Things I’m Grateful For 

By Okey Ndibe 

As a Nigerian I’m grateful for a number of positive things. I’m grateful that the third term gambit collapsed; it would have spelt disaster for Nigeria. I’m ecstatic that the Supreme Court squelched the plot to foist Nnamdi Emmanuel Uba as the (s)elected governor of Anambra. It’s splendid that—after years of disappointment and spinelessness—a growing number of Nigerian judges are rediscovering their constitutional mission, and rising to the challenge of judicial independence. Aware of the grave effects of graft and illicit capital flight from Nigeria, I’m grateful that many former and serving public officials—from local government officials through governors and legislators to former President Olusegun Obasanjo—are being asked to answer for their inexplicable wealth. Finally, I am thankful that—as a countervailing force to such champions of impunity as the Uba brothers, Lamidi Adedibu and Ahmadu Ali—Nigeria is blessed with such intrepid moral voices as Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Sonala Olumhense, Chinweizu, Sowore Omoyele, Niyi Osundare, and Levi Obijiofor. I can shout it from the rooftops: There’s some hope!  

SOC Okenwa

 Thanksgiving Special. (Hope In The Horizon)
  
Thanksgiving? What should I be thankful for or why should I be proud as a Nigerian? Well, as a Nigerian I am thankful to God, on this day of thanksgiving, for His Mighty Hand upon our nation, upon our lives as Nigerians.
 
I see a nation bouncing back to her feet in no too distant a future; my eyes behold a nation overcoming her present difficulties to truly become the giant and hope of Africa.
I appreciate a great people, whose tribes or tongues differ, rising in unison to battle those impediments to achieving our great potentials as a great nation!
 
I am thankful to the Almighty, the only One I am beholden to, for keeping one alive to witness the national rennaissance of a motherland in trouble.
 
I am thankful to the Big Boss, the only Being who does not betray nor deny His own, for making me be party to the new generation desperate for a positive change, desperate for a revolution aimed at freeing our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters from the shackles of poverty and hopelessness.
 
As I see hope in the horizon I can only say: To God be the glory!
 
SOC Okenwa

Ronke Macaulay

When I witness Nigerians excelling in their chosen fields all over the world: doctors, teachers, footballers, singers, models, engineers, nurses, entrepreneurs, actors, I am hopeful the day will come when they all feel unable to resist the pull to return home. I am filled with pride at the vast amount of talent that has emanated from this one nation. Wherever they find themselves, Nigerians are determined to rise above their limitations. We rise above racism; we rise above the negative stereotypes about all Africans; we rise above our tarnished international image. Whatever we may be, we refuse to be mediocre.    

EUCHARIA MBACHU :

This a Thanksgiving Message to all our readers, families, friends and colleagues.

Nigeria is definitely part and parcel of the New World Order. Her size and demographics have made us a living voice for international dialogue and communication among human beings. On Thursday Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving. A time to remember and share, a time to reflect and give thanks, a time to say, friends, families Balance and peace in your lives. We too join them in our own way in remembering Our Creator who made all humans DNA Africans. I take this opportunity to thank the God Lord for making me a Nigerian and a member of the human race.

There are many things to thank the Lord for and Nigerians like me are willing to sing the songs and make the proper genuflections in celebration of His mercy, His benevolence and His innumerable gifts in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. Through this Nigerian Village Square, I have come to appreciate my Nigerian identity as well as my humanity. Not only have I profited from the intellectual and emotional resources of my pepole in the village, but I have also come to see the common thread that tie and bind us together. Let us thank the Creator and Savior for Creation which makes it possible for all of us to live and let others live under different lands and climes. We should thank Him for the oxygen that keeps us alive and the creativity that comes through the pages of this online magazine. Through His Might and Power we have come together to create and disseminate new ideas, new hopes and new dreams about our nation. With our tongues, our pens and our arms we have come to knee and to pray for peace and love all NIGERIANS ANYHWERE they might be.

