?

As we proceed to put Nigeria in a new direction this is a question we must ask ourselves and the community at large. Too often we define wealth in terms of riches and material pocessions. I think this is very wrong! Individuals just like nations take a leap forward when there is a shift in thinking not by mere accumulation of wealth or material pocessions.

Genuine Wealth is not material neither is it money, wealth is human resilience. The individual who comes back from the wilderness to heal and thrive, the single parent who got him or herself together to thrive, those that have been betrayed yet they found their path to thrive again, to those who start up without any support in their journey of life yet they come out of it to thrive, to those who keeps failing but will never stop trying until they thrive. The young boys and girls who have decided to throw everything at it, win or lose just to build their businesses, this is the genuine wealth of mankind. When people have set back and they overcome it they naturally thrive this is the greatest economics of mankind. Great opportunities emerge from challenges!

People are wealthy when their riches is not tied to location or environment alone, genuine wealth is something we carry inside of ourselves, any economy that rewards resilience will not only thrive but blossom. A solid economy is not built around statistics and data alone, any economy that must be worth its salt must be constructed around values, I think our economic system needs more of purification than accumulation. If we clean up our commercial space and laws there will be space for more rather than pilling up the dirt!

We are wealthy not because of our pocessions but for what we have overcome. There can’t be a genuine wealth without inspiration. At the community level we are wealthy not because of our treasures but the character of the community. When communities learns to pull themselves together they acquire more growth and steady development, a good example is Germany and Israel.

Any nation that does not build wealth will regress into poverty and mediocrity therefore we need to redirect our economy to empower ordinary Nigerians and not just the business and political interest, we need to reward commercial and intellectual courage and we need to mobilize Nigerians for growth and greatness. Foreign Exchange or foreign investment will never substitute for hard work, sacrifice and integrity there is no shortcut to prosperity and wealth.

This is very important, as we begin to organize our micro and macro-economic policies to think of values, as we go about our laws and institutions we also think of character and as we try to satisfy political exigencies and interest we also think of the long term.

This goes out not only to our political leaders but to the business leaders, community leaders, spiritual leaders and the individual. I believe the best is yet to come in this nation and the world is yet to comprehend what can and will be achieved by the black race, it is a question of time.
Let this era be the touchstone of history and the positive turning point for Nigeria and Africa at large.

God bless Nigeria

Hon. Adeyemi Abidemi Adebola
Founder: Africa Reading Project