The $60 Billion Oil Company That Owns Nigeria

CC™ VideoSpective

The Best Rendition of Nigeria’s True National Anthem

CC™ VideoSpective

The Culture of Low Expectations - Kemi Adegoke (Badenoch) at Tedx Euston

CC™ VideoScope

From gas to solar, bringing meaningful change to Nigeria’s energy systems

CC™ Energy News

Turner Jackson - MIT Energy Initiative

Growing up, Awele Uwagwu’s view of energy was deeply influenced by the oil and gas industry. He was born and raised in Port Harcourt, a city on the southern coast of Nigeria, and his hometown shaped his initial interest in understanding the role of energy in our lives.

“I basically grew up in a city colored by oil and gas,” says Uwagwu. “Many of the jobs in that area are in the oil sector, and I saw a lot of large companies coming in and creating new buildings and infrastructure. That very much tailored my interest in the energy sector. I kept thinking: What is all of this stuff going on, and what are all these big machines that I see every day? The more sinister side of it was: Why is the water bad? Why is the air bad? And, what can I do about it?”

Uwagwu has shaped much of his educational and professional journey around answering that question: “What can I do about it?” He is now a senior at MIT, majoring in chemical engineering with a minor in energy studies.

After attending high school in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, Uwagwu decided to pursue a degree in chemical engineering and briefly attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. Unfortunately, the impacts of a global crash in oil prices made the situation difficult back in Nigeria, so he returned home and found employment at an oil services company working on a water purification process.

It was during this time that he decided to apply to MIT. “I wanted to go to a really great place,” he says, “and I wanted to take my chances.” After only a few months of working at his new job, he was accepted to MIT.

“At this point in my life I had a much clearer picture of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be in the energy sector and make some sort of impact. But I didn’t quite know how I was going to do that,” he says.

With this in mind, Uwagwu met with Rachel Shulman, the undergraduate academic coordinator at the MIT Energy Initiative, to learn about the different ways that MIT is engaged in energy. He eventually decided to become an energy studies minor and concentrate in energy engineering studies through the 10-ENG: Energy program in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Additionally, he participated in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in the lab of William H. Green, the Hoyt C. Hottel Professor in Chemical Engineering, focusing on understanding the different reaction pathways for the production of soot from the combustion of carbon.

After this engaging experience, he reconnected with Shulman to get involved with another UROP, this time with a strong focus in renewable energy. She pointed him toward Ian Mathews — a postdoc in the Photovoltaic Research Laboratory and founder of Sensai Analytics — to discuss ways he could make a beneficial impact on the energy industry in Nigeria. This conversation led to a second UROP, under the supervision of Mathews. In that project, Uwagwu worked to figure out how cost-effective solar energy would be in Nigeria compared to petrol-powered generators, which are commonly used to supplement the unreliable national grid.

“The idea we had is that these generators are really, really bad for the environment, whereas solar is cheap and better for the environment,” Uwagwu says. “But we needed to know if solar is actually affordable.” After setting up a software model and connecting with Leke Oyefeso, a friend back home, to get data on generators, they concluded that solar was cost-comparable and often cheaper than the generators.

Armed with this information and another completed UROP, Uwagwu thought, “What happens next?” Quickly an idea started forming, so he and Oyefeso went to Venture Mentoring Services at MIT to figure out how to leverage this knowledge to start a company that could deliver a unique and much-needed product to the Nigerian market.

They ran through many different potential business plans and ideas, eventually deciding on creating software to design solar systems that are tailored to Nigeria’s specific needs and context. Having come up with the initial idea, they “chatted with people on the solar scene back home to see if this is even useful or if they even need this.”

Through these discussions and market research, it became increasingly clear to them what sort of novel and pivotal product they could offer to help accelerate Nigeria’s burgeoning solar sector, and their initial idea took on a new shape: solar design software coupled with an online marketplace that connects solar providers to funding sources and energy consumers. In recognition of his unique venture, Uwagwu received a prestigious Legatum Fellowship, a program that offers entrepreneurial MIT students strong mentoring and networking opportunities, educational experiences, and substantial financial support.

