CORRUPTION'S BURIAL

Once upon a time, corruption was buried in Nigeria.


Get this e-book now: Corruption's Burial

ZIKORA; DIARY OF AN AJEBO

Zikora means show the world what you have.
Zikora is a show-off. He was the son of a gentleman and an aspiring gentleman. Off course his greatest dream was to go abroad to further his studies, and the get a high paying job from a multi-national and live large ever after.
Most of Zikora’s peers had a British dream, some merely had a civil service dream, but Zikora had an America dream.
Despite the odds, he was going to pursue an American dream.
Zikora documents the dreams, aspirations and plights of Africans who travel to the West in search of greener pastures.

Get the e-book here: Zikora

Much Ado About Corruption

Nneoma Obiageli Igwegbe

Nigerians are obsessed with the word corruption, and they believe that it is only when corruption is defeated that the country will develop.
I believe them to an extent, because for me when I define corruption, I like to use the analogy of a computer.
When a foreign virus enters a computer, it is said to be corrupt. The foreign virus makes the computer to malfunction, or perform very slowly. You have to completely format that computer to remove the virus, or it will continue to malfunction and frustrate the user.
That is exactly how corruption in Nigeria works. We love foreign products and pursue foreignness to the detriment of development in our country.
The leader who siphons money merely used it to buy foreign furniture, cars and private jets. The girl who has ten boyfriends merely uses them to fund her Brazilian hair, and smart phones. The policeman who collects twenty naira on the street merely uses it to buy himself a foreign motorcycle or car, and everyone wants to be a big boy or big girl. No one cares how this obsession with foreignness by all of us bleeds the country dry, yet we blame an elusive corruption for our problems.
You search high and low for this corruption, yet you never find it. Some blame whomever just left Aso Rock as being corruption itself, but this has become something of a macabre dance that defies solutions.
The present government in Nigeria is obsessed with the word corruption to that it is looking like a masquerade dance, but many Nigerians are skeptical, and wonder how this corruption chorus will transform into economic solutions for Nigeria’s failing economy.

I once had an argument with an ardent PMB supporter who strongly believes that when PMB comes into power, and wipes out corruption, everything will magically become alright in Nigeria.


Now, as a writer and researcher, while researching for my book titled Corruption’s burial which is at Okadabooks, I have studied the history of Nigeria from the 1940s to the 2000s, and I have on my fingertips exactly what each government did when they were in power.

The first government which comprised of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as President,
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister,
Nwafor Orizu as Senate President,
Jaja Wachukwu as Speaker, and Later Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York, and Federal Minister for Economic Development.
Muhammadu Ribadu  as Minister for Defence,
Inuwa Wada as Minister for Works and Survey,
Shehu Shagari as Minister for Internal Affairs,
 Festus Okotie-Eboh as Minister of Finance,
H.O.Davies as Minister  for Industries.
Kola Balogun as Information Minister.
Ayo Rosiji as Health Minister,
Aja Nwachukwu as Minister for Education,
Raymond Njoku  as Minister for Commerce & Industry, and Transport.
K. O. Mbadiwe as Minister for Trade and Communications, and Minister of Aviation.

Just like PMB who had been trying to be the President of Nigeria for 16 years, they had been at the forefront for development and self-rule in Nigeria for at least 15 years. Their struggles for Nigeria’s independence started in the 1930s, but became very strong and effective in the 1940s. Just like PMB, they had up to twenty years of struggle, to plan and know exactly what they wanted in governance.
Most of these freedom fighters were now in power, especially the Zikists which had members from all ethnic groups of Nigeria.
But for these nationalists, their 15 years struggle was not merely a political struggle, but an economic one as well, because economic power is more important than political power. It is he who has the money that runs the economy. That is why you see that the Nigerian economy is still run by the whites. The whites are still running our country till date. It is the policies they seek to pass that will be passed whether it favours the masses or not, but that is a matter for another day.

