Nigerian: “We must celebrate our positive sides” – The Nigerian Renaissance Project By Wale Odunsi

-Nigerian: “We must celebrate our positive sides” – The Nigerian Renaissance Project

By Wale Odunsi 

Good day ladies and gentlemen of the Press and welcome to this brief meeting. Thank you so much for honouring our invitation to talk about I-Nigerian, a privately initiated Perception Transformation Initiative set up to drive what we have chosen to call The Nigerian Renaissance Project (TNRP) into the consciousness of Nigerians at home and abroad, and to the global community, with special emphasis on the positives.
It is both a process, and a series of programmes designed to recapture the heart, soul and concept of being Nigerian, by showcasing in every sphere, the good in Nigeria and Nigerians, by Nigerians themselves.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT is very simple: ‘To reawaken the pride of being Nigerian!’
It is quite succinct, in that it embodies the focus of this initiative – to reenergise the mindset of Nigerians, such that we all begin to take pride again, in talking POSITIVELY about our dear country, NIGERIA, and of ourselves as NIGERIANS. For instance, not many media outfits celebrated it when recently Nigeria made it into the list of the 50 Most Reputable Countries in the World! Before now, the country was not even considered for ranking.
Ladies and gentlemen, you will all agree with me that our country is at a very critical stage of its growth and development. We have evolved as a new ‘democratic’ country, and a fast-growing economy. Global attention on Nigeria today, is at an all-time high, something that should easily bring pride to the heart of every Nigerian wherever we are across the world.
Sadly, the good attention that we should be basking in is being tainted by the news of insurgencies, challenges to our national security, and a myriad of issues that spark more and more negative news about Nigerians as a people. Nigerians – individually and collectively – are left with a battered trust and confidence in their Nigerianness.
Today, there is a deep dent on the collective psyche of the average Nigerian, as Nigerians find it increasingly difficult to speak positively or confidently about our dearly beloved county – the psyche of the nation is plummeting more and more, with all the negative stories coming out of, and about Nigeria, many being told by Nigerians themselves.
The good news however, is that there are lots of positives!
Nigeria is about to emerge as the largest economy in Africa. GDP is a powerful political tool as the most important global governance institutions, from the G8 to the G20, are based on GDP credentials. So far, South Africa has been the only African country represented in the G20 on the grounds of the scale of its economy. *link to Nigeria*
A 24 year old Nigerian, Uwa Osamede Imafidon, just graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in the US with a Masters degree in Microbiology, with a 4.0 CGPA out of the maximum 4.0 CGPA. Before her sojourn abroad, she had earlier bagged a First Class Degree in Crop Science from University of Benin, as the Best Graduating student in her Department
Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin), the entrepreneurship development scheme of the Federal Government was launched just over a year ago, and has become so successful that each of the 1200 first set of beneficiaries are now employing an average of eight staff! This is good news that should be widely related.
A few years ago, Jelani Aliyu a graduate of the University of Sokoto won a global design competition organised by General Motors. But we don’t get to celebrate these.
Of the 541 athletes employed by Great Britain for the 2012 Olympics, 16 reportedly are Nigerians including some that are world champions. None of them was referred to them as Nigerian-born British athletes. BUT, when two miscreants born and bred in Britain killed a soldier, the British press was so quick to dub them Nigerians.
Mosunmola ‘Mo’ Abudu recently launched EbonyLife TV, Africa’s first Global Black Multi-Broadcast Entertainment Network, and a world class entertainment network, that will be beamed in nearly every country on the Continent, with programmes showcasing Nigeria’s burgeoning middle class. EbonyLife TV will inspire Africans and the rest of the world, and change how viewers perceive the Continent.
Home girl Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, recently emerged one of TIME’s top 100 most influential personalities. Nigeria’s Ice Prince Zamani won the 2013 Best International Act (Africa) Award.