Since its founding in the summer of 2020, their startup, Idagba, has been hard at work getting its product ready for market. Starting a company in the midst of Covid-19 has created a set of unique challenges for Uwagwu and his team, especially as they operate on a whole other continent from their target market.

“We wanted to travel to Lagos last summer but were unable to do so,” he says. “We can’t make the software without talking to the people and businesses who are going to use it, so there are a lot of Zoom and phone calls going on.”

In spite of these challenges, Idagba is well on its path to commercialization. “Currently we are developing our minimum viable product,” comments Uwagwu. “The software is going to be very affordable, so there’s very little barrier for entry. We really want to help create this market for solar.”

In some ways, Idagba is drawing lessons from the success of Mo Ibrahim and his mobile phone company, Celtel. In the late 1990s, Celtel was able to quickly and drastically lower the overall price of cell phones across many countries in Africa, allowing for the widespread adoption of mobile communication at a much faster pace than had been anticipated. To Uwagwu, this same idea can be replicated for solar markets. “We want to reduce the financial and technical barriers to entry for solar like he did for telecom.”

This won’t be easy, but Uwagwu is up to the task. He sees his company taking off in three phases. The first is getting the design software online. After that has been accomplished — by mid-2021 — comes the hard part: getting customers and solar businesses connected and using the program. Once they have an existing user base and proven cash flow, the ultimate goal of the company is to create and facilitate an ecosystem of people wanting to push solar energy forward. This will make Idagba, as Uwagwu puts it, “the hub of solar energy in Nigeria.” Idagba has a long way to go before reaching that point, but Uwagwu is confident that the building blocks are in place to ensure its success.

After graduating in June, Uwagwu will be taking up a full-time position at the prestigious consulting firm Bain and Company, where he plans to gain even more experience and connections to help grow his company. This opportunity will provide him with the knowledge and expertise to come back to Idagba and, as he says, “commit my life to this.”

“This idea may seem ambitious and slightly nonsensical right now,” says Uwagwu, “but this venture has the potential to significantly push Nigeria away from unsustainable fossil fuel consumption to a much cleaner path.”

MIT News

Flashback: Nigeria - Sultan of Sokoto condemns Boko Haram crackdown

CC™ Editor's Flashback

The sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslims, has condemned the military crackdown against the Islamist Boko Haram sect.

"We cannot solve violence with violence," Mohamed Sa'ad Abubakar told a meeting of religious leaders.

The Boko Haram, based in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, says it is fighting for Islamic rule.

It has been behind recent assassinations of prominent figures and a wave of bombings.

Two years ago, Nigeria's security forces brutally suppressed an uprising by the sect, destroying its compound in Maiduguri - the capital of Borno state - and then capturing and killing its leader Mohammed Yusuf.

Instead of disappearing, the group, which opposes Western education and is fighting for Islamic rule, re-emerged last September and vowed to avenge its leader's death.

Last month, it said it had carried out an attack on the headquarters of the Nigerian police in Abuja, which killed at least six people.

But the response of the security forces has led to criticism from rights group and the governor of Borno state.

Correspondents say many residents of Maiduguri are now more scared of the army than they are of Boko Haram.

"That problem can never be solved by drafting soldiers into cities where there is [a] problem - and in the process innocent lives were lost," said the sultan, who once served as military officer.

It is the first time the sultan has spoken about the Boko Haram insurgency.

Muslim clerics who have criticised the sect have been among those targeted for assassination in drive-by shootings over the past year.

The sultan also said the five policemen who have just gone on trial this month for the killing of Mr Yusuf should not be given bail.

Boko Haram's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".

But residents of Maiduguri, where it was formed in 2002, dubbed it Boko Haram. 

Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means Western education is forbidden.

Boko Haram sees such education as corrupting Muslims.

Nigeria - Africa's most populous nation - is split between the predominately Muslim north and largely Christian south.

Editor’s Commentary - This piece was published on July 29, 2011 and another Southerner, Goodluck Jonathan was President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Sultan Mohamed Sa'ad Abubakar has always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In the piece in question from 2011, he (Sultan Abubakar), the leader of Nigeria’s Northern Muslims, vehemently opposed the military crackdown on the terrorists at the time, particularly because it was being led by a Southern Chief of Army Staff, a South-Easterner (Retired Lieutenant general Azubuike Ihejirika) to be precise, and it was also yielding results in terms of decimating the insurgents in a devastating way. 

