OPINION: How To Achieve The Nigeria Of Our Dream By Uthman Isa Tochukwu  

 

1. Taking part in recreating a new generation of leaders for the future: How can this be done? Having admitted that our current leadership system do not have what it takes to decide our path to the future, we are left with just one option, … recreating another generation of leaders to lead us into the future.

This could be achieved by introducing ethics, governance and public policy at Secondary school level up to our higher institutions to inbuilt leadership culture into these set of people. It will create nationhood consciousness devoid of religion, tribe, ethic chauvinism et al. It will rebirth a new Nigeria, we would have inculcated a "National Agenda" in doing that.

2. Continuous reorientation across board: a new Nigerian dream is not a one man task, every concerned citizen of this country must take up the wake up call for this dream, no body should hand pick anybody to champion this course. It should be seen as a national burden that we all owe a mandate to. Wherever we find ourselves, the language should be ... What part or role are you playing to better

Nigeria? Or are you sitting on the fence or you are the fence? We must introduce a new "National Identity" ...Nigerian. I am a nigerian! not I am Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba et al.

A national subconscious Language be introduced to trigger statehood building that is anchored on a new Nigerian dream. We must let the new generation understand the language of nationhood and not that of tribalism and ethnicism. What is the meaning of our "Nigerianess"!

Do you see yourself as a Nigerian just because you are Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba et al or you see yourself as a Nigerian because you owe a duty for her to make her better.?

3. Asking the National Question: How does a nation built? What develops a state or a nation? Which and what type of people should occupy the state of affairs in a country etc? Where a nation has failed

such as ours, what do we do to chart a new course for the future? These and more should be on the fore as our national question.... getting the answers....?

A. Nation is built by first recognising the fact that we all as citizens holds an unfettered allegiance to our country Nigeria irrespective of our tribe, religion and other ancestral inclinations, all our worhips are tied to the spirit of nationhood.

B. One of the major things that develop a state or a nation is a worldview! how we picture our Nigeria in the next 50 to 100 years. We have the mandate to rally round a leader who has demonstrated certain level of competence and mastery over leadership skills and who has this kind of worldview and we must do that as a matter of course! Nigerians must look away wherever this certain persons come from and his religion.

C. Where a nation has failed, what next? We are stocked obviously because we have allowed the enemy of state (I.e, tribalism, regionalism, religion, ethnicity etc) to determine the compass through which our state of affairs must be governed.

We must chart a new course by disarming this monster called "zoning" a new Nigerian leader should come from any part of Nigeria irrespective of his ancestral origin and inclinations. We should teach it on our orientation tour, they should know that "tribe" is not a passport to becoming a leader or head in Nigeria.

4. We must diversify: our curriculum and economic source if we must move forward as a country.

Oil and natural resources are not the secret of wealth of Nations. And that is why most of the developed world today do not even have "shishi" natural resources and yet they lead the world. We must therefore look inward to thinkers, innovators, tech enthusiast and inventors to take the lead in our next generation of leaders and leadership. There is no time for blames now... our language here right now should be ...solution! solution!! solution!!!

Tochukwu, the founder of Foundation For Ethical Reorientation and Value System, sent this piece from Abuja and can be reached via: [email protected], Twitter: @UI_Tochukwu, IG: @ui_tochukwu