I must also add the story of the richest black man Aliko Dangote. This is a story of grass to grace. Forbes recently rated him 25th richest man in the world. He has within a single generation translated a medium scale business into a multinational conglomerate! And even when we look at government side, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has announced that Nigeria has successfully halved the number of hungry people in line with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. Like us, you should all agree that very cheering news are emanating from our land.
And what about the creative geniuses we have among us – there is Adamu Waziri, a Nigerian animator quietly running his Nigerian based animation company, EVCL, which produces Bino and Fino, an African educational cartoon for children.
These are just a few inspiring stories coming from within Nigeria and they are all extraordinary! Some of our stories don’t get to make news headlines, but I know if I ask each of us seated here today to think of someone…a Nigerian, who has been an inspiration to him or her, and who should be celebrated, we will not hesitate to talk about them.
These are everyday Nigerians doing noble deeds, surviving against all odds, and who just believe in maintaining the dignity of being Nigerians.
We must speak about them and be proud of them rather than insist on the negativities. Negatives are present, and even more prevalent in other climes, but are not often screamed on the front pages.
There is a saying that ‘nobody can make you inferior without your consent!’ Over the years, a subtle inferiority has crept into the consciousness of the average Nigerian, especially in the way we talk about ourselves – we tend to spend more time talking about the bad than the good.
In realisation of these, a few of us private individuals, concerned about the worsening negativity about us as Nigerians, have decided to come together to bring back something we have all lost as Nigerians – FAITH! – FAITH in ourselves, FAITH in our system, and above all FAITH IN NIGERIA.
Our faith is premised on the belief that if we work together on how we, as Nigerians present, project and promote ourselves as Nigerians, the pride and belief we once had as citizens of this country will be rebirthed, such that we begin to be positive about Nigeria again. This is our reason for calling this initiative, The Nigerian Renaissance Project (TNRP), using I-Nigerian as the platform to drive TNRP.
Nigerians are by nature very vocal about everything, especially about their country – for good or for bad. Therefore, it is necessary to transpose our minds, such that the stories that we tell of Nigeria, and the image we present of our country, give the country a ‘new’ name that reflects some ‘new order’ among Nigerians themselves.
From now on, Nigerians should begin to resist negative labelling of our country, even amongst ourselves.
I-Nigerian is a process that will take back something of value that has systematically been taken from Nigerians over the years – either by design or by default : A BELIEF IN NIGERIA!
This is encapsulated in our SLOGAN: ‘I-Nigerian…This is who I am’
OUR VISION/OBJECTIVES:
*To positively transform the perception of Nigerians about Nigeria
*To reenergise the positive mindset of being Nigerian
*To encourage greater and better projection of Nigeria by Nigerians at home and abroad
*To highlight the role of the Nigerians themselves in the Nigerian renaissance
*To touch, turn and sway (we call it TTS) the minds of Nigerians, and get them all thinking ‘Nigeria’ affirmatively.
I-Nigerian is comprised of some and all of us. A good number of us are home-based professionals; some of us are Diaspora returnees; while some of us are out of work youths (yes, unemployed and out of work youths, who desire a hope, faith and belief in Nigeria), and ALL Nigerians who truly desire a country that is not only perceived as, but is indeed the country of our dreams.
As I present this to you on behalf of my colleagues, we ask that you partner with I-Nigerian to achieve the dreams of this vision. We ask, not for money or votes (smile) – we are apolitical! Our simple mandate to us all is that we look within ourselves and awaken that spark in us that desires to grow and succeed in this land, which God – in His infinite wisdom – has chosen to place us.
It is also a charge to retune our minds to being dignifying in our thinking, speech, and deeds (our work) about Nigeria and being Nigerians as a whole.
This is Nigeria, this is home, this is our land, and we will thrive here for one simple reason: I-Nigerian!
Thank you for your time.
God bless Nigeria and all Nigerians….
Ada Stella Apiafi
I-Nigerian