Sultan Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai and ex-president, Muhammadu Buhari are religious and ethnic Fulani irredentists, who secretly and overtly (as El-Rufai did as Kaduna State Governor) subscribe to the tenets of Fulani supremacy and dominance by any means necessary. The hypocrisy of the Sultan of Sokoto is not debatable and he lacks (and will always lack) credibility when it comes to the twin issue of ethno-religious intolerance in Nigeria, as it relates to the ethnic cleansing in the Middle-Belt and other parts of Nigeria by the Fulani Herdsmen and Boko Haram.

Quota system: Why is Nigeria still breastfeeding the North?

Ex-President Buhari was accused of ethnic bias

CC™ Viewpoint 

By Dr. Ugoji Egbujo

Nigeria: Imagine two students in the same secondary school in Kaduna. They are 18. They are filled with youthful patriotism. They sit for admission exams into the NDA. They both want to read Mechanical Engineering. Efosa scores 280. Musa scores 180. Efosa's celebrations are cut short. He is not invited for an interview. Musa who scored 180 is hopping around. He has been invited for an interview. Musa is admitted. Efosa and Musa are Nigerians but from different states. Efosa with his 280 repeats the NDA exams the following year. He takes another 2 years to achieve a score of 300 and is finally admitted. Musa and Efosa become military officers. Musa who scored 180 when Efosa scored 280 is Efosa's boss. Musa remains Efosa's boss for the entire military career.

Musa would be happy. Efosa would carry a grudge against the country in his heart. Musa would be celebrated someday. He would be called Nigeria's finest. Efosa might get his chance. But with the grudge in his heart, he might not reach the top. Someday it would seep out and it could be Musa that would retire him.

Emir Sanusi is right, quota system should have an expiry date. But I think our quota system has already expired.

The North is full of smart people. It only needs to treat education with the same seriousness with which it attends to elections. If the North had come to education with the same keenness with which it approached population and census over the years, it would have been more educationally advanced than the South.

Quota system doesn't do the image of the North any good. Quota system creates the impression that the north is mentally handicapped. The North must understand that quota system ridicules it. The sort of mockery fit for a young adult who has refused to let go of feeding bottles.

Quota system distorts the system. It confers on its beneficiaries advantages meant for the handicapped. When persons who have two legs take advantages meant for wheelchair users they ought to feel some shame. 60 years after independence, the quota system we practice today is disgraceful.

The sections that benefit from it must feel the weight of its shame. It's possible they have never really addressed their minds to its ugly implications. The quota is simply an admission of inferiority. It simply says some groups lack the capacity to compete with others. That should be a humiliating position to adopt. So why are the beneficiaries marching around oblivious of its shame?

Quota system like other affirmative actions is righteous if they serve moral purposes. Whites in the United States denied blacks education and denied them participation in society. When slavery and racism were abolished, those chronic injustices meant blacks had been left far behind others. Since blacks couldn't compete but had to be included, blacks were allowed to get into Ivy League universities with lower scores. That was an adjustment made to accommodate their handicap. It was done to correct a gap created by injustice.

Quota system in Nigeria of today would be pardonable if it served to uplift women. Women and girls have been subjugated for ages. Girls in the far North have been excluded from education by retrogressive cultures. Quota system for northern girls only could be excusable to some extent. But a quota system used to service the ambitions of able-bodied but indolent men must be properly characterized as corruption-a reward for laziness.

Our statesmen who instituted the quota system must have intended a short-term measure to improve the participation of certain groups in national education and perhaps policymaking. They couldn't have anticipated a situation where political leaders in the North would abandon education and not be confronted with the consequences of their waywardness. Laziness should not be rewarded. The abysmal school enrollment figures in the North must reflect on the bigger stage.

Imagine a situation where admissions into the Nigerian Defense Academy were carried out only by merit. No one would be expected to disclose his state of origin. The best students would be chosen the way we choose players for the Super Eagles. We would have an officer corps chosen solely on merit. It could become lopsided. There could be grumblings about its lopsidedness. But no one would complain he had been cheated. States who abandon education would face the consequences of allowing rent-seeking manipulative politicians lead them.