Seyi Olu Awofeso

On my first day in university, i went to the library, picked up a rather fat book more out of curiosity; really, than intent, but as it turned out, the very first lines i read in that book were direct quotations from Aristotle, that, "..the un-investigated life is not worth living". Today, on reflection, i give thanks to the political leadership of Western Nigeria in the 1950's, under Obafemi Awolowo, whose policies made it possible for me to be educated, tuition-free, and to lead a worthy life, with the mental resource to investigate it

Joseph Thompson

Thank you for the opportunity to express a sentiment that I am thankful for as we remember our Nation this Thanksgiving holiday. Below is my short statement.

 

As I survey the landscape of this beautiful, mysterious and colorful nation of ours called Nigeria, I can't help but think that she is slowly but surely becoming who she was made to be. In the myriad challenges she has faced, in the multiplicity of adversity, she has proudly stood as a beacon on the horizon of hope, calling out to the faithful and the believers in her destiny, "I will rise again. Out of the ashes of the martyrs that gave themselves for the ideals that we embrace as a nation, I will rise to become the true jewel of Africa." I am truly thankful to be a Nigerian!
 

In His Grip,
Joseph Thompson

http://jthelmsdeep.blogspot.com/

Gratitude on a Thanksgivings Day

Mr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy 

Thanksgiving is upon us again: that time of the year when one ought to be grateful for the life and the moments one has. In a world where nothing is guaranteed, one must, at all times, be appreciative. Indeed, one must be thankful, not just for the big things, but also for the little things like acts of trust and kindness, expression of faith and confidence, and the words of admonition that comes our way. Little things are as vital as the big things. 

Life is a beautiful thing. Living is a wonderful thing. In spite of all the difficulties of life and living, i.e. intricate challenges, failures, and disappointments -- life must go on, one must continue to live life to its fullest. Failures must not deter, or define ones existence. We must, at all times, rise above and beyond our failures and limitations. One of life’s great lessons is that in spite of its attendant complexities, there are great moments of joy and happiness, epiphanies, eureka, successes and triumphs. 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am hopeful and grateful for several things: I am hopeful of life’s several possibilities; I am optimistic that my country, Nigeria, will not disintegrate and that it will find its footings in the not too distant future. I have hope and faith in her because of her enormous talents and resources and promises and goodwill. With the right mishmash of leaders and political will, our country will turn the right corner. 

In so many ways, I am thankful; grateful that I was born a Nigerian. Not minding our real and perceived reputation, it feels awfully good to be a Nigerian. Damn, it feels good! In the same vein, I am also grateful for being an American. The United States of America has offered me -- me and my family -- the opportunity to reap the rewards and profits its offers all those who work hard, obey the laws, and fulfill their civic duties. 

What is there not to be grateful for? Besides the aforementioned, I am alive and well and pursuing my dreams. I love and am loved. I have a vocation and an avocation. As I grow, I also help others to grow. As I smile, I also bring smiles and light to the life of others. In all I do, I do for others. I do not live for myself alone. I am the world and the world is me. I live in peace because I bring peace to the world. 

On a more personal level, I am thankful to all my friends. I can’t name them all, and I can’t thank them adequately for their friendship and humanity and benevolence. Without my friends, I wouldn’t be half the man I am today. And then there is my family. Ha, my family! Without my family, I wouldn’t be the other half I am today. Combined, my friends and family have made me whole. And so, with my head bowed, I thank them all! 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I shall eat and be merry. I shall eat, be merry and be grateful for all the blessings and fortunes that have come my way. But I shall not forget the hungry, the thirsty and the denied. And so I shall recommit myself to alleviating the plight and sorrow of the downtrodden, the browbeaten and the exploited. I shall recommit myself to the progress and the advancement of my land and its people. 

In all of these, if there is a heaven to be thanked, I thank now; otherwise, I thank all those who made my life a possibility, a mountain of joy. To my fellow Nigerians and fellow Americans, I doff my hat -- champagne glass raised -- I say to you all: be well, be safe, be happy, and have a great Thanksgiving! May you be loved as much as I am loved; and may you love as much as I love. 

