A State is ready for prosperity and development when it delivers to its people a robust Bill of Rights, a sense of liberty and freedom of expression. The purpose of a nation is the realization of human aspirations. It is in pursuance of man’s dreams or desire for happiness, prosperity, self-expression, ecological development, self-fulfillment and his insatiable and unending desire for self-discovery and maximization of his intellectual physical and spiritual abilities. All these, man knows, he cannot attain or achieve in isolation but in his relationship with like-minded creatures. The purpose of States, on the other hand, is to form such associations, providing and establishing justice, domestic tranquillity, common defense, promote the general welfare and secure their postulated ethnicity for themselves and their posterity.
It is to enact laws and provide force in ensuring that defined limits are not exceeded. As a people, we have attained statehood but we are yet to achieve nationhood. Why, in spite of government efforts, should the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of African nations continue to drown? Why is their per-capita income so embarrassingly low compared to others? The answer lies in the fact that their Gross Mental Attitude is wrong. The answer lies in the fact that their Gross Mental Output is horrendously low. The answer is aggressive educational policy and programmes. The educational policies and programmes in African nations must be reviewed to foster intellectual and environmental productivity. We have our roles to play as individuals. There is individual social responsibility. In spite of the odds, we must learn to appreciate our gains in Africa. In Nigeria particularly, in spite of cheap propaganda against our country, Nigeria, I tell you, is still among the freest countries in the world.
There are those who may argue with that but many of us have traveled around the world, and we can tell you it’s true. We must be grateful for our opportunities so far: many of us should be grateful for the scholarships we received, the education, the environment, and even the wonderful, peace-loving people of Nigeria with whom we have been associated. Many of us have benefited from the structure of our society, whether you love it or hate it. We must now give back to it. This thinking is the beginning of the birth of nationhood-the idea that we owe our society something; that we owe our nation something. We must not resign ourselves to always call out for help and handouts; reaching out to be given something by the government or government representatives. We must make a solemn decision to play on the field, to become involved and be spectators no more. We must gladly render service and seek to improve our society. We must dream bigger and higher to create for ourselves and posterity a more secure, prosperous, virile and egalitarian society.
It is sad that at this time of our odyssey of self-realization as a nation, major corporations and business establishments have not committed themselves to the infrastructural development of the country, the country from which they have so graciously benefited. No wonder the outcry in the Nigeria Niger Delta is getting louder, though unheeded. I call on thriving banks to help build our University campuses, all the major banks in the country should become responsible for helping build infrastructures in our University Campuses, provide classrooms for secondary schools, let the money you are making show in the development of our nation. I call on major business organizations and corporations in Nigeria to help fund education as a testimony of their commitment to our evolution to nationhood and the realization of our dream of transition from third-world to first. It is their responsibility to give back to a nation from which they have received so much.
To Be Continued...
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