When the nation was at infancy, sections like children had to be appeased with candies. Those who showed retardation had to be propped. But 60 years after independence, 60 years after all sections have had a chance to improve their educational system, 60 years after those who were thought weak have held the steering wheel, no section deserves this national babysitting.

When a system is used to improve political inclusion, it is good. When a system is used to perpetuate mediocrity and reward indolence it is evil. The quota system cannot continue to be used to help the very group that has dominated political leadership in the country.

Katsina has had two presidents. Katsina had a deputy military head of state. Niger state has had two heads of state. Katsina and Niger have been in the thick of things of national politics for ages. Yet, Katsina and Niger, are still deemed so educationally backwards that their indigenes cannot be allowed to compete with indigenes of Edo state.

Take a state like Borno. The National Security Adviser, the Chief of Army Staff, the president's Chief of Staff, the EFCC chairman were all from Borno State during the Buhari administration. Borno occupies more positions than any other State in the security architecture of this third world country. Why should Borno State indigenes be allowed to get into the military and security services with lower scores than people from Delta State?

I looked at the list of students for the National Common Entrance Examinations from a few years ago; Zamfara literally didn't participate. If that list is reliable then almost everyone who applied from Zamfara would gain admission because the number that applied from Zamfara is less than the number that applied from every small school in Lagos.

Yet, tomorrow, from amongst that small number of largely unqualified Zamfara students that would be admitted, the federal character would step in and catapult them to the highest positions in the land. If we practiced such a decadent system in our football or athletics we would be about the worst sporting nation in the world. So why do we practice it in politics, 60 years after trying to weave a nation?

I have read the arguments that say politics is not football. They mean exclusion would cause discontent and instability. But nothing causes discontent and instability more than injustice. When we shout 'One Nigeria,' we must mean it. True 'One Nigeria" is a Nigeria where all citizens are equal; where neither state of origin, religion nor ethnicity confers any advantages or disadvantages.

The North is full of smart people. Polices that cast it in negative light must stop. The abolition of the quota system is long overdue.

CEO of Nigeria's Air Peace charged in US with obstructing investigation into $20 million fraud probe

CC™ SundayView

By Rebecca Rommen, Business Insider

Allen Onyema, the CEO and founder of Nigeria's Air Peace airline, has been charged with obstruction of justice in the US, adding to previous charges of bank fraud and money laundering.

A press release from the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgiasays that Onyema, 61, was charged with "submitting false documents to the government in an effort to end an investigation of him" that led to those earlier charges, which were brought in 2019.

Ejiroghene Eghagha, 42, Air Peace's chief of administration and finance, was also charged with obstruction, the press release says.

The pair were indicted in 2019 over allegations that they had moved more than $20 million from Nigeria through US bank accounts by using false documents based on the purchase of five Boeing 737 planes.

The indictment, seen by Business Insider, says they submitted export letters of credit to fund the purchases, along with supporting purchase agreements, bills of sale, and appraisals.

But prosecutors argue that these documents were fake and that the company supposedly selling the planes, the Georgia-registered firm Springfield Aviation, was owned by Onyema and managed by someone with no connection to the aviation industry.

"The aircraft that was referenced in each of the export letters of credit was never owned or sold by Springfield Aviation," the indictment says.

Once the money was in the US, prosecutors say Onyema laundered over $16 million by moving it to other accounts.

In 2019, investigators then say Onyema, aware he was under investigation, told the Springfield Aviation manager to sign but not date a business contract.

His attorneys are later said to have presented this document — which was now dated before the alleged fraud began — to the government "in an effort to stop the investigation and unfreeze his bank accounts."Following the latest charges, Ryan Buchanan, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said: "Onyema allegedly leveraged his status as a prominent business leader and airline executive while using falsified documents to commit fraud."

Earlier this year, Onyema made headlines after he welcomed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Nigeria. Harry and Markle flew from Nigeria's capital Abuja to Lagos on Air Peace in May, the MailOnline reported at the time.

An unnamed source close to the pair told the Daily Beast that the couple's travel within Nigeria had been arranged by the Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff.

