Nigeria-as-the-supposed-giant-of-africa-still-lagging-behind-due-to-lack-of-applied-knowledge
September 7, 2020 | News
NIGERIA AS THE SUPPOSED ‘GIANT OF AFRICA’ STILL LAGGING BEHIND DUE TO LACK OF APPLIED KNOWLEDGE
We are often forced to ask is, what is wrong with us as a people? How can we, as the most populated Black nation in the world, be so naturally and physically endowed and blessed amongst the Black African continent, yet we are ranked as the world’s number one with the highest population of people living in abject poverty? The only answer I can think of, is the fact that we have been very unfortunate to keep having political leaders who are visionless, and the majority of the population are no different, or worse than those leading them. We have taken everything we learnt and took from those who colonized us, and have used them against ourselves to obstruct our needed development.
We recently saw a piece published in 2018, of a supposed interview of Richard Smith, a famous British guitarist, who, while expressing his thoughts about Africa, made some VERY BRUTAL OBSERVATIONS THAT ARE HURTFUL BUT YET TRUE OF AFRICA, AND NIGERIA ESPECIALLY. He said: “They sell everything to the highest bidder, even the land. Then they poison themselves with everything that is edible. I am not a racist because I do not believe for a single second that I am superior to a black man. The difference with them is that we think of our descendants, we are calculators, we protect our interests and we'll kill for that if need be. We are not emotional; we have passed this stage. If the lion has pity on the gazelle, it is he who will die of hunger. They have lions at home, but they do not understand the laws of nature.
“For everything, they confide in superstition and religion. The difference between the others and blacks is, while others reflect, blacks do not think, they do not use their intellectual capacity and very few blacks are analytical. And when a few black people pierce through, we admit them to our side or eliminate them in one way or another, most often, with the hand of other blacks. We brought them our god and continuously invent fuzzy concepts to confuse them more. In a hundred years, their descendants will be more slaves than they are now. They are already more unhappy than the generation of their parents, and they naively believe that numbers will be their strength. Just watch how they drown at sea to come here. We conquered them with a few tens of ours and the active help of theirs. We forced them to speak and write in our languages. We will control their descendants more than we control them right now. Other people understood our game (like the Chinese, Indians, Koreans, etc.), they started to use the same technical knowledge as us to protect and dissuade, but the blacks did not understand anything.”
In another well-circulated note on Africa, purportedly made by China’s President, Xi Jinping, he asserted that: “The only thing the Black man has inherited from Arab and European colonization is the Religion that he practices, and that is exactly what the colonizers wanted. Notice that in Black countries, the Education is a disaster, the administration is corrupt, health is deplorable, but Religion is doing wonderfully well. Black people rebel against everything except Religion. They even think they are more Religious than those who brought them these concepts, and that the colonizers are not good Christians… This is how Black people stupidity can go… Notice that any society that is full with superstitions, religious indoctrinations, lack of Education and nationalism, is always ridden with violence.”
These are painful statements. But sadly, it is the realities about Africans and Nigeria particularly. The most annoying aspect is the fact that our Nigerian elites are excited and comfortable for deliberately ‘cheating’ on the populace, as they encourage corrupt Nigerian politicians to loot public treasury meant for the development of their people. They even regard such corrupt politicians as supposed “strong men.” These set of Nigerian elites are very much aware of the numerous achievements of advanced countries, but they fail to ask themselves questions why is this not evident in Nigeria? Why are rules and laws not obeyed by public officials in Nigeria? The Nigerian elites only complain when policies and practices of the Government affect them. It is as if they expect Angels to come from heaven to come and fix Nigeria. They turn the interpretation of the law upside down, just like the lyrics of a song that was sung by late Fela: “Everything upside down.”
These Nigerian elites are very good at labelling and looking at those critics that are with conscience, and who expose their evils; as the bad persons and trouble makers. But inwardly, they lack the truth and also lack the will to stand firm for the truth – because the truth is not in them. They are ignorant and unintelligent and without knowledge. This is because a knowledgeable person will not encourage evil against the masses. As noted in the Holy Bible in the book of Hosea 4:6 “MY PEOPLE ARE DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: BECAUSE THOU HAST REJECTED KNOWLEDGE…” It is really a pathetic situation. A knowledgeable person is not a coward. He or she will say it as he/she sees it. This is the reason Delta State has been held in captivity for 20 years plus and still running. These elites only specialize in browsing the opinions of people that suit their cowardice ideas.
