Towards a Productive Nigerian Nation

by Deji Yesufu

I met Rotimi Odewale via discussions on Nairaland religion section. In the years 2013/14 I spent most of my free time on that section of Nairaland debating various religious themes. Odewale and myself agreed on most religious issues that were raised. So when I discovered that he lives in Ibadan, I found time to visit his home in Ring-road.

As we discussed, I learnt that Odewale ran his own business from the comfort of his home. He builds refrigerators of every kind and sells to people. I listened to him as he explained to me the blessing of being productive – building something from almost nothing and earning good money while doing it. In the process of doing this, Odewale employs artisans that help in the work and they all earn something too.

Odewale made me to understand that his criticism of the Nigerian religious class, especially the Pastors, stems from his experience at his work. He finds it extremely difficult to respect a Pastor who does practically nothing but sits down in his office expecting members to give him tithes, offerings, firstfruits and other “prophet offerings”; while the whole world is running on a productive mind-set.

Odewale argues that the example these Pastors are setting for their flock is this: you can do religion and do nothing, while you grow stupendously rich. My encounter with Odewale led me to write an article “Predators and Producers”.

It was in that article I first deduced the thesis that Nigeria’s greatest enemies are her politicians and pastors – especially those of the Pentecostal/Charismatic sect. In this essay, I want to build upon the thoughts I expressed in that article some three years ago.

I do not consider buying and selling a truly productive venture. I have not said that those who buy and sell do not earn legitimate profit. I am saying that there is more to buying and selling as far as being productive is concerned.

Modern society thrives on a productive sector. This is the sector in a country with men and women who can build something practically out of nothing and sell that thing and make money.

Many times exporting the same product to other nations – this is the success story of Japan, China and other Asian tiger nations. It is how the United States of America became a super power and it is the reason that country remains the richest country in the world.

Take for example Microsoft and Apple. Bill Gates made his money from building and selling Microsoft operating systems and software. Apple made their money from building operating systems on computers.

If we think these are too far fetched, let us consider our local farmers here in Nigeria. They plant a crop and they reap a harvest. They sell their harvest and they make a profit. That is being productive. Reaping a harvest of crops from the planting of just one seedling of plant is practically getting something out of almost nothing.

Many times productivity will require that people spend hours thinking through a business model that can help people solve problems. At the close of the day, these people birth something that is intrinsically original and that can help so many people solve their problems.

Consider the case of Seun Osewa, the founder of Nairaland.com. The story goes that Seun was at his desk for months and even years, building websites that would catch the attention of Nigerians. Today, Nairaland is one the leading websites in Africa. It solves the problem of interaction between Nigerian all over the world – concerning varied topics. You go to Nairaland, paste a topic and people come there and their opinions. The website is not run by Seun primarily but by the people who go there to air their views. People run Nairaland and Seun earns the money.

But Nairaland did not come from heaven; it required that someone thought through the process of providing solution to a problem. The problem is that the world is a community and people wish to air their opinions from the comfort of their homes anonymously. Seun simply provided that avenue for them. Today, Seun is considered one of the few under 40 year old millionaires in this country.

The foremost secret to productivity is good thinking. This is why one of the best things parents can give their students is a good education. And not just any education but a productive education.

A few day ago, I was invited by the Proprietors of the American Christian Academy at Onireke, Ibadan, to be a judge in their children’s day on science, technology and creativity. On that day, from the nursery section of the school to grade 12, the highest class in the high school section, students displayed their inventions and creativity.

What I got off my visit to that school was that children, when given the right education and environment, can invent something out of nothing. I was the judge in grade 9, equivalent of JSS2, and I could not believe the things these children were doing.

They built things that were cost effective but very useful. One group built an application that could help other children learn easily. Another group built a water supply alarm – that will notify you that your tank was full. The latter used materials that were not up to N500.

To join the league of productive nations, Nigerians do not need to compete with the outside world. We are a developing nation and it is in an environment like this that productive minds sell the most. All we need are thinking persons that would provide simple solution based entities to solve our numerous problems and the producers of these things will just sit back and smile to the bank.

I have long joined the league of producers in this nation, as I trust God that by the end of April, the hard copies my book on the late Lt. Col. Victor Banjo would have been published. This book tells a true but tragic story of a Nigerian military officer killed in the Nigerian Civil War fifty years ago.

His story was first told by his elder sister, Prof. Mrs. Ogunsheye, in her book on him in 2001. To mark the fortieth anniversary of his death, his daughter, Prof. Olayinka Omigbodun, published the letters Banjo wrote to his wife while in detention, in the “Gift of Sequins”, in 2008. My book is marking the 50th anniversary of his death.

I think the reason why Banjo’s story is not well known and better appreciated by the reading public in this country is because the two books written on him have been monopolized by publishers to make profit at all cost.

My book is self published; it is written in a way to tell Banjo’s story at little or no cost to people. I have particularly written it in such a way that secondary school students will find it a rich source of Nigerian history, especially an aspect of the civil war. Now, here is where productivity and profit come in.

If, by God’s grace, the Ogun State government (where Victor Banjo hailed from), or any other state government in Nigeria agrees to it, they can make my book recommended reading for their students. This way, and by just sitting down and writing, I will make money as an author; the publishers will make money; the marketers will make profit; advertisers will make money; and students and all readers will be better informed of our history.

In this piece, I have simply suggested a practical means of how one can produce something out of nothing, in such a way that that thing solves a problem for the society; and in return, brings legitimate earning to the producers.

If we have a good number of Nigerians, especially our young people, being productive in this manner, Nigeria will be entering a new era of wealth.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/towards-a-productive-nigerian-nation/

Seun, Lalasticlala

If this don't make fp... It will boils down to us that nairaland has gone to the dogs.....

Nice write up...

Lalasticlala do justice to this.. More special than those erotic bbn