Nigeria's 54th Independence Day Anniversary

A CLARION CALL FOR UNDILUTED SOLIDARITY AS NIGERIA MARKS HER 54TH INDEPENDENCE DAY ANNIVERSARY

 

Every man in his real senses thrives relentlessly towards actualizing a total freedom. In other words; freedom which is the right to do or say what you want without anyone/anything stopping you, remains one of the greatest possessions any man could boast of.

Today Wednesday October 1, 2014, Nigeria in her entirety is commemorating her 54^th Independence Anniversary. Suffice to say that, she is celebrating the 54^th year so far since she got her independence or freedom.

In a period like this, the first question that invariably occurs on the mind of any concerned right thinking individual is: what is the country in question really celebrating? In most cases, such question often seems rhetorical because there is no nation in existence that has nothing to celebrate at any given time.

Nigeria, which is officially addressed as the ‘Federal Republic of Nigeria’, is a federal constitutional republic comprising thirty-six (36) states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the West, Chad and Cameroon in the East, and Niger in the North. Its coast in the South lies on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nigeria is often referred to as the ‘Giant of Africa’ due to its large population and economy. With approximately 174 million inhabitants, it is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous nation in the world. It is comprised of over five hundred (500) ethnic groups, of which the three largest are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.

In respect to religion, Nigeria is majorly divided into two with Christians who live mostly in the Southern and Central parts of the country, and Muslims concentrated mainly in the Northern and Southwestern regions. A minority of the populace practice some indigenous or peculiar religions such as paganism.

Since independence in 1960, the country’s oil reserves have played a very major role in her growing wealth and influence. Presently, Nigeria is considered by the World Bank as an Emerging Market, and has been identified as a regional power in Africa. She is also a member of the MINT group of countries, which are widely seen as one of the world’s upcoming ‘Brick-like’ economies. More so, she is listed among the next eleven economies set to be among the largest in the world.

Nigeria is a member of various global societies including the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the United Nations (UN) among other international organizations. It is also interesting to note that she is a member of the United Nations’ Security Council.

Just like other developing nations, Nigeria is currently faced with numerous social, economic, religious and political challenges thereby constituting series of societal crises. Some of these challenges include tribalism, corruption, nepotism, high level of immorality, thuggery, election rigging, rampant establishment of fake churches, kidnapping, massacre, just to mention a few.

The ongoing terrorist activity of the Boko Haram Sect coupled with other criminal activities taking place in the country, which has lingered for several years, is being tagged by both individuals and the international community as one of the most challenges presently faced by the nation, that, if severe and drastic measure is not taken to address the anomaly, it stands the chances of crippling the socio-economic status of the country.

Since Nigeria’s independence on 1^st of October 1960, the country has indeed suffered so many maltreatments from her subjects, especially those referred to as leaders. This is why it would take only a holistic measure to address the ongoing ugly state of the nation.

As Nigeria commemorates her 54^th Independence Anniversary today, there is an urgent need for everyone irrespective of social, political or religious affiliations, to come together towards actualizing a better and more unified Nigeria. On this note, it would be consequential for us to comprehend that all hands must be on deck to ensure that an undiluted solidarity is found among the entire citizenry of the country.

Actualizing a thorough and complete unity is our prerogative, thus ought to remain our watchword if truly we want Nigeria to smile broadly again. And, we should note that embracing the anticipated undiluted solidarity is long overdue, because fifty-four (54) years is not fifty-four days. Therefore it is a priority and shouldn’t be compromised. Think about it!

 

       COMR. FRED NWAOZOR

Public Affairs analyst & Civil Rights activist

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              +2348028608056    

      

Truancy Among Government Workers

ALARMING INCREASE OF TRUANCY AMONG GOVERNMENT WORKERS

Greetings brethren! Honestly, even when I don’t think of you, I still see you in my dreams. This is simply because our hearts are connected to each other via covalent bonding.

For those of us who weren’t opportune to offer Chemistry while in Secondary school, you may not comprehend what I meant by “Covalent bonding.” Let me use this avenue to throw more light on that. Covalent bond is a form of bond between two or more atoms or ions of different elements in which the atoms in question share electrons among themselves. That is to say: in covalent bonding, the elements involved benefit from each other.

In biology, such occurrence is known as symbiotic relationship. A symbiotic relationship is one in which the animals or people involved stand to benefit from each other regardless of the circumstance. I want us to note that whenever there’s relationship of this kind, there is always absolute love among the animals/persons concerned. And if you truly love someone, you would end up seeing him/her in your dreams. It is a natural phenomenon.

Penultimate week, I was opportune to be in Akwa Ibom State, Uyo precisely. And during my three-day stay in the state, I discovered a certain anomaly taking place among Nigerian public/civil servants. I was able to fathom the irregularity due to the fact that a friend of mine was personally affected.   

My friend, who works with one of the state ministries, confided in me and told me that one of his colleagues had been away from office for almost a week without any tangible or serious excuse. He made me know that he had been defending the miscreant’s absence with series of lies since he embarked on the uncalled emergency leave. Thus, my good friend was an accomplice and he was really disturbed about it; that was why he disclosed the incident to me. According to him, the young man in question had been known as a truant for quite some time now.

Regarding this recent observation, I’ve concluded that truancy is indeed the order of the day in the Nigerian labour sector having witnessed same abnormality in some other states in the country including Imo my home state.

Most English dictionaries including the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary define truancy as the practice of staying away from school by pupils/students without any permission or legitimate excuse. It is worthy to note that truancy can also be applied in other fields of human endeavour, such as civil/public service, teaching, military/paramilitary, political terrain, et cetera. Let’s ride on!

