http://www.punchontheweb.com/Article2Print.aspx?theartic=Art20091108302978

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Nigerians, their greatest enemy – Andrew Young
By WILLY EYA, SUNDAY ANI, ONUKWUBE OFOLUE & OGE OKONKWO
Sunday, November 8, 2009

Former United States permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Andrew Young last Friday did a critique of Nigeria and her citizenry and concluded that Nigerians are their own greatest enemies.
Young spoke during the first convocation lecture of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State.
Young whose lecture was titled What’s wrong with Nigeria? described Nigerians as a gifted set of people, all over the world but “ they don’t appreciate themselves or celebrate themselves’’

He told the gathering which included former President of Ghana, Mr. John Kuffor and his Nigerian counterpart, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that there was no reason why anybody in Nigeria should be hungry.
“You are endowed with both natural and human resources. What’s wrong with Nigeria?. God has done everything for Nigeria. God has given Nigeria abundant nutrition, we must tap it for the good our people. You have geniuses , yet you don’t appreciate yourselves, you don’t like yourselves. What’s wrong with Nigeria?, he asked rhetorically.

The Ambassador said: “All Nigerians that I know are hardworking and intelligent. They are geniuses. Nigerians, be they men or women are great people. They are resourceful and diligent, Young said amidst thunderous applause.
The solution is that we must celebrate Nigeria and Nigerians; it is a great country of great people. The diplomat opined that for Nigerians to continue to play her pivotal role in the African continent, her people must de-emphasize reliance on government.

Young predicted that Nigeria would be one of the most powerful nations, if her people continue to appreciate themselves. Said he : “ What I think is wrong with Nigeria is directly opposite what I think is wrong with the United States. In the United States, we have put little efforts to help government, but in Nigeria, there is too much emphasis on government.

Yes, we need government as a people, but Nigerians should depend less on government. Yes, strong private sector is necessary for a country because that’s where the money is , but we must maintain a balance between government and business.
Government must respect business and business must respect government, because they are two essentials of growth and development. You make money in a growing economic, so let’s us support and promote our economy”.

He told the gathering which included former President of Ghana, Mr. John Kuffor and his Nigerian counterpart, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that there was no reason why anybody in Nigeria should be hungry.
“You are endowed with both natural and human resources. What’s wrong with Nigeria?. God has done everything for Nigeria. God has given Nigeria abundant nutrition, we must tap it for the good our people. You have geniuses , yet you don’t appreciate yourselves, you don’t like yourselves. What’s wrong with Nigeria?, he asked rhetorically.

The Ambassador said: “All Nigerians that I know are hardworking and intelligent. They are geniuses. Nigerians, be they men or women are great people. They are resourceful and diligent, Young said amidst thunderous applause.
The solution is that we must celebrate Nigeria and Nigerians; it is a great country of great people. The diplomat opined that for Nigerians to continue to play her pivotal role in the African continent, her people must de-emphasize reliance on government.

Our greatest enemy is our corrupt leadership

Yes, we need government as a people, but Nigerians should depend less on government. Yes, strong private sector is necessary for a country because that’s where the money is , but we must maintain a balance between government and business.[/b]Government must respect business and [b]business must respect government, because they are two essentials of growth and development. You make money in a growing economic, so let’s us support and promote our economy”.

The Government is the one that doesn't want to privatize Electricity,Gas,Minerals,WATER, Oil and co. . . . .

I agree that Nigerians are hardworking and resourceful, but we still have the most useless government in the world! Why?

in what way are nigerians the geniuses of africa?

we just know how to hustle more, imo.


its these grandiose delusions which dont meet up with the reality on ground that contribute to the status quo.

nigeria has geniuses. she also has an unusually high number of 419ers, confidence tricksters, etc.

RichyBlacK:

I agree that Nigerians are hardworking and resourceful, but we still have the most useless government in the world! Why?

OAM4J:

Our greatest enemy is our corrupt leadership

The belief that our leaders are the bane of Nigeria is the reason why we are in this sorry state.
We have corrupt leaders, but our leaders are no more corrupt than millions of Nigerians in all levels in the society.
This absurd belief that the problem lies with our leaders prevents the honest few from taking any actions to better Nigeria in their own spheres of influence.

tpia.:

in what way are nigerians the geniuses of africa?

we just know how to hustle more, imo.


its these grandiose delusions which dont meet up with the reality on ground that contribute to the status quo.

nigeria has geniuses. she also has an unusually high number of 419ers, confidence tricksters, etc.

solid!

