When I looked at the twists and turns around the price per barrel of crude oil on the global spot market, particularly when it crossed the $100 mark in January 2008 and now hovering at $143 per barrel, I marvel at how the fortunes of a nation can be turned around in a twinkle of an eye.
The last time Nigeria enjoyed this kind of BOOM was in the early 70's under the military, and a brief moment under President Sheu Shagari in the early '80s.
Between those times and now, many other developing economies in the same underdeveloped rank with Nigeria had smarten up and climbed out of the morass of misgovernment and economic mismanagement.
I am talking of Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Egypt, Singapore, and to some extent, South Korea.
They escaped from the trap of poverty not because of any OIL BOOM, but by dint of sheer industry andvision.
My sincere and passionate prayer for Nigeria is that we would use this latest opportunity to unleash the potential for socio economic development that is latent in this awesome population of over 140 milliongreat people.
Despite the trial by error regime of President Obasanjo, I believe God is giving Nigeria a great opportunity to correct those errors and turn the trials into triumphs of nationhood and true Federation, where the rights of all communities and constituent parts of Nigeria would be respected.
Part of my prayers is that Nigeria would graduate from the lacuna of power failure and infrastructural decay, and become truly a visionary and missionary nation, conquering her failings and frailings to propel the masses to a new prosperity that would swallow past bitterness and poverty, and promote true competition and advancement in our journey to the promised land, which, anyway, has exceeded the time bounds of 40 years by some additional overtime of 8 years now!
The last time Nigeria enjoyed this kind of BOOM was in the early 70's under the military, and a brief moment under President Sheu Shagari in the early '80s.
Between those times and now, many other developing economies in the same underdeveloped rank with Nigeria had smarten up and climbed out of the morass of misgovernment and economic mismanagement.
I am talking of Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Egypt, Singapore, and to some extent, South Korea.
They escaped from the trap of poverty not because of any OIL BOOM, but by dint of sheer industry andvision.
My sincere and passionate prayer for Nigeria is that we would use this latest opportunity to unleash the potential for socio economic development that is latent in this awesome population of over 140 milliongreat people.
Despite the trial by error regime of President Obasanjo, I believe God is giving Nigeria a great opportunity to correct those errors and turn the trials into triumphs of nationhood and true Federation, where the rights of all communities and constituent parts of Nigeria would be respected.
Part of my prayers is that Nigeria would graduate from the lacuna of power failure and infrastructural decay, and become truly a visionary and missionary nation, conquering her failings and frailings to propel the masses to a new prosperity that would swallow past bitterness and poverty, and promote true competition and advancement in our journey to the promised land, which, anyway, has exceeded the time bounds of 40 years by some additional overtime of 8 years now!