Frankly the current degree of truancy among government workers in Nigeria is a scenario that requires drastic and severe measure towards ensuring that it is allocated to the history book where it rightly belongs. Without mincing words, the ugly phenomenon which seems like an indelible societal cankerworm has really eaten deep in the nation’s socio-economic sector, that, if apt approach is not taken to eradicate it, the nation in its entirety stands to be savaged by famine in no distance time.

Just take a minute and imagine a situation where every worker in the country decides to follow suit as regards the unacceptable practice. Don’t you think that such unimaginable scenario might result to thorough penury amongst the overall populace? I encourage us to think about this.

To this end, I’m using this medium to urge the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to forward a bill with regard to the termination of this aberration in earnest to the National Assembly. If forwarded, our law makers are expected to encourage the crusade by ensuring that the bill is rapidly signed into law without any iota of delay.

The members of the Executive arm of the government are meant to contribute their anticipated quota in regard to the implementation of the law as soon as it is signed by the legislators. In addition, they must endeavour to release adequate funds that would help to facilitate the said law to ensure that it is not swept under the carpet.

On their parts, other fractional labour unions like National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) must also play their role towards ensuring that the proposed law or regulation is observed at the grass root.

Inter alia, all hands are equally expected to be on deck as regards the eradication of this socio-economic menace. We must contribute our individual quotas in this regard if we actually pray for the betterment of this country.    

As we benefit from Nigeria, we should also allow her to benefit from us in return so that she would invariably see us in her dreams, because everyone definitely wants to be involved in a covalent bonding or symbiotic relationship.

Mind you; if Nigeria ceases to see us in her dreams, I’m afraid, we would be liable to embrace both physical and economic nervous wreck soonest. Think about it!

 

FDN NWAOZOR

frednwaozor@gmail.com  

2014 World Tourism Day (Aired News-Commentary)

THE NEED TO UPLIFT THE NIGERIA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY AS THE WORLD CELEBRATES THE WORLD TOURISM DAY, TODAY SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

No doubt, observing a beautifully looking environment remains one of the prime desires of every man. This is the reason every able-bodied man works assiduously to ensure that his/her immediate surroundings appear enticingly.

Tourism as an area of life or human endeavour is a sector that has, over the decades, pays an optimum attention to how attractive our surroundings look thereby making the sector to be globally recognized as an avenue for revenue generation.

In a concise term, Tourism is the business activity connected with provision of accommodation, entertainment, and other hospitable services for people who are visiting a place for pleasure. In other words, a tourist can be described as a person who is travelling or visiting a certain locality for the sake of pleasure.

In the past, our heritages were being used by our ancestors as a means of entertaining themselves as well as their visitors or guests. Presently, the tourism industry has shown that these heritages can also be utilized as a business venture having formally upgraded most of them to international standard.

Noting the positive impact of the tourism industry the world over, it is of no need reiterating the fact that it has contributed massively to the ongoing socio-economic development of most nations. Analysts are of the view that, the industry represents about nine percent (9%) of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and that it is a key revenue sector for developing and emerging economies.

Indeed, tourism plays a very vital role in building blocks of a more sustainable future for all, which is community development. Above all, it is widely acknowledged for its capacity to respond to global challenges. In view of this, there is an urgent need for Nigeria, which is a nation globally recognized as the “Giant of Africa”, to follow suit towards ensuring that the World Tourism Industry which helps to foster global unity is granted a preferential treatment at all costs.

Nigeria can contribute her quota by ensuring that her socio-cultural heritage is optimally uplifted. This proposed measure would not only help to encourage the world tourism industry, but would also go a long way to elevate the country’s Gross National Product (GNP), thus strengthening her economic prowess.

Nigeria as an independent state is made up of over two hundred and fifty ethnic groups; and each of these groups is tremendously blessed with various socio-cultural heritages. These cultural heritages including dancing, masquerading, dressing, hunting, fishing, wrestling, molding of sculptures, inter alia, if well harnessed, would no doubt help to uplift the nation’s Tourism Industry thereby boasting her socio-economic and political pride.

Today Saturday September 27, 2014, the world over is celebrating the World Tourism Day. At its third session held in Torremolinos – Spain in the year 1979, the United Nations Assembly mandated its Member States to observe September 27 each year as the World Tourism Day, having reached a unanimous resolution.

The day of the commemoration was chosen to coincide with an important historic milestone in the world’s tourism sector, which is the anniversary of the adoption of the UN Tourism Statutes on 27^th of September 1970. The first commemoration of the World Tourism Day took place in 1980.

The timing of the World Tourism Day is particularly appropriate, because it comes at the end of the high season in the Northern hemisphere, and at the beginning of the season in the Southern hemisphere when tourism is of topical interest to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in 2012 emphasized that well-designed and appropriately managed tourism can make a significant contribution to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon further highlighted that, tourism which remains one of the world’s largest economic sectors, is specially well-placed to promote environmental sustainability, green-growth coupled with human struggle against climate change through its relationship with energy.

As the international community celebrates the World Tourism Day today, we are all expected to contribute our quota towards ensuring that our respective environments or surroundings become globally recognized as attractive and human friendly localities, so that, generations yet unborn would  live to remember that an attractive environment is equally a revenue source.

In addition, the Nigerian government ought to note that it is high time the country’s Tourist Industry is uplifted through the realization of the fact that the Oil and Gas Industry may not last for eternity. To this end; embracing diversification as regards the nation’s revenue generation or source is long overdue. “A word is enough for the wise!”

 

        COMR. FRED NWAOZOR

Public Affairs analyst & Social activist

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               +2348028608056