Thank you…Happy Thanksgiving To You All…Peace! 

A Seductive Whisper - NVS Thanksgiving Special - Churchill Okonkwo

As we reflect on this year's Thanksgiving, we have a lot to thank God for - for our lives, for our families and loved ones and for our nation. It was difficult, but when I closed my eyed and looked at Nigeria , I saw a pebble - a smooth crystal clear pebble. I observed the curves, measured the curvature and felt the warmth her soul. I also saw some equations. I analyzed, differentiated, integrated and got a balanced equation. This is a seductive whisper.

The good thing here is this wonderful opportunity we have to take a close look at ourselves, to dissect our hearts, to explore the mars in us, to shield ourselves from the rays of the sun and yet be surprised at the beauty – the astounding beauty, the resilience – the stubborn resilience that lay within the soul of the nation. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about. Join me in thanking God for his great nation and the potential it holds.

Thank God for giving us the judiciary
The powerful iroko still standing

Thank God for giving us the media
The mouth piece of all concerned

Thank God for giving us NVS
The Village Square of Ideas  

Thank God for giving us the rains and the rivers
The alternative would have been drought

Thank God for giving us the clement weather in the coast of West Africa
The alternative - hurricane would have been a disaster

Thank God for our resolute and devotion for good governance
The band wagon for a New Greater Nigeria

Thank God for Thanksgiving
The day we have to only positively think Nigeria

Thank God for the diversity in our mother tongue and culture
The standing together in brotherhood  

Thank God for the endless vistas of hope and light in the future of the nation
The seductive whisper.
 

 

Rudolf Okonkwo

 

I am thankful that I do not have to quote Friedrich Nietzsche for people to pay me any mind.

 

I am thankful for God’s silence around me for it confirms His presence - at work.

 

I am thankful that I am gradually conquering desire, sucking its mysteries out, as I approach nirvana.

 

I am thankful the woman called prosperity was finally revealed to me. She was wearing a gown of thorns.

 

I am thankful that I am still willing to be lucky by the only means I know – working hard.

 

I am thankful I worship hope not human; guts not guns; and deeds not degrees.

 

I am thankful that the real terminal degree is the one only death bestows.

 

I am thankful that I know at a very young age that admiration has an evil twin brother called envy. And that they only separate when sand goes back to sand and dust back to dust.

 

I am thankful that I am the Federal Reserve chairman of my most valuable legal tender – time.

 

I am thankful for those little secrets that nobody but me knows.

 

I am thankful I haven’t crossed the tiny line between self-esteem and self-annihilation.

 

I am thankful that I know that our tumbles are not all caused by foes who stifle our breath; many are caused by friends, families and pastors who attribute all tumbles to foes who stifle our breath.

 

I am thankful that I know that truth is not beautiful and lie is mere decorated dirt.

 

I am thankful I didn’t spend a lifetime before I understood that true love travels through rough valleys and rugged mountains.

 

I am thankful that my marriage was not made in heaven but in the heart of a special woman, Edna, who I can reach with smiles, tears and fears.

 

I am thankful for the impression of me as an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-in-all man that my kids, Ijeamaka and Ogonna, have.

 

I am thankful for my parents, J. C. and Madam J. C for teaching me how to think for myself.

 

I am thankful for my siblings who pick up the slack as I strive to scribe an all-summer slam.

 

I am thankful I am able to make sacrifices in spite of the embarrassing moral authority they try to confer on me.

 

I am thankful for my annoying habits. Otherwise, I would think I am perfect.

 

I am thankful for those who chew me out. They love me. Even though neither them nor I often believe it.

 

I am thankful I am good at something. I just have to find out what the hell that thing is.

 

I am thankful that I have hot heart and cold head and not the other way round.

