Fixing Nigeria:Be Patriotic Always!

Patriotism is KEY when we talk about national issues.Without it,the world super powers wouldn't be.If there's any country that have developed or is considered as developing,there's no doubt about patriotic activities in the making of such countries.

A Country is What Her Citizens Makes of Her
A country with a lot of rich men as citizens is a rich country and a country with a lot of poor men is a poor country.It's as simple as that!
Nigeria is poor simply because the percentage of the rich in the country is less than 50%...what am I saying,it is even less than 30%!

 

'But There is Nothing We can Do About It'
Now, those are the words I so very much hate to hear! What do you mean there's nothing we can do about it??? Of course, there are million things we can do about it!!!
Let us be realistic here. If you ask an average Nigerian why the country is in such a bad shape, without thinking, he'll answer that it's the government's fault. This is because, he has been told this OLD FAT LIE for so long that it now sounds so reasonable and acceptable that he's ready to bet his life on it! Well, the BLUNT truth is that, the government is not totally responsible for the current financial mess we find ourselves today...we too are equally responsible!

 

Nigerians Depend TOO MUCH on Government
This is so shockingly true. Nigerians literarily expect the government to do everything for them whereas we are not running a socialist type of economy but the mixed type of economy.
From my little knowledge of Economics, the mixed type of economy is the type of the economy where the government provides certain products/services while the private sector provides others and in some cases, they both share the responsibility of providing certain products and services.
For instance, the exploration and sale crude oil and other natural resources as well as the sale of licences of participation to the private investors are co-ordinated and overseen by the government...power and water supply too is manned by the government. In the case of such things as foodstuffs, manufactured products among other things are left in the hands of the private sector. However, the government had to share the responsibility of providing basic services such as health care, education and transport.

 

Nigeria needs Patriots If She must Develop
We are suffering today basically because most Nigerians are Nigerians by name and birth...nothing more. Some that can afford it have gone as desperate as giving birth to their children abroad just to get them a citizenship of any of the developed world. They'll gladly trade their Nigerian identity for these countries. This is so unfortunate, but, this is the case!
Nigeria needs a new breed of youths...Nigeria needs people who would believe in Nigeria and would work for Nigeria's progress while they too progress. Nigeria needs as many HONEST AND PASSIONATE citizens she can get to move up the development ladder and become developed too. After all, none of the developed countries got developed by fluke or by eloping and shirking their responsibilities as the respectful owners of their country...why would Nigerians expect a difference in the case of Nigeria, how do they expect Nigeria to develop when all they do is find a way to DUMP her???

 

Are You a Patriot???
I don't know about you, but, as for me, I'm a patriot who would as much as I can to make Nigeria a better place to be. I would do what it takes to advance the course of Nigeria and I would do it... PROUDLY!

 

God Bless Nigeria!
Happy Independence Day!!
Long Live Nigeria!!!



Fixing Nigeria:We must STANDARDIZE The Nigerian Brand

It is not enough to just produce products for sale,it is more important to standardize the products and MAINTAIN the standard.This is perhaps why we have The American standards,the German standards, the British standards among other standards.If you ask me,I want to believe that this is the reason why some people would prefer and PAY MORE for the Western products even when the Nigerian version is far superior to them!
Standard and Branding are like 5 & 6

 From the previous post,I made it clear that branding refers to the products and services a person,company or state produces which in turn serves as the logo and an ambassador for that country,company or person.This is why when you hear that a pair of shoes is Italian made,people jump at it and pay ANY amount that's attached to it as its price. On the other hand,when you hear that a product is Aba made or made from any other part of Nigeria for that matter,O'boy come see negotiation,omo, come see SERIOUS bargaining!!!
That's the time you'll see a product that the seller hoped to sell for say N1000 might end up going for just N350.Now,this is not just the consumer thing,it's a big problem that our local producers too are guilty of...we are all involved!
Yes,it began with us the consumers. Over the years,we have cultivated the habit of looking down on local products and advancing the foreign products.In some cases,we tend to rate how rich people are by the number and caliber of foreign products they use or consume.This has been going on for a long,long time.
So,standard started falling because sales and production are not happening at the same rate...the production rate started exceeding the consumption rate,to cut down on losses incurred during production,quality and standards has to be compromised which in turn affected the rate of consumption even further...gradually,things got so bad that Nigeria suddenly became known for fake products,hence,Nigeria's brand and standard became FAKE AND SUBSTANDARD!!!
We Can RE-BRAND Nigeria!

Anyway,I don't know for you but the truth is that we are suffering a great deal from our very own handiwork.Our products are substandard and no one is ready to buy them not even us are willingly ready to consume Nigerian products.We most often consume it because we have no choice.This is why the banning of rice attracted so much drama recently.We are so confused now that the solutions to our economic woes now sound so strange and anti people!