 
Back to corruption and an efficient economy. These freedom fighters came into power in the 1960s, and they hit the seat running. People like Nwafor Orizu who was the Senate President, Jaja Wachukwu, who was the Speaker, Okotie Eboh who was the finance minister, and Ozumba Madiwe who was the minister for trade, commerce and industry.
They had the economy in their hands, and the economy thrived greatly because, before political power arrived, they had prepared the minds of Nigerians for economic warfare. They sensitized Nigerians on the need to patronize made in Nigeria products, and Nigerians were obliging. Now the implication of this is that when Nigerians patronize made in Nigeria products, there will be money trapped within the country which will be used for capital projects and infrastructure.
Between 1960 and 1966 was when almost everything we boast of today as a country were built.
The skyscrapers in marina, you show in every movie to show that Lagos is a mega city was built in the 1960s, although some were halted when the war started and were completed in the 1970s.
The kainji Dam was built then, when our population was just 16 million, and for some reasons successive governments have not improved on the legacies of the nationalists, and yet they expect uninterrupted power supply.
The Eko Bridge was commissioned in 1965, although it was completed during the war.
Most of the first generation universities were built and standardized at that time. The University of Lagos, the University of Ibadan, The University of Nigeria, and the UCH. The make-shift arrangements of these institutions were exchanged for quality structures that are still the pride of Nigeria today.
Lots of railways were built, lots of roads to interlink the whole country was built. The Nigerian Airways was established and it proudly flew Nigeria’s colours.

The biggest resource of a country is not crude oil or any other natural resource, the biggest resource of a country is its citizens. The citizens were what the early politicians capitalized on to build all the infrastructure we enjoy even till today.
Let me even talk about the hundred days in office issue. Do you know that the first skyscraper in Nigeria, which if the 32 story independence building was completed within 3 months. Princess Alexandria was present for the foundation laying on September 29, but it was ready for use by the end of the year.
That shows someone who came into office with a plan. How can you say that a hundred days is too short to know what you want to do for a country, for an office you have been campaigning for 15 years? The same amount of time that the nationalists campaigned for.  That is sufficient time to shape all your policies, and bring about the change you claim that the country needs.

 












Most of the solid structures we enjoy in Nigeria even till today were built in the 1960s by the government of the early nationalists, even though the ousted colonialists accused them of corruption, and set up a Nigeria corruption choir to discredit them.
Fastforward to 1983, Buhari comes into power, the economy is a total mess, and he thinks that corruption is the problem, and eradicating corruption is the solution. He starts an anti-corruption war, and a War against indiscipline taskforce, who whips people on the streets, and ensures orderly behavior of Nigerian citizens. Some people were locked in jail, some people were executed.
Back to my conversation with my friend, my question to him was this. “Yes, Buhari locked people up for corruption, and it made people happy. Citizens will look and say yes, he locked that man up, yes, very good. But what impact did Buhari’s corruption campaign have on the Nigerian economy?”
What can you point out, and say this and that is what was built when Buhari was in power as an anti-corrupt president. How did his anti-corruption campaign translate to a better economy?
Now I have pointed out few of what the first administration achieved, even though it was not preoccupied with locking people in jail. And it is incomparable to what Buhari achieved by a lifelong regime of locking people in Jail.
If Nigerians can listen and learn, I need them to understand that locking people in jail does not necessarily lead to a better economy.
The only benefit, it will give to you is the temporary joy of seeing someone punished, but it will not improve the economy.
It is capital that runs an economy, and when I say capital, I do not mean 10 billion naira. I mean 100billion dollars.
Capital flight is the reason for our under development, not the peanuts they share in Abuja. The amount they share in Aso Rock which they also spend on foreign things as we the citizens do is peanuts compared to what 170 million of us ship out of this country everyday from something as inconsequential as soap. Ordinary soap alone can make you a billionaire. Multiply the price of the soap you use by Nigeria’s populations and begin to imagine the billions of dollars that leave this country every month, of which we have gladly helped to ship out. The reason there is no structures is because of capital flight. They pay you salary, you give everything to foreigners who own companies that make these things, they take it to their country, and build all those things there, and you visit and say wow, I want my country to be like this. Well it will never be like this until we start making these things and retaining the capital here. That is the simple truth. Capital is King.
Imagine if it’s a black person who owns such companies, that’s billions of dollars that we can use for the light, water, roads, and other infrastructure. But Nigerians starve themselves and live in poverty to give all their money to oyibo, so we Nigerians are wicked to ourselves. We enjoy shipping out Nigeria’s employment and cash flow. It’s not just the corrupt leaders wickedness, but all the citizen’s wickedness collectively that accounts for the capital flight that makes our country and continent poor.