 

I am thankful to the angel who tapped me, woke me up, and said to me, “‘no’ is also an answer.”

 

I am thankful that in my loneliness lies the seed of my uniqueness.

 

I am thankful that dripping vanities of this world have not found a way to chip away at my conscience.

 

I am thankful that I have the courage to follow my own paths. Otherwise, I would have been stuck in highway traffic.

 

I am thankful that even though I see God in his grace everyday but recognize Him not, He sees me covered with filth but still recognizes me.

 

I am thankful that in spite of everything going on, I still smile at every impending wonder.

 

Happy Thanksgiving.

*************************

Rudolf Okonkwo is the author of Children of A Retired God. To see how his novel is coming along, visit www.mytrashmore.blogspot.com 

Chris Ede

Being thankful should be an everyday expression, rather than one day event. The expression that "I was sad because I could not afford to purchase a pair of shoes of my choice, until I saw somebody with his two legs amputated," should always remind us how unsettle life is. 

 

We definitely have a lot to be thankful to God.

 

Being alive, and well to celebrate this thanksgiving with our immediate families, loved ones, and friends.

 

The status of our country, Nigeria today calls for Thanksgiving. It is true that we have so many problems to deal with, however, most of these problems are self contracted. It is not compounded by natural disasters like cyclone, earthquake etc, we often hear, or see in other parts of the world. So it is something to be thankful to God.

 

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving, we should remember the sick, the bereaved, and less unfortunate ones among us

Robot  Villager

# 1 As we reflect on this year's Thanksgiving, we have a lot to than...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 21.11.2007 03:38

philipikita  Villager

# 2 I love Nigeria and the Nigerian people on the streets and in the villages who just toil and are satisfied with the basic needs alone, never bothered with unnecessary “luxuries”; I love the village Headmaster that used the cane to ensure I understood how to do my arithmetic; I love the village farmer, whose produce is what sustains the food needs of over 140 million Nigerians; I appreciate the bus drivers and conductors, who keep working, despite that 90% of commuters treat them as nonentities; I thank God for the “maishayi”, who provides affordable breakfast for low income urbanites like me; May God bless “Mama Put” who provides hot, steaming variety of foods boiling on top of firewood; May God bless Ajegunle musicians for providing and entertaining Nigerians with a unique brand of “Naija pop” music; Thank God for the PDP and its leaders, because they are showing us how NOT to be a good political party; God Bless Naija people… Posted by philipikita| 22.11.2007 05:42

Uche Nworah  Villager

# 3 You Americans and your annual thanksgiving ritual. We over here thank God everyday for life, for good health, for the gift of family and friends and the favour He sorrounds us with always. Posted by Uche Nworah| 22.11.2007 05:45

WayoGuy  Villager

# 4 I give thanks because in spite of its problems my Nigeria, to me, is the best place in the world. In my numerous sojourns, my sundry trips to other African Nations in addition to my readings and re-readings of the socio-political lives of our brothers and sisters in the developed nations, I have found none in which I will take greater pride than my Nigeria. Yes, pride, the possession and exhibition of self-esteem, a high conception of ones own excellence of mind and body, a belief in the high quality of one's achievements and place in the community of men. For that I give thanks today. I am infused with pride that public institutions in Nigeria from the highest to the lowest are peopled and staffed by Nigerians unlike many African nations where the native owners are now serving the visitors who visited but never left. For that I give thanks today. I am proud that even the inter-ethnic fights in Nigeria are no more than that - inter-ethnic fights. No overtone of superiority goes with the machine-gunning and knifing and swording and macheting of my brothers and sisters. Yes, we die anyway, just like those in the other nations without pride. We, however, die body-first, as has been decreed by nature, and not spirit-first as decreed by racial suppression. Racial suppression makes cowards of men except the valiant. And "cowards," Shakespeare wrote, "die many times before their death, but the valiant only once." It is not death that concerns the proud man, it is the manner of death. Death with dignity is what he wants. And so I proudly expect to die but once. For that I give thanks today. I am proud that even when I give bribes to obtain public service, I am not giving it to anyone but my own brothers and sisters. They spend that money to patronize my old people at home, patronize my auto mechanic brother on the roadside, patronize our mothers who have convenience stores in the small towns, patronize our brothers driving their broken-down taxis and buses in the cities. And so, once again, I am proud. For that I give thanks today. We may not all be rich and perfect in Nigeria. But pride is found even among those living in squalors, pride is not synonymous with perfection or with opulence. As a true son of Nigeria, I must remain proud of my heritage, my Nigeria. My proud Nigeria! You, too, should be proud and join me in giving thanks on this day for our Nigerianness. Posted by WayoGuy| 22.11.2007 05:51