This is a clarion call to the youths of this country.Let's rise up and help ourselves,our only choice here is to pick up Nigeria and make it our own,we got no other country except her.Those that ran to other countries BEGGING for citizenship are SECOND CLASS citizens no matter the hospitality they receive there today.Believing in Nigeria is not just the beginning of wisdom for us but our only way to financial freedom and success.
Let's Set an Enviable Standard 

A standard literally refers to a certain level of accomplishment under which we must not fall.Nigeria can't develop without standards,we,the citizens need to set standards...this does not require an assembly or law...not even an endorsement from government is required to set standards.
All that is needed for standards to be set is our decision to live over board.We must be ready to put in our very best to everything that we do.If you resolve to do that at your work place and I decide to do the same at mine,it's only a matter of time we shall be known for it (i.e. branding) and people begin to expect nothing less than top notch quality from us (i.e. standard).
This is the ULTIMATE solution to our economic problems.When the food stuff seller decides to sell only the best,when the furniture maker decides to produced the most durable furniture, when the cloth weaver refuses to have anything to do with substandard raw materials, everything would improve,patronage would increase,more jobs would be created and we shall be better for it! Don't worry about the price,people will buy so long it's a top quality product.The time to start is now!!!

Fixing Nigeria: We must BRAND Nigeria!

In our previous blog post,we discussed why we must own up to Nigeria and see her as our inheritance from our fore fathers.We also discussed how important it is to defend and develop our inheritance for ourselves,children and generations to come.
Today, insha Allah,we shall be discussing branding Nigeria and why we must brand it and make it an enviable and a source of pride for our children. But first things first,What do we mean by branding???

What is branding???
According to a dictionary at my disposal during this write up, a brand simply means a name, logo, symbol or any other item that's used to distinguish a product,service or its provider.
By this definition,branding is all about a product/service and their providers.As a Nigerian,all your actions and in actions BRANDS Nigeria.It's so funny that we are the architects of our own misfortunes and we know it not.We have been writing our own destinies on the negative side with our non nonchalant attitudes towards our national affairs.We have dumped all that makes us Nigerian,our flag,our logos,our coat of arms our traveling passports among other things.We dissociate ourselves from all that is Nigerian yet we wonder why Nigeria is not respected or ranked among the best economies of the world.

No Country Develops From the Efforts of Foreigners
If you are wondering why Nigeria is not developed,the answer is straight and forward...It takes Nigerians to make Nigeria great and we are not making Nigeria great at the moment.
I don't know about you,but I don't know of any country that became a developed  country without the  SUBSTANTIAL contribution from her citizens.I don't know why we Nigerians hope that it could be different with us.
Every time our political leaders are asked as to how to develop our economy,you'll always hear such thing as attracting direct foreign investors.Why must we always be like that,why don't we try out our own hands in solving our problems and most importantly,why must we wait on the government for every thing???

Nigeria Runs A Mixed Economy not Socialist
According to Economics,we have 3 distinct types of economics system.They are the Socialists,Capitalist and Mixed forms of economic systems.
The Socialist economy runs an economy that the people depend solely on the government for everything from education to jobs and basic amenities.The Capitalist economy is the economy where everything is left to the private sector and the government just plays the regulator's role.Lastly but certainly not the least,the Mixed economy,the type which Nigeria runs comprises of the capitalist and socialist characters put together so that the disadvantage of the capitalist is countered by the advantages of the socialist and vice versa. So,why must Nigerians depend so heavily on the government for everything???
Guys, we can try our hands on a lot of things,there's a lot of room for improvement here!I mean why can't we for once try thinking out of the box,for instance, why don't we just assume that we have no government and we need to survive in the Nigerian economic jungle we find ourselves?
It is my believe that we would do a lot better if we act as though we have no government and we are solely responsible for ourselves...I'm talking Entrepreneurship here trade and commerce...buy,selling and marketing our locally made products over any other.This is how we can brand Nigeria positively!
The bottom line...Nigeria is a mixed economy where we too can rise up to the challenge and make good our economic situation.We run a MIXED Economy bro! We NEED to wake up people!!!

Unless We Pick Up Nigeria and Run Her Economy,Nigeria Will Not Develop.
At this point,I would like to do a recap and connect the previous post to this one so that we may make sense of the whole story.
So far so good,Nigeria has a very few Patriots who believe in her and would do what it takes to make her great.Unless we OWN up to our responsibilities as citizens of this great country,unless we OWN up to Nigeria and accept her as our ID it would be very difficult to be proud of her and do things that would make her great.Now, with this post,I'm trying to let us know that the promotion of the image and values as well as our cultural heritage is MUST.Unless we identify with our country and do the needful,we won't grow.We must EAT DRINK,SLEEP,PROUDLY MARKET AND PROMOTE her to the world as a great Nation,otherwise,no one would respect and  think well of Nigeria.This my,friend, is what we call BRANDING!!!
Since branding Nigeria is all about making Nigeria great in her uniqueness,then,we,the youths need to go back to our roots and develop our economy along what we are known for around the world with the latest technologies.
Ladies and gentlemen,WE ARE FARMERS,TRADERS,INDUSTRIALISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS...WE ARE NIGERIANS!!!
God BLESS Naija!