i have a dream of a Nigeria where leaders will boast of Initiating and entrenching values. eg Educational policies that ensures easy and affordable access to quality education; deep respect for our traditional values like Communal living, respect for family and life etc, respect for elders; the value fof contented living and honesty in all dealing; etc

not a president boasting about the roads they built, shioo!

For years, we have been experiencing and observing as Africans , the perpetual downturn in almost all aspects of the day to day running of every African society. The permanent socio-economic hiccups that has been used to describe Africa and indigenous Africans for decades has in itself created a new mindset reality on the whole world at large. The world has been faced by global and regional challenges that world leaders and thinkers have proffer likely solutions which strangely enough, work out well for some but put Africans into deeper negative outcomes. it is no secret that the developmental backlog in Africa is so vast that it might take the better part of a century(if not more)to actually peg the downward trend .as the society appears broken, lives are lost everyday, money and resources get stolen very often and the continent has grinded to a halt, from the east to the west and south straight up to the north of Africa, the only thing that unifies us seems to be poverty and everything else that comes with it and to make matters worse, Africa decided to starve her universities; the only “powerhouse”, where all countries of the world gets their engineers, scientists etcetera who make tangible contributions to the development of their respective societies of long overdue funding which consequently means that we can hardly rely on majority of youths who passed through the university education on the continent. The role of parents and traditional rulers in our various communities has been undermined due to the dire economic situations and yearn for self governance. Apart from the diverse ethnic composition of Africa which could otherwise have been a rich resource in advancing African development, it is now a constant headache and tool frequently used to foment trouble among different ethnic groups in Africa. It now seem as if the affairs of the continent now rests on the aid agencies who themselves sometimes act as the official spokesperson for all suffering africans,in fact there are indications that the united nations governing body trusts the accounts of the various aid groups operating in africa more than they trust the account of the african governments whenever there is a crisis. The statement here does not seek to criticize the non governmental organisations, but the framework of how each of them function cannot be fully understood unless one knows who funds such groups and whose ideology they represent and extend. It seem that we have let go any thought and efforts of rebuilding and advancing our societies. Even most Africans inside and outside the continent are no longer proud of being Africans ,although there were hardly times when such are proud of their roots. africa is now the largest non-perimeter prison(mental)within and outside of africa, although it is becoming more of a real prison with the systemic tightening of visa rules for non European Union(EU) migrants and the bilateral visa agreement between the united states and EU member states. Africa now seem to be a perfect representation of all societal ills.
People are no longer comfortable to speak their native tongues both indigenous and diasporans for fear of being easily identified as a citizen of a failed state(s). A keen observer would note that with all these self inflicted labels,there leaves no room for the continent to promote itself among the more developed countries.
Africans are no longer proud of their own roots and people always pass the blame on either the elected or the installed. There have been numerous occasions where deliberately or even unsuspectingly the public or civil society have contributed to the decline of the african continent. Everyday we are faced with appeals from different non governmental organisations using images of battered african woman and child to raise funds for their various projects from the more better off westerners (both indegenous citizens and africans who has somehow managed to carve out a life for themselves in america and europe),it was sometimes discovered by an investigative forum that only about 20% of the total funds collected actually gets to africa as the rest are used to pay wages ,advertisements, consultancy et ce tera. I guess the images frequently shown are designed to make people feel pity and also help shape the mind of the contributors about what obtains in africa, so it wasn’t unsurprising when a young innocent schoolboy asked us quite recently ‘ do you people live on trees in africa?’ all we can understand from these is that africa is failing to sell itself properly, it is obvious that we rely on others to sell us to the rest of the world.* A magazine quote earlier this year states that about 80% of the domestic news in a particular african country was culled from the reporst about africa from the bbc.
The pioneers of modern democracy insists that it cannot be compete without the privatisation of its assets and institutions. these true lies are a temporal measure to make the people feel something is being done to change the country ,thus the benefits are short term but the consequences long term unless the government is allowed complete monitoring of the system, which is near impossible because it is those in power that buys the controlling stake in the institutions. Our needs in africa, first and foremost is to coin out our own form of governance participatory of all and sundry in the governance and administration of the governments from local to regional and to the country at large. some people might argue this is simply democracy, yes! But not the contemporary democracy that america and europe try to export to the rest of the world. European and American democracy used to be an elite one where those who gets in to power are the elites in the country so it is not totally participatory . governing any country in africa, one must take into consideration the various ethnicity ,languages and cultural needs of the african people which are absent in western europe and the united states, so why follow their system of govenment without reviewing whether it is fit for the purpose of governing a multi ethnic african society? Take lebanon for instance, which obviously practices her own fragile form of self governance taking into consideration religious, sectarian and ethnic setup where only a christian can be president, a sunni the prime minister and a shia the speaker of the house. If