It has been Fifty-nine years after colonial rule, yet Nigeria is still struggling to find its footing as other nations like Mauritius (1968), Singapore (1965), Trinidad & Tobago (1962), Botswana (1966), etc., that attained independence in the 1960s are making great strides globally. Agreed that if population was the determining factor, Nigeria would be the undisputed “Giant of Africa.” Easily the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world, Nigeria has an estimated 182milliom nationals, surpassing the second largest African nation, Ethiopia’s 95million.
The above note by Richard Smith is the exact picture we have in our country Nigeria. And it is sad that it is other foreigners who are the ones seeing this and making these observations for us Africans. While we (especially the elites) have refused to open our eyes to see where our problems lie. We hear every day of how hundreds of Nigerians end up as slaves in Libya, while some end up as prostitutes in Italy and France, and others meet their doom trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Again, the question is very clear - how many Europeans and Americans are prostituting in Nigeria? How many Europeans and Americans are doing all the kind of menial jobs thousands of Nigerians are currently doing in those countries? None of course! When are going to wake up and stop blaming others for all the misfortunes and problems we have brought upon ourselves as a people, with our own hands?
There was a time in the 70s and early 80s, I still recall how the Europeans, Americans and Asians were begging for Teaching jobs, and very willing to accept such jobs even in the remote interior villages in Nigeria. If Nigeria was what it is today back then, will they have come here for such Teaching jobs in those days? Obviously not! If Nigeria had continued with the ‘developmental pace’ it started with back then till today, we are very certain that no single Nigerian will desire to move to America or Europe in search of greener pastures. Rather, it will be the other way around – with Europeans and Americans desiring to come to stay as residents/citizens in Nigeria. But here we are – an ‘ever-developing nation’ DAILY PLUNDERED BY SOME SELECTED FEW TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE MAJORITY.
We would keep repeating this statement that: no foreigner can effectively and efficiently develop our country for Nigerians. That onerous task, no matter how challenging it might seem, only belongs to Nigerians and can best be done by Nigerians. So, it is high time our political leaders, including the elites; STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND START USING THEIR ‘THINKING FACULTIES ARIGHT’ IN HARNESSING THE ENORMOUS RESOURCES IN THE NATION, DEVELOP THIS COUNTRY AND GET IT OUT OF THE LEAGUE OF THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES IN NO DISTANT FUTURE.
Zik Gbemre.
February 3, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
We are often forced to ask is, what is wrong with us as a people? How can we, as the most populated Black nation in the world, be so naturally and physically endowed and blessed amongst the Black African continent, yet we are ranked as the world’s number one with the highest population of people living in abject poverty? The only answer I can think of, is the fact that we have been very unfortunate to keep having political leaders who are visionless, and the majority of the population are no different, or worse than those leading them. We have taken everything we learnt and took from those who colonized us, and have used them against ourselves to obstruct our needed development.
We recently saw a piece published in 2018, of a supposed interview of Richard Smith, a famous British guitarist, who, while expressing his thoughts about Africa, made some VERY BRUTAL OBSERVATIONS THAT ARE HURTFUL BUT YET TRUE OF AFRICA, AND NIGERIA ESPECIALLY. He said: “They sell everything to the highest bidder, even the land. Then they poison themselves with everything that is edible. I am not a racist because I do not believe for a single second that I am superior to a black man. The difference with them is that we think of our descendants, we are calculators, we protect our interests and we'll kill for that if need be. We are not emotional; we have passed this stage. If the lion has pity on the gazelle, it is he who will die of hunger. They have lions at home, but they do not understand the laws of nature.
“For everything, they confide in superstition and religion. The difference between the others and blacks is, while others reflect, blacks do not think, they do not use their intellectual capacity and very few blacks are analytical. And when a few black people pierce through, we admit them to our side or eliminate them in one way or another, most often, with the hand of other blacks. We brought them our god and continuously invent fuzzy concepts to confuse them more. In a hundred years, their descendants will be more slaves than they are now. They are already more unhappy than the generation of their parents, and they naively believe that numbers will be their strength. Just watch how they drown at sea to come here. We conquered them with a few tens of ours and the active help of theirs. We forced them to speak and write in our languages. We will control their descendants more than we control them right now. Other people understood our game (like the Chinese, Indians, Koreans, etc.), they started to use the same technical knowledge as us to protect and dissuade, but the blacks did not understand anything.”