 










Our problems are not political, they are economic. Who you vote for everyday that you go to the market is more important than who you vote for at the ballot box. That’s why it’s called purchasing power. Your money is your power. Each time you get your salary or make some profits, understand that you can use that money to vote for or against development in your country.
 We must accept our role and responsibilities in making our country undeveloped rather than shifting the blames to corrupt leaders. Because this ‘blame the leaders’ game, we have played it for decades, and it’s never brought solutions, so we must find new solutions.
We need to start focusing on how we can be part of capital generators for our country, by manufacturing and consuming Made in Nigeria Goods in order to trap capital within the country, instead of siphoning our country’s wealth on imports, and looking for a scape-goat to blame.
This corruption game will not lead us anywhere. It is very entertaining, but it will lead to nowhere if we do not start making patriotic sacrifices for the growth of our economy. We need to focus on the real issues, and stop allowing this corruption dance distract us from obtaining the real campaign promises that can improve our very own lives, and our future.

Nneoma Igwegbe is a Prolific writer, a Philosopher, Psychologist, Lawyer, Social Entrepreneur, and an Ambassador of Heaven. You can contact me via:
noigwegbe.blogspot.com
nneigwegbe@gmail.com

Books by N. O. Igwegbe

Are you going through problems that defy solutions in your life? Does it seem as if everything you try to achieve is doomed to fail? Instead of worrying, why not find out how you can change your story from today? Understand how to turn every curse and disappointment into blessings. Find out, and BE BLESSED TODAY.

Buy ''Be Blessed'' 






















Nothing you have on earth is safe. Your hard work and savings are only safe in the Bank of Heaven. Find out about Heaven's bank workers, and Heaven's Bank Manager. Find out more about Heaven's Bank services like Insurance, Mortgages, Savings and Investments, and Loans. Get a copy today, and find out how to secure your future in the best possible way.

Buy ''Bank of Heaven'' on Okadabooks

Buy ''Bank of Heaven'' on Amazon 

What miracle do you seek that has been carrying you from one church to another for solutions? We serve a God of solutions. This book teaches us about putting God to the test. Heaven News helps you to put your life in the right shape to hear from God, receive from God, and be blessed in all that you do. Join us on this journey of discovering what love truly means, and learn how to give and receive love, and enjoy a happier and more fulfilled life. Find the solution to your problems in any of these messages; Ask and receive, Language of Heaven, Heaven or Hell, Corruption’s Burial, Trillion Dollar race, African Dream, This is Love, Escaping 666, Carry your Cross, Get your Deliverance, Miracle God, Get Behind me Satan, and many more life changing insights into God’s word. Nneoma Igwegbe has been given a ministry of love. She discovered that love is the cure for all the world’s problems, especially in Africa and Nigeria, and answered the call of God to spread his love over the face of the earth.

Buy ''God is not a Magician''






















Get the true definition of love, as well as the true implications of sex, to protect your heart, your finances, and your future. Learn how to find, know and keep true love.

Buy ''Love is not Sex'' 






















Life in the spirit is a life of joy and praise. Find out how to speak in tongues, and live a life of full of testimonies. Heaven News helps you to put your life in the right shape to hear from God, receive from God, and be blessed in all that you do. Join us on this journey of discovering what love truly means, and learn how to give and receive love, and enjoy a happier and more fulfilled life. Find the solution to your problems in any of these messages; Ask and receive, Language of Heaven, Heaven or Hell, Corruption’s Burial, Trillion Dollar race, African Dream, This is Love, Escaping 666, Carry your Cross, Get your Deliverance, Miracle God, Get Behind me Satan, and many more life changing insights into God’s word. Nneoma Igwegbe has been given a ministry of love. She discovered that love is the cure for all the world’s problems, especially in Africa and Nigeria, and answered the call of God to spread his love over the face of the earth. 