I implore \Nigerians to start identifying who our external enemies are. Andy Young who hobnobs
with our leaders and does not tell them the truth is not worth listening to. I take his comments as
just one of those public speaking cliches

More disappointing is the fact that this guy has been associated with the great Martin Luther. I expect
that his evangelical calling and the vibrancy of the black consciousness movement should have gravitated him
towards calling a spade as spade. Alas, he was on the gravy train with American businessmen, chasing contracts
from OBJ and never had the temerity to tell him some vital truths. Even out of office, he is still hanging around. This
is the difference between Andy and Walter Carrington.

Andy, we hear you, but it is too late, you have been away from the pulpit for too long.

OAM4J:

Our greatest enemy is our corrupt leadership

And where are the leaders from?

texazzpete:

The belief that our leaders are the bane of Nigeria is the reason why we are in this sorry state.
We have corrupt leaders, but our leaders are no more corrupt than millions of Nigerians in all levels in the society.
This absurd belief that the problem lies with our leaders prevents the honest few from taking any actions to better Nigeria in their own spheres of influence.

I agree with this. There is an overwhelming dependence on the government from the fresh university graduate who is looking for a job to the civil servant and the politician that believes that without the government he cannot make money or become rich or comfortable.

We have electrical engineers that cannot even explain how electricity works yet artisans are contributing their own quota and sustaining the economy while graduates who should put their knowledge into good use are busy carrying their CVs from one establishment to the other.

Even petty traders on the roadsides these days are doing more than the educated ones who are waiting for vacancies in the banks, oil companies and telecoms.

Some interesting discuss arising here. Afam, i am also in agreement with the argument initiated by texaspete, but your analogy stands in contradiction? Probably the biggest factor deterring the fresh graduates from venturing into the world of entrepreneurs is the failure of the government to establish a conducive environment for businesses to thrive

Ive said it over and over again, if the government provides the enabling environment, Nigerians will do the rest!

Just give us 24/7 electricity and if you can't privatise that sector totally, and we will do the rest.

Nigerians are the most industrious people I know.

bibiking1:

Some interesting discuss arising here. Afam, i am also in agreement with the argument initiated by texaspete, but your analogy stands in contradiction? Probably the biggest factor deterring the fresh graduates from venturing into the world of entrepreneurs is the failure of the government to establish a conducive environment for businesses to thrive

If the government refuses to provide an enabling environment nko just as it is doing now what happens? Are we going to just give up and die?

Necessity is the mother of invention. In my opinion and based on experience I believe that the average Nigerian is looking for money where the competition is at the highest.

Someone tried to mock me by stating that I design websites and I said i was very proud of that because if I can setup a fully functional e-commerce website for Nigerians at the rate of even N30,000.00 (N150,000.00 to about N300,000.00 is typical anyway) everyday then it means that I can be sure of N900,000.00 per month. In doing this, I report to nobody, I wake up when I want to and go to the office when I want.

So, while people may look down on some jobs the irony is that in most cases people who prepare for work and leave there homes before 5.00am and don't get back to their homes until around 10.00pm every working day may be making a fraction of what a newspaper vendor, okada rider or bus driver is making in a month even though they don't get to wear suits all day.

My point is that we are too interested in working in establishments instead of looking for services to render that will not only fill a void somewhere but would allow you work at your own pace while adding value to the society and making money in the process.

While in the oil and gas I could count the total number of young guys who are foreigners as over 80% of the foreigners are above 40 while some are farther from 50 years than closer to it.

Meanwhile, the average fresh graduate is dreaming of working in oil and gas or bank. Who do you leave to work in the civil service? Those who have little options, those who want to go to work by 10.00am and leave by 2.00pm because they want to combine the work with another personal business.

In years to come these civil servants will grow through the ranks and become the decision makers in the society. They will determine where to site schools, hospitals or even roads while those who could have done well in these areas may still be working or retiring in the same environment where the not too good/lucky guys (strictly in terms of getting juicy work) will be taking decisions that will affect their lives and that of their children.

I cannot excuse the many unfortunate problems of the government but to fold our hands and do nothing but complain is even worse especially for people that had the opportunity to get educated.

What does it take to build a generator or wind turbine? What about IT related services that one can learn by reading and practicing?

texazzpete:

The belief that our leaders are the bane of Nigeria is the reason why we are in this sorry state.
We have corrupt leaders, but our leaders are no more corrupt than millions of Nigerians in all levels in the society.
This absurd belief that the problem lies with our leaders prevents the honest few from taking any actions to better Nigeria in their own spheres of influence.

I agree with this!

However, you have to agree that admitting to this cruel reality exposes the deep-rooted nature of our problem. It is much easier to blame the government, allowing for some hope that things will get better when a new government comes in. But when the problem lies in the people, the question becomes "how can you change the people?" A more difficult question than "how can you change the government?".

This view, that Nigerians are the bane of Nigeria's problems offers less hope for a solution! My optimism regarding Nigeria's future has dropped a notch!