THE NIGERIA OF OUR DREAM
To say that after 58 years of independence, Nigeria is not worth celebrating owing to the myriad of problems that has bedeviled her is to say one is critical but to understand the potentials Nigeria had at independence would be to stand up to our toes.
What are we even celebrating? That Africa's biggest oil producer contributes the 3rd largest poor people in the world (world bank, 2014); that corruption has been our lifestyle; that the acclaimed giant of Africa can't boast of steady power supply, good road network, basic and social amenities; that our electoral process is flawed with malpractices; that ballot papers get to every nook and cranny of the country but not the dividends of democracy; that 61% of the people live in absolute poverty while a microscopic few live in affluence (BBC, 2010), that 80% of the youth are unemployed or underemployed (CBN, 2014); that killing, crime, rape, kidnapping, bombing are now the order of the day, that our leaders do things with impunity, the problems are too much, I can't even mention them all.
Is this the Nigeria Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Herbert Macauly fought for? I guess not.
The Nigeria of our dream should be a country that is corruption free, where peace, justice, equity and fairness reign, where all sectors are functional, where our electoral process is free and fair, where power failure is history, where our politics is issue based, purpose driven and not partisan, where ethnic sentiment and religious bigotry is a thing of the past, where our educational system is about human capacity development and not just about getting a certificate, where foreigners come to live in and not the other way round, where everyone has a sense of responsibility, where we could sit and tell our children and grandchildren, "Nigeria is working because I played my part, you have to play yours."
The bane of the Nigeria State is that there is no dream, no documented Nigeria dream. America is a cynosure today because there is a documented American dream inculcated into every American child from birth. What is the Nigerian dream? I bet even Mr. President can't tell because there is none, even if it exist (which I doubt) it is not documented.
It is true that our leaders have messed up and don't have a dream, but someone's irresponsibility is not an excuse for yours. If we must have a better Nigeria, we have to start dreaming and believing again and work for this. We can no longer leave it at the hands of unscrupulous politicians; we must stop blaming the government, we must take responsibility, fold our sleeves and get to work. This presents us an opportunity to rediscover ourselves and identity. It is our duty and only our responsibility to take up this challenge but are we willing?
"Don't think of what your country can do for you, think of what you can do for your country," these are the words of US most loved president, John F Kennedy. I think this should be our mentality.
Building the Nigeria of our dream is a collective responsibility. Play your role and forget about weather the next person is playing theirs or not.
In the words of Mahatma Ghandi, "be the change the world (NIGERIA) need."
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE!!!
OMODIAGBE JUSTICE EJEHI
CEO, Brook Cherith International
http://brook.com.ng/blog/the-nigeria-of-our-dream/
Visit http://brook.com.ng for motivational and inspirational articles.

Nigerian dream can only be achieved once everyone stops embracing the western culture,it should start all the way from childhood to the tertiary university education.
sending your children to the universities in the united states https://exposeuk.com/50-best-colleges-in-the-united-states-2019/ is not bad but teach culture as well.