BOOK OF THE MONTH-Nigeria Of My Dream,by Sam Adeyemi

Nigeria of my Dream by Sam Adeyemi, first published in 2010 is due for a reprint.  This pithy volume, 117 pages in all, is the answer to a nation in distress; and one confronted with many questions, of moral, ethical, leadership, patriotic, tolerance and power and resources sharing dimensions. It is an x-ray of the many problems of Nigeria.

 

This hardly utopic book is most propitious.  It singularly seeks to address how best Nigerians can overcome their self-doubt, their lethargic if not non-existent patriotism, their seeming intolerance of each other based of differing tribes, and overall, how indeed, to bring about the aspirations and dreams of greatness that Nigerians covet for their country.

 

Nigeria of my Dream falls clearly under the genre and broad rubric of national re-orientation --an academic and virtual reality exercise that is not totally alien to Nigerians and their leaders.

 

Sam Adeyemi postulates that just as there is an ‘America Dream,’ there could also be the ‘Nigerian Dream,’ either singularly or collectively.   This, though, will not happen except if each citizen is patriotic and seek to be the best in their respective areas of enterprise regardless of their standing in the community.  Read differently, the book speaks power to the truth about the need for the political will to transform the nation and lead it to path of greatness. Hence, as Adeyemi suggests, the aim of the book is to “inspire you to dream and create a country of your dream.”

 

Nigeria of my Dream is also a clarion call to “stir you to aspire for excellence because that is our destiny.”  Sam Adeyemi notes the numerous challenges confronting Nigeria and encapsulates it with this example: “Nigeria is like an aircraft that seats 150 million people who have not decided on the destination of their flight” (p16). Noting that a key challenge to Nigerians and their advancement is “poverty of the mind,” he asserts that “many of the things we consider luxuries in Nigeria are necessities, which can be enjoyed by the average citizen. We are suffering indignities unnecessarily” (p21). 

 

Furthermore, Adeyemi points to the continued lack of “Vision” both in the leaders and the followers as a national bane.  He notes that Nigerians blame and trusts everything to God, overlooking their shortcomings and lack of visions. He contends in that context that “Vision reveals the gap between your potential and your reality, and that motivates you to change your circumstances” (p33).

 

Invariably, Nigeria of my Dream grapples with various ideas that Nigerians seem to overlook but must inevitably address in the course of nation building and “in order to have an orderly society.”  These include “lack of value for life”; the need to “change some of our beliefs and value system”; “mould people with entrepreneurial spirit – inventors and job creators, not just job seekers” and becoming “change agents and history makers.”  Adeyemi is of the view that when these goals and disposition are attained, Nigerians can ultimately say, “I’m proud to be a Nigerian” without sounding glib or hypocritical.  Indeed, “I’m proud to be a Nigerian” a phrase not commonly heard from Nigerians, is a singular refrain that runs through the entire volume, which lays the blame of the trouble with Nigeria on the leaders and followers in equal shares.

 

Nigeria of my Dream points to the different strands of Nigeria’s misplaced priorities both in public and privates lives, as well and in the public and private sectors. Adeyemi notes for instance that it is now the norm that “we spend more on the dead than on the living” (p40).  Of our failing high school and university students and those youths who do not have access to education or employment, he notes: “They are a time-bomb for this country if we do not program them for success in adult life” (p117).

 

Nigeria of my Dream is encyclopaedic despite its size, proving that good things come in small packages. The volume is part philosophy, part proselytization, part civic education and part cultural reorientation.  Adeyemi point to the many follies and foibles Nigerians are well known for, while mapping out what the nation’s national priorities ought to be.  

 

Nigeria of my Dream belongs to every secondary school classroom in Nigeria and indeed, to every home and library.  In this introspective and retrospective noble exertion, Sam Adeyemi offers a broad rendition on Nigeria’s past, present, and prospective paradoxes.   In the end, however, two questions remain:  Who will bell the cat? And who will lead Nigeria to the Promised Land?