Business Insider has contacted Air Peace for comment.

Source: Business Insider

Nigeria’s Historical Role As The Giant of Africa

CC™ VideoSpective

African Students Debate Racism In The 1950s

CC™ VideoSpective

Why Nigeria’s problems can be traced back to the legacy of British Colonialism

CC™ VideoSpective

Nigeria’s New (Old) National Anthem

CC™ VideoSpective

Still on Constitutionalism: A wake-up call

Late Nigerian Dictator Sani Abacha

CC™ Nigeriaworld

By Abdulrazaq Magaji

Over the past several months, the restructuring debate has understandably been pushed to the front burner with opinions on the issue being as impassioned as they are divided. Expectedly, every Nigerian appears to have an idea on how, when and what to restructure.

That is the way it should be! But, with popular opinion in support of preserving the continued existence of Nigeria as one, united country, attention should be focused on restructuring to strengthen political structures. It is good that the ninth Senate has activated a nationwide debate on securing a people-oriented constitution.

It might not have been top on the agenda when then Head of State, General Sani Abacha, convoked the National Constitutional Conference in 1994, but, little did he know that he had surreptitiously set the country on the path of restructuring.  Had death not abridged General Abacha’s plans, it is safe to say that all the hot air over marginalization, more imagined than real, and some of the ills we are grappling with, would have been consigned to history.

Reference here is to stillborn report of the 1994/95 National Constitutional Conference. A review of salient provisions of the report shows that, had it seen the light of day, Nigeria would have transformed from a country of contending ethnic nationalities into a modern nation-state in a matter of thirty years! In a manner of speaking, the Abacha draft is the best effort at constitutionalism since independence in 1960.

Sadly, General Abacha died suddenly after holding the country together for five impossible years. Imperatively, survival instincts demanded that General Abacha be disowned by those who succeeded him. The national emergency then was to heal wounds and woo the aggrieved South-west geo-political zone back into the fold. It was, therefore, expedient for his stopgap successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, to distance himself as much as possible. The biggest casualty was the report of Confab ’94.

One of the committees hurriedly assembled by the new administration to explore the way forward was led by an eminent jurist, late Justice Niki Tobi. The Committee appeared to be in a haste to deliver; after all, it had its briefs well spelt out. The Committee took one hasty look at the Abacha Report and dismissed it offhanded as ‘anti-people’. Remarkably, the eminent jurist rationalized the decision to throw away the Abacha document by claiming it was the ‘product of a disputed legitimacy’. In its place, the 1979 constitution was lazily window-dressed and closed shop!

As things stand today, Nigeria continues to grope partly due to the lethargy with which the Abacha document was handled. The nation’s official six geo-political zones remains an enduring legacy of General Abacha. In any case, the zones were meant to be the building blocks for the fundamental changes envisaged by the 1995 draft constitution which made provision for the offices of president, vice president, senate president, house speaker as well as the position of prime minister and deputy prime minister. A five-year single-term for political offices. Public office holders were restricted to a five-year single-term tenure.

The ‘Abacha document’ had something for everybody. Had political exigencies not prevailed on General Abubakar into literally throwing away the baby with the bathwater, Nigeria would, by now, have experimented with the Abacha formula for twenty-two   of the ‘thirty-year transition period’ which aim was to ‘promote national cohesion and integration’, after which merit and competence would replace rotation in determining who gets what.

In strict adherence to the principle of rotation envisaged by the Abacha document, at no point in time would any of the six geo-political zones have cause to complain of marginalization since there was always going to be one ‘juicy’ office to be vied for by each of the zones every five years. What this means is that, in 2018, the fifth of the six zones would have produced a president for the country and, by 2023, all six key political offices would have gone round the six geopolitical zones on rotational basis.

Of equal importance is that the unique provision eliminates the incumbency factor and its attendant abuses. Since the draft envisaged its replication at state levels, the president and other principal officers as well as state governors and stand disqualified from standing election for the same office during their five-year single term incumbency!

