Over 3 years ago, I wrote the article "When talk alone is cheap" the issues that I espoused have not changed significantly since then, what has changed though is the growth of the Nigerian blogosphere, from Saharareporters to the nigeriavillagesquare.com, you will agree with me that the power brokers are paying some attention to what Nigerians have to say, sadly, that is where it ends, except for a few charitable acts here and there, the British Airways boycott etc, the Nigerian blogosphere in my opinion has not effectively utilized its medium to demand for and get the change it desires. With hundreds and possibly thousands of active, well informed bloggers, the Nigerian blogosphere ought to retool and harness its human capital in the fight to take Nigeria back.

It is refreshing to read Pius Adesanmi's narrative on his attempt to take Nigeria back one village at a time, this is a good start but we all need to join in this effort. We can start from our wards, villages and states.

While on the subject of taking Nigeria back, I want to call our attention to an assumption that I have noticed within the Nigerian blogosphere, its what I call an acute distrust of anyone or any ideal that does not come to our self proclaimed idea of political puritanism. In this case, you will find the most vicious critic of Nuhu Ribadu, Bola Tinubu, Pat Utomi, Nasir El Rufai, Donald Duke, Ngozi Iweala and a host of other promising progressive Nigerians. While I am not suggesting that criticism is not appropriate, infact it is necessary, I do however believe that our criticism should be couched in political reality. These group of men and women may not have lived up to our best ideals all the time but they are certainly and I say this without any equivocation, they are a far cry from what Nigeria has lived through within the last three decades.

What is needed here is a collaborative effort between the Nigerian blogosphere and those who are on the ground in Nigeria, the ones that are showing signs of promise, we need to encourage them, correct them constructively when we think they are wrong and work in partnership with them to usher in the Nigeria of our dreams. I have reposted "When talk alone is cheap" in its entirety. I believe it is as poignant then as it is now.

 "When talk alone is cheap"

Am not going to bore you all with the same over flogged rhetoric, that Nigeria doesn’t have reliable energy, that most of our infrastructures are in dilapidated states, that our healthcare delivery is in shambles, our security agencies ram shackled, that even though our constitution calls for a federal system of government, we are in fact a unitary state and that with the rest of the woes facing this nation, the Nigerian people have been greatly traumatized in the process.

The issue now is, since we have identified most of the ills facing our nation and in most cases also offered solutions, what do we do next? Are we just going to be armchair commentators or soldiers in the battlefield of freedom? 

I declare that talk is cheap when it is not backed by action, Nigerians in the Diaspora have a great opportunity to live and work in an environment where their labor is rewarded handsomely, they should use whatever leverage they have to press home to the Nigerian government that good living ought not to be a preserve of the rich and mighty in Nigeria alone but that the government’s primary responsibility is in creating an enabling environment for prosperity to thrive for all.

We have to note that there has been a pattern amongst past and present Nigerian leadership. More often than not, they are anti people, morbidly corrupt, oppressive and utterly totalitarian. The result has been the continued deterioration of every facet of life of the Nigerian people. As you read this, the average life span of a Nigerian is at 44 years! How pathetic!!

Because of this kind of leadership, we as a people have been tuned to forever criticize and compare one bad government to another. Now it is my humble opinion that we need to do more. The Wole Soyinkas, Anthony Enahoros et al have done their part, the torch should pass on to younger Nigerians both in the Diaspora and in the motherland, all hands must be on deck to wrestle Nigeria out of the hands of the thieving class that has become its albatross. The following are ways that I think we can do this:

1. The formation of a strong multi ethnic coalition with card carrying members both in the Diaspora and in the motherland
2. They should have a constitution that would not be ambiguous and one that will be ratified by all founding members.
3. A standing committee with clearly defined tenure that will carry out the day to day activity of the organizations should be put in place.
4. Their agendas should be clearly spelt out, its primary goal should be to promote good governance in Nigeria using legitimate channels to achieve this.
5. In the Diaspora, these organizations will be saddled with carrying out seminars, workshops etc and protest marches whenever any high ranking government official is visiting. Its standing committees will provide the logistics for these.
6. The standing committees will also be responsible for lobbying members of the United States congress and other European parliaments.
7. Besides the annual stipends that will be contributed by card-carrying members, the committees will also have the mandate to seek for funds from individuals, foreign governments and multi national corporations.
8. All affairs of these organizations must be transparent and democratic in order for it to be credible.
9. With well coordinated efforts, these organizations will have favorable legislation passed on its behalf demanding good government accountability from Nigeria.
10. They can also participate in the Nigerian national assembly by sending forth pro-growth bills to the body, the issue of our federalism and the workability or otherwise of the present constitution should take front and center.
11. Finally, after careful consultation within its members and with some financial stability, these organizations can metamorphose into a political party and continue to set agenda for the nation.

I submit that if we as a people can fight for what rightfully belongs to us instead of just talking about it, we can indeed move a long way towards the free and prosperous Nigeria that we dream of. If you agree that yesterday was too late a day to have started this, then lets get it started now.

Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia can be reached @abdulajia@yahoo.com

www.abdulajia.blogspot.com

Robot  # 1 | 26.02.2009 20:20

Over 3 years ago, I wrote the article "When talk alone is cheap" the issues that I espousedhave not changed significantly since then, what has changed though is the growth of the Nigerian blogosphere, from Saharareporters to the nigeriavillagesquare.com, you will agree with me that the power brokers are paying some attention to what Nigerians have to say, sadly, that is where it ends, except for a few charitable acts here and there, the British Airways boycott etc, the Nigerian blogosphere in my opinion has not effectively utilized its medium to demand for and get the change it desires. With hundreds and possibly thousands of active, well informed bloggers, the Nigerian blogosphere ought to retool and harness its human capital in the fight to take Nigeria back. It is refreshing to read Pius Adesanmi's narrative on his attempt to take Nigeri...Read the full article.

Metternich  # 2 | 26.02.2009 20:54

This is impressive. I am fully in support of this. It is realistic and practical, not some lofty goal of running for President. But therein lies the hopeless case that is Nigeria. How many of our internet warriors who saw this the first time around took it up, instead we spend time on articles that dwell on ethnic differences. I encourage everyone who cares for Nigeria to sign up for this. It will take a while to get things going but we can certainly reclaim our country.

Eja  # 3 | 27.02.2009 03:26

I agree with most of the ideas presented here. My only objection is with point 7: 7. Besides the annual stipends that will be contributed by card-carrying members, the committees will also have the mandate to seek for funds from individuals, foreign governments and multi national corporations. I do not think foreign governments or multinationals should be tapped for funds. Too often, this has being the way groups are subverted. As the saying goes, "Who pays the piper calls the tune". This control by outside forces is not something that happens immediately; it evolves over time. We should remember that most of those ruining Nigeria right now are working in tandem with these same foreign governments and multinationals and, what you will find - once the signs are apparent that the group is serious - is that all of a sudden, large amounts of funds become available and at first, these moneys will come with no strings attached. This is to get you used to having money for anything you want to do. You then start making more commitments because you now have the funds to carry through. It is not until the habit is entrenched that your financiers start making suggestions: "While we think you are doing a great job, maybe you should cut back on this sort of rhetoric...maybe you should stop concentrating on this thing and focus instead on that other thing. If you take our advice, I am sure that we could raise your stipend...." Of course not everybody in the group will agree. Some will want to stay true to the original aims but, there will be others who will think it worthwhile to be 'realistic'. The redefinition of aims and divisions that will come from this moment of internal crisis will be the beginning of the end. It should be noted that it is not only foreign governments and multi-nationals who are capable of this sort of diversion. There are also individuals in Nigeria (i.e. Nigerians) who will be prepared to start contributing money to any group (or person) that they think stands a chance of affecting the status quo. These sorts of individuals will also have to be avoided. Therefore, I suggest that where fund-raising is concerned, any group that really intends to do something different in Nigeria will need to limit itself to collecting funds from the sort of sources who will never be able to get enough leverage to bring about diversions.

Louis  # 4 | 27.02.2009 07:56

I like it a lot. I read recently about a Facebook Application that enables users to view and discuss all DC-Govt. spending above $2500 and I wondered for a split second if such a thing could be done for Nigeria. Of course I came to my senses almost immediately, realising the futility of such an idea - does such data even exist in Nigeria? However, a coalition such as the one proposed here may well be able to push for it and might even succeed in getting it after a few years. A man can dream can't he - sigh!!!

Skyblue  # 5 | 27.02.2009 09:33

The article has home truths in it. Looking through different forums that are Nigerian related it is obvious to see that there are people with a lot to say. Everyday people make the efforts to indulge in debates, arguements, criticism and "social commentary". While there isn't necessarily anything wrong with such, it is quite disheartening that the country with the people who very understandably complain a lot to high heavens never seem to want to move beyond that. I have decided to go beyond social commentary and there was a very interesting thread on a nigerian forum that got me interested in the whole premise of action. The outcome of a series of discussion was the formation of a movement. The movement is geared towards positive change through working towards set goals achieved through planning and use of effective strategy. The goal is simply positive impact and the scope is wide. The aim is to provide an outlet for the millions who are frustrated with the situation in Nigeria but don't know what to do or how to help. For those who want to go beyond 'social commentary' and critique and actually work towards positive impact. Could be as simple as working with a group of people towards getting PCs for a school to working with others towards propagating good governance. There are currently about 80 members and among us we have lawyers, engineers, journalists, etc. Different but unifying in the vision of a better Nigeria which we have to work towards. All are absolutely welcome, let us work together to improve make the country better. There is a dedicated forum already where we have meetings, do work, mark progress, make plans, etc. At the moment we are in the process of officially registering as a non government organisation and already have planned projects in the works. Related links http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-230880.0.html http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/political-action/20022-nvs-p-c-4.html http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49515427949 you can contact us at; ndmnigeria@gmail.com

agbajo owo  # 6 | 28.02.2009 18:33

This makes a lot of sense. I will plead that the author liase with the editors of NVS to set inmotion this organization. We need to make impact in 2011, which is just around the corner. If we don't act now we will still be here after 2011 venting our anger into the "air". Nigerian being the type of people we are it will not be long before some people hijack the organization for thier selfish. There will be in fighting and factions on leadership. Examples of all these abound. Therefore we should be conscious of it from the onset.