Buy ''Life in the Spirit''




 
















Heaven has a language, the language of faith. Learn exactly how to speak the language of heaven to move God to action in your life. Heaven News helps you to put your life in the right shape to hear from God, receive from God, and be blessed in all that you do. Join us on this journey of discovering what love truly means, and learn how to give and receive love, and enjoy a happier and more fulfilled life. Find the solution to your problems in any of these messages; Ask and receive, Language of Heaven, Heaven or Hell, Corruption’s Burial, Trillion Dollar race, African Dream, This is Love, Escaping 666, Carry your Cross, Get your Deliverance, Miracle God, Get Behind me Satan, and many more life changing insights into God’s word. Nneoma Igwegbe has been given a ministry of love. She discovered that love is the cure for all the world’s problems, especially in Africa and Nigeria, and answered the call of God to spread his love over the face of the earth. 

Buy ''Language of Heaven''




 
















Walking Bibles allow God to speak through them. This Book teaches us to compose ourselves in such a way as to hear from God, and also to minister to those around us. Heaven News helps you to put your life in the right shape to hear from God, receive from God, and be blessed in all that you do. Join us on this journey of discovering what love truly means, and learn how to give and receive love, and enjoy a happier and more fulfilled life. Find the solution to your problems in any of these messages; Ask and receive, Language of Heaven, Heaven or Hell, Corruption’s Burial, Trillion Dollar race, African Dream, This is Love, Escaping 666, Carry your Cross, Get your Deliverance, Miracle God, Get Behind me Satan, and many more life changing insights into God’s word. Nneoma Igwegbe has been given a ministry of love. She discovered that love is the cure for all the world’s problems, especially in Africa and Nigeria, and answered the call of God to spread his love over the face of the earth. 

 Buy ''Walking Bibles''






















This is an interesting story about a young girl who in a quest for beauty and fame, makes the biggest mistake of her life.

Buy ''Pink Lips''

N. O. IGWEGBE'S Latest Books

Hi guys, how was your day?
I just want to share with you some of the new books recently written by N. O. Igwegbe. Happy Reading!

Find Out how our money is being spent, shared and wasted in Nigeria by National Cake eater. The Senator's Daughter is also a love story gone wrong. 
http://okadabooks.com/book/about/9872

Painting the town red, getting all the hottest chics, and hanging out in the coolest places. City boys will be city boys until it is time to make the country better.
 http://okadabooks.com/book/about/9893

Yankee boys living the American dream in New York in the Heart of Manhattan. When you are rich, you can have anything you want. No dream is too big for you to achieve. Join the Yankee boys in living their dream.

http://okadabooks.com/book/about/9887







They are all on Okadabooks Store. Thanks

N. O. Igwegbe's New Book: NIGERIA IN 1945

 

 Meet the first three Nigerians to visit the White House in the USA. Three young Nigerians return to Nigeria in 1945, and change the power dynamics from old lootocrats to young visionary leadership. Find out how the Nigerian youths can take over power from the old cabal. It was done before, it can be done again. Because the Youth are not the leaders of tomorrow; The Youths are the leaders of today. You are the leaders, not those old men, if you are willing and ready. 

Get a copy here!
http://okadabooks.com/book/about/9884

Panacea to Nigeria’s problems? Let’s hear it from the girl

Written by GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR.

THE setting could not have been more perfect. The Lagos Island. The place has put on its finery — The beautiful skyline, with streetlight illuminating the neighbourhood. There’s a dash of Sedan and Sports Utility Vehicle, as they crisscrossed the streets. Nneoma Obiageli Igwegbe is ensconced in the lounge of a quiet, elegant hangout.

She’s just had a reading of her work, Trillion Dollar Race, and soaked in the cadence, expletives and praises of her craft and was ready to unburden her soul to her guest before she dashed back to her base in Awka.

At 27, Nneoma wears the innocence of a teenager, but breathes the confidence of an adult. Her book is about solution to Nigeria’s problems: Not a subject many people of her age are brave enough to tackle. But she’s very different.

