What shall we wish a 57-year-old man on his birthday aside the traditional chimes of happy birthday? What shall we tell such a man especially if he is the type that has under-achieved and under-performed; if he squandered all opportunities presented to him; if he was profligate, reckless and had lived a riotous life since he came of age? Shall we borrow eggs to make him omelette as he was careless not to grow his own chicken? Shall we borrow drums from his neighbours to beat for him on his special day because he recklessly wasted both the wood and the animal skin to make his own drum?
Doing any of these may not be the best option as it may add to his cup of sorrow. Borrowing to fete a man who is already swamped in the cesspit of debt on account of his own lack of discretion can only add to his overload of troubles. So, on his special day, rather than roll out borrowed drums to celebrate with borrowed drinks and food under a borrowed marquee, we shall lean on the straw of hope. We shall thank God that even though our brother is 57 and still behaves like an infant; though he lurches around and drifts without a compass; though he still wets his bed and is so spoilt a brat he can’t even change his bed spread, he is still alive.
We can celebrate the fact that he is alive. After all, the Holy Writ, the Bible, says that a living dog is better than a dead lion. Nigeria should be likened to a living dog. Whereas the lion is the king of the jungle; the Bible says the lion does not turn from any animal including the elephants and the Hippos, but once dead, its strength and bragging rights amount to nothing. But a living dog, despite its overbearing shortcomings, could still hope for a better future. This is the story of Nigeria, a 57-year-old nation still behaving like a cosseted infant.
On this occasion of her birthday, we can find solace in the oneness, albeit fragile, of a nation that has survived a major civil war. We can celebrate the fact that in spite of the myriad red flags, the threats of secession, the long history of agitations for self-determination, the mindless looting of her patrimony by a few but very powerful military and political class, the nation has dragged on.
Nigeria at 57 may not resonate with the people as a story worth regaling the younger generation with but we have genuine reasons to celebrate and not let go on the strand of hope. We can celebrate the exploits of many individual Nigerians who have flown and are still flying the national flag with majestic allure to the admiration of the world.
As a nation, her per capital income may be low, she may have lagged far behind her counterparts in other climes like Singapore, Malaysia, China, Indonesia among others; she may have manifested all the signs of a failing state, but there are pockets of reasons to look at the cup as half full rather than half empty. The individual efforts of some Nigerians should give us enough reason to celebrate.
A recent Houston Chronicle report says Nigerian immigrants in the United States have the highest number of college graduates surpassing even US families, Asians and other migrants. Nigerians are to be found in IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google and other top capitalized blue chips across the globe all working as top managers and decision-makers. We can celebrate this feat that defines our collective quest for knowledge. Back home in Nigeria, their families may be in darkness because public power supply is largely inefficient, public water supply may not be effective so folks sink their private boreholes but this has not dampened their spirit to hope and to dare. We can celebrate these Nigerians.
We can celebrate the new army of young Nigerians who have broken loose from the manacles that held the older generation captive and are everywhere doing great things and breaking new frontiers. At just 23, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh founded Yudala, a composite e-commerce enterprise and Africa’s first ever online-offline outlet that burst into the scene in a blaze of raw ambition and energy of youth. We can celebrate the over 18 young Nigerians who have joined forces with Facebook working at managerial and directorate levels.
Should we not celebrate the likes of Iyin Aboyeji, a 25-year-old Nigerian and one of the co-founders of Andela, the ambitious ICT hub which attracted $24 million investment from Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook? What shall we say of Chinedu Echeruo, a super mind and restless innovator who astounded the world with his out-of-the-box technological creations? He is the CEO and Founder of Gigameet.com, a global cause-driven platform to facilitate human connection.
Echeruo was born in Nigeria but his entrepreneurial skills began to manifest in the United States where he earned his first and second degrees. He has been involved with several Internet startups. Mr. Echeruo founded two U.S-based internet companies; HopStop.com and Tripology.com. Tripology.com was acquired in 2010 by Rand McNally and is now owned by USA Today. HopStop was acquired by Apple in 2013 for $500 million dollars. He was also named Black Enterprise Magazine’s Small Business Innovator of the Year and listed in the magazine’s Top 40 under 40. We should celebrate him.
And what about Jelani Aliyu, General Motors Lead Exterior Designer who recorded a major breakthrough in the automotive industry in the US, with the design of a state-of-the-art electric car; GM’s most electrifying advanced technology vehicle; the Chevrolet Volt concept, a battery-powered, extended-range electric passenger vehicle that uses a gas engine to create additional electricity. We should celebrate because of him.
Why can’t we celebrate Ufot Ekong who broke a 50-year record in Japan by solving a mathematical equation that defied solution for decades in his first semester after graduating with a 1st class degree and emerging best overall student from Tokai University in Tokyo, Japan where he studied Robotics. In addition, he has developed a car to his name. He currently works for Nissan and has already patented two products, among other feats.
The list is long of Nigerians doing exploits in medicine, space science, ICT, sports and other fields of human endeavour. Nigeria at 57 may be a nation in stasis but Nigerians are a people on the move, a people unhinged by circumstances of their birth. We have won the junior World Cup, we have been decorated with Nobel Prize in Literature, our own Phillip Emeagwali ( a 1989 Gordon Bell Prize winner) is regarded as the Father of the Internet on account of his pioneering role in using supercomputers to achieve 3.1 billion calculations per second, an idea that helped to birth the internet. For such, we should celebrate.
It is for these reasons and much more that I still see hope for this living dog called Nigeria. Every living dog has hope for as long as it still gasps for breath. At 57, corruption has plundered the nation; a dysfunctional civil service has wrecked her fabrics but the people have remained resilient, resolute and unbowed. We have reasons to celebrate because we have hope. Those who have forged excellence in an oasis of mediocrity have given us reasons to celebrate today and every other day in the hope that someday, power supply would be stable; infrastructure would answer to us and potable water would be available to all. A new Nigeria is possible and that’s why we should celebrate today. Let the champagne go round.