By Sunday Adelaja
I believe in Nigeria, that is why I would not compromise nor refrain from speaking the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The truth that will be able to set us free from the shackles of our weaknesses and inadequacies and propel us into our glorious destiny.
The best bet Nigeria has to lead the world, however, is in its young people, which it has in abundance. The trend seems to be that whenever Nigerians are given the right environment to function, they tend to exceed their contemporaries and colleagues. I would like to mention a few stories of outstanding young individuals who left the shores of Nigeria to become the best in the various nations they found themselves in.
1. A 22-year-old Nigerian, Emmanuel Ohuabunwa, made history at John Hopkins University, United States of America. Ohuabunwa from Arochukwu, Abia State, did the nation proud by becoming the first black man to make a Grade Point Average of 3.98 out of 4.0 to bag a degree in Neurosciences in the University. He was also adjudged as having the highest honours during the graduation.
2. A genius could be referred to as an exceptional child who is academically sound. But, how would you describe an individual who never misses a point in his examinations from the first year in the university to the final year? If there is any adjective to qualify such a person, that word could best describe Tunji Olu-Taiwo, an Engineering student of Eastern Mediterranean University in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus who obtained 4.0 CGPA out of 4.0 CGPA; the first ever in the department.
3. Over the past five years, Nigerian students at the Russian National Research Medical University have consistently topped the graduation chat, bagging honours and contributing their wealth of knowledge to the University’s academic status.
4. Olalusi, who for three years represented Nigeria in the University’s Hall of Fame, delivered valedictory speech as the best graduating student in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences with a grade point of 5.0CGPA out of 5.0CGPA possible.
5. In the same University in 2012, another Nigerian student, Ganiyu Sanusi, bagged the “Best Student of the year” award at the University’s quiz competition. He graduated as the best student in the Faculty with first-class honours and a CGPA of 5.0.
6. Another Nigeria-born Alonge Olanike Omotola, who in 2010 represented the country on the Russian National Research University Hall of Fame, bagged a first-class honours degree in Medicine and Surgery. She was the best graduating student and valedictorian for that year.
7. A 24-year-old Nigerian, Uwa Osamede Imafidon, graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in the US with a Masters in Microbiology and made a 4.0 CGPA out of the maximum 4.0 CGPA.
This is just a small list of incredibly talented young Nigerians who are scattered all over the world pursuing their dreams and proving to be best in their fields. In the next 20 years, these people will be leading the world for sure. Friends, I don’t have any doubt in my mind about the place and future of Nigeria among the comity of nations.
In fact, I still count it the biggest miracle of my life when a distant relative paid off my fifty naira WAEC fee (final high school exams). Otherwise I was on my way out into the world without a high school certificate, because of fifty naira that my whole family could not come up with. Friends, believe me, mine was not the only case. Cases like this abound in their millions all over Nigeria and Africa.
Finally, and in all humility, I am not going to allow anybody to forget about Pastor Sunday Adelaja. The only black man in the world who leads a congregation of mostly Caucasians in 50 countries. Below are some facts about Pastor Sunday’s life and ministry.
Pastor Sunday is the pastor of the largest Evangelical Church in Europe with a population of 99.9% white Europeans in Kiev, Ukraine;
His ministry has charity units that feed over 5,000 people on a daily basis;
Through his ministry, over 30 thousand people have been delivered from drug and alcohol addictions;
He helped raise over 200 millionaires in US dollars in his church, most of whom were former drug/ alcohol addicts and societal outcasts;
He has raised a global movement that is influencing over 70 million people around the globe;
Branches of his church are in over 50 countries;
He has spoken in different nations of the world on national transformation;
Pastor Sunday is one of the few, if not the only African, who has ever spoken in the US Senate;
Pastor Sunday is one of the few African pastors who has spoken on the floor of the United Nations (UN);
He has addressed the Japanese members of parliament;
He has spoken in the Knesset to members of the Israeli parliament. The list goes on and on;
His ministry has over 500 hundred government officials holding different government positions in Ukraine;
He has written and published over 300 books and recorded thousands of messages.
Many have challenged me to come to Africa to contribute my quota. Have no doubt about it, I am coming sooner or later. Right now I am busy fighting the demons, forces of evil and principalities of Europe and Russia. But, in the meanwhile, I am also thinking about my beloved country Nigeria and mother Africa for which I am developing some grand plans and projects. By the grace of God, by the time I am privileged to come to Africa, everything I have achieved so far would be dwarfed in comparison to what I would be doing for the African continent by God’s grace.
Now on a personal note, I would like to say that when I was growing up in Africa, I never saw anything special about myself that could distinguish me from the millions of kids in my nation. As a matter of fact, there are still so many millions of Sunday Adelajas wasting away in their villages and hamlets without any sort of recognition whatsoever.
I was destined to be in their number, if not for divine grace. Whenever I visit Nigeria I see myself in all those young men. I see myself in those barefooted boys and girls running about the streets with protruding stomachs without shirts, hawking one product or the other for survival. That was me!
In fact, I still count it the biggest miracle of my life when a distant relative paid off my fifty naira WAEC fee (final high school exams). Otherwise I was on my way out into the world without a high school certificate, because of fifty naira that my whole family could not come up with. Friends, believe me, mine was not the only case. Cases like this abound in their millions all over Nigeria and Africa.
Many of them are wasted in the villages and farms of the continent. The Adelajas, the Chimamandas, the Ogunlesis, the Dangotes, the Imafidons, the Okoyas etc. Imagine what awaits Nigeria when all our potential is harnessed towards the development of every citizen, Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT NIGERIA WILL ONE DAY LEAD OUR WORLD!
This article is called “When Nigeria Teaches America”. But in the same vein, it could easily be called: ‘The Next World Super Power’ or ‘When Africa Leads the World.’
