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Building the Nigeria of Our Dreams Printable Version PRINTABLE VERSION
by Amaize Ohimai Godwin, Nigeria Jan 3, 2008
Media   Opinions
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Indeed, these are trying times. Apparently, yet paradoxically, these are times when the past presents more hope than the future. For some, it is perceived there is no future at all. The pathway to a new dawn has become a rocky terrain of recurring mirage. The gates have been closed with a hopeless bang, leaving echoes of failure and disappointment. These are times when hopes are continually raised and dashed on the rocks of deceitfulness.

Whereas the unfolding spectacle is a quite essential theatre of the absurd, it is amazing to see how much we continue to nurture an affinity for rot and a fancy for dust. But how did we degenerate so fast? When did we relapse into an awfully dysfunctional state whose landmarks are replete with colonial micro-nationalism, social insecurity, comatose institutions, intellectual peonage, value collapse, and a national assembly unable to defrock itself from the garb of crookedness and the spiteful penchant of public officers for public stealing?

One of the biggest challenges confronting the Nigerian state today is the issue of corruption. World over, corruption has become an issue of great concern. While some consider it the bane of constructive efforts towards the building of a virile society, it is for others a necessary tool for accessing and securing personal fortunes. Sadly enough, the Nigerian experience is a careless harbinger of deferred dreams.

Efforts geared towards the advance of project Nigeria, have been continuously truncated by the terrifying conditions of a system bedeviled by corruption. In the midst of this deepening crisis and perhaps the quest for a potent way out of the corruption quagmire, the Fix Nigeria Initiative (FNI), the civil society interface of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited youths from the six-geopolitical zones of Nigeria to the 1st National Youth Anti Corruption Summit which was held at Bolingo Hotel and Towers, Abuja on Monday 10 September, 2007.

According to the FNI, the aim of the summit was to bring together youths to deliberate on issues of corruption, integrity, accountability and the crisis of the Niger-Delta. I was one of the youths who attended the summit. At the end of the summit, it became clearer that the task of ridding our nation of the scourge of corruption was more Herculean than often imagined. A novel and imaginative way of solving this in relation to the idea of building the Nigeria of our dreams, is a brief assessment of the role of the Nigerian media and its impact on the youths who are often considered the foundation of the future.

Among the several presentations at the summit, I was particularly touched by the submissions of ace broadcaster Mrs. Eugenia Abu who herself a media practitioner, boldly chastised the Nigerian media for what she described as its promotion of consumerism and sex rather than our cherished moral values. According to her, “Today’s consumerism has ensured that there is so much representation of the power of money. The logic of profit prevents the discharge of the media’s responsibility to society.”

Indeed, the media, in most cases safeguards the truths and moral values of society. As the Fourth Estate, as well as guard dog and conscience of society, it is a formidable force and potent tool in nation building. In consequence, its responsibility to society must not be compromised in a way that produces misrepresentations to young persons who are for the most part, observers of its social portraits. Hence the need for the media to embrace a paradigm shift and strive to continually portray cultural processes, whether African or Western, from a standpoint that provides sufficient subtext of the informing essence and context. The reality of our socio-cultural experience must not be allowed to disappear under the red light of reality TVs. Our soap operas must be strategic enough to cleanse the dirt which has permeated the fabric of society.

Concerted efforts by the media to empower our youths must be prioritized over musical concerts and parties which only encourage materialism and bad role-modeling. Why do we preach patriotism to the fatherland when the media has forgotten that Taiwo Akinkunmi, the man who designed the Nigerian flag is still alive and has become a sickly beggar in the streets of Ibadan? Do we really expect young Nigerians to be patriotic to Nigeria when those celebrated by the media today are those who have imbibed the ideals of Hollywood while parading themselves as Nigerian versions of Shakira, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and 50 Cents? How many Nigerian movies are centered on contemporary Nigerian or African icons like Dora Akunyili, Nuhu Ribadu, and Nelson Mandela?

Permit me this; I am not advocating an anti-showbiz Nigerian media. I still enjoy good music, movies and soaps, whether Nigerian or foreign. But the prevailing truth is that the media must get its priorities right. What Nigeria needs at this time in her historic journey to national greatness, is a responsible media that understands its powers as a vital tool for social construction. So profound is the strength of the media that it can turn good people into bad people and otherwise. Thus, the media must be able to re-evaluate itself.





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Writer Profile
Amaize Ohimai Godwin


One of Nigeria’s youngest anti-corruption advocates, Ohimai Godwin Amaize is a communications strategist who expresses passionate belief in the use of the media as a tool for social reconstruction. Notably a man of many parts, Ohimai has been Coordinator, Integrity Organization, University of Ibadan, and served as one of the two (2) students’ representatives in the University of Ibadan Ceremonials Committee. A former president of the Union of Campus Journalists [UCJ], University of Ibadan, where he studied English and French (Combined Honours), Ohimai is a voluntary adviser to numerous youth-led non-profit initiatives.

Born on September 9, 1984, Ohimai has received several awards in recognition of his dynamic efforts. In 2005, he was a co-recipient of the Reuben Abati Award for Investigative Reporting, University of Ibadan. He was nominated twice in 2006 and 2007 for the Junior Chamber International [JCI-UI Chapter] Five Outstanding Persons Awards [FOPA] and has been profiled as one of the ten [10] outstanding graduates of the University of Ibadan in 2007. In June, 2008, he was awarded the Green Yaggy Achievement Award alongside the likes of ‘Gbenga Sesan, Yeni Kuti and Denrele Edun. Ohimai has a rich mentorship background that parades multi-directional experiences with notable Nigerians such as Dapo Olorunyomi, Dele Momodu, Fela Durotoye, Nuhu Ribadu, Gamaliel Onosode among others.

Ohimai has handled the Popular Culture Programme of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] and actively contributed to the development of crime prevention strategies at the Commission’s Strategy and Re-orientation Unit [SARU]. In October 2008, he was inducted Ambassador, Microsoft Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria [MISSPIN]. As a MISSPIN Ambassador, Ohimai coordinates Project BLING, a pop culture initiative devoted to the use of music in the fight against cybercrