RE EXAMINING DIVERSIFICATION... By Dotun George

At a time of serious economic crisis, everybody is singing the song of diversification even when we are still trapped in the idea of obsolete and out of fashion economy.
Okay, we want to diversify to agriculture but what is driving the campaign is no more than stomach infrastructure. And even when we talk agriculture, it is still basically within the realm of old fashion and obsolete economic idea and not knowledge: Fertilizer, importation of grass from Brazil etc. That explains why we cannot feed ourselves, essentially because we still rely on old models either for pastoralists or those who till the land.


The second area we want to diversify into is solid minerals. We are told practically everyday that buried in all our villages are precious gems that we must now begin to look for and with that, luck and chance remain the pathway to the future.
And the last area we are diversifying into is the same commodity that brought us to the current pass: oil and gas. That is why we are now expending huge sums of money searching for hydrocarbons everywhere.

Unfortunately, the only place that holds a promise to the future is one we have cynically neglected. We no longer invest in education, science and technology. In fact, at a time Dollars were being allocated in Aso Rock, funding the education of Nigerian children abroad was publicly declared as not one of the priority areas. Political office holders, who themselves have their children abroad, were giving hypocritical sermons, making it look as if it was a crime for other Nigerians to want the best education for their own children.


Education, science and technology are veritable and vital tools that gave Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, India and South Korea a quantum leap and giant stride that we can see today. We can we change our approach on this diversification and see our nation taken a dramatic and instant turnaround.




........................
Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer
E-mail: dotungeorge009@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dotun.george
Blog: www.dotungeorge009.blogspot.com
Twitter : @dotungeorge

ASSESSING 2016 AND PREPARE FOR 2017.... Dotun George

2016 IN RETROSPECT

The economy was tough this year for many in 2016 and the same time people who knows how make the way . We need to sit down and evaluate ourselves. 

We need to ask ourselves questions :

1. Did your life achieve any landmark achievement this year? 

2. Can you point to any improvement in your life, family and career? 

3. Did you procrastinate this year? 

4. Did you hit your target this year? 

There is an autopilot /autocompass in us (paradigm), that keeps us perpetual in a wrong direction. 

You cannot live your life to prove a point (you can't live to prove people wrong or right). Mindset(paradigm) that needs to change. 

Your current activities need appraisal 

Question 

1. How many books did you read in the last three months? 

2. How many business or financial empowerment did you listen to in the last three months ? 

3. How many of your income did you saved In the last three months?  

4. Did you have a year goal written down?  

5. Did you have a life goals? 

6. Did you have a dream of business idea?  

7. What did you achieved with your goal in 2016? 

8. How many empowerment financial seminar did you attended in 2016?  

9. Did you have business and financial mentor?  

10. Did you try to market any products or services to any in the kast three months? 

SELF ASSESSMENT AND PREPARATION FOR 2017. 

Sincere and indepth accessment of ourselves -  Sit down and assess ourselves. 

What are are the things I started in 2016 that I failed in? 

Until you know how you underperformed in 2016, you won't know how to improve in 2017. 

 Understanding what it takes to succeed. 

There are keys to success:

Cycle to succeed in 2017 

1. Cycle of knowledge -  How to make money and how money can work for you. Find out what business and career principles. Personal development principles. Find out how successful people think and talk. 

2. Cycle of discipline -  You must know how to manage yourself. You need to learn the discipline of money and hardwork. Learn the principles of relationship. 

If you cannot connect the tw

What are the 12 most important goals you want to achieve in your life? 

Set goals for your family and businesses. 

If you can pick one areas of your life to be discipline, it will affect every area of your life. 

Read your goal every day. And review it every week and month. 

Knowledge and the level of thinking make all the different. 

Japan worst place to live but thinking of this people make all the different. Change our thinking 

Proverbs 16:2-3

................................................. 

There is nothing call recession, it is economic terms everyone can design and build his personal economy. 

Identify your skills and abilities and weaknesses, develop the skills and strength and drop what you cannot do. 

EXCITING : UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BUILD OIL REFINERY..... By Dotun George

In our clime it is the political news of division, hatred and retrogress that sell and dominate our media and millions of our people have been conditioned to see life from that dangerous position and perspective. Many people would have come across this kind of news but it does interest them because it is not the news of APC and PDP.  So many things need to change in our clime before this country can breakthrough.

Ahmadu Bello University students build 1-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Kaduna. This is one of the best news that usually excite and appeal to me than the news of looting and plundering that have become the mainstream media headlines and subject of discussion. I have been reading, working on and do a lot of discovery in the recent times over different news and stories of possibilities and exploits coming from our clime at the time we are being told by Donald Trump that we need second colonization and we have no intelligence for new things.

 We need to do a little X-ray of this feat and extraordinary achievement. Two days ago i wrote a piece about two brothers from the same state who manufactured security vehicles, in that write up, i posed a challenge to the state Governor and Federal Government and here is another challenge for the government of our country, University Commission, Vice Chancellors and rector of various tertiary institutions across the country.

The achievement can be traced to the department of chemical engineering of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, and honestly it has made history. The students of the department built a refinery with a capacity to process one barrel of crude oil per day. The refinery would be used mainly for the training of students The department of chemical engineering of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, has built a refinery with a capacity to process one barrel of crude oil per day.


Since this technology advancement is designed now for training however I have confirmed from a source that the department had the manpower to build a refinery that would be bigger than that of Kaduna if it had government support. So what is our government waiting for?  Waiting for advanced development countries to help us and transfer technology to us will not avail us or better still, it will make the condition worse than what is it. Firstly, we must take ownership of change and development we are yearning and desiring to see.

Government must as a matter of urgency and policy should begin to invest heavily on research, innovative and creative ventures. Having consider the project work under reviews, the initial idea and plans from the onset was to construct a 1,000 barrel-capacity refinery, but lack of funding limited it to this one, where they would now be refining one barrel per day.

Checking the make and the configuration of this refinery, it is going to amaze you that only the controls were sourced from Hong Kong. No expatriate was hired from abroad. All those that were engaged in this project are Nigerians. Therefore, this mini refinery is a product of Nigerian brains. If government can come in, to support academic research, innovative and creative education, redesign our curriculum to meet the demands of now, if we can review our methodology and delivery approach, this country has the ability to do wonderful things, not only refinery but other technical and technological developments .

To drive change and bring about a true development in any nation, practical, innovative, technical and purposeful education is very critical and there is no how we try to downgrade it, it is still one of the solution out of the quagmire and out of the woods. With purposeful living, thoughtful strategies and intelligent planning er can change the course of this country.




..........................
Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer
E-mail: dotungeorge009@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dotun.george
Blog: www.dotungeorge009.blogspot.com
Twitter : @dotungeorge

INNOVATION.. SECURITY VEHICLE MADE BY TWO NIGERIANS.. By Dotun George

As I surf and peruse virtually all news portal daily, it is not all the news that attracted and make sense to me, some are distractions so i ignore them, while other give inspiration and hope in the midst of the recession, hard times, global confusion and decaying world. One of the beautiful news that ignited my passion and made me add to the volumes of books i am writing and motivational talk that i have to bring to the younger generation is this interesting story of the two brothers from the state of Ekiti in Nigeria who added application to knowledge, and decided to break out from the mould and stereotype of being people of low intelligence and third world nation.


