IS THERE A BETTER NIGERIA IN SIGHT???

Is There A Better Nigeria In Sight???

By Victor Odiong

This morning, I saw a picture on Facebook titled ‘How Buhari was disgraced in the UN”. The picture had the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari addressing a scanty United Nations Congress. The writer went on to compare this to a similar picture of the American president, Barrack Obama, on the same podium addressing a packed full audience. I was particularly surprised when the writer insinuated that Buhari got a scanty audience because the world didn’t want to listen to him. How naïve!!!!Do you think Obama got the wide audience because he is Obama? No!!!....he got the attention because of who and what he represented. He represented the American nation.  So, when it was Buhari’s turn to give a speech with more than eighty percent of the audience absent, it was a clear message that the world was not interested on what the Nigerian nation had to say.

It is October Ist and Nigeria is 55 years old. Pardon for not particularly leaping with joy. Don’t get me wrong, I am no prophet of doom. I believe in positive speaking and faith declarations. But you must first identify a problem before you speak to it. Only a fool does the same things over and over and expects different results. It is a shame that at 55, the Nigerian nation has no national vision.  Without a vision, the people are destroyed (Proverbs 29:18). I dare to ask ten Nigerians what is the national goal for the next ten years and I bet you, I will get ten different answers – which is a clear indication that there is none. This is not a Buhari problem, or a Nigerian congress problem, it is the number one prevailing crisis of the Nigerian state.

Malaysia produce palm oil just like Nigeria. Yet, Malaysia currently accounts for 39% of the world palm oil production and 44% of world exports. I can hear some critic saying, “Please Victor, don’t compare Nigeria with Malaysia, we don’t have to produce palm oil”. To which I will reply, “I totally agree sir, you don’t have to produce palm oil but you must produce something’. What does Nigeria produce that is of economic relevance to the world? What is she producing that the world cannot do without? Her value and relevance is proportional to her input in the global marketplace. Unfortunately the only thing the Nigerian nation currently can offer is oil, which her customers can get somewhere else. People will always listen to you when you have value. The Nigerian economy has solely been dependent from crude oil for national revenue. With the growing decline in price of oil barrel, it is only a matter of time before her economy comes to a standstill. What is the next plan? Until Nigeria consciously develops a vision for her tomorrow, her tomorrow can never be better than her today.

Recently the Chinese leader visited the United States. Oh, my God!!.....Washington stood still. But China a few years ago was nobody. It wasn’t until the introduction of economic reforms in 1978 that China became the world’s fastest growing economy. As at 2014, it is the world’s second largest economy by nominal total GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China is the world’s largest exporter and second largest importer of goods. Why, all because in 1978 there was a plan in place to make it possible.

Nigeria is 55 years today, but until she begins to plan for her future and have a vision to increase her relevance in the world marketplace, she won’t be any better twenty years from today. People will always listen to a sitting American president because America has made herself relevant in global matters. Nigeria may not have the same impact on global economy as America does, but she needs to start somewhere. I was taught a long time ago that ‘your sense of value determines your flow of virtue”. Meaning, the value you place on a thing determines your attention to it. If the Nigerian nation needs the world to listen to her, then she must do something about her value. At the current UN Summit, the audience didn’t walk out on Buhari, they walked out on the Nigerian nation.  It was simply an unconscious message saying, ‘Nigeria has nothing to offer my country’.

I write this, not only to the Nigerian president, or the Nigerian congress or the Nigerian courts but to every living Nigerian. “Have a vision, a sense of purpose. Success is first within. You can win, you can stand. But it all begins with a dream and a conscious effort to attain the impossible. Refuse the limitations of your past and arise to the possibility of a fresh beginning. Have a plan of your future and begin today to pursue it. I SEE A BETTER NIGERIA…………………………. See you @ the top!!!!!

The Best Type of Intimacy

  The Best Type of Intimacy

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: "HELP!.........My mother is a witch".

"HELP!...............My mother is a witch".

-----(from my cousin) Victor Odiong Lib. collection

That's the excuse I hear these days. Nobody wants to bear the responsibility for their actions. It’s seems far more convenient to blame someone else for your problems. I am still puzzled by the number of educated folks who are still gullible to this whole witch hunt. I had an uncle who was a witch hunter all through this youth. He was always in the front seat in ensuring that the village community punished anyone found to be a witch. Funny enough, when he grew old everybody claimed he was a witch. The hunter had become the hunted.


I am not saying witches do not exist. They do, but I am rather appalled by the fact that in developing countries like Nigeria, every casualty or mishap gets branded “an act of witchcraft”. If a woman can’t get a husband, someone in her family must be a witch. Really??!!….is there no possibility that her foul mouth and bossy/negative attitude could have driven away any potential suitor? And then, if she gets married and can’t have children? Well, that’s another level of witchcraft all together (and then In-Laws, pheeeew). When my cousin died of HIV/AIDS a few years ago, I was amazed that folks still attributed his death to witchcraft. HABA!!!!!!. We have come to this naive conclusion that everything in life must be spiritually initiated. There are spiritual laws and there a physical laws as well. If you walk under the rain, you will get wet. If you put your hand in fire, you will get burnt. If you have unprotected sex, you might catch a disease. PERIOD!!!!

We spend most of our prayer time binding and loosening demons, primarily out of fear. We have turned the Holy Ghost into a hired assassins (for example you hear things like, “Holy Ghost fire, fry my enemies – DIE, DIE, DIE). Here is the basic truth. If any witch or demon has the power to change your destiny, then you must be serving a far lesser god. The good book declares in psalm 23,”…he prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies’. Contrary to popular belief, God does not have to kill the witch for you to succeed. He has prepared the table of feast for you in their presence. They don't have to die. NOOOOOO!!!...God wants them to live and see you succeed. He doesn’t want you afraid of them… he wants you to shine in spite all the efforts from hell to stop you.

And about the title of this piece..... It’s just a catchy phrase to get your attention. It worked, didn't it? My mama isn’t a witch. But the truth is, even if she was (which she isn’t), it would not stop me from becoming whatever I want to be. Your destiny is in your hands. Stop blaming someone else for your shortcomings.

Folks, if only you knew the power available at your disposal, you would live everyday like a lion. Live, Roar and Conquer. Take control of your life. Go after what you want. Remember the tower of Babel? God himself was quoted saying, “…..what these people have imagined, they are well able to perform” It is the same truth today. Whatever you imagine continually, you will become eventually. It all begins and ends with you.
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