Sometime in July, it was announced that the Republic of Ireland was now the world's 2^nd richest nation, second only to Japan who came first. For a nation that just under 20 years ago was one of the poorest in the western hemisphere, recording high levels of emigration, and crime, the catapult from being very poor, to being very rich in record time, is nothing short of a miracle.

However the miracle did not just happen. Successive Irish governments made conscious and sustained efforts to pull their nation and people out of the woods. There was massive investments in quality education, which saw to the Irish becoming some of the best skilled in Europe. Substantial investments in Infrastructure were also undertaken. A comprehensive package of economic reforms, which heralded the liberalisation of the economy, low corporate tax, (the lowest corporation tax in Europe) and series of incentives targeted at foreign direct investors, corporations, et al.

By the beginning of the 90’s the sustained tripodal package of educational, infrastructural, and economic reforms had begun to show results, with foreign corporations falling over themselves to gain a foothold in Ireland. The mid 90’s and beyond anchored Ireland as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in Europe. The multiplier effect of an influx of investments, saw to an expansion in the service industries, an unprecedented boom in the construction and housing industry amongst others. These economic exchanges and activities combined have created immense wealth and correspondingly made Ireland the world's 2^nd richest nation.

The Beauty Of Homogeneity:

One of the factors, which must not be ignored, that has helped the Irish in their steadfast stride towards successful economic empowerment is their homogeneity. Unlike in Nigeria, there is no Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo etall. No Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Arewa, or Caliphate. Correspondingly there is no marginalization, ethno-religious strife, power struggle, or runaway corruption which is directly linked to an absence of a sense of belonging. The Irish have a single ethnic and religious (Christian) identity. The few organisations that do exist in place of unprogressive, divisive tribal organisations, are mainly organisations that champion animal rights, institutions for homeless people, and charities that raise money for people dying of hunger and disease in 3^rd world countries.

Homogeneity and “one love” has fostered political stability, and made it possible for the Irish to concentrate on economic development and social welfare. Nowadays the evidence of stupendous wealth abounds everywhere in Ireland. The whole nation looks like one big construction yard, with roads, tunnels, bridges, industrial parks, shopping malls, and posh housing estates under-construction littered all over the Irish landscape. Brand new cars are another common feature of the Irish landscape, made worse with the Irish car registration system that incorporates a car’s year of manufacture into the registration plate. This has served to encourage subtle competition, with everybody struggling to acquire a new car that proudly displays 2005, or 2006 in it’s registration plate.

Trust Nigerians, all of them, even the unemployed are running around attending “owambe” parties and doing shakara with their spanking new cars. A direct fallout or benefit of living in a mega-prosperous society, which is far from what obtains in our decrepit and rotten “tribal republic of Nigeria”.

The Irish social system has also immensely benefited from the massive cash flow. As a homogenous people with genuine love for all, they have extended and increased free medical care, social housing, and social welfare allowances, to the handicapped, low income earners, unemployed, aged, single mothers, returning Irish, and several other categories of disadvantaged peoples. The government is duly accountable to the people, and every Irish, or Irish resident can attest to having benefited directly or indirectly from the well managed largesse of the Irish miracle.

Comrade Lawrence  Chinedu  Nwobu

Email:lawrencenwobu@yahoo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 24.08.2006 18:23

Obugi  Villager

# 2 Nwobu, Trust Nigerians, all of them, even the unemployed are running around attending “owambe� parties and doing shakara with their spanking new cars. That na small thing. I hear that giving birth to or having a child born in Ireland used to entitle foreigners to residence papers. Some aquintances told me stories of how unmarried Naija women were producing bastards all over the place to get their pali. Also that men were seriously chasing the women in order to become stepfathers. So much for African cultural values and morals. Africans! Una too much! Obugi. Posted by Obugi| 24.08.2006 18:31

Pale-Rider  Villager

# 3 Comrade & Broda Nwobu, Congrats and welldone as our people would say, for this article. It helps in the process of trying to unblind the chronic blinding blindness that has been cast over all the people of Nigeria all these years. Bless U Real Gud! Gud Voice From The Past. PaleRider. Posted by Pale-Rider| 24.08.2006 18:37