What made her choose fiction as the best genre to talk about solutions to Nigeria’s problems?

 “It was more like a calling. After Law School, I practiced for a while, but I had a burning message in my heart that kept me captive for years behind my computer, it was as if this was something I simply had to do and that’s how the Trillion Dollar Race trilogy was born,” she says, over a drink.

 According to the lady, “as a scholar of international law, many think it’s best for me to write law books. But I feel that fiction is the best way to reach out to everyone. Everyone needs to hear this story, not only lawyers and academics. So, I chose to write fiction because it’s the best way to speak directly to the masses in a language that everyone will appreciate. I actually grew up in a world of books, and in my undergraduate years, I spent half of my time at the university library, poring over great books encompassing the works of masters from science to psychology, economics and politics. In the literature section, I fell in love with Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Franz Kafka’sMetamorphosis was also a revelation and for me the greatest love of all was Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.”

 Nneoma says, her eyes scanning the movement around the hangout, “the best part of Trillion Dollar Race is that it can make you a billionaire. Someone was complaining that in America, there are over three thousand dollar-billionaires, but in Nigeria, we do not have up to 20. This trilogy is an eye opener. It contains all the secrets to make ordinary people billionaires. Even if they have no connections or rich uncles or massive bank loans. It’s our only chance of getting more black billionaires from among the masses.”

 She smiles, “after writing the Trillion Dollar Race, I was worried that people, especially the youths, are not easily intrigued by the idea of investing in a book. So, I created a game just like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The book has 12 chapters of which each goes for a hundred naira, each week from October to December, a question will be asked on the Trillion Dollar Race website and facebook page in which the fastest finger to answer correctly wins fantastic prizes even up to one million naira at the grand finale.”

 Utterly confident, Nneoma says in a voice that is tiny and not strong enough to fill a room. “It’s an exciting new project. Though, I am aware that Nigerians are wary of getting scammed on Internet, but this is a sincere project to draw everyone into experiencing this book. A regular literature reader will recognise the importance of a book from the reviews and may decide to buy, but 70 per cent of the people will rather spend on recharge cards, music, games, movies and other fun things. So, I decided to make this great reading experience more fun for everyone.”

 The legal personnel adds, “another advantage of this project is that people who buy the book will not just leave it to gather dust on their bookshelves without opening it. Knowing they can win a prize from the weekly quiz emanating from the chapter of the week will motivate them to read it from cover to cover. And they’ll find that the greatest benefit of participating in the game is not whether they win the prizes, but the fact that this book can make them billionaires; so, I was tempted to name the game Who Wants to be a Billionaire? But finally settled for Trillion Dollar Race Game.”

NNEOMA is bright and enthusiastic, utterly self-assured and charmingly open like a new page. She says, candidly, “I think that literature today is now tilting from aesthetic art to commercialisation. You’ll find that the current global trend is for authors and publishers to churn out books in series the same way apple churns out new models of the i-phone every year or Toyota has a new series of the Camry every year. So, you see that Harry Potter ends up with seven books, if you go to Amazon, some even have up to 10 series. I think that literature is being diluted for mass appeal and merchandising.”

She says, “I believe that not being a virtuoso should not stop you from telling a story if it’s important enough and it’s what people need to know. For me, it is very important that your story has a universal theme. I constantly have this argument with my editor and one of my friends and he says that the most important thing that’ll make a book a best seller is the style of the author and he gave me the example of Chimamanda and kept saying to me, go and read Half Of A Yellow Sun. Now, I am a fan of Chimamanda and I’ve had her books since 2008, and so, I’ve read Half Of Yellow Sun up to three times. I explained to him that what stands out in Purple Hibiscus is Catholicism. And since there are many Catholics all over the world, it qualifies as a universal theme that anyone anywhere in the world can relate to, and as such, be sufficiently interested to get the book. The second theme in the book, which focuses on domestic abuse, is also relatable anywhere in the world. I mean Rihanna built a massive career on a domestic abuse case.

