POVERTY OF THE MIND: THE BIGGEST PROBLEM OF NIGERIANS.

[Redman44]

Sometime in 2001, I was reading some copies of TIME Magazine given to me by a good friend, Vincent Egede. I can still remember that I came across an article written about Mother Theresa, the catholic nun who passionately cared for the poor and abandoned people in India. Mother Theresa granted an interview to one of the Magazine's correspondents and she made a comment which has been burnt onto my heart since then. She said, '' There are different kinds of poverty, but the greatest of them all is the Poverty of the Mind.'' Her words struck me like a thunderbolt. This was a woman that left her comfort zone in order to live with the poorest of the poor in the slums of india. Talk of intelligence not being confined to the palaces of the wealthy alone. No wonder she is a Nobel Laureate even in death.

I make bold to say that the biggest problem of Nigerians and Nigeria today, is the poverty of the mind. When the minds of many Nigerians become rich towards one another, the country will start to develop rapidly. We cannot give what we don't have. I have observed that deep thinking and intelligence is not really appreciated in Nigeria today. We have this habit of detesting those who are innovative in their thinking. I know some Nigerians are different [ due to being brought up well or because they have been properly exposed to how things are done in the west ] but many many people in the country are not rich towards one another in thought and in deeds.

In Nigeria, we have square pegs in round holes because of poor thinking on the part of our leaders. How will our Universities develop when the Vice Chancellors are appointed by the Presidency? And most times, the President chooses candidates that are loyal to him or are affiliated to the ruling party. Meanwhile, the Professor that should have been the VC is humiliated and sent back to continue teaching, thereby letting his leadership skills and great ideas waste. Another issue that beats my imagination is the current silent war between home based Professors and the returnee Professors from Europe and America. When scholars return to Nigeria after many years of studying or teaching in the Western World, they usually face hostile counterparts back home. Instead of rubbing minds together on how to teach students more effectively, and how to update or change the syllabus, a coded battle for supremacy starts. I witnessed these kind of ' battles ' at UNIBADAN. One of them led to Professor Niyi Osundare [ Commonwealth Poetry Winner ] giving a stinging Inaugural Lecture which was published in about three Nigerian Newspapers. The cause of the wrangling among the university egg heads is due to the poverty of the mind.

A rich mind is not affected by what people say or do. A rich mind always finds ways to overcome problems. A rich mind is all welcoming to new ideas and fosters innovation. Many Nigerians are not innovative in their thinking. Innovation and the desire to create is what drives the development of nations. Innovation was the key behind The Renaissance, The Reformation and Counter Reformation and the Industrial and Computer Revolutions. Have you observed that many Nigerian websites hardly update their content and do not change their format for many years and months? Some Nigerian sites are outstanding but they are very few. Now lets compare our sites to those in Europe and America. Can you see the difference? The content of many of our websites are not good enough and hardly inspires or nourishes the soul. Lets also talk about the content of our Newspapers and Magazines. We can count the publications that have solid content on our finger tips. I don't want to go very deep into this on the forum.

Poverty of the Mind is a disease that has to cured in Nigeria. A poor mind will always oppose innovation and great ideas. I don't even know if Nigeria has a Patent Agency. I believe there are some inventors in our country who can come up with prototypes of machines and instruments that will drive our comatose industries. We are all complaining about bad electricity supply, but has the Government actually made a call to Nigerians who can think of alternative ways of generating power to come on board? Has an Agency been formed to bring the ideas of Nigerian inventors into fruition? Like I said earlier on, we cannot give what we don't have. Many of our leaders are empty barrels who don't really know what it means to be elected into office. Rich minds always see into the future. Most visionaries are rich in their thought. They are selfless and they do things for the advancement of humanity. In Nigeria, we love using what other countries of the world have produced, but I wonder what we are offering other nations. Even the football we are known for has been hijacked by charlatans who keep changing coaches like toothbrushes. That is why a coach like Samson Siasia is seen as a threat by the men at the Glass House.

We need to develop our minds. And we need to start developing our children. Nigerian has been left behind by other nations when it comes to youth development. What do our children know about the history of their country? We have abandoned the teaching of history in our schools. I was the only one that took History in the 1995 WAEC Exams in my school. Yet, a leaf that does not know it it is part of a tree is dead and lost. For Nigeria to truely develop, we need to go back to our roots and learn from our history. We have to forge an identity that will include all the 250 ethnic groups. The Chinese are rising fast today because they hold on to their history and their culture gives them the motivation to keep soldering on against the Western Nations. The Chinese are using the teachings of the great Confucious to grow their economy. Why have we abandoned the teachings and sayings of our national heroes like Mai Idris Alooma and Jaja of Opobo? Were this men not intellectuals?

I could go on and on but I've got other things to attend to. I believe that if we can start feeling genuinely concerned about the development of Nigeria, things will change. Sometimes, a single person can effect great changes if he or she believes in his or her dreams. Some of us will have to be in Nigeria to make NDM work. It is a sacrifice I will have to make later on. I have my own personal projects for Nigerian youths and Kids but I believe in the goals of the NDM too. However, development starts from the mind. Development will never come from a poor mind. It can only come from a rich mind. Let us make our minds and our thinking rich. It will do us a lot of good.

[kaestro]

I applaud your insightful article and share every sentiment in the nations state of affairs, for months I've been searching a group that I can work and contribute to.Indeed the level of decadence is not lower than that of the mount Kilimanjaro.However may I say I'm very interested in sharing ideas on how to move the nation forward so if anyone on this group has the time do contact me.Unfortunately I live in Canada but I believe it does not hinder a collective communication.

[experts]

i just sent u an offline message in yahoo

[ufumes]

i feel u re right guy

[fulan_lily]

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[Temi O J]

I believe we all can make a difference. We in this forum are fortunate to be in the positions we find ourselves today. We are at advantage compared to millions who dont know anything going on.Millions don't only have the disease, but are not aware . what can NDM do to ameliorate poverty of the mind? can it be stopped? if it can, what duration of time do we need to cure 150 million Nigerians of this ailment. what will be the catalyst to curing poverty of the mind? let us brainstorm on these....