 2013

3000 POUND TRAVEL BOND: WHY NIGERIA MUST TAKE CHARGE OF HER DESTINY NOW


By whatever fact they have on ground, the UK authority will never issue this sought of travel bond restrictions on citizens from the United States or China. The question therefore is, why Nigerians?
There is no need for the Nigerian government to beg the UK authority to reverse her travel policy on Nigeria. The same colonial master that raped Nigeria and the rest of Africa have finally told us that we constitute nuisance to her public facilities that were built largely from the plunder of Africa. Rather than put all our energies appealing to the UK government, we should focus on putting our house in order.  So Mr Minister of foreign affairs let it go and lets all concentrate at getting it right here at home because there is no need shedding crocodile tears when faced with the stack reality.
There is no need over flogging this issue, the truth is Nigerians are running away from their fatherland in their hundreds of thousands on a yearly basis especially young people because the nation seems to be making wrong policy choices and even when she makes the right one there seem to be lack of will for implementation. Today, ASUU is at it again leaving young undergraduates vulnerable to whatever vices that impress them. We seem to pride our self as the largest black nation on earth but of what benefit has this brought us; nothing but abuse and insult such as this from the UK. Take a trip to any airport around the world and see how Nigerian travelers are treated. This will give you a sense why UK’s recent action is taking this hostile direction.
We don’t need any soothsayer to tell us that it’s high time to start getting it right at home. Political leaders and wealthy Nigerians should stop this reckless attitude of running abroad for treatment any time they have ordinary headache but rather endeavor to creating the right environment here at home so these facilities can be found here too. This is the only way to save our name and face from this sought embarrassment.  

Nigerians who take pride in leaving their country and make Europe and America their abode should understand that those places where never a creation from heaven but by the commitment and hard work from citizens in those places. It’s time we take responsibilities for our collective destiny so as to move this country on a right path once again. A nation can only be taken seriously and respected by the rest of the world when its people are ready to make it competitive. This is what has driven countries like china to the level they are. Today the Chinese are all over the continent of Africa engaging in different economic activities. This is the path Nigerian should aim at. We can become a beacon of hope for Africa and a true pride to the Black race only when we understand our place in the scheme of human affairs and work assiduously towards it.

YEK KEME
@yekeme

Friday 2 August 2013

Niger Delta a Region Dying from the Negligence of its own People


Finally the people of the Niger delta, south-south Nigeria have their son in power yet the region remains a shadow of its self. This is a clear reminder that Nigerians must not allow herself to be drawn into electing people to power based on ethnic sentiment but rather they must take the courage to interrogate critically those who sought their mandate so as to see the substance of their candidature.
Judging by the attitude and mood of the people from the Niger delta before Jonathan was elected, a vote for their son means good bye to poverty and so those oppose even from within them are labelled as traitors who must be dealt with and never be allowed to raise their voice, even when their concerns were genuine. Today south-south Nigeria inspite of its enormous natural endowment remains a region whose people are faced with abject poverty, educationally backward and economically far behind places like Lagos.
A Jonathan ticket will never and can never be the solution to the plight of the people from that region but rather the people themselves must be active participant in any developmental quest it wishes to engage in. They must endeavour to engage government and other private concern in the development quest of the region. This is important because what the people of the Niger delta suffers today is not lack of infrastructure but lack of men and women with genuine interest and vision for the common good of all citizens of the region. What the Niger Delta parade as leaders are merely individuals with that egoistic tendency for the self.  
Since the era of Ken Saro wiwa, the region is yet to see true fighter who will stand up and say no to the banality and abuse going on. In fact after Ken Saro wiwa, the pen has suddenly gone dry of ink while the sword has become the potent tool for negotiation used by all who feels it’s time to take their own share of the oil wealth.  This fundamentally is the reason Niger Delta is a region dying from the negligence of its own people. If and only if the people from that part of the country are intellectually reawakened then they will truly see the darkness they have been in all these while. Mental darkness not just physical darkness is the most potent way to keep a people consistently suppressed. They cannot see who they truly are once they are in this state. This is the reason bad governance and corruption is prevailing not just in the Niger delta, but in Nigeria and Africa in general.
The key to bringing light therefore is to illuminate the minds of the people by getting them properly educated and skilled so as for the people themselves to have a greater mastering of their own destiny. This is because you cannot give development to a people but rather equip their minds so as for them to be creators of their own development. This is the sure way out of the mediocrity we see today in the region. 
yek keme
@yekeme