“These are relevant issues that people are concerned about. Then you look at Half Of Yellow Sun, the themes of war and love are what bestsellers are built on all over the world. If you watch American pop culture, you’ll find that, even till date, they find a way to chip in the Second World War, Hitler, Nazis, and Vietnam veterans, most times,” retorts Nneoma.

 She adds, “the theme of Things Fall Apart was colonialism, which was an extremely big issue in 1958 when the classic was published. This was a time when Africans were seen as animals, even as late as 1958, Belgium held a human zoo fair. There were human zoos all over Europe like any other animal zoo and people were paying to come and watch them and feed them bananas. So, his book tried to tell the world that Africans were humans like any other human being anywhere else in the world, with pride, culture and civilisation a long time before the white man came to Africa. That is what I mean by a universal theme. I am saying that style plus a great story is recipe for a bestseller, so, we should not overlook the importance of having a big enough theme.”

 So, what are the most important qualities of a writer that she learnt on the street?

“You’ll have to be a really good eavesdropper and maybe an agent provocateur to hear both sides and get a balanced view on issues and you’ll also need a shipload of patience with your work and with family, friends and strangers who may not understand your chosen career path,” she says.

 The Ichida native says, “I spend a lot of time online trying to study the minds of Nigerians. I’m at large a psychologist and philosopher, and so, I tend to try to figure people out. It’s fascinating to get into people’s minds and try to understand them. During my research on Nigeria for Trillion Dollar Race, which is set in Nigeria, UK and America, just after the Second World War till Nigeria’s independence, I kept saying to myself, ‘if I ever meet Awolowo, I’ll have to ask him ‘what the hell were you thinking?’ General Ibrahim Babangida said that ‘Awolowo, for four decades, had remained the issue in Nigerian politics’; once you understand the truth about Awolowo, you’ll understand why Nigeria is the way it is today. It’s about time our elders started telling us the real truth as many eyewitnesses have gone to the grave or are very close to the grave and a lot of truth will die with them, forever leaving the youths in perpetual darkness. I think what we need more than unity in this country. We even need truth more than light, water and good roads in Nigeria today.”

 What’s the most valuable piece of career advice she’d given herself?

Haah! She draws a long laugh and breathes, “I asked myself what is the most important legacy I’ll love to leave on earth? What will it be that if I drop dead right here, right now before the age of 29 that I won’t mind going? It won’t be money or cars or gadgets or houses, because it’ll take a stadium-sized grave to bury you with all that. I figured that it’d be the legacy of a better life for my fellow human beings. So, I followed the path that could do the greatest good to the greatest number of people.”

 What does she most hope that people remember her for outside her book?

 A puzzle look comes over the young lady. She glances across the table and says, “I want to be remembered for transforming Eastern Nigeria to New York or Dhabi. That’s a project I strongly believe in and I am willing to dedicate my time and resources to achieving this dream. I also call on all Easterners to identify with this project, which will be clearer to understand after reading Trillion Dollar Race.”

Trivia

NNEOMA attended Federal Government College, Okigwe, Imo State, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. She is a lawyer by training, but currently pursuing a Ph.D in international law. She is also the author of the blog, www.trilliondollarrace.blogspot.com. She is from Ichida, Anaocha Local Council of Anambra State and is the second of six children. Her mother is a Deputy Registrar, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.

 “I probably spend a quarter of my day on research because I’m a doctorate student, I spend another quarter writing, another quarter running my establishment called Imago Global Concepts and another quarter doing what everybody else does,” she says.

Like what?

“You know na,” she smiles.

Who is your role model?

“God, and Jesus,” she says.

You want to know her favourite holiday spot? “

Any place where I can find peace and quiet.”

Her favourite food is pounded yam with Edikang Ikong. “I am a very good cook,” she adds, brimming in smiles.

What is your favourite holiday gadget?

“I take my laptop everywhere, because I love to be able to put down my ideas once they come,” Nneoma confesses.

Her fashions style involves African fabrics such as Ankara, Kente or Aso oke.

Culled from: Guardian Newspaper
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/life-magazine/on-the-cover/182529-panacea-to-nigeria-s-problems-let-s-hear-it-from-the-girl