Africa can achieve this near impossible act of finding how to govern themselves, then the important step on deinfluencing our massively influenced way of life by promoting self sustainability and which would over time reverse the negative effects of foreign culture and way of life in our societies. for clarification purpose, we should note that not all the influences can be discarded but through concerted efforts we can retain the influences that has had a positive impact in the lives of most if not all citizens and the society al large. The promotion of our human and natural resources for self sustainability should be done with the assistance of tested the health and indeginous african historians who posses great knowledge about the established african way of life and community spirit. The victor writes the history, so they say but we have to take the bull by the horn and tell our own stories ourselves, fashion our own system of governance and politics ourselves through extensive national debate and dialogue and not forget to borrow from good forms of governance that have worked well in other places while taking into consideration our ethnic and language differences for these two traits unite africans more than religion whose introduction onto the continent was well preceeded by our ethnicity and languages.
Moreover, history is very important in other to make any headway in advancing the continent and her suffering millions. Most , if not all the models of governance and running of our day to day lives in africa are either borrowed elsewhere or at best put together by foreigners at the invitation of different african head of states. Surely there must be africans who are competent enough to fashion a way forward for us without traitors or external influence turning the agreed arrangements upside down. One thing though is sure, we can do it but it has to be activated quickly before it is too late as there will come a time when countries and its borders might no longer matter as citizens the world over switch allegiances from their country to religion, ethnic and even movements and ideas.
The currents scheme of things in the international community is seriously biased against african nations and most third world countries thereby endangering the lives of billions and there can be no real change without fighting for such, alternative economic models must be fashioned and implemented focusing on self sufficiency and sustanbilty. Food and security must be forefront and the ability to use localize our economic development must be enhanced. We should trade with each other more so as not to expose our exports to sanctions and imposition of artificial prices that only puts money into the coffers of few co operations and individuals. Corruption at home must be tackled and discipline maintained. It would also be a good idea to modify and reinstate the powers of kings to fit into constitutional roles as they are the custodians of culture and ancestral knowledge.
Funding also has to be available to float existing tertiary institutions and there must be equal level of commitment in establishing vocational centres for those who prefers another form of learning . As earlier mentioned each and everyone must have a role to play in the community and each locality or local governments must organize community interaction to foster and advance peace and development in the locality.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said recently that most African leaders spent a third of their time meeting foreign donors and NGOs ,this sort of time could be channeled towards attending to various urgent and pressing needs of the country.
The press also has a role to play in this urgent task of building our nation from the start as it had never been built neither by the occupying colonialist or Nigerians themselves. Over the years the press had either knowingly or otherwise printed materials and fed the population with such news which are at times sensationalist in nature with the intention of either causing chaos or for the intent of selling newspapers. Nigerians are still heavily reliant on getting news from the newspapers and electronic media excluding the internet. I will attempt to quote the word of a magazine article i read recently in which the writer states that , ’ the UK media has effectively become the fourth arm of the government due to the fact that each press outfit traditionally have support for either labor or the Tories (conservatives) but when it comes to the issue of foreign policy the press in Britain follow the governments position, that is why in the eighties it is not uncommon to see the British press praising President Robert Mugabe as a good example of an African leader, he was even knighted by the Queen of England! But when the British government position changed about him, the press changed their headlines about him too! .The former editor of the Sun newspaper was quoted as saying ' give or take during Prime Minister Tony Blair's years in office, I met him over 70 times sometimes for breakfast, lunch or over a cup of tea. If this was an African editor it would simply have been assumed and quite wrongly as well that he has been bought by the president Just three week ago, the story of the British members of parliament defrauding the taxpayers surfaced in the press and quite promptly, it got the attention that it deserves. Finally, corruption has another face but what was most shameful is that unlike their corrupt African contemporaries, the British Mps that were involved claim innocence or even oversight.
This is only meant to serve as a wake up call to African editors that as much as they vigorously print and expose corrupt practices, attempt should also be made to print and report the various sincere developments taking place in the continent.
With the attempt that i have made at highlighting the various things i believe we had neglected over the years and also the things that could be done to enhance and improve the quality of life and governance in Africa, i humbly suggest to your office that the following urgent actions are needed to take Africa back to Greater heights in the affairs of the world.
1. Dependence on oil must be reduced and agriculture both mechanised and subsistence should be put in the forefront.
2. Research in local technology and raw materials should be encouraged through funding in order to reduce dependence on foreign products and ensure national security
3. Press freedom should be absolute but with tough legislation to deter rumours and deliberate lies
4. The judiciary should be independent.
5. Education must be given priority. Technical(skills)school should be established and funded in each state of the continent employing the advice and skills capable hands.the results would be vast

