WHEN NIGERIA TEACHES AMERICA.
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
It sounds like a fantasy or a fairytale, but this is the kind of fairy
tale that could soon become a reality. WHEN NIGERIA TEACHES AMERICA!
The United States of America, the most powerful nation on earth, which
controls one quarter of the world’s economy, stands so tall that it
doesn’t look possible for an African nation to be able to teach them
anything, at least in the near 100 years. Anybody who has been to the
United States or lived there would tell you that their colossal status
in the world is not by accident. Surely, America is a great nation.
Let’s check out some statistics about the United States of America:
1. America is the father of our modern democracy.
2. America was the first to put a man on the moon.
3. Coca cola, the world’s most known soft-drink product comes from America.
4. America created the modern movie industry Hollywood.
5. America is the mother of the modern day technological age:
Microsoft, Google, Yahoo,
Apple, Internet, Facebook, Twitter etc.
6. America is a land of opportunities and equality.
7. America is a country of religious liberty.
8. They are the inventors of the airplane through the Wright Brothers.
9. The American dollar is the most popular and most traded currency in the world.
10. America has produced the highest amount of Nobel Prize Winners in history- 270
I can guess what is going on in your mind. What is Pastor Sunday after?
How is this guy going to write his way out of this? How is he going to
top what is already stated to make Nigeria teach America? Ok, here we
go.
Let’s start with the event of recent weeks. James Entwistle
is an American Ambassador to Nigeria. After being an observer and a
witness at Nigeria’s last elections, he made a remarkable statement that
could signal to the greatness Nigeria possesses as a nation.
Despite our inadequacies and failures, even in the recently concluded
elections, the Hon. Mr. Ambassador still made this compelling statement.
“I am very impressed by the decision of INEC to use technology in this
election. The Permanent Voter Cards are very high-tech, they are more
high tech than my voter card from the state of Virginia in the US. My
voter card does not have biometric. It does not have my fingerprint. The
high-tech gives the process more integrity. I congratulate INEC on
taking the part of High-tech. I think we need to come and study it so
that we can use it in my country.”
Could this be the proverbial
cloud in the sky in the shape of a man’s hand that made Elijah to outrun
King Ahab’s chariot? (1kings 18:44, 46).
Brethren, I see a
picture of things to come for our beloved nation. Somehow I can see afar
off, a day when Nigeria would arise as the leader of the black race,
that will one day outrun the technologically advanced nations of the
first world including America. Mr. James Entwistle might not
have had this in mind when he simply pointed out a visible fact during
Nigeria’s last election, but beyond the visible, God sometimes allows us
to perceive in the spirit things that are to come.
To anyone
that has ears, let him hear today that America would eventually be
referred to as the SETTING SUN, while the most populous black nation on
earth would soon be referred to as the RISING SUN (Star).
Glimpses of this truth abound for those who have eyes to see. Allow me
to share with you some of those facts that are already visible for
everyone to see.
1. A big news hit the news rooms of the world
media in the first quarter of 2015. Stars were born. Munira Khalif from
Minnesota, Stephan Stoykov from Indiana, Victor Agbafe from North
Carolina and Harold Ekeh from New York got multiple admission offers in
all eight Ivy League schools in the United States of America: Brown
University, Colombia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College,
Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Preston University and
Yale University.
This type of feat is recorded yearly in the
United States of America. A semester before, Kwasi Enin, 17, a Ghanaian
immigrant attained the same height. Still a few years earlier another
Nigerian prodigy Saheela Ibraheem, attained the same height and ended up
going to Harvard at 15. She is regarded as one of the 50 smartest
teenagers in the world. She was treated to a dinner by no less a person
than the President of the United States himself Barack Obama.
What makes this story of interest today is that, of the four outstanding
students this year, TWO OF THEM ARE NIGERIANS, while all four are
immigrants. Victor Agbafe and Harold Ekeh where born to Nigerian
parents. This goes to prove my point that Nigeria is the rising star of
the future world. While the fact that all the prodigies are immigrants
shows that America is taking a nose dive and is becoming the setting
star of the future.
2. America is a melting pot where all
nations and tribes under the sun collate. Hardly can you find a better
platform to access practically every nation on earth.
Friends,
listen to this NIGERIAN IMMIGRANTS HAVE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION
IN HOUSTON AND IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN GENERAL, surpassing
whites and Asians, according to a Census data bolstered by an analysis
of 13 annual Houston-area surveys, the Houston Chronicle reports.
According to a 2006 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S.
Census Bureau, 17 percent of all Nigerians in the US hold a Master’s
degree, 4 percent hold a doctorate and 37 percent have a bachelor’s
degree. In comparison, 8% of the white population in the U.S.
hold a Master’s degree, 1% hold a doctorate and 19% have a bachelor’s
degree.
Let’s face it, the education facilities in Nigerian
schools, from Primary School to University level are inferior to that of
the US. Also, the level of preparations in Nigerian universities is
relatively low. Students are trained to know what is in the book. The
practical area is weak, but in spite of all that, when a Nigerian leaves
our substandard schools to a very competitive school environment like
America they still beat the rest of the world to it.
For all
these Nigerians to excel in a very competitive society and environment
like America, it goes a long way to point out the potential of our
people.
3. My third argument is simply put, DR. PHILIP EMEAGWALI.
Inventor of the World's Fastest Computer: Emeagwali used 65,000
processors to invent the world's fastest computer, which performs
computations at 3.1 billion calculations per second.
Dr. Philip
Emeagwali's resume is loaded with many other such feats, including ways
of making oil fields more productive – which has resulted in the United
States saving hundreds of millions of dollars each year. As one of the
most famous African-American inventors of the 20th century, Dr.
Emeagwali also has won the Gordon Bell Prize – the Nobel Prize for
computation. His computers are currently being used to forecast the
weather and to predict the likelihood and effects of future global
warming.
I have no doubt in my heart that given the same
opportunity as Dr. Emeagwali, there are many more Nigerians that would
perform as well if not better. Our land abounds with millions of
Emeagwalis. Nigeria surely can teach the world.
4. Another
reason why I believe Nigeria is the rising star of the future is in what
the rest of the world would refuse to believe. WHO COULD HAVE BELIEVED
THAT A NIGERIAN OWNS THE SECOND LARGEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN ALL OF
GREAT BRITAIN? Here is the story:
Up until February 2010, very
few people had heard about Adebayo Ogunlesi. The Nigerian-born
investment banker and money manager made international headlines when he
led the acquisition of London’s Gatwick Airport from the British
Airports Authority in a recorded £1.51 billion deal. The acquisition
instantly propelled Ogunlesi, 58, into the global spotlight and earned
him a place in history as the man who acquired London’s second largest
international airport.
Adebayo Ogunlesi is the chairman and
managing partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a New
York-based independent private equity fund focused primarily on
infrastructural investments, with over $5.6 billion under his
management. The purchase of Gatwick Airport may have grabbed all the
headlines, but GIP has some other noteworthy assets in its portfolio
including a 75% stake in London City Airport, and Biffa Limited, a UK
based waste management company.
Can you notice a repeating
tendency that most of these outstanding Nigerians are based outside
Nigeria? This explains the reason why I am so passionate about making
Nigeria work. The amount of Nigerians outside the country is less than 1
percent of those in the country, yet we are having such a global impact
on the world. What would happen if we fix Nigeria’s problems? What will
happen if we give similar opportunities to the rest 99 percent of
Nigerians living in the country? What kind of result would we then be
producing?
Nigeria indeed can teach the rest of the world!