Abraxas  Villager

# 4 Hi, Señor Comrade Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu (Maazi)! The faulty logic of your rather simplistic presentation goes something like this: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1: Ireland is homogeneous in terms of ethnic and religious differentiation. 2: Ireland is prosperous because it is homogeneous. Unlike in Nigeria, there is no Anang, Edo, Fulani, Gwari, Ibibio, Igala, Igbo, Ika, Itshekiri, Izon, Kalabari, Kanuri, Hausa, Tiv, Yoruba, et al. No Afenifere, Afonja Descendant’s Union, Aka Ikenga, Arewa Consultative Forum, Kaduna Mafia, Urhobo Development Union, Ijebu Parapo, Langtang Mafia, Ohanaeze, Sakkwato Caliphate, or Supreme Egbesu Assembly. Correspondingly, in Ireland, there is a sense of belonging. Unlike in Nigeria, there is no marginalization, or ethno-religious strife, or power struggle, or runaway corruption in Ireland. Homogeneity and so-called “one love” have fostered political stability, and made it possible for the Irish to concentrate on economic development and social welfare. 3: Nigeria is NOT homogeneous in terms of ethnic and religious differentiation. 4: Therefore, Nigeria CANNOT be prosperous because, unlike Ireland, it is NOT homogeneous. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kindly review, modify as necessary, and resubmit your revised and edited presentation for consideration as appropriate: Homogeneity is NOT a prerequisite for prosperity. Period! Muchas gracias, mi amigo. POST SCRIPT: I am just curious about what a young Nigerian “Comrade” is doing in Ireland. Cross-border multi-lateral trade unionism? Cheerio, my pikin! Posted by Abraxas| 25.08.2006 01:03

Papino  Villager

# 5 Juan Carlos Abraxxas couldn't be more correct in his response to a short sighted and simplistic attempt to compare Ireland with Nigeria. Its marvellous to recount the Irish miracle and not too bad an illusion to wish that Nigeria follows suit but,we should remeber that both have their inherent peculiarities.I would be fair enough to observe that the coinage of the word"Miracle"in explaining the successes of Ireland in the recent past explains Abraxxas footnote remark that homogenuity is not equal to prosperity.Since Chinedu knows already that a miracle is something that is not natural,lets accept that there is no guarantee whatsoever that another country even with the peculiarities of Ireland-mentioned and forgotten-cannot produce the same wonders he sees in Ireland today. The difference is clear! Posted by Papino| 25.08.2006 02:42

Oghre  Villager

# 6 Chinedu, You forgot to mention a few vital facts about this make-belief unevenly distributed affluence of Ireland Ireland has become one of the most unequal countries in the “developed� world, according to its government. It was recently described as the most expensive country in the Euro zone to live in, I don’t know if you are aware of this, but it is. It is one of the most racist countries in Europe, while they tend to give the impression that they are welcoming and friendly, they exhibit the most blatant ignorance and hatred I have ever seen anywhere in my travels. You also forgot to mention that the UN report on Ireland says the country has the second-highest level of poverty in the Western world, 15.3 per cent of Irish people live in poverty...assuming all the places we know are accounted for. 22.3 per cent of Irish people are described as functionally illiterate, worse than in any other Western country, according to the Irish National Adult Literacy Agency that number could easily be more. Irish women's earned income is only 40 per cent that of men’s and women are under-represented in parliament and management. It has one of the worst crime rates in Europe, with the justice minister admitting in public that the war on violent crime is almost lost to IRA drug lords and hired killers. Ireland may be geographically situated in Western Europe but as far as I am concerned it is a rich 3rd world country. I am not going to talk about its level of sex abuse, paedophilia, corruption in government (the size that other Europeans can’t understand), its 3rd world infrastructure and its most disgusting environment. Surely no one wants to hear that Ireland still dumps body parts from hospitals operating tables in rubbish dumps and skips. http://www.nala.ie/about/ http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2004/0716/3709800071HM1OFFLEAD.html http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/02/06/story243289.html http://www.finegael.ie/fine-Gael-News.cfm/NewsID/28941 Posted by Oghre| 25.08.2006 04:10

