11 Oct 2009 |
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We Must Not Forget Jude Igwemezie IT is important that you know a compatriot of ours called Jude Igwemezie. He is the Nigerian engineer who has won a contract to build a monorail network in Iraq worth $500 million under the auspices of a company called TransGlobin International. The proposed rail network will link the city of Najaf with three Islamic holy sites in Shale, Kufa and Imam Ali. Before going to the Iraqis with his proposal, Igwemezie had first approached the Nigerian authorities. Out of patriotism! He wanted to build a standard gauge rail from Calabar to Lagos. But the Nigerians in power only tossed him up and down. "As a diaspora person, I kept coming back, knocking to help Nigeria. On the other hand, I can't keep knocking forever, " he lamented. In the end, our man took his skills to Iraq where the authorities seeing the value of his effort and track record signed a Memorandum of Understanding with him in two months! By the time Igwemezie's project in Iraq is completed, with Iraqis benefiting from the ingenuity of a Nigeria-led team, Nigeria will still be busy trying to figure out a solution to its transportation crisis. This is the Nigerian story all over again. It is one of the reasons we are a failed state. Nigeria has many outstanding achievers in different fields of human endeavour in the world. But we are unable to make use of their talents. When they come home, seeking to help, the mediocres within the system shut them out. If they are truly determined and refuse to go away, they could be confronted with funny stories about religion, or ethnicity and if that doesn't work, they could be poisoned or bumped off. Nigeria runs a system that resists talent and excellence. It is a country where mediocrity thrives. Sadly, we keep giving to other countries what we lack at home. Nigeria 's railway system for example is dead. In the last eight years, so many billions have been invested in it, and there is nothing to show for all that. And yet, Nigerians continue to die and groan on terrible roads. Can anyone blame Jude Igwemezie if some day, he decides to change his nationality? We must rebrand our country first by making it accept the best and the brightest.
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