5. WHEN A NIGERIAN MADE DOLL OUTSELLS BARBIE, NOW THAT IS A REVOLUTION!
As Barbie sales continue to plummet, another doll is aiming to slide in
and take her place. The Queens of Africa and Naija Princess dolls are
outselling Mattel's original. The dolls' mastermind, 43-year-old Taofick
Okoya, told Reuters that he sells between 6,000 and 9,000 dolls per
month, claiming 10 to 15 percent of the small, but growing toy market in
Nigeria.
That reminds me of the analogy we gave above about the
SUN SET and the SUN RISE. For anybody that cares to listen, Nigeria is
going to be known as the rising star of the future world!
6. The
sixth Reason why Nigeria is going to be the Rising star of the future
world is because THE SMARTEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD IS NIGERIAN.
The BBC called the Imafidon family, Britain’s brainiest family and
members of that family feature in most of the major media in Britain.
Most recently in the premier business magazine in the world, Forbes. All
five children, now ages 12- 24 have demonstrated incredible mental
abilities in all domains. From music, to mathematics, to athletics. The
youngest, the twins Peter and Paula passed the British high school
mathematics examination at 6 and the Cambridge University advance
mathematics examination, which most Harvard and Stanford seniors will
have trouble with at age 8.
The oldest child Anne-Maria was the
youngest ever to graduate from Oxford with a Master’s degree in both
mathematics and computer science and is now the youngest vice president
of a Fortune 500 Company, Deutche Bank.
Another member of the
family is in the leadership of the most powerful bank in the world
Golden Sachs. The two immediate children, Christina and Samantha also
passed the most difficult mathematical examinations in Britain before
age 10. If one were to ask a statistician what are the odds that one
family will produce 5 extraordinary geniuses, his answer would have to
be about 1 out of 8 billion since it has never happened before.
Dear readers, now I hope you are beginning to agree with me that Nigeria is on its way to teach the rest of the world?
7. Most people know the name Aliko Dangote, but not too many people
know that the best has not yet been heard about Dangote. This man is a
visionary extraordinaire. He plans to glorify Nigeria and put her on the
world stage in grand style.
Dangote is poised to make his Nigerian based company the number one producers of cement in the world. Dangote Cement is a fully integrated cement company and has projects
and operations in Nigeria and 14 other African countries; Dangote
Cement's current total production capacity in Nigeria from its three
existing cement plants (Obajana 10.25MMTPA, Ibese 6.0MMTPA and Gboko
4.0MMTPA) is 20.25MMTPA.
The Obajana Cement Plant (OCP) located
in Kogi State is reputed to be one of the single largest cement plants
in the world with a combined capacity of 10.25MMTPA.
A fourth line which add 3.0MMTPA to the existing capacity will bring the total capacity of Obajana to 13.25MMTPA by 2015.
Dangote Cement is also the biggest quoted company in West Africa and
the only Nigerian company on the Forbes Global 2000 Companies.
Dear friends, I so much believe in Nigeria. My reasons are not just
because of emotions and sentiments. I mean, my believe is not because I
come from Nigeria myself. Believe me I have traveled the world and I can
tell you for a fact, there are no people like Nigerians. This is not
about pride or arrogance, this is raw facts out of my interactions with
people from almost every nation on earth. That is why nobody would make
me keep quiet until we address and fix our vices as a nation. Because I
want to see the full potential of Nigeria realized in my generation.
8. Another reason why Nigeria is the rising star of the future world is THE PHENOMENAL GROWTH OF THE NIGERIAN BANKS.
Thirteen Nigerian banks have been listed among the Leading 1000 Global
Banks as published by The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group
in its 2014 edition.
The Nigerian banks that made the ranking
based on Tier-1 capital are Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First
Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank and Ecobank
Nigeria. Others are Skye Bank, First City Monument Bank, Diamond
Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria and Union
Bank of Nigeria.
The report, which listed 13 Nigerian banks that
made the ranking, underlines Nigeria’s financial sector’s leading
position in Africa as no other African country has up to 13 banks in the
Top 1000 World listing of banks.
According to the report, Zenith
Bank ranked top in Nigeria at 293 in the world. Guaranty Trust is
number 415 in the world. First Bank is number 424 in the world. Access
Bank is number 532. United Bank for Africa ranked 539. And Fidelity
ranked 622 position.
I don’t have any doubt in my heart that with
an increase in stability of our economic and political life, our banks
could only rank higher and higher. The sky is the limit for the future
of Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
9. The best bet Nigeria has to
lead the world however, is in her young people, which she has in
abundance. The trend seems to be 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.
I. 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 honors during the
graduation that was held on May 24 that year.
II. 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 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.
III. Over the past five years, Nigerian students at the Russian
National Research Medical University have consistently topped the
graduation chat, bagging honors and contributing their wealth of
knowledge to the University’s academic status.
IV. 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.
V. In the same University in the year 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 honors and a CGPA of 5.0.
VI. Another Nigeria-born Alonge Olanike Omotola, who in 2010
represented the country on the Russian national research university hall
of fame, bagged first-class honors degree in Medicine and Surgery. She
was the best Graduating student and valedictorian for that year.
VII. A 24-year-old Nigerian, Uwa Osamede Imafidon, graduated from the
University of Texas at Arlington(UTA) in the US with 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 that 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.
10.
Finally, in all humility. I am not going to allow anybody to forget
about Pastor Sunday Adelaja. The only black man in the world that 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 5000 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 70million 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 UN.
• He has addressed the Japanese Members of parliament.
• He has spoken in the Knesset to members of 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
county 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 dwarf compared
to what I would be doing for the African continent by Gods 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 Emeagwalis, 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.
I see that many people who read my
articles can’t seem to understand the reason for my passion about
Nigeria. I have seen the future of this country.
"Let others lead small lives, but not you.
Let others argue over small things, but not you.
Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.
Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."
- Jim Rohn
Besides, I have been privileged to compete in universities where we had
students from 99 countries of the world and a Nigerian was leading the
pack. This is not unusual as seen in the stories above. In over 60
countries of the world where I have been, Nigerians are always the head
and not the tail, the first and not the last.
I remember in 2005
while in Seoul South Korea. Some South Koreans scientists told me they
carried out an experiment, which showed that Nigerians have one of the 3
top IQ’s in the world.
Nigerians are resilient, hardworking,
passionate, enterprising and aggressive even though most people tend to
unfairly emphasize only the negative part of Nigerians, but there is
much more to Nigerians than negative tendencies. I admit we are not
without our demons, yet as said by Mario Andretti
"If everything is under control, you are not going fast enough."
Can you imagine, a country where there is NO functioning electricity 24
hours? What will begin to happen if all our citizens have a 100%
electricity supply? If Nigerians could come top in all the above listed
areas of life, without any basic amenities. Imagine then what will
happen if they were to have all these things.
Friends, can you
imagine what would happen if every Nigerian child, in every village is
raised up in a sanitized environment, with good nutrition, libraries,
water supply, transportation system, equal opportunities, access to
money, education, good health facilities etc. We don’t have much yet,
still we are leading the world. What will happen if all the above
mentioned facilities are in place?
We know the long list of our
failures, despite all the things we lack as a nation, yet we perform.
Now imagine what could have been. Today Nigerian’s economy is ranked
number 26 in the world.
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. Matt 19:30
I am convinced that if we get just one thing right which is
electricity. Our GDP growth will double from 6% yearly to 12% which will
propel us to become one of the top 3 countries in the world in the next
20 years.
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.
NIGERIA SHALL INDEED ONE DAY TEACH THE WORLD
"Let others lead small lives, but not you.
Let others argue over small things, but not you.
Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.
Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."
- Jim Rohn
SO HELP US GOD!!!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHURCH AND NATION
By Pastor Sunday Adelaja.
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