bennie  Villager

# 7 Chinedu, Well done. We must give credit to whom it is due so I must congratulate the Irish State for their ability to turn things around for the betterment of her citizens. I am a benefactor of their good economic and social policies. This is a good article but for someone who has worked in the homeless and voluntary sectors of the Irish economy, I would agree with some points raised by Oghre. Ireland has a rich economy and to some extent, a failing society. Alcohol abuse is doing a serious damage to most families. There is more money around to buy alcohol and drugs now. A third of all crimes or more can be traced to the abuse of alcohol. Gangland killings are on the rise. Anti-social behaviour is the order of the day. Ireland as you know as has been dubbed 'rip off republic'. While it is a rich nation, it is also one of the most expensive places to live in on the globe. The Government needs to do more in these regards. Have a great weekend. Bennie Posted by bennie| 25.08.2006 06:19

Austin  Villager

# 8 While it might not be correct to postulate that homogeneity is the prerequisite for prosperity, as the writer did. Yet it will be very correct to claim that there is a VERY HIGH DEGREE OF CORRELATION BETWEEN HOMOGENEITY AND THE PROSPERITY OF NATIONS. And the reason to support this is very straight forward: homogeneity can be a very essential factor in facilitating GROUP CONSENSUS, which is very essential for POLICY FORMULATION, ACCEPTANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION (etc), which is in turn very essential for POLICY SUCCESS, which is again very essential for PROSPERITY OF NATIONS. Based on this premise and other observed characteristics unique to Nigeria, one has no reservation in concluding thus: that the level of prosperity would have been substantially better, if Nigeria were to be a homogenous nation, or better put, if some of the various nationalities that currently constitute the state of Nigeria, have had the opportunity to evolve into homogenous nations. One can at least confidently say this much about Nigeria and not any other country in Africa or beyond. Posted by Austin| 25.08.2006 13:27

Pale-Rider  Villager

# 9 It's so sad - to be frank beyond pathetic that the simple anology of homogeneity the writer of this article gave to explain the "Economic Miracle" that's become of the Irish - has been taken beyond the bizarre by experts of the eyeful but see-less. If I may be correct, the writers point of argument was never the tribal non-homogeneity of Nigeria is mark that she will never come out of the dungeon she's been confined by her bastards sons. The issue is we're at the "Cross Roads" of our collective destinies as even Ruben Abati pointed out in its article todal - yet no one seems to give leeway as par the issue at hand. All we can perambulate about is homogeneity as hegoats tied - running round in circles of their intended circus of the lost mind. Let ask, how homogenous in ideology is a Labour ruled Britain and a stark Republican America today? And how homogenous is all Western Democracies that collectively, they're determined beyond measures to root out the human plague of terrorism in anyway, anyhow and at all cost? When I see the way all of us feels comfortable in our restless comforts, I'm sometimes, almost tempted to tell Hon Prof Utomi and the likes of Chidi Giniji - good idea mates but our collective blindness, don't deserve honest foray of good intentions. That's why Bible scholars sometimes wonder why didn't the likes of Biblical Joshuas and Calebs leave those Israelites of Bible time to forever see themselves as grasshoppers and the amalekites over like the ones over us - as forever "GIANTS?" Posted by Pale-Rider| 25.08.2006 14:25

Palamedes  Villager

# 10 The Republic of Ireland, the world's 2nd richest nation? How did you come to this conclusion? Is it by GDP (purchasing power parity) or GDP per capital (PPP). The GDP per capital is indeed high but it is the GDP that gives a country its rich status. Also, remember that Ireland foreign debt according to the CIA World Fackbook is $1.049 trillion You also forget the massive economic aid from the EU rich donor countries by way of the European Regional Fund, European Social Fund etc; and aid from the USA. This is not to knock Eire success but to put the facts straight. Posted by Palamedes| 25.08.2006 16:25

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