“Most Nigerians are in search of everything from needless something, whereas, we have everything within.” With our mindfulness, we can explore a state of tranquility for our collective benefit. With seriousness and amicable reasoning, we can jettison, for a moment our political, ethnic, religious sentiments and differences. Let’s in a jiffy, throw overboard jealousy, hate, status, and other negative nuances, and let’s pulse for a moment and reason together for our collective progress.
Mindfully, I want to congratulate all Nigerians in the State of Arizona and the United States. You know, when you witness multiple and unexpected joy, it becomes an incredible achievement and literally scary to your appreciative mind. This is the exceptional experience we had a few days ago at the prestigious Grand Canyon University graduation in Arizona, USA. Nigerians graciously made up approximately 30% of the graduates from all fields of humanity from this renowned university. And the prestigious Grand Canyon University is a macrocosm of the intellectual acuity of Nigerians in the United States and in the diaspora.
Nigeria is a bank and reservoir of knowledge. Unfortunately, this raw knowledge and resources are being exported to foreign lands unimpeded. Nigeria only imports the worst (examples are: BBN-Big Brothers Nigeria, Takasufe and nudity of women with empty brains) from the consumers of her knowledge and resources abroad. Isn’t that sad and concerning? It is always great to be a proud Nigerian at a moment like that momentous occasion at the graduation ceremony. We proudly and joyfully celebrate our collective bank of knowledge which abounds everywhere in the global community.
Patriotically, we must begin to love our country and wish her well. In recent decades, Professor Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he was the first African to win the prestigious prize 33 years ago. Also, the manuscript of “Things Fall Apart” was initially and severally rejected by the Heinneman publishing house in London in the 50s. But the forward-looking late Professor Chinua Achebe saw the future and remained undaunted in his beliefs.
Do you know that Professor Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” has been translated to more than 50 world languages, and sold more than 50 million copies as of 2010? These quintessential professors among others conveniently placed Nigeria on the world map. Have you heard of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie? An essayist with incredible composure and gait. She has been a quintessential Nigerian ambassador in literature.
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a well sort-after for a commencement address in some prestigious universities, all across the United States of America and beyond.We must begin to appreciate what we have in our country. Recently, in the United Kingdom, black soccer players were racialised and called some slurred names by the White fans on the field, and the match had to be quickly abrupted by FIFA management. Nigerians canonise foreign things while they denigrate their own cultural values and heritage. Back home, our citizens are diehard fans of Manchester United, Liverpool, etc. Sadly, Eyinmba of Aba, Nwayanwu, Abiola Babes is all dead as a result of poor management. Our penchant demand and proclivity for foreign clubs is our collective shame. We are endowed with sportsmen and women who are ruling the world of sports.
The world is dotted with talented Nigerian men and women who have distinguished themselves among their contemporaries in the areas of sports and academics. The good news is that hope is not lost. Nigeria is now a work-in-progress and strategically placed to rule the world. We are making a painful change now for painless and beautiful tomorrow. Change is the most difficult thing any human being can overly accept. The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari may not be perfect but Nigeria is internally making a quantum leap to get out of her ugly yesterday under his administration. Through our mindfulness, we must begin to look inwards: use what we have to get what we want. We have everything in Nigeria. We must stop looking for everything from outside Nigeria, rather, we should begin to look for everything from within in order to create something from everything providence endowed us within Nigeria. Proudly Nigerian!
Yahaya Balogun, a Nigerian doctoral graduate at Grand Canyon University, wrote from Arizona, USA.