In 1945, at the end of World War 2 when most of Europe lay in ruins, two superpowers, with conflicting ideologies emerged — the United States and the Soviet Union. No nation in the world could boast of as much natural resources as Soviet Union could. The nation was richer in oil, uranium, gold and forest than any other in the world. But in a world that increasingly valued entrepreneurship, communication and freedom, the Soviet Union got increasingly irrelevant, got poorer and poorer until it eventually broke apart. Today, the nation Soviet Union, no longer exists —- totally extinct. Today, despite the ongoing recession, the United States of America remains the world’s leading nation.

This does not have to happen to Nigeria but I think that the elite ought to stop talking about what a great country it is, and how terribly important it is to the United States. Is Nigeria, a good model for democracy? Is Nigeria a model for good governance? Nigeria’s strategic interest is not important to the United States.

During his first visit to Africa, the American President, the first black who happened to be of original African descent, snubbed Nigeria to go to Ghana. According to President Barrack Hussein Obama, “repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or drug traffickers can buy off Police. No businessman wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20% off the top, or the head of the port authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, which is tyranny and now is the time for it to end”. All emphasis mine.

But Hillary Clinton came to visit Nigeria. The elite in Nigeria thought her visit was to soothe and assuage frayed nerves in the sense of the defeat with which Nigeria met the visit of the US President to Ghana. Nigeria sees itself as the giant of Africa, as a regional power, if not intercontinental power. So it was considered a serious act of insult that Obama chose Ghana instead of Nigeria. The elite concluded that the visit was part of the fence mending efforts of the Obama administration. Besides, Nigeria was a key supplier of petroleum to the US.

The Nigerian elite are men and women who are used to people fawning over them, telling them that they are the best things that ever happened to the country. Not Hillary, America’s former first Lady who would have been the world’s most powerful leader, today if not for President Obama. The US Secretary of State came all the way from America to speak truth to power in Nigeria and she did that in dramatic manner. Not one to suffer fools gladly, the iron Lady of American politics said governance has failed in Nigeria. And she was unsparing in her criticism. “The most immediate source of disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, state and local levels ………Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state” she intoned.

Few days before she visited, she had presented to the world, her proof that the country is badly governed. “Nigeria is the fifth oil producer in the world and it still imports oil. This is an example of bad governance”. She said on the Cable News Network, (CNN).

Now, the United States has listed Nigeria among 10 countries classified as “security risk states”. The US decision came after an attempted terrorist attack by a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a Delta Airlines Plane at Detroit International Airport, Detroit. Michigan, on Christmas day.

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka said, “What concerns me is what led the US government to take this decision. I am sure it must be due to lack of good governance, which is a result of Nigeria being a rudderless nation. The decision is timely because of the present state of anarchy in the country. Nigeria is presently a black whole in the galaxy of nations. Unpredictability of the Nigerian nation and our battered image abroad must have also contributed”.

Nigeria is of no strategic importance to the US. I know all the arguments. The Nigeria elite says it is a major oil producer, it is the most populous country in Africa, it has made major contributions to Africa in peacekeeping and of course, negatively if Nigeria were to fall apart, the ripple effects would be tremendous.etc Nigeria’s importance creates a tendency to inflate Nigeria’s opinion of its invulnerability. Nigeria is not too big to fail, or too important to be ignored.

Let me deconstruct these elements of Nigeria’s importance, and ask whether they are as relevant as they have been. Yes, Nigeria is a major oil producer; but Brazil is now launching a 10-year programme that is going to make it one of the major oil producers in the world. And every other country in Africa is now beginning to produce oil. And Angola is rivaling Nigeria in oil production, and the US has just discovered a huge gas reserve, which is going to replace some of its dependence on imported energy. So if you look ahead 10 years, is Nigeria going to be that relevant as a major oil producer, or just another of the many oil producers, while the world moves on to alternative sources of energy and other sources of supply?

We often hear that one in five Africans is a Nigerian. What does it mean? Do we ever say one in five Asians is a Chinese? Chinese power comes not just for the fact that it has a lot of people, but it has harnessed the entrepreneurial talent and economic capacity and all the other talents of china to make her a major economic force and political force. What does it mean that one in five Africans is a Nigerian? It does not mean anything to a Namibian or a South African. It is a kind of conceit. What makes it important or what is happening to the people of Nigeria? Are their talents being tapped? Are they becoming an economic force? Is all that potential being used? And the answer is—Not really.