More than two decades after ‘throwing away the baby with the bath water’, Nigerians are still playing the ostrich instead of sobering up and still living in denial.  overgrowing the prejudices of the Abacha era. As a matter of fact, the Abacha document was so comprehensive to have anticipated the untenable and wrong-headed agitations across the country and the hollow talk of marginalization that comes with it. Now, can and, should Nigerians continue to play the ostrich and allow lawlessness to dominate the political scene? Are we to allow a rambunctious few to continue to stampede us and dominate national discourse in the face of quick-fix solutions?

Of course, the talk of dissolving Nigeria is hot air that lacks substance. Yes, there is need to restructure and this should not be mistaken for a breakup as some have been programmed to believe. We need to restructure in a way every section of the country will, at all times, be appropriately represented in governance. The ‘Abacha document’ took care of these and more. The document suggested a five-year single-term for elective posts. To restructure in a way that lawmaking will be inexpensive and effective, the draft made provision for part-time lawmaking!

Of course, Nigeria should restructure in a way that treasury looters will not get dubious clean bills from regular courts or be shielded from prosecution. It may interest Nigerians and their elected representatives that there is no proclamation for the much-abused immunity clause for any public office holder in the Abacha draft for the president and vice president as well as governors and their deputies. The pestiferous eighth Assembly that canvassed for a dubious immunity for its principal officers was not expected to look at the document; it didn’t!

Nigerians should give the thumbs-up to the leadership of the current Senate for taking the bull by the horn. To achieve desired results, Nigerians must begin to look beyond General Abacha and ditch the prejudices that characterized his days. The task ahead may seem insuperable but it is not invincible. 

The task will be made easier if we tinker with report of Confab ’95. 

God Bless America…..And Nigeria As Well!

CC™ Perspective 

By Boyejo Alaba Coker 

Chief Editor 

While the whole world watches with sheer amazement, the ongoing "battle" for the electoral soul of America at the Supreme Court of the United States, we must be careful not to focus unnecessarily on the "negative" aspects of the pervading situation, but instead appreciate the strength and vibrancy of the democratic process and rule of law, as it obtains in the United States of America, in spite of what transpired on January 6th, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol.

Were this to happen in another country, Nigeria for example, a bunch of opportunists and hare-brains in khaki uniform would have sought by now to usurp power...hence effectively scuttling the democratic process. Instead what we see is democracy in process, even in the most precarious of situations.

The American democracy is built on a solid foundation of systems and institutions working hand-in-hand, nourished by an ever evolving but fertile climate of dialogue and compromise, guided by the tenets of civil discourse and a commitment to a workable resolution...one all sides are party to!

While it is no longer laughable to hear the chitters and chatters from around the world with regards to the "legitimacy" or "moral imperative" that unfortunately envelope the victors of a seemingly tainted process, the United States, more than any country in the history of the world and humanity, is still offers the freest, fairest and most veracious democracy ever. The veritable nature of the American system is again unfolding through the court system. 

For despots, dictators and tyrants worldwide to now turn around and question the legitimacy of American leadership in the world, is at best laughable. 

And as for the journalists (around the world) that seem forever captivated and mesmerized by disgraced, thieving dictators and murdering despots like Putin, Erdogan, Kim, Xi and Assad to have the nerve, gall and impudent temerity to question the veracity of the most vibrant democratic system in the world, is at best unbecoming.

Please note that the U.S. will be just fine. It is not a fledgling democracy built on mediocrity and an archaic "federal character" (as obtains in Nigeria), it is an established democracy built on a solid foundation of values and rewards, not for ineptitude and laziness, but hard-work, dedication and a commitment to service...in its truest form. Maybe someday, Nigeria can learn from this. A continuing political setting where a group that has contributed the LEAST to the progress, development and vibrant image of the country, feels that their aspirations and ideals should supersede those of others, can only spell doom for the country.

Furthermore, a continuing political setting where a group that lags behind (and I mean waaaaay behind) in all social and economic indicators, rather than look to pull themselves up to the level of the other groups, would much rather engage in religious, ethnic and gender bigotry, with a view to frustrating viable attempts at positive growth and development for the whole nation, speaks to the very heart of the need for a reassessment of the entity called Nigeria.

