The Beginning of a New Era in Nigeria.

Today, inside the largest black nation in the world, something unprecedented took place a few hours earlier in the day. The erstwhile Nigeria’s president (Goodluck Jonathan) voluntarily stepped down from the exalted office after losing the presidential election to his opponent. To this end, Muhammadu Buhari was duly sworn-in as the new president. This great, unsurpassed political development will have a profound effect on the political future of sub-Saharan Africa and the global community. God bless Nigeria!

Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari rides in a motorcade while inspecting the guard of honour at Eagle Square in Abuja, Nigeria May 29, 2015. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde.

The Ugly Sides of Social Media.

Social media have contributed immensely to the improvement of communication and social relationships among people across the global community. However, there is a prevailing sad, ugly trend whereby a whole lot of people are surrendering their entire existence to the many social media in the cyberspace.



For such people therefore, the economic law of diminishing returns have set in. Worse, too many individuals have unwittingly become emotionally dependent on the people they meet on social media. And it's from such people they seek the validation and determination of their self-worth. The multiplying effects of this reckless and dangerous trend are especially manifesting in the lives of many teenagers and young adults who depend on total strangers for the maintenance of their self-esteems. Consequently, some of them have ended up becoming victims of scams, statutory rapes, cyber-bullying, manic depressions, suicides and murders.

It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.

A colleague once narrated an incident that took place in her Wilmington, DE neighborhood. After getting off work in the middle of the night one fateful day, she saw a group of people loitering around her home. Seeing the fully-armed officer approach, the group dispersed. Then she realized that among the group were teenage girls and kids ranging from seven to twelve. Angrily, the officer scolded the girls and the kids for staying up so late in the company of grown men.

The following morning, her porch played host to some furious women who wanted to know why she scolded their kids. In spite of her explanation about feeling concerned for the kids’ safety, she was warned to mind her business next time. A few days later, the same officer arrived at her neighborhood to see the teenage girls “making out” with some of the men at various corners of the street. Shaking her head sadly, she ignored them. A few months afterwards, a couple of the girls were pregnant, victims of “babies having babies”.



All over the United States, too many people are shirking in their primary responsibilities as parents. And they would not tolerate anyone getting involved in their kid’s discipline. It’s no wonder therefore that the country is replete with too many rude, lazy and ignorant young people. Unfortunately, there is a staggering manifestation of this sad consequences in schools, work places and neighborhoods across the nation.

In many middle schools and high schools across the nation, it takes individuals with lion hearts to work as teachers. With metal detectors installed at several schools to prevent lethal weapons, the job of a teacher is filled with as much hazards as those of soldiers deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

When a typical high school churns out some irate, undisciplined kids either as drop-outs or as half-baked graduates, they usually end up at the hands of unlucky employers of labor. Yet, with a sordid foundation laden with laziness and indiscipline in formative years, these individuals who are now “grown” adults will sooner or later begin to exhibit their negative attributes.

Some of the kids who are unable to fit into a regular work orientation or too desperate to get rich quick, will end up as a menace to their neighborhoods. If they are not selling drugs at street corners, they get into street gangs to unleash terror on hapless people. Before long, these characters will get busted, tried in courts and jailed. And that is if the guys don’t first get killed by fellow drug dealers, opposing gangs or a frustrated police officer who is also a victim of some very poor parenting.

There is still hope in the horizon. But that is only if we all can return to the “old school” tradition where "it takes a village to raise a child".

Nigerians’ Obsession With America.

Some years back, I was on vacation in Nigeria, my ancestral home. And while there, I marveled at the obsessive interest that most of my folks back home have in America. For instance, I observed that almost all the young people, including elementary school pupils, appeared to be daily equipped with the latest news about America. To them, America is not just the pace-setter in every field of endeavor but also the ultimate in nationhood. Even the American currency is fondly called the “almighty dollar”. There is therefore the desperate urge to tailor personal styles and business goals along every trend that emanates from God’s own country.

I noticed that in spite of the year-long Nigerian summer, when my folks are on vacation, nothing at home attracts their interest. Not some of the popular local tourist attractions such as the Yankari games reserve and the Osun grove. And not even the mysterious Ikogosi spring which serves as the confluence for two different streams, one hot and the other cold, and both of unknown sources.  Ironically, these are the stuffs that attract foreigners, including Americans every year.

Vacationing Americans, I argued with friends resident in Nigeria, are known for visits to local attractions such as the Grand Canyon and Walt Disney. Those of them who venture out of their country often do so only to explore natural wonders of optimum interest in other lands. And while the Americans return from each vacation with a fresh outlook, their Nigerian counterparts are all stressed out. This is so because all they do is wander through the American inner cities, usually in the humid heat of summer.  It’s quite mind boggling that anyone will, on annual basis, incur outrageous expense just to see business districts, skyscrapers and the hustle and bustle of a foreign city as if similar structures don’t exist back home.

All through my stay in Nigeria, I listened as my people made frequent comparisons between their nascent democracy and the over 200 year-old American political system. I also noted their habitual cynicism and routine assumptions that corruption and inefficiency are a monopoly of the corporate managers in their home land. When reminded of the scandals that rocked Worldcom and Enron some years back and the current financial indiscipline of such a company as AIG, they only shrugged their shoulders nonchalantly. Not even tales about the dwindling fortunes of several American corporate entities in the wake of the current economic melt down would convince them that human nature is the same all over the globe.

And there is the issue of animals. To those folks back home, America is simply a replica of the biblical Garden of Eden where Man and animals co-habit amicably. On satellite TV channels, Nigerians are ever amused to see deer, squirrels and other animals roam about the American neighborhoods without let or hindrance. This is in sharp contrast to their “cat and mouse” relationship with animals. Over there in Nigeria, animals are smart enough to confine themselves to some far-away, thick jungles. Even favorites among pets and domesticated animals such as dogs, rabbits and goats have to watch their backs lest they end up in the cooking pots of some lurking human predators.

Nowhere however, is the obsession of Nigerians for America so glaring as in the lifestyles of the younger generation. American-oriented funky churches, Hip-hop, rap music, fast food joints, fashion and technological trends are all over the nation’s social and economic landscapes.

Incidentally though, there still exist some no-go areas. For example, counselors and psychiatrists are often rendered idle in such a communal setting where payment for an advice is considered absurd. It comes freely from an experienced parent or older relation with age-long wisdom to share and ready shoulders to offer.

There is also the idea of a man adorned with ear-rings. While this is a popular fad in America, it is anathema to most Nigerians.  The few visiting American-based Nigerian men who dare try to “show off” with ear-rings are often jeered at and stared down with ignominy by the locals. It’s indeed worse when the same man braids his hair. Over there, in the most populous Black nation on earth, it’s religiously sacrilegious for a man to braid his hair.  Besides that, Nigeria is a man’s world. Therefore nothing can be more ridiculous and scornful than a man who looks like a woman. But as they say, one man’s meat is another’s poison. There are some other peculiar habits and orientations that Americans tolerate but which Nigerians consider as taboos and assaults on societal sensibility.

Much as the young Nigerians sheepishly eye every fad from America, the conservative society at large knows where to draw the line. Therefore, just as rice is separated from chaff, so are existing local core values constantly protected from the negative influences of all eroding foreign cultures, American included.