The two brothers have broken the jinx of many years in our clime, and putting up this innovative and creative venture should be commendable by all and sundry. Government must rise up to the big challenge posed to them these Ekiti brothers telling all of us that there is no impossibility anywhere except the one an individual sees to create in his or her mind.

Where the government of Ekiti state and federal government need to come in, is to ensure this ingenuity didn't die with these two intelligent men. They need financial, moral and educational support in terms of research and development. Can we do it?  Yes Nigeria has all that it takes to do the needful and offer the best assistance to the Henry Ford of our country.


Nigerians will always strike us as talented and brilliant people. There are so many sides to the people of this nation.

We live in an hostile environment, an environment that abhor positive thinking, mental exploit, innovation and attempt to break the mould that have restricted many people in our clime. The story and the reality of this invention is a possibility story of what we are made for and what we are capable of doing.

We all have potential, human content is the same everywhere in the world, it is the environment that conditioned so many people in our clime to think low of themselves. There is giant waiting for showdown inside every mortal man.

We are on the campaign since last year on advancing local production and patronizing local made products, this is the best time to put to practice what we are preaching. This story of possibilities must not die on the pages of newspapers, just celebrating the individuals and acknowledging their work, we must leverage on this exploits and innovative achievement to set a new standard for our  nation and educational sector because information is the baseline for any great feat we can talk about.

We must take our science, engineering and technology students in all tertiary institutions, who only go to school to cram theory and definitions without application to the kind of workshop set up by these men to learn the real application of knowledge. And at the same time, we can get replicate across our institutions.

QUALITY TEACHERS, GREAT NATION. By Dotun George.

The caption of this write up is a slogan I got at the matriculation ceremony of National Teacher’s Institute, Ogun state Office I was invited to. My assignment during the ceremony was to give a goodwill address (message) and to wish the matriculating students well.
Immediately I heard the slogan “Quality teachers, great nation”, in my characteristics manner and approach to issue of life, I began to ponder on what the slogan connote. I have come to understand that, what makes a great nation from generations to generations is the quality of the teachers produced by that nation. If a nation has unproductive, lazy, mentally retarded, and unqualified teachers, they will definitely produce students after their kind. That is the law of genesis and life. Who and what made great empires the world have seen all through ages? Great, qualitative, innovative, creative and productive minds in there produce great empires and great nations.

When I was growing up in life, as a little boys, all I know about teaching profession and teachers generally are known to be men and women who are disciplined, people who knows what they want and how to goes for it and get it, people of high moral and ethical standard, people of high integrity, they are honourable  and model to the younger generations. In every community, pre and post-independence, whenever they need someone to represent a community both in government and all other national or societal duties, there is no other place to look into, than the teachers within the community and sometime, they look in the direction of the clergymen. That was then and now reverse is the case. That does not mean, everyone in that profession has fallen short of the standard but the system and structure in our polity had wreak havoc for this noble profession.

I believe that you can’t give what you don’t have, therefore, people who ought to opt for teaching profession are the best and the brightest in our clime and not those who have lost all hope of going to tertiary institution or the rejected ones. If you understand the connotation behind the cutoff mark, then you will agree with me that, what they are driving at is that, Colleges of Education are for those who could not make it to universities and polytechnic.

If Nigeria will ever regain her lost glory, if we will be able to preserve the legacy and good heritage of our ancestors and build a nation that we can all be proud of, then we need to as a matter of urgency, begin to invest much in the teachers this country turns out every year. At the nursery and primary schools, we must ensure our best teachers are there to lay a solid foundation for the future we are all yearning for. A nation who looks down on its teachers, who fails to invest in them and fails to recognize their noble job, such nation is a disaster going somewhere to happen. To produce great nation, we need qualities teacher. We must begin to train and retrain the current one to meet up and cope with the challenges of the 21st century.

LET US SAVE OUR GIRL-CHILD...

In the  month October 2016 , the Emir of Katsina reportedly married a fourteen-year-old girl, assaulting her dignity and innocence in the process but our society hardly took notice. Child-bride marriage is so common in northern Nigeria that it is considered a normal way of life.


This is a matter that has serious consequences for the lives of young people. It should concern every citizen because it destroys the lives of our children. It stops girls from going to school to get an education, which in turn affects their prospects of getting good jobs and becoming financially independent later in life. These girls are more likely to develop abnormal connections between their vagina, bladder, and rectum during childbirth, which then causes them to become incontinent of feces and urine.

The resultant malodor very often leads to isolation and social ostracism or even divorce by their husbands who simply marry the next child-bride. It is a lot of psychological trauma for anybody to deal with let alone a teenage mother. These young mothers end up begging on the streets when their elderly husbands divorce them. Sadly, their children are left to the mercies of hostile step-mothers and may end up as street beggars just like their unfortunate mothers.


There must be continuous crusade and campaign against a girl child marriage. They dont know better and in most cases they are pushed into marriage against their wish and desire.




Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer

RIGHT PICTURE/PERSPECTIVE...... . By Dotun George

Not the Colour but the content

I was told of a story of a balloon seller, his mode of advert is on the spot advertisement and publicity, he inflates it and balloon goes up and a black boy observed it and was fascinated by it. But he saw all colours goes up but he could not see the black colour going up, that begins to place some games in his mind. He moved closer to the man and asked I have seen all colours go up, if you inflate the black colour will it also go up too? That was during the segregation in America. The man understood what was going on in his mind and understood what the guy meant, the balloon seller put his hand on his shoulder and said “Son it is not the colour that makes them go up it’s whats inside them.


Son it is not the colour that makes them go up it’s whats inside them (human content).

It is not the colour of your skin, your location, family background, environment or school that determines your level of rising or success but your human content (what is inside of you). Many people in the third world countries like Nigeria have believe a lie that there are something they can never do no matter how hard they try. There are wrong assumptions going on that, African brain can never comprehend and cannot do certain things in life and this assumption has place limitation on many people of our country. There is no limitation anywhere except the one you build in your mind and see. The moment a man develop or come out of poverty, failure, hopelessness and rejection mould, there is nothing you can do for him, his life will definitely pick after the mould. In manufacturing the moment the Mould is cast the product is determine.

the moment the Mould is cast the product is determine.


We are where we are today as a people and a nation because of the mould that produce us. We can rewrite the story and the script of our lives when we begin to see life and every issue that concern us from different perspective that gave us the current level of life we found ourselves. When there is paradigm shift from old mentality to a new mentality that gives us hope of a better tomorrow, society and a better nation. It is not the colour, not educational qualification, not family disposition, not religion, not wealth of our nation that will guarantee our rising to stardom and get to the place of eldorado but the human content of possibilities, success, greater achievement and impact we develop within.

SEEING THE PROBLEMS IN A NEW LIGHT... By Dotun George

Today, it has become obvious that Nigeria, a country of great potentials, is in dire straits and one wonders what pushed us into such a state of decline within a short period. Is it our founding fathers? Is it the politicians? Is it the handiwork of external forces that never wanted this country to be a formidable global player? Is it some supernatural forces beyond our control? What is it that has made us unable to exploit our natural gifts, resources and potentials to the extent that we have swam in an ocean of fresh water for decades and yet came out dirty and thirsty?


To me, the best way to view our problem is for all of us to see it in a new light. The problem with Nigeria should be seen in the prism of social, cultural and political milieu. It is not isolated to a particular timeline. It is a process. It is like a chip embedded in our national experience and cannot be unplugged until we realize that we are carrying an invisible baggage.
It is too simplistic to point to today’s oil glut or foreign exchange scarcity as our problem. Of course, there are many other countries that had gone through recession. America did. United Kingdom did. But, while the bad times lasted, the citizens of those countries never saw it that they had existential problems. They just said, “We are in a recession; we shall get out of it!”


Nigeria’s problem is caused by all of us. On an individual level, we all have Nigeria-killer microchips embedded in us. For some, it is the ethnic bias or religious bigotry. And for others, it is pure greed. In all, the individual comes first in consideration before the nation.
The danger is that it is so deeply hidden that we are each like a terrorist sleeper cell, to be activated once we are in that critical moment in which we would be useful to Nigeria. The worst part of it all is that the forces of evil have a way of bringing kindred spirits together to fulfill an evil agenda. At that moment, any other dissenting voice could be effectively silenced by this ‘axis of evil’. This is why, in some other saner climes, in as much as there are bad eggs they are not as powerful as to silence the patriotic voice of the majority. And because impunity is low, the spirit of the nation always finds a voice.


One of the way to silence evil and terminate its effects in the life of a man is to confront it, expose it and deal with it. Evil triumph when good people and men of purpose keep mute and ignore it. We all know one or two problems militating against the society we are born into and the nation we belong to, we can redefine the problem and provide 21st century solution to it. The significant and peculiar problems we face and encounter cannot be solved at the same level we were when those problems were created. It will require a new level of thinking to resolve it. This what we need to do at the leadership level, followership level and at institutional level.

PROBLEMS ARE MEANT TO BE SOLVED.. By Dotun George

One fact that we need to realize is that problems are a part of our existence. Though not palatable experiences but often times, they actually come as opportunities in disguise.
Interestingly, the same problem that makes millionaires out of some people has wrecked businesses and forced companies to relocate from Nigeria.


Though we are currently facing challenges as a nation, remember problems are meant to be solved.

Do you know that the solution we are looking for will be provided by people? And that solving problems for a million people creates the avenue of becoming a millionaire?
I suggest you identify the sector that grieves you the most. The likelihood is that you will be able to proffer a solution for us there.

Our nation needs solution providers at this time. Are you one of those we are waiting for?

CREAT A MINDSET OF POSSIBILITY..

Mindset plays a vital role in the way we live our lives and how we turn out in life.
In 2003, Mike Tyson, a former world heavyweight boxing champion was broke and filed for bankruptcy. This was in spite of the fact that he became a world champion at the age of 20 and earned a whopping $470 million! How did he become broke after earning such an amount of money?

A close look will reveal that Tyson’s undoing was his mind-set. Psychologists call it cognitive restructuring.
He grew up in the slums of Brooklyn, New York. The slum has its own culture; prevailing way of thinking. Unfortunately, when he began to earn millions of dollars, his old way of thinking remained with him.

He did not invest in stocks or in real estate. He did not know how to start and run businesses. His mind, instead of being an asset, became a liability.

Tyson’s story holds a big lesson for you and me. We cannot rise beyond the level of our thoughts. Given the fact that poverty and wrong thinking have become part of our culture, we must find a way to escape its mental trap.

Everything you see in life both success and failure emanate from the mind. Deploy your mind creatively and productively today. Create a mindset of possibilities and you see it happening.

RARE CASE ROYAL PRINCE EXECUTED FOR MURDER.

In Saudi Arabia: Royal prince executed for murder.

The execution of Prince Turki Saud-al-Kabir is an extremely rare case of a member of the ruling family being put to death.

A prince from the Saudi royal family was executed on Tuesday 18th of October, 2016 for murdering a man during a brawl in the capital Riyadh.
The Interior Ministry stated that “in announcing this, we want to affirm to all that the Kingdom’s government is determined to establish security. “It will bring about justice and implement God’s law against all those who attack the innocent.”

Saudi Arabia imposes the death penalty for offences including murder, armed robbery, banditry, rape, drug-trafficking and witchcraft.

That is a society that is interested in law and order. If it is in our clime, we stab and murder Justice, we explain it away and justify it and give a covering for as long as he is a member of the ruling family and elite.
Any society like ours support any form of abnormalities and shield evil, ills and corruption cannot move to the place of development and Eldorado. Humanity are the same over centuries but our disposition to life, human content, and attitude to life are what differ. An invariably, that is what our society is paying dearly for now.

DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEMS..... By Dotun George

MY REFLECTIONS...

One of the things that keep Africa underdeveloped and has not been properly address all these years especially in Nigeria is the issue of health, housing, environment, standard of living, cost of living and overdependence on foreign government and aids.

Nigeria population according to statistics is over 170 million, the population is on the high side and large percentage of the population are on the dependency ratio. Except we reduce the dependency ratio otherwise it will drive down the economy. Nations with high population like Nigeria fail to use their population to drive upward their economy.

Problems with health are actually originating outside of the health sector. Education is one of the solution to health care problem, people want to know what is given them problem but unfortunately, education also suffers deficiencies in terms of curriculum, planning and structures.

Future and success never come by lamentation but by believing it, working towards it. Proper diagnosis of problems affecting each sector of our national life will save us a lot of headaches and setbacks. Nigeria can work again very well if we understand the real problems and get the competent doctor and mechanic to work on her.
Corruption is a vicious cycle, without a fundamental structural change we are still wasting our time. Change that begins from the leadership to the followers. History has unveiled this truth to us that everything rise and fall on leadership. When the society thrive and make progress, it is base on leadership and society that decided to choose the path of perdition and run down the road that leads to nowhere, all is still boil down to leadership.
Leaders must lead from the front and not from the back, the change we are yearning for begins with the leaders. When leadership sacrifice it will be easier for people to make sacrifice too.

DISCOVERY THE HIDDEN YOU.... By Dotun GEORGE

Discovery is one of the potent forces in the universe, certain thing about our lives and destiny will continue to elude us if the vital things are one discovered. The majority of the black race will not breakthrough until something massive is done now to prevent waste of life and potential.
Discover is to find out about something, to find information about something

In life until certain thing are find out about our person so many of us will still be limited in life and never go beyond where life place us.
Discovering is an act or process of finding somebody or something that was not known about before.

The hidden you are your potential
Potential is anything that you have inside of you that can be developed into something or be developed in the future. It is the possibility you have in you.
It is the ability/quality that exists in you and can be developed.

Everything thing in life have potential, one of the greatest tragedy is to watch potential die untapped. Every man sent to this world is equipped with limitless credit but seldom draw to their full extent.

Your life success, fulfillment is attached to the discovery of this ability and to maximize them.

3 TYPES OF PEOPLE THAT EXIST
§ Few who make things happen
§ Many who watch things happen
§ The overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happen

Understanding, discovery, releasing, and utilization of our potential that made us a creator of factor instead of creature of circumstances.

Everything in life was created with potential and posses the potential principle. - In every seed there is a tree, in every bird, a flock, in every fish a school, in every sheep a flock, in every boy a man, in every girl, in every nation a generation. It is a tragedy for a man to die as a boy, a woman died as girl, a forest as a seed etc

YOUR DUTY§ Understand and discover potential you posses
§ Commit your self to maximize it in your short life
§ Your potential has no retirement plan therefore explore it to the fullest.

HOW CAN YOU DISCOVER THE REAL YOUYou can discover you gifting, talent, ability and what have you, by simply follow some of the process or ways that I will be discussing now.

§ YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAM – Sometime childhood dreams and aspiration are often neglected and abandoned later in life because of new opportunity life has presented or probably due to myopic nature of children. But in some cases childhood dream may help you detect your gift, talent, interest and your focus in life. Childhood dreams are real, unadulterated true and sincere but adulthood dream are often trusted with present situation.

§ ENVIRONMENT- Your environment most time determine how you will turn out in life, enabling environment provide opportunities to look inward and turn inside out but hostile environment kill the seed of potential in you.

§ FLAIR - This is your natural ability to do something well, or ability to do something in an interesting and imaginative way. Your flair are things you can do naturally without training and finally flair are things that flow out of without much struggle and stress. Fish don’t go to aviation school to fly, fish don’t attend swimming school to learn how to swimming. So ask yourself what can I do naturally that is your real you and that make you relevant in life.

§ DESIRE OF YOUR HEART –Desire is a strong wish to have or to do something. Your desire that is channel properly becomes your strength in life. Desire come into you to unlock and make you discover your potential and your destiny.

§ PASSION –Passion is a strong feeling of love, hatred or enthusiasm. The moment desire take root in your life, passion to accomplish, achieve, to get what we desire done comes. What you are passionate about well tailored will become your strength, power and ability to make impact in life. When passion comes it ignites desire and causes explosion of desire. If you are passionate about building you will end up as an Architect, building technologist, building engineer, civil engineer. If you are passionate or love counseling, talking to people, you will end up as a teacher, counselor, and preacher. If you are passionate about literary or literature you will end up as a lawyer, talker, preacher, actor, etc.

§ WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SEE IN YOU – Sometime it is other that can see you better. Sometime you don’t know what you carry until others start pointing to your strength.

With the above few ways you can be able to bring the inside out and do extraordinary thing with your life in this short life of yours. Our greatest quest as an individual is to search and make discovery of our real being, which is our potential. Nobody succeed in life outside the discovery and utilization of the inner strength called potential.

NIGERIA AT 56, THE CHALLENGES AHEAD AND HOPE OF FUTURE... By Dotun GEORGE

Nigeria was born in 1914 when the Southern and the Northern Protectorates were amalgamated by the then Governor General of Nigeria, Lord Fredrick Lugard. The colonial masters knew what was their intention with this machinations but the natives did not had a clue that the amalgamation was to help the colonial masters in the furtherance of the exploit and slavery of the Africans, especially the Nigerian people. Years after years, the agitation for independence reached its crescendo and the colonial masters have no option than to let go of their hook and grip over Nigeria. The smart colonial master did not just vacate the seat of power, they succeeded in setting the country up for imminent destruction because they are part of the first election that produced the first set of leaders and every seed that was sown then grew over time and bore much fruit in our days, making the political class repeating the same blunder of the past. And instead of things getting better, it seems as if we have not make any meaningful progress.



The active members of the society, students and the Nigerian media rose, fought and demanded for self-government and sovereignty. The demand was eventually granted on October 1, 1960 when the British flag was lowered and the Nigerian flag hoisted signaling the beginning of self-rule, self-government and self-determination.

October 1st 1960, the day the declaration for Nigeria independence was made, there were funfair, great joy and celebration, with much anticipated hope that in a short time we shall become the most powerful nation in Africa continent because at 1960, the most educated people in the whole of Africa, the most civilized men and women are from the country of Nigeria and Ghana. The two countries have the best infrastructures and more expectancy, unfortunately for Nigeria the joy, hope and aspirations were short lived. Why,  because Nigeria got independence from external colonial masters and now found herself in the hands of internal colonial masters.


The trends continues unabated for so many years and 56 years after, we are struggling to start all over again. Sunny Okosun said which way Nigeria, which way to go?

In the first Republic Nigeria was good. Even in the succeeding administrations, Nigeria fared well and the economy boomed. Nigerians worked with a united mind, putting aside religious, tribal and political affiliations to develop the young but promising nation.
They were all interested in building the young independent nation to grow and become a great and successful nation in the world. There was neither segregation, disunity nor agitation for personal or regional aggrandizement.

All sectors of the economy experienced boom and national life was better for all Nigerians. Agriculture and education were specially given attention since these were observed to be the plank upon which the development of the nation rested.
Educational institutions were far better and products from them were given due recognition unlike what obtains now. Facilities in the institutions were standard and students then were well trained. The agricultural sector was given due attention so as to provide food for the teeming Nigerian populace.
Jobs were available for Nigerians. The competition between the whites and black Africans had given way to a completely black world where friction was no more. Peace reigned and there was food for all. That was the good old days, the post independent years in Nigeria. This good days continues until the days of oil boom, immediately we forgot everything that gave us a good beginning and we abandoned the real elements of nationhood that make us command the attention of all nations of the earth. Sad to say, we are now paying dearly for lack of vision, planning and good leadership in our land.


Instead of long term investments in productive sectors of the economy, Nigerians opted for the easiest and quickest way of making wealth through contracts, commissions, foreign exchange deals, drug trafficking, and oil bunkering, among others.
This is the beginning of the “get- rich- quick- syndrome” that is still affecting the psyche of Nigerians till date.


The impact of the visionlessness and rudderlessness have impacted the nation badly and today, it looks as if we have missed it. Yet in the midst of all these, a people who sit in darkness shall see light,  if we are ready to rewrite the story, change the tide and recompose the music.

Malaysia and Singapore was rated badly by UN and World Bank in the mid 1960, and what did the leadership of these countries did? Instead of bemoaning the problems and become perplex with the conditions of their country, they rather chose to prove UN and World Bank wrong. Under the space of 30 years Singapore broke the world record as the first nation that navigate the stormy weather of change within a shortest period in the history of the world.  From third world to first world was made possible because they have a visionary, selfless, purpose - driven leaders, and the leaders lead by example. Power of exemplary lifestyle is very vital in taking a nation out of the woods.
Nigeria is at a very critical juncture in our history, since independence we have always be revolving round the same inglorious position, repeating the same error but now we have no option than to rewrite the ugly and unbecoming story, except we do that with proactive measures from the leadership to the least of the citizens, the story will remain the same.

The poorest country today can feed other nations if we cares to do the needful and change the tides. Our 56 birthday should be a time to go back to the drawing board, do check analysis, diagnose Nigeria and come out with the best medication.

THE LEADERSHIP WE NEED... By Dotun GEORGE

Being an effective leaders begins with you,  being self aware, becoming conscious of life and the environment . Being aware of the impact you have on others. Knowing what really matters to you and what drives you . Behaving in alignment with your core purpose and values. Expressing yourself in an authentic way.

To the emerging leaders, great leaders throughout ages and history possessed some traits that actually distinguished them from the packs and ours is not going to be an exception except we follow through the created ancient landmarks.


1. Learning, growing and development.
Creative, innovative and charismatic leaders love learning, in the process of learning, they grow and the growing culminated to their development. Invariably they do and pass the same to their followers.

2. Appreciate and value diversity.
Human beings across the globe are created differently and if you are going to lead well and impact the people, you must recognize the diversities in the human formation and disposition. Appreciating and placing value on diversity will help any leader in any setting to achieve the peak performance and leave indelible impact behind.

3. Provide service to others without creating dependency and entitlements.
Leadership in Africa and in my country is centered around dependency. Helping people and turning them to slaves, the next generations of leaders must avoid that pitfall. Creating dependency and sense of entitlements have prevented our institutions, organization and society at large from braking the cycle of mediocrity and laziness.


4. Encourage and empower others.
Only few individuals who ascend the position of a leader actually understand this concept. If they do, our society and institutions would have been better than What we have at hand. We need now team of encouragers in leadership and those who empower people to do what is in their minds to and they are capable of doing but have no means and capacity to do it.

After we are able to get a team of encouragers, we need also influencers. According to the leadership expert, J. Maxwell, the apex function of leadership in the 21st century is INFLUENCE.
Today's success hinges on the ability to INFLUENCE people to achieve common goals and purposes. INFLUENCERS are the best leaders in the world history, then we must get it right that, influencing positively to do the right things is the best way to go.


The power to influence is PERSONAL. We must all decide today as parents to influence our children and ward positively, as teachers let us influence every pupils and students who will ever sit under our teaching and coaching. As preachers, you must influence your congregations positively to be example of what you teach and pass to them. As political actors,  migrate from being an actor to player and influencers, you will influence so much if you refuse to take that bribe, falsified your age, and your academic qualifications, if you refuse to inflate the contract, if you refuse and say no to padding of budget, if you refuse to sleep around with your daughters mates because you have the money to throw around. As a media player or personnel, you will influence well and accurately if stop circulating falsehood and unconfirmed stories, stop all unnecessary propaganda. Information is the baseline for any transformed life and society, when you feed the people with right and accurate information, you serve well. The lists are endless, we can all make this world better than we met it.

RELIGION; ITS WOES AND ITS WEAKNESS.  By Dotun George

From my experience and my dealings with people, most especially my students and their curiousity in knowing my believe system. Sometime they asked me which religion do I practice and in my characteristic manner, I will tell them none. One young lady walked up to me one day and said to me, I have observed you for years and how you talked really convinced me that you don’t believe in anything and in any religion.
My write up is not to discredit or rubbish any religion but to help people think and stop all the nonsense going on in our clime and the world today.

The greatest threat to the future of the world is religion. Nuclear weapons, terrorism, SARS, shifting government, military coups, and AIDS are simply tools used by religion. More wars have been fought in the name of religion than any other influence. Millions have died over the past 2000 years under the destructive hand of religious zeal. Misplaced and misguided religious passion has produced such historical scars as the Crusaders, the Inquisition, ethnic cleansing, and the horror of the Holocaust.

Why is religion so power and controlling? Why is it more powerful than politics, military arms and scientific advancement? Because religion is not just a social, cultural, political, or ideological, instead it finds its power in the personal chambers of the soul of the individual who embrace it. Within the soul we discover the source of the private motivation that forms perceptions and behavior. Man is more willing to die for the sake of his religion than for any political, social, or ideological reason.

Religion is as old as mankind, finding its roots in the private recesses of the human spirit. Every culture, no matter how old or far removed, has developed some form of religious practice that attempts to satisfy an elusive vacuum in the pit of the human soul crying out for reason, purpose and significance. For mankind, life on planet has been nothing more than a long tedious march down the road of time, with each new generation searching for something they cannot define. The long chains of civilizations have undeniable imprints on the pages of history – evidences for our generation that the search continues. From the secrets etched on the walls of ancient caves to the grand archaeological monuments to the remnants of the great empires, man marches on seeking to find himself and make sense of his world. Man travels through this world have produced a tapestry of religion practices and ideologies that only serve to create more problems than they solve.

A brief look at our modern, sophisticated, technocratic, cyberspace age world of today can be the source of fear, depression, discouragement, insecurity and uncertainty. From the archaic world of the cave men and bush hunters through the progressive succession of the agrarian cultures to the advent of the industrial revolution leading to the scientific age of post-modernism and the computer age, we are still on better than nor different from our ancestors of old. Why? Because we fail to adopt the greatest ideal and fundamental that sustain human existence, which is love.

Nigerians are the people who have misguided passion and conviction when it comes to religion, most cases we wasted our energy on the altar of religion in order to score cheap political or ethnic point, which invariably draw us backward and retrogressively prevented us to achieve a better society built on love, social justice and equity.
God did not start any religion and He is not going to start anyone tomorrow, because it was never His ideal and idea. The whole issue of religion is man’s idea to regain what he lost or to return to God he was disconnected from. My appeal  goes to those religious extremist who perpetuated evil, wickedness and harvoc in the name of religion and doing service to God, that, it is time to embrace the greatest gift in human history which is love.

My maternal grandparents are muslim, they love me and my siblings with passion and we never relate on religion anytime or anyway. My paternal grandparents are traditionalist, before my paternal grandmother became a Christian and to many, it was an accident. To this wonderful people, we never had issue base on religion.
What surprised me most of the time is how we desecrate our humanity in the name of religion and destroy our human dignity in the name of doing service to one God, who never approved or compelled us to do the things we do. Can we have a rethink today. I will never be offended because someone beside me decided to worship and adore Allah or Mohammed, neither we I be offended because another decided to follow Jesus.
Let us stop all the nonsense going on in the name of religion and accept each other like brothers and sisters. The only cure for the degenerated society and dying world is “God” and  “love”. Love for God and love for humanity will save us unnecessary calamity.

NIGERIA ZUCKERBERG WILL ARISE... By Dotun GEORGE

Zuckerberg started out as an ordinary young man—he had shoes, clothes and everything call riches and wealth  but those were not his true wealth—ideas were his main currency. A young man with ideas in Nigeria is as good as dead in a country where policymakers themselves, despite decades of speeches claiming the contrary, care very little for young people or any ideas that don’t involve their own fortunes.

Speaking of our members of state and federal assemblies who should be creating the laws which facilitate everything from business to our most basic comfort—reports about their huge salaries and entitlements have once again surfaced. If every one of them relinquished just 10% of their state sponsored income, Nigeria might afford to recruit graduates into the police system, making them detectives or agents entrusted with special, more sophisticated duties than the very many unqualified individuals wielding guns.

Gradually, the later could be weeded out of the system. We can’t afford to keep employing mediocre people, be it in public office or any related government service. What’ll happen to those who’ll be rendered irrelevant by the changing times is the crux of our inability to reform. Politicians are afraid of “new blood” because of its game-changing potential. If from a rent-seeking society we progress to a productive society, virtually half of our business and political elite would disappear. But “every dog has its day”: it is the very nature of the universe to have a season for everything; so Nigeria’s Zuckerbergs, etc. will undoubtedly rise no matter what is done to stop them.

CHANGING THE MOULD.. By Dotun GEORGE

The urgency of now....


It is only when farming truly becomes mechanized and a profession that wealth would be found in it, it is then we begin to talk about serious economy . In the developed societies, farmers are wealthy as everybody depends on their production for existence. Nigerians should not be an exception. Above all, they are employers of labour besides wealth-creators.

This special position keeps farmers kilometers or miles away from poverty. The lackadaisical attitude of Nigerians and we the youths towards embracing farming as a profession is a “borrowed–culture” from the Government, it has not avail us in any way . Instead, youths look for white collar-jobs which are unavailable. Idleness and restiveness among our youths should be checked through agriculture.

A situation where there are more hotels, beer parlours, pool betting centres, casinos, native wine drinking joints and film centres than libraries, factories, palm and banana plantation and farm settlements have shown the direction of the country in few years time, and that is why Nigeria is still poor and continue to be poor until there is paradigm shift . Worse still, the rate at which Nigerian youths have turned into mobile sales dancers for herbal drug sellers because of unemployment is alarming. The rate of fraud and prostitution is alarming because of poverty. This is a disheartening development and wrong type of empowerment.
Every Nigerian should always remember that his chickens are not safe when his neighbours are hungry. It requires wisdom to understand wisdom and the music is nothing if the audience is deaf. Quo Vadis (Where are You Going) Nigeria?
We can salvage this country, we have all that it takes to turn the tide, it is time to break the mould and re write the ugly story of this once upon a time giant of Africa.

The time of redemption of this country is approaching provided we can begin to do the needful at the leadership level and more than never before at the followership level. The people who are ready and determined can surmount any mountain.

FOUNDATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

Nigeria and Nigerians need plans for prosperity and national development. There is no nation that prospers and develops without the input of government and the citizenry.
People must let government know what kind of Nigeria they wish to live in, now and in the future, and government must listen to the yearnings of the people, provided they are worthwhile and progressive.
Government on its own part must let the people know how it plans to overcome the deep and pervasive obstacles to progress that the government and the people have identified and role all Nigerians must play in pursuit of the collective vision.

To create a prosperous nation, we need to know the kind of nation we desire to build, and the direction we are going. What is the vision for Nigeria? What kind of Nigeria do we want for ourselves, for our children, and for the rest of us. These questions were our starting point in creating the plan for prosperity. Unfortunately, we are not asking and nobody is providing an answer.

Our government at all levels must identify what Nigeria people want for the future, what problems they face and what can be done to overcome them.
We cannot build a virile and prosperous nation without recognizing core values and the importance of respect for elders, honesty, and accountability, cooperation, industry, discipline, self-confidence, community building and moral courage.



We need a new breed of citizens who values hardwork, self-actualization rather than dependency and who realizes that one cannot have something for nothing.
We must begin at all levels to create a Nigeria that Nigerians can be proud to belong to and grateful to inhabit, a Nigeria that promote self-reliance, entrepreneurship, innovation, rewards hardwork, protects its people and their property, and offers its children better prospects than those they may be tempted to seek in Europe or United States.

All citizens, regardless of gender, race, religion, or politics, should feel that they have a stake in Nigeria future and that their loyalty and diligence will be rewarded. Except we start and begin our journey to nationhood will this postulations, we cannot emerge a prosperous and great nation.

CREATING A BETTER SOCIETY….. By Dotun George

Reading culture among  Nigerians is nothing to write home about. It is a pity our people are no more reading, especially our youths. Nigerian youths spend more time with their electronics toys, smart phones, watching movies and football, rather than investment in education. The system is destroying education. In Nigeria, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination debar youths and our children access to education. It is antagonist to the progress of the nation.

If i had my way, i would like us to remove every bottleneck by building enough educational infrastructures and allowing our children enter school after their Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), and only impose other examinations thereafter. This would help stop our children from staying at home for 3-5 years doing nothing other than waiting for JAMB before having access to education. It will equally assist to minimize crime and laziness, because, when children have to wait for JAMB for 5 years after leaving school, they lose interest in education and reading further.

This is why today every child wants to become a footballer and musician. Which country has developed with football and music? It is through education and technology countries are being developed. But we are forcing our children into music and foot­ball to develop because we run a faulty systems and structure.

It is lamentable that politics today is the propagation of churches. I am not really happy that churches are telling people that salvation is in the hands of God for a nation endowed with enormous resources from the same God. Of course salvation of souls is in the hands of God but salvaging our land is our collective responsibility.

This is another barrier to the progress of our nation. This is everywhere, including Ghana, Benin and Togo, where people indulge in propagation of prosperity and salvation without applying themselves to reading books where we have every solution to problems. Karl Max said, ‘Philosophers had interpreted the world in different ways, what is important is for us to transform the world for our own existence.’

How do i combine scholarly work with human rights advocacy? It is not an easy task but at the same time one has to create time to educate the populace on the need to create a better society than the one we currently witness. We are better than this and therefore we deserve to be treated as a dignify being, who has a sense of belonging in his/her country.

STAND OUT WITH EXCELLENCE

Stand out with Excellence ' God has put unique abilities in you which, when developed attract success to you.
You may not have all the education you want.
You may not get all the support you expect from your parents or your friends.
You may not even have a job right now, but you can develop your God- given abilities.
You know what; you can harness your talents or abilities and develop it to world standard.

You must take deliberate steps to cultivate excellence.
Excellence is doing things right.
Excellence in the wrong thing still spells failure.
Excellence is the possession of good quality in an unusual degree.
You may be good in writing. You may have a voice good enough for singing or for being a voice Artist. It may be the ability to play musical instruments.

You may be good in fashion designing, marketing, teaching or catering. Yours might be construction or working with electronic equipment. You may have a flair for the computer or sports. Whatever it is, please know that God has placed that gift in your life.

Do whatever you find to do with excellence and you will reap a harvest of success and fulfillment.






Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer
E-mail: dotungeorge009@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dotun.george
Blog: www.dotungeorge009.blogspot.com
Twitter : @dotungeorge

SALVAGING THE PLIGHT OF OUR COUNTRY

Every country, and nation should find someone in its generation who will transform it. Our country is it at her defining moment in history, where we have a choice of operating at the default level or choose to redesign.

In 1960 per capital income in Nigeria is higher than that of South Korea.
Indonesia has the same experience we have but today, they have left us behind.
As at 1990, India according to World Bank and IMF, they are almost bankrupt, Less than $1b. They decided, should we believe the report or work against it and today they have gone ahead of many nations. Today they gave $50b to some the African countries.

Anyone who tells us we can develop by importing everything is lying to you. We are lied to yesterday by yesterday men and women in power, telling us we are the largest economy in Africa when we don't have any economy in the first place.
In Korea, the strategy is, “if we don’t have it here, we don’t need it here. That is the strategies that change the country.”

Why import from China, what we need to do is  get Chiness company to build plant here and produce and later export. We need a generation that will look IMF and World Bank in the face and tell them we got what it takes to drive our economy. In 1992, Mahathir bin Mohammad told them the same and walked away.

In Nigeria we can repeat what China, India, Brazil has done, because those are emerging economies. When you fix Nigeria you have fix so many African nation.
Asian, Latin American miracle is possible and is evidence telling us we can do it.



Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer
E-mail: dotungeorge009@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dotun.george
Blog: www.dotungeorge009.blogspot.com
Twitter : @dotungeorge

A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE MOULD.. By Dotun George

In 54 year of existence what can we do to improve our lot as individual and as a nation? We need a very strong national philosophy (Philosophy that will guide every citizen like America, all of them are guided, propelled by their national philosophy), national orientation (This very important because Nigerians have been conditioned to certain lifestyle like corruption, nepotism, cheating, etc that needs change) and direction.

We all need discipline, probity, integrity, hardwork, accountability and righteousness to build a new nation. Hardwork does not kill; it is laziness that kills the mind and the body. Hardwork is the essential to the building of a solid foundation for self, family and country. Hardwork is a cure for fraud, cheating, examination leakages, certificate rackets, secret cults and failure in life.