What about Nigeria’s contribution to the continent? There is a great history of those contributions. But that is history. Is Nigeria really playing a major role today in the crises in Niger on its border, or in Guinea, or the Darfur, or after many promises making any contributions to Somalia? The answer is no. Nigeria is today NOT making a major impact, on its region, or on the African Union or on the big problems of Africa that it was making before.

What about the economic influence? There is a de-industrialisation going on in the country. A disgraceful lack of infrastructure, a lack of power means that with imported goods, under globalisation, factories are closing and more people are being unemployed. The nation is becoming a kind of society that imports and exports and lives off the oil, which does not make it a significant economic entity.

Now of course on the negative side, the collapse of Nigeria would be enormous, but is that a point to make the country strategically important? The biggest danger in Nigeria’s relationship with the US is not its opposition but that the US will find the country irrelevant. We have already seen evidence of it. When President Obama went to Ghana, and not Nigeria, he was sending a message that Ghana symbolized more of the significant trends, issues and importance that one wants to put on Africa than Nigeria. And when secretary Clinton did go, she also went to Angola. Who would have thought years ago that Angola would be the most stable country in the Gulf of Guinea?

So the handwriting may already be on the wall, and it is a sad commentary. Because what it means is that Nigeria’s most important strategic importance in the end could be that it has failed. And that is a sad conclusion. We should now focus and talk about what it would take for Nigeria to be that important and great. And that takes an enormous amount of commitment. We don’t need saints, we don’t need leaders like Nelson Mandela in every state of the federation, because we are not going to get them. We need determined leaders who say “We could be becoming irrelevant, let us solve the fundamental economic issues of the country and turn it around”. It has to happen now.

Like

Unlike

Apostle Peter Oboh is the founder of Jesus Loves You Ministry in Lagos. The cleric, who hails from Edo State, relocated back to Lagos, in November 2008, after 18 years in Europe as an amateur and professional boxer. His adventure in Italy and the United Kingdom fetched him three boxing championship belts in the light heavy weight division. He presently runs an outreach ministry and preaches salvation in different Churches where he is invited.

Recently, he held a crusade in Lagos. The venue was the popular Comfort Hotel, Km 21 Apapa / Oshodi Expressway, Lagos. The man of God preached and prayed. Then he made an altar call for people to come out and give their lives to Jesus Christ. Things began to happen. Most of the people he touched and prayed for, fell down. The others he threw a white handkerchief at, also fell down. Raymond Lasisi, who recorded and edited the event on video CD, said the people fell down due to the Holy Spirit touch because they were filled with anointing.

Later in an interview, Apostle Peter Oboh told this writer that miracles are real. In his words, “miracles started from the beginning and miracles still exist and they will occur in future. Miracles bring the power of God with signs and wonders and they announce the power of God because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Signs, wonders and miracles do not guarantee the truth. Those who fail to look unto Jesus Christ but look unto Pastors and Prophets will be deceived. Jesus will not fail you but men will fail you”.

According to him, “I was born again in 1990 and it was the joy of knowing Jesus Christ that made me to handle challenges and adventures as tests of faith. Whenever I come across challenges, I prepare my mind that I will come out victorious. At one stage in my life in 1998, as a professional boxer, God spoke to me that I could destroy lack with sowing a seed. I woke up and went to sow a seed in my Church in South East London. After that, my boxing career changed”.

Apostle Oboh left Lagos, on March 14, 1990 for Italy. He was in Napoli and fought as amateur boxer for 5years winning all his fights. He began his professional career in May 1993 in Cassino, Italy by successfully stopping Italian Antonio Russo in the fifth round to win his first Pro bout. His first three professional fights were in Italy. He left for London, the United Kingdom in 1994.

He fought in three different weight classes in the United Kingdom, light heavy, cruiser and heavyweight because he had to make a living. All his fights were on a few days notice until the elimination bout against Chris Davies on January 29, 2001 at Peterborough, United Kingdom, which he won in round 8 to emerge the No 1 mandatory contender for the Commonwealth light heavyweight title. It was the first time he was given 8 weeks notice to prepare for a fight. “They’ve always given me 2 days notice, their regular method and I took the fights to pay my bills. They don’t believe it when I knockout my opponents. And I had a new manager, Dean Powell who had the same idea and goals, which is to become a world champion”.

On September 6, 2002, Oboh won his first title by knocking out Kenyan, George Adipo in the first round in Bethnal Green, London to grab the Commonwealth British light heavyweight championship. His next fight came in Coventry, United Kingdom on March 8, 2003 when he knocked out former British and Commonwealth Champion, Neil Simpson in round 11 to win the vacant British light heavy weight belt. He won the WBA International light heavy weight belt on November 14, 2003 by 11th round knock out over previously unbeaten Elvis Michailenko in Bethnal Green, London.