The continuing calls for a Sovereign National Conference are still not being heeded. This I must say is highly unfortunate. For Nigeria to move forward with a view to realizing its true potential, we (all nationalities within our nation) need to sit down and engage in civil but earnest discussions about the conditions for the continued corporate existence of Nigeria.

Enough of the quota system, federal character and population fallacy that seem to forever invite and reward mediocrity, incompetence, ineptitude and ignominy! The time is indeed ripe for the true values and ideals of equity, justice and fair play to become part and parcel of the Nigerian democratic process. It is a known fact that whatever Nigerians do, whether good or bad, once we put our minds to it, we are virtually unstoppable. However, this time let it be for the good of all and most importantly our beloved country.

It is time for the re-birth of the Nigeria that I once knew and hope to know again one day...the Nigeria that had so much promise...so much vitality; the Nigeria that had honour and integrity...the Nigeria that above all...had a CONSCIENCE, where great men and women with great minds and Godly hearts traversed the length and breath of our nation; the Nigeria that exuded so much confidence and provided hope and succour to all...at home and abroad!

We can do it, but first we must resolve to rid ourselves of the cancer of religious, ethnic, class, and gender bigotry. In the 21st century, Nigeria should be importing machinery and equipment for the purpose of industrialization and technological advancement, as opposed to the severing of arms, limbs and joints�all in the name of religion!

As I have said time and time again, if some people are hell bent on reverting to the dark days of Europe they should please let us know, so that those of us that believe in the inherent freedom of all, regardless of class, ethnicity, race, gender or religion can march on in glory into the promise and possibilities of the new millennium.

God Bless America...and Nigeria too, while He is at it!

The United African Republic - Nigeria's proposed new name

CC™ Global News

By Nduka Orjinmo

What is someone from the United African Republic called? Uranium or Urea?

The answer is keeping many Nigerians awake as they chew over a proposal to change the name of the country.

For two weeks, federal lawmakers have been traversing the country collating citizens' views to amend the constitution.

The idea was to gather suggestions for amendments such as electoral reforms and the system of government.

But citizen Adeleye Jokotoye, a tax consultant, dropped something of a bombshell at the hearing in Lagos.

He wants the name of the country changed as it was an imposition by Nigeria's past colonial masters.

The name Nigeria was suggested in the late 19th Century by British journalist Flora Shaw, who would later marry the British colonial administrator Lord Frederick Lugard.

It is derived from the River Niger which enters the country from the north-west and flows down to the Niger Delta where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean through its many tributaries.

But Mr Jokotoye wants the name changed and his choice of United African Republic - to reflect the hundreds of ethnic groups that comprise the country - has blown a storm.

These Twitter users have a theory where the idea for United African Republic, or UAR, ca

View original tweet on Twitter

There is already a new anthem, which isn't entirely new but a remix of the "old" Nigeria's:

View original tweet on Twitter

A new country needs a new currency, so:

View original tweet on Twitter

Which made musician Timi Dakolo, famous for his patriotic Great Nation song which is a staple at some official events, wonder what becomes of his music. Maybe a remix, Mr Dakolo?:

View original tweet on Twitter

And there was a reminder of the small matter of the loans Nigeria owes the World Bank, IMF and China. Some figured that a new name means a clean slate:

View original tweet on Twitter

But not everyone saw the joke in Mr Jokotoye's proposal and some were quick to set the country's priorities right:

View original tweet on Twitter

But what is someone from the UAR called? 

A few chimed in:

View original tweet on Twitter

View original tweet on Twitter

And the small matter of radiation connected to Uranium:

View original tweet on Twitter

As if he knew that some of his compatriots would not be impressed by his choice, Mr Jokotoye came armed with an alternative - the United Alkebulan Republic (meaning: United Mother of Mankind Republic), which quite frankly doesn't sound as pan-African as the first, but does have the same initials.

He also made other suggestions for the constitution, such as proposing amendments to the structure of governance, and taxation control - but for some reason these have not excited the popular imagination in the same way.

In the coming weeks as lawmakers sift through the bags of suggestions from Nigerians, no-one is sure what other ideas will bubble out.

But it is unlikely that we will see a United African Republic on these shores.

Which is a shame, as I quite like the idea of being addressed as a Uranium - it has a powerful ring to it.

BBC NEWS