THE NIGERIA YOU WANT

Nigeria will never be a great nation and truly live up to its absolute potential, not because of corruption or any other vices that we as a country have come to be associated with, but because we, as the citizens and shapers of the destiny of this nation do not believe in it, and continually use our words to look down on, insult and take for granted the country, its resources and its authority.

The honest truth is that it is easy to love a child that is doing excellently and growing up properly and proportionately. It is easier to be proud of a parent who has his/her affairs together, has a good job where the family can be well catered for, and has enough influence and respect in the community. It is easier to be proud of a country that has a rich cultural history, a certain respectable balance between those that have and those that don't, a crime rate and levels of corruption that have no global reputation, and whose citizens, for the most part, cannot truthfully say that their government does not take care of them. Unfortunately for Nigerians, we don't seem to have reached that pinnacle of pride yet.

My country, richly blessed as it is, has had a lot of struggles. Each and every fellow citizen can regale you with tales of how inefficient the system is, or the seeming lack of order that permeates every facet of life, or the outright and blatant corruption that is rampant in every corridor of power. Honestly, we have struggled, and we have suffered. Even in a bid to count our blessings, they seem to be outweighed by the hardship and discomfort that we experience even in the provision of the basic amenities.

All this is true, and all this is fact, and at the risk of sounding like a lot of people before me, we, both individually and collectively will have to decide if we want to accept our country the way it is, or for us to decide that this is not the Nigeria that we want. Things are bad, and have been so for a long time, but that is no reason why we should give up on it. It is amazing the power that is in our words, because as is stated in the Bible, "You shall have what you say", meaning that if even half of this population continually speaks positively and proudly of this country, in spite of what we are made to endure, people will rise up from within to change things for the better, and people will rise from outside us to encourage us.

You think you deserve a better country? Based on what? You only deserve what you work towards. I emphasize work because it is one thing to wish the country well, but it is another thing to do your part in achievement of that goal. Wherever you find yourself be of such excellent conduct that it gives your country a good name.

Living in diaspora gives us a good idea of how we are seen as a country, and most of those impressions are given by us. Then, when these opinions are formed and uttered by non-citizens, the instinctive response is to be offended. I choose to speak positively, pray for and do my own part to realize the Nigeria that I want for me, for my family and for my fellow Nigerians. It is easier to complain about Nigeria. It is harder to work for it to realize its potential. Those that complain are thus, in this context, lazy people.

 I'm sure there are plenty articles that have been penned along these same lines, but it bears reminding that instead of accepting and condemning Nigeria, let us use that same right to speech to force us into action, and get the Nigeria that we want.

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A Letter To Suarez' Grandmother

First of all, this is not meant as an insult or affront to the lady in question but more of my disagreement with her statement and methodology.

It is no secret that the biggest news from the World Cup last week had nothing to do with football directly but the biting incident involving Uruguayan player Luis Suarez and Italian player Giorgio Chiellini. Since FIFA passed their judgment on the matter the reaction from all aspects has been mixed and in some cases surprising. The one that caught my attention the most was the reaction from Suarez' grandmum in a statement issued yesterday:

Suarez has been unfairly victimised in his "barbaric" expulsion from the World Cup for biting, his disconsolate grandmother said on Thursday. "Everyone knows what they've done to Luis. They wanted him out of the World Cup. Perfect, they did it. They chucked him out of there like a dog," a sobbing Lila Piriz Da Rosa told Reuters from Suarez's birthtown Salto in north-west Uruguay.

Piriz, who has 22 grand-children, said football authorities had been watching Suarez from the outset. "This was on purpose," she said of the sanctions given to the brilliant but volatile Suarez, who has been punished three times now for biting and once for racism. "They had their eyes on him to see what he does. It's barbaric what they've done to him," Piriz added. "I'm his granny and I love my boy loads,!" Piriz said. "Please don't ask me any more." - Eurosport

Far be it from me to come between the love for a grandmother and her grand son but this response is one of a number of reactions that is just absolutely ridiculous. This notion of Suarez being victimized is laughable at least. How is it possible to see a football professional bite three people on the field of play and yet he is the victim? How is there a witch hunt on someone that in spite of his past indiscretions, everyone has forgiven him and even celebrated him for triumphing in the face of his 'adversity'? If Balotelli is the king of off field discretions, then Suarez is the king of on field misbehavior. Biting tendencies aside we will also remember that he has had racist charges levelled against him as well as his famous handball at the last world cup that knocked Ghana out. And Suarez is a victim?

Forget the fact that if a different footballer who wasn't so prolific did the same thing repeatedly the whole world would have taken him to the Hague for crimes against humanity and barbarism. But because he is in fact a protected player he got off easy. It may not be so far fetched to accuse FIFA of favoritism and not victimization.

So his grandmum cried and shed tears so that the world would see a human side to her serial biter grand son but that bit of manipulation was totally unnecessary. After all she has 22 grandkids. Does biting run in the family? Why does she have to take to the spotlight to lament when she has 21 that have refused to bite people in their line of work?

No one did anything to Suarez. Whatever punishment was meted out to him was totally deserved, and in my opinion was insufficient. I won't even bother going into what other reactions were, like that proferred by the washed-out has-been that is Maradona, in whose opinion Suarez did nothing wrong, but enough of this victimization talk. That man needs a proper psychological evaluation and possible spiritual intervention because you have to ask yourself, what goes through a man's mind that would make him want to bite someone else? Please feel free to leave a comment below stating what would drive you to bite another person.

Then again what is the point of banning Suarez? He'll just come back to the Premier league in November and still be the highest goal scorer in the league and will be once again celebrated as the triumph of a reformed man over his adversity.

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FIRST THINGS FIRST

So I feel like writing again.

It's a few minutes to 7 p.m., and I'm in school with Timothy and Jenna. I'm experiencing somewhat of a block so I ask them randomly what they think are the pressing issues of our contemporary times, and even though they gave me varying answers, interestingly, they both arrived at the same broad conclusion: people have an issue with priorities. 

Except in very broad terms, there are no specific or ideal rules about what should be done at what time, and in what order. People generally have to decide for themselves what they think should be the right order of events for any range of activities. It is different for various people because everyone has a different set of circumstances governing their lifestyle choice and behavior.

That being said, it still holds that at each and every point or stage in a person's life, it is expected that there are some things, some groundwork that should have been laid in order to increase one's chances of succeeding in the corresponding phases of life. Most of these are shown or represented by responsibilities, either to society, family or even one's self. Responsibility, even though it is relatively unpopular is a great indication of maturity in an individual. That person is appealing who has learned to order their affairs in such a manner as to avoid chaos and confusion while ensuring maximum efficiency.

So even though there are no broad rules for what comes first or should be a priority, the hallmark of priorities, which is order cannot be overestimated. For the individual who wants to be very efficient and effective, attention to priorities is of great importance. It is very easy to take that last statement for granted especially as we wrongly assume that everyone wants order in their affairs, but it is one thing to think wishfully, and another thing entirely to determine to make it so. No matter how much one wants to believe in the sanity of all mankind, the fact remains that those that pay any serious attention to priorities are in the minority.

Also to be taken into consideration is the fact that priorities do change. They could change from time to time or from situation to situation. One must learn to identify the circumstances surrounding him/her and act accordingly so as to keep up with the times. It's all easier said than done, but all very worth doing in the end. One only has to ask how much is willing to be done in order to get to where you want to go to, and put first things first, doing as the Bible says, "Redeeming the time, because the days are uncertain."

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