His camp went into negotiations with WBA world light heavy weight champion, Silvio Branco to defend his title in London or Italy. “I was ready to take on any light heavy weight world champion including former undisputed light heavy weight Roy Jones Jnr. There are too many games in boxing especially if you are an African. With all their tricks, I had conquered the domestic scene in the UK. They couldn’t stop me by robbing me of victory because I knocked everybody out. Then they frustrated me by not letting me get a shot at any of the world titles”.

With all the three belts, he still felt empty and he became morose and dispirited. He was not new to Christianity. He decided to be a full time minister of God. His last fight was 12 May 2004 against Andrew Lowe in Reading, United Kingdom, which he won by knock out in round 10. He retired from boxing as the British, Commonwealth and the WBA International light heavy weight-boxing champion.

This is what his manager, Dean Powell had to say, “… his boxing abilities and determination was not in doubt. He was a formidable opponent. He was a southpaw who lashed out with a devastating ware of combination punches. His gloves moved so fast with power that he would continue punching by reflex as his opponent was on his way down. He couldn’t stop himself. His mastery of the ring was great. But he went crazy and quite on me. He told me he saw God. I didn’t know what he was talking about”.

Apostle Oboh says he does not miss boxing although he still watches the sport on television. “People should come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and get convinced that they really need the saviour in their lives”.

He says Nigerians in Diaspora wishing to come back home should come with lots of money because only money can make them settle down in the country comfortably. He advises that they should also have their return tickets so that they can go back to where they came from if things don’t work out as they planned before they turn liabilities here in the country.

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke who disclosed this at the presentation of the World Bank-sponsored Nigerian Airborne Geophysical Survey Data phase II in Abuja,  said the import of the latest development is that Nigeria may well be on her way to joining  countries like Ghana in supplying gold to the world market.
According to Madueke, a  coring done last year by the small mining companies, to the depth of 3,000 meters, has proved more than 300,000 ounces, with 2 million ounces estimated..

“ The importance of this fantastic piece of news is probably best appreciated within the context of the knowledge  that Nigeria has gold schist belts in the western half of the country that are very similar to those of Ghana”, she said.
She said  surveys have shown that Nigeria is richly endowed with a range of solid minerals which if properly managed and exploited may in the near future become the engine of our national economic growth.

She said the Ministry has decided to place special focus on seven of the minerals which includes,  bitumen/tar sand with estimated reserves of 27bn barrels of oil equivalent, coal (2.7 billion tonnes), iron ores (3 billion tonnes), limestone (2.23 billion tonnes), barytes (14 million tonnes) and lead/zinc sulphides one million tonnes) .

Madueke described the completion of the geophysical survey phase II as something that would facilitate  mineral exploration, ground water prospecting, pollution and geo-hazard monitoring.

“The survey also measures the Digital Elevation Model (DEM)  and Shuttle Radar  Topographic Mission (SRIM) which provide detailed information on terrains, vegetations, landforms, settlements, roads and drainages.  The data is therefore extremely useful in security   surveilance and development planning”, she said.

The Minister further said plans are underway geological, mineral and geo-chemical mapping of the country with a view to providing all the necessary data  needed  to adequately tap the mineral resources to our economic advantage.

She said the Ministry is putting in place a genstone certification process, adding that it has reached aggreement with internationally renowned Nigeria-born Jeweler to design a Jewelry line, using exclusively Nigerian gemstones.

This line of Jewelry will be launched for the international and domestic market in March this year, she said.

Earlier, the geologist involved in the preparation the survey data, Prof. Collins Reeves said a mechanism will be put in  place to enable interested scientists to study, interpret and analyse the geophysical survey data and that the outcome of their study will be made public next year.

He said the experience of Brazil could be helpful in Nigeria quest  for effective utilization of solid mineral resources.

Like

Unlike

A 22-year-old Russian woman was detained on Thursday in western Moscow after she attempted to sell four African women into sexual slavery. The Russian woman accepted nearly $2,000 from an undercover police officer posing as a pimp, in exchange for the women, who came from Nigeria and Ghana.

Moscow police said they arranged a sting operation after receiving a tipoff that someone was trying to sell four women from Africa.

Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the young woman, a Muscovite, whose name was not released by police.

The detained woman offered to find jobs in Moscow for the Africans, police said.

Like

Unlike