crimsonbabe  Villager

# 5 I thank God for answered prayers. I thank God for life, love, family and health and all the "jara" that comes along.. Just my $0.2 CB Posted by crimsonbabe| 22.11.2007 06:16

Oru-Ama  Villager

# 6 N-i-g-e-r-i-a is my country land... A f r i c a is a nice continent... I thank God for my country Nigeria. It's a place to be! I thank God for everything associated with Nigeria. I thank God I am part of a people that show love to each other. YES... PURE LOVE... UNDILUTED. Have you ever been hurt while on the streets in Lagos or elsewhere? All the Ndos' Peles' Doos'. Have you ever been attacked on the streets... unknown people will come to your rescue. Ah my papa land! I thank God for blessing us with everything that others do not have. I also thank God for Umunpade, Oru Ahiara... a place I love so much! GOD BLESS NIGERIA! Posted by Oru-Ama| 22.11.2007 07:21

igwe  Villager

# 7 "..the un-investigated life is not worth living". Today, on reflection, i give thanks to the political leadership of Western Nigeria in the 1950's, under Obafemi Awolowo, whose policies made it possible for me to be educated, tuition-free, and to lead a worthy life, with the mental resource to investigate it --Seyi Olu Awofeso I believe that famous quip was made by Socrates. What a wonderful way to pay tribute to Awo. A great man indeed! With almost nothing, he gave free and quality education to all. Now with billions, our schools are anything but schools. Awo is a resounding proof that, according to Achebe, the problem of Nigeria is squarely that of bad leadership. But let us be thankful for what we have and hope for the best about the things we don't have. Posted by igwe| 22.11.2007 07:39

emj  Villager

# 8 Hmmm......we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last month(october to be precise). Of course the culture of a national day of thanksgiving is restricted to the 1st world. Nigerians in Nigeria have their individual days of thanksgiving but not a National one. Am thankful to God for divine sustenance- health, progress, protection for me and my family. Am also thankful that.. Fresh Air is free. It is no mean feat to be able to get up every morning unaided.......thank God that we can function in an environment that is devoid of fear and regret.....I pray that Nigerians in Nigeria will be able to feel and enjoy the real fruit of Democracy when it unfolds.....soonest. Am thankful to the Administrators of NVS for providing the platform through which i can express myself unhindered.........thanks for giving me a voice..... It's a good thing that we can come to NVS to hangout with Nigerians in Diaspora, foreigners and Nigerians in Nigeria. A big shout out to members of The Board and all the Staff of JJCAMB of the VTT..Village Twin Towers. A special shout out to The Welcomer In Chief- Don Abraxas III, Adviser General on Due Process - Madam Dimaanu, the TVROs, STVROs, SICs etc etc ati bee bee lo, All Elders, Villagers and JJCs...i wish u all good Jollification. Happy Thanksgiving all:eek::p Chairperson Board of Trustees JJCAMB Posted by emj| 22.11.2007 08:03

SILOJE  Villager

# 9 I thank God...for the gift of another day. Posted by SILOJE| 22.11.2007 08:14

gwappa  Villager

# 10 I thank God for geting a new job today. 22,11,2007. Posted by gwappa| 22.11.2007 08:31

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