firstly let face this things logically what Nigeria need currently now is mental revolution, we need to go back history and find out our foundation, culture before we will be able to grow.
bringing out lots of policies is good but when a nations foundations policy is faulty even the best policy will fail completely. I can give more than 100 policies dat i think will better Nigeria, but what of our mindset.

1. Every Nigeria child should be made to study Nigeria history to university level with diplomacy this is try and transform our mind set into innovation.

I believe one thing Nigeria really need to do now is to implement badly what I call one minute Policy, the level of irresponsibility in nigeria is alarming the one minute policy is aimed at checking the way Nigerians make use of facilities being produced/provided by the government, this is one thing that indirectly/directly has being making the white to succeed. the way we disobey rules most especially on roads and others is alarming.

I will give more details on this one minute policy and recommend some other little thing Nigeria need to do to atleast be a little good

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY NIGERIA SHOULD NEVER AGAIN GRANT ASYLUM to anybody/leader being found wanting it is degrading our image, Americans can never do that let stop it. it is not a good thing

infrastructure infrastructure infrastructure!!!!

transport, schools with the basic tool provided for all children, hospitals, a complete re-haul of the police force and their values and practices

we need to start buiding up protecting our home industries. re-invest in agriculture and what about tourism??

manufacture manufacture manufacture!!!!! africa has raw materials in abundance!! where are the factories?

adim2:

firstly let face this things logically what Nigeria need currently now is mental revolution, we need to go back history and find out our foundation, culture before we will be able to grow.
bringing out lots of policies is good but when a nations foundations policy is faulty even the best policy will fail completely. I can give more than 100 policies dat i think will better Nigeria, but what of our mindset.

1. Every Nigeria child should be made to study Nigeria history to university level with diplomacy this is try and transform our mind set into innovation.

I believe one thing Nigeria really need to do now is to implement badly what I call one minute Policy, the level of irresponsibility in nigeria is alarming the one minute policy is aimed at checking the way Nigerians make use of facilities being produced/provided by the government, this is one thing that indirectly/directly has being making the white to succeed. the way we disobey rules most especially on roads and others is alarming.

I will give more details on this one minute policy and recommend some other little thing Nigeria need to do to atleast be a little good

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY NIGERIA SHOULD NEVER AGAIN GRANT ASYLUM to anybody/leader being found wanting it is degrading our image, Americans can never do that let stop it. it is not a good thing

learning about nigerian history is a good idea but i hope you realise that the diff ethnic groups within the country have their own histories and these would have to be represented in the curriculum equally,

I think we should just stop blaming the govt and know we can be a contributor.

What About Us?
Showing live on Channels on Friday, March 25th @ 7 pm is the What About Us? Debate, Nigeria's first youth-centered presidential debate. Send your questions to questions@whataboutusnigeria.org; submit a form on the website - www.whataboutusnigeria.org or via SMS - 33054. Format: RSVP Candidate