Discipline encompasses modesty, thoughtfulness, community living, punctuality, duty, leadership and followership, obedience, cooperation and discussion. We all need a self control.
Let us all be honest in accounting for actions and activities. Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach. Where are you? and what are you doing? If you say because others do it you will follow others to do evil? You are a jellyfish then. Avoid immoral shortcuts to achieve goals. Avoid cheating in class, in home, in class election and examinations. Then you will grow up to be a trusted, trust-worthy and reliable individual at home, at work, school and within the community. You will grow up to be respected person.

Money cannot buy everything. Resist the urge to join people in praising corrupt people and more importantly resist the temptation of following them. If all of us can start doing all this little thing there will be change in our society and it is this change people from the society that will later emerge has our leaders in all sphere of government. It is not too late for Nigeria to reverse the ill of the past.

All Nigerians are expected to be a activist in our own way, pursuing actions to a logical conclusion towards; good governance, exposing what is wrong, Industrial commitments, crying against instances of injustice, teaching/educating the people to be self-sufficient, re-orientate the mind positively, working behind the scenes to promote enhanced political leadership, promoting Political/Human Rights activism and using the media to propagate meaning leadership.






Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer
E-mail: dotungeorge009@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dotun.george
Blog: www.dotungeorge009.blogspot.com
Twitter : @dotungeorge

DON'T BE A VICTIM, MAKE THINGS HAPPEN

According to Dr.  Mysle Munroe People can be divided into three groups: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.

I have also found out that some people can be thermostat or thermometer. Thermostat determine what happened in its environment, while the environment and the conditions of things around determine what happened to the thermometer.

Socioculturally, the way we are raised and brought up has conditioned so many people to be thermometer, whose environment determine his survival and the outcome of if his life. By design, i am advocating we need to break that mould and act like a thermostat, who is the determinant of its environment and circumstances.
By creation we are not creation of circumstances but a creator of circumstances.

Majority of the problems in our climes today are created by man who has been conditioned by the environment and it will take men who can rise above the environment, their ugly experience and circumstances to create a desirable and creative future for themselves. There are problems you are equipped to solve, try to play your part and see how this world will turn around in a short while.


The only people who can truly know your story are the ones who helped you write it.
People may not always tell you how they feel about you, but their actions will speak for themselves pay attention.
#DotunGeorge.. #Wisdom4Life.. #MakeImpact.. #Legacy



Dotun George
A motivational & public speaker. A social crusader, a life coach and a trainer
E-mail: dotungeorge009@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dotun.george
Blog: www.dotungeorge009.blogspot.com
Twitter : @dotungeorge

WHO HAS DONE THIS TO YOU?

We don't have FOREX for business merchants, importers and SME but if you are going to Mecca or Jerusalem, CBN will give you dollars at less than N200/$1 from Nigeria's scarce FOREX.

But if you are a manufacturer or just any other Nigerians, you buy dollars at rate of N380/$1.

Is that not misplacement of priority and slave mentality? 

Nigeria and Nigerians ' mind need unblocking. 

The social implications of all these is that, Nigeria is helping Saudi Arabia and Israel to run their economy, while we run down our own 

Government should not get involved in pilgrimage. If you can't afford it then stay in your village and worship God. 

A country that allow her industry and factories to close down and converted to churches, where miracle preachers are doing business, cannot pretend to be moving forward.  In fact it is a sign of economic retrograde. When there are no jobs for the worshippers when would get their tithe and offering? 

This slave mentality that is being displayed both at the leadership level and followership cannot bring Nigeria to the place of prosperity, growth and development. It is an indication that we are still far from where we need to be as a country. 

Nigeria where is your pride and your dignity? 

THE CHALLENGES OF RESTORATION

The  founding  fathers  of  Nigeria  had  the  vision  of  leading  their  people  from  the shackles  of  disease,  want,  ignorance  and  development  to  modernity.  This  vision they  shared  with  great  men  like  Lee  Kuan  Yew  of  Singapore  and  Dr.  Mahathir Mohammed  of  Malaysia  in  the  60s  and  80s.

This  vision  is  aptly  captured  in  the message of the old national anthem if the politically incorrect language is ignored.

"Nigeria, We Hail Thee" (1960-1978)
Nigeria, we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood we stand,
Nigerians all are proud to serve
Our sovereign Motherland.

Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honour'd,
And this we count as gain,
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain.


O God of all creation,
Grant this our one request,
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed,
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed

QUESTION 
To  what  extent  have  these  aspirations  been  met  by  successive government  of  our nation? The brotherhood was shattered by a needless  fratricide civil war where millions of Nigeria lost their lives. The  war  stained  the “banner”  handed  over  to  us  by  our  father,  contrary  to  the vision  of  the  founding  fathers.  A  whole  generation  was  wasted  in  33  years  of military rule- a period where truth and justices were literally on vacation.


We  become  a  nation  where  the  prayers  of  the  founding  father  to  build  a  nation where  no  man  is  oppressed,  rang  hallow.  Oppressed  typed  our  nation  until  people losing  their  freedom  and  even  their  lives  by  peaceful  voicing  opposition  to government. Our government was born into this atmosphere of shattered hopes, surreal dreams, blurred  vision  and  a  bloody  civil  war.

We  are  weaned  under  the  jackboots  of military oppression, ethnic and religious strife, urban violence and finally “plenty”of want. It is this generation that has now been called upon to restore Nigeria to the original vision of our founding fathers. The challenges are daunting in the sense that we lack one of the most basic tools of any political endeavour – experience of good governance. The founding fathers had a very short period to actualize their dream/vision before the noble enterprise was shaken to its foundations. The generation of our fathers was wasted by military rule that of our elder brothers was lost to economic depression. But we are determine to succeed.

Today,  we  are  literally  back  to  where  they  are  at  independence,  with  the  task  of building a united, prosperous and peaceful nation still a dream. Unfortunately, time is  not on  our  side,  we  are  not  at the  dawn  of  our  generation  but at  late  afternoon, with the twilight about to set in as to be expected of a people with literally  forlorn hope, Nigerian’s are importantly expectant. We  do  not  blame  them,  it  is  the  duty  of  government  as  the  generation  of  leaders called upon to restore the vision to meet their aspirations.

It  is  possible  to  achieve  modernity  within  a  generation  as  the  experience  of Singapore  that developed  from  a  3rd  world  country  to  First  (1st)  world country.  In 30 years between 1960 and 1990 and subsequently that of Malaysia has shown. All that is required is a Leadership with Vision and political will. This is probably our nation’s  last  chance,  as  from  the  current  global  trend,  it  is  doubtful if  any  nation will have another 40 years to experiment with government but as stated earlier, 40 years is more than a enough time for a nation to achieve modernity.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, UNNECESSARY BURDEN.....By Dotun George

Nigerians do not seem to appreciate the importance of the parliament in a democracy and are therefore not concerned enough to act on their failings. But this is the time for them to rise up and demand performance from their legislators. It is also time to decide whether the resources deployed to maintain the 108 senators and 360 House of Representatives members are commensurate with their output. Can the economy continue to sustain their ostentation?

In Senegal, when it became obvious that a bicameral legislature could no longer be sustained, there was a decision to operate a unicameral legislature. President Macky Sall, on abolition of the Senate in 2012, decided to use the $15 million saved to contain the threats of floods.
There is nothing wrong in facing the reality by pruning the number of the two arms of the National Assembly in Nigeria as a cost-saving measure. Not only that, it also makes sense to reduce the job of the lawmakers into a part-time assignment, where members could only take sitting allowances. There is nothing in what is currently happening at the National Assembly that cannot be handled on a part-time basis.

LIFE IN AFRICA AND THE WAY OUT. – By Dotun George

One of my life's visions is deeply rooted in the African vision. Leaders after leaders from across Africa have longed passionately for a new continent. We saw that in Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela, Obafemi Awolowo, Herbert Marcurly, Albert Luthuli and others. They have imagined and envisioned a continent imbued with visionary leadership, capable of mobilizing and harnessing Africa's enormous human and material resources towards social, economic and political peace and stability. In the actualizing that, they came together to form Organization of Africa Unity. Since then, was Africa united? It was at the face of this Organization Africa continent was tore apart through racism, segregation, war, genocide and what have you.

Presently, this vision looks far-fetched. It perhaps looks more far-fetched today than it was yesterday. Almost all the negative indices are up. Political instability. Poverty. Corruption. Ethnic wars and the worst of it is the xenophobic attack on foreign national especially Nigerians in South Africa. Africa's rapid population growth rate falls far below its economic growth rate. Saddled with heavy debt burdens, visionless leadership and the all-pervading corruption, the continent - with its 600 million plus people - has become a laughing stock and the object of international concern.

Africa has always been in the news. At one time the continent was the theatre of the heinous crime of slavery between the 16th and the 19th centuries. At another time, it was at the receiving end of a big scramble that led to the partitioning of the continent into colonies. The road to freedom from colonialism was paved with blood. The misuse of that freedom paved way for neo-colonialism. The cold war led to a second partitioning of Africa into the communist and capitalist camps. Africa became the bride wooed by two powerful forces in a battle for supremacy. That battle bequeathed to our continent corrupt and inept governments that were propped up by their masters and were more concerned about their personal survival than the survival of their people. The cold war had hardly ended before globalisation of trade became the vogue. Trade globalisation has exposed the African economy as weak and non-competitive.

One of the latest sobering news coming out of Africa shows that AIDS, the world’s most dreaded disease, has gotten its foot-hold in the continent. Of the global total of 34.3 million people infected with the deadly virus, 24.5 million (or 70%) of them are Africans. In the year 2000 alone, the Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 3.8 million new cases of HIV/AIDS!
Ebola virus has done devastating havoc most especially to the people of West Africa. Thousands of lives were claimed by Ebola in Liberia, Serea Lone, Gambia, Garbon and few in Nigeria.

Good news, but…
But it is not all bad news from Africa. Obviously the most cheering news is that Africa today is the most Christianised continent in the world!
My thinking is that Africa can use what she has got to get what she does not have. Our cathedrals are bursting at their seams. Sunday after Sunday, African Christians throng the churches for worship and spiritual guidance. Our leaders openly request for prayers and attest to their faith in Christ. But this massive outpouring of the Spirit is yet to translate into new habits and lifestyles that are capable of bringing our continent out of the pit of despair. Corruption has not abated.

Observers have noted that this seeming piety is directed to 'An Unknown God' who has remained a mystery to a lot of Africans. Like the Athenians, Africans are known to be deeply religious people. But God has become a mere tool of worship to achieve a selfish end rather than One to relate to and obey in all things. It could be said of a lot of African Christians as "having a form of godliness but denying its power….” Profession of faith is hardly matched with the practice of faith. The yawning gap between profession and practice has brought the African Church into a state of disrepute and has given the impression that she is an accomplice to the corruption and ineptitude that characterize Africa rather than the Light that she claims to be.

Church as Agents of Change
Even then, the African Christians remain the most potent forces to counter the darkness that has overwhelmed the continent. If adequately mobilized, reset her priority and stop fooling herself because of fanciful edifice of their place of worship,  that is. This is because the Church remains the only Body of Christ and the Pillar of Truth on earth. Not only that, the Christian faith is a revolutionary faith. It calls believers to a new life (new creation) and the submission to a Biblical worldview through discipleship. Believers are advised to develop a radical mind that is in conformity with the new creation realities and to firmly resist the temptation to be conformed to the world standards.
Church supposed to be non-conformist, anti-corruption crusader, a new breed without greed, a radical opposition to corruption and usher in a new order of life, norms, system, structures and attitudes that will dignify man.

"Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]…"

ECONOMIC WOES: CAUSES AND LIKELY SOLUTIONS....... By Dotun George

Nigeria economy is gradually sliding into recession because of the mismanagement of the nation's wealth and resources by the past regime. Over the years, we refused to invest, diversify our economy, we run only mono economy that is solely dependent on oil. We refused  to think ahead, we are not proactive in our approach to all our national issues, unfortunately, the repercussion is now catch up with us a d hitting the entire country badly.

A recession is a decline of economic activity, more specifically, a decline in gross domestic product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters. GDP is the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.

There is outcry everywhere and agitations are rising day by day for a better and prosperous nation. It seems government is helpless and the whole country is confused. I have stopped to disturb myself because my mentor, who is also a watchman over this country said before now when the whole nation was preparing for the last general election and early this year, he made reference to it again in one of his nation wide live broadcast made in the month of January 2016. He said, Nigeria will go through a transition period before revolution, transformation and desire change comes. Obviously, it seems every approach of government is not yielding the required result and everything seems to be stagnated, yes it will be because change by nature are not microwave and it does not happen over night. To change a rotten and bastardized system and country comes with a lot of difficulty, at the beginning, the whole exercise and attempt might looks impossible and futile but if the government and the citizens do not relent in the attempt to birth change, in no time, the desire change and transformation will come.

Many who are ignorant of the economic cycle will blame it on the current government, no. Nigeria has been showing symptoms of recession for a long time, but but now the reality was dawn on us. In the past we are given bogus economic figures and whitewash GDP figure that does not reflect in the economic lives of Nigeria.

Recession is an opportunity for a nation and the people to rise higher provided we can see what lies ahead. What need to be done as government is to change the strategy, reposition the institutions and structure of governance. Let us a create accurate database of our population, employed and unemployed populace, students in school and those out of school and those did not have the opportunity of stepping into the four walls of formal schools. Proper and accurate population database will aid our economic planing. The citizens must position themselves accurately and take hold of the opportunities and begin to create economic pathways, that is what change the fortune the Indians and Chinese.

A productive country and serious minded government leverage on everything and every situation and turn it around for their advantages. In 2008-2009 when there was global recession, Germany was not in recession because they have a system and structure that can mitigate such natural occurrence. In Germany 30% of their students goes to University and 75% of the students goes to polytechnic and technical colleges. During recession they are able to rise above it because average workers are technically and technologically skillful, what that means is that, they prioritize human capital development. A productive citizens will produce a productive country but a lazy country like Nigeria where everybody is busy looking amnesty, handouts and crumbs of bread from government is country already programmed for poverty, economic woes and recession.

To get out of recession, we must focus on power generation and equilibrium distribution of power. Power is imperative to meet local demand, to drive economy both at micro and macro level. We need to decentralize the source of power generation. Why giving me power from Kanji Dam when the cost of getting power from Kanji have already killed the economy. It does not make any economic sense.

One of the major disservice the pass regime did to us was that, the privatization of power they did and transferred to this regime was faulty and it can't deliver desired results. Nigeria government in the past privatized distribution of power instead of power generation, we can't make progress that way until we rewrite the wrong of the past this country will continue to grope in the day as if we are in the dark.