Yesterday (Saturday 1st October 2016) Nigeria clocked 56 years as an independent nation. Celebrations were however understandably muted/low key. Tough times have been hitting hard.

Avoidable tough times or self-inflicted hardships due to mismanagement that is!

The above is why I believe the write-up linked/previewed below offers Nigerian intellectuals in particular, serious food for thought to address her many problems.

I first read this compelling piece in 2014, and most of its contents greatly resonated with me. It was reportedly written by a US-based Zambian media practitioner and author named Field Ruwe, who (at the time) was a PhD candidate with a B.A. in Mass Communication and Journalism, and an M.A. in History.

=Starts=

They call the Third World the lazy man’s purview; the sluggishly slothful and languorous prefecture. In this realm people are sleepy, dreamy, torpid, lethargic, and therefore indigent—totally penniless, needy, destitute, poverty-stricken, disfavored, and impoverished.

In this demesne, as they call it, there are hardly any discoveries, inventions, and innovations. Africa is the trailblazer. Some still call it “the dark continent” for the light that flickers under the tunnel is not that of hope, but an approaching train.

And because countless keep waiting in the way of the train, millions die and many more remain decapitated by the day.

“It’s amazing how you all sit there and watch yourselves die,” the man next to me said. “Get up and do something about it.”

Brawny, fully bald-headed, with intense, steely eyes, he was as cold as they come. When I first discovered I was going to spend my New Year’s Eve next to him on a non-stop JetBlue flight from Los Angeles to Boston I was angst-ridden. I associate marble-shaven Caucasians with iconoclastic skin-heads, most of who are racist.

“My name is Walter,” he extended his hand as soon as I settled in my seat.
I told him mine with a precautious smile.
“Where are you from?” he asked.

Click here to continue