In another well-circulated note on Africa, purportedly made by China’s President, Xi Jinping, he asserted that: “The only thing the Black man has inherited from Arab and European colonization is the Religion that he practices, and that is exactly what the colonizers wanted. Notice that in Black countries, the Education is a disaster, the administration is corrupt, health is deplorable, but Religion is doing wonderfully well. Black people rebel against everything except Religion. They even think they are more Religious than those who brought them these concepts, and that the colonizers are not good Christians… This is how Black people stupidity can go… Notice that any society that is full with superstitions, religious indoctrinations, lack of Education and nationalism, is always ridden with violence.”
These are painful statements. But sadly, it is the realities about Africans and Nigeria particularly. The most annoying aspect is the fact that our Nigerian elites are excited and comfortable for deliberately ‘cheating’ on the populace, as they encourage corrupt Nigerian politicians to loot public treasury meant for the development of their people. They even regard such corrupt politicians as supposed “strong men.” These set of Nigerian elites are very much aware of the numerous achievements of advanced countries, but they fail to ask themselves questions why is this not evident in Nigeria? Why are rules and laws not obeyed by public officials in Nigeria? The Nigerian elites only complain when policies and practices of the Government affect them. It is as if they expect Angels to come from heaven to come and fix Nigeria. They turn the interpretation of the law upside down, just like the lyrics of a song that was sung by late Fela: “Everything upside down.”
These Nigerian elites are very good at labelling and looking at those critics that are with conscience, and who expose their evils; as the bad persons and trouble makers. But inwardly, they lack the truth and also lack the will to stand firm for the truth – because the truth is not in them. They are ignorant and unintelligent and without knowledge. This is because a knowledgeable person will not encourage evil against the masses. As noted in the Holy Bible in the book of Hosea 4:6 “MY PEOPLE ARE DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE: BECAUSE THOU HAST REJECTED KNOWLEDGE…” It is really a pathetic situation. A knowledgeable person is not a coward. He or she will say it as he/she sees it. This is the reason Delta State has been held in captivity for 20 years plus and still running. These elites only specialize in browsing the opinions of people that suit their cowardice ideas.
It has been Fifty-nine years after colonial rule, yet Nigeria is still struggling to find its footing as other nations like Mauritius (1968), Singapore (1965), Trinidad & Tobago (1962), Botswana (1966), etc., that attained independence in the 1960s are making great strides globally. Agreed that if population was the determining factor, Nigeria would be the undisputed “Giant of Africa.” Easily the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world, Nigeria has an estimated 182milliom nationals, surpassing the second largest African nation, Ethiopia’s 95million.
The above note by Richard Smith is the exact picture we have in our country Nigeria. And it is sad that it is other foreigners who are the ones seeing this and making these observations for us Africans. While we (especially the elites) have refused to open our eyes to see where our problems lie. We hear every day of how hundreds of Nigerians end up as slaves in Libya, while some end up as prostitutes in Italy and France, and others meet their doom trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Again, the question is very clear - how many Europeans and Americans are prostituting in Nigeria? How many Europeans and Americans are doing all the kind of menial jobs thousands of Nigerians are currently doing in those countries? None of course! When are going to wake up and stop blaming others for all the misfortunes and problems we have brought upon ourselves as a people, with our own hands?
There was a time in the 70s and early 80s, I still recall how the Europeans, Americans and Asians were begging for Teaching jobs, and very willing to accept such jobs even in the remote interior villages in Nigeria. If Nigeria was what it is today back then, will they have come here for such Teaching jobs in those days? Obviously not! If Nigeria had continued with the ‘developmental pace’ it started with back then till today, we are very certain that no single Nigerian will desire to move to America or Europe in search of greener pastures. Rather, it will be the other way around – with Europeans and Americans desiring to come to stay as residents/citizens in Nigeria. But here we are – an ‘ever-developing nation’ DAILY PLUNDERED BY SOME SELECTED FEW TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE MAJORITY.
We would keep repeating this statement that: no foreigner can effectively and efficiently develop our country for Nigerians. That onerous task, no matter how challenging it might seem, only belongs to Nigerians and can best be done by Nigerians. So, it is high time our political leaders, including the elites; STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND START USING THEIR ‘THINKING FACULTIES ARIGHT’ IN HARNESSING THE ENORMOUS RESOURCES IN THE NATION, DEVELOP THIS COUNTRY AND GET IT OUT OF THE LEAGUE OF THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES IN NO DISTANT FUTURE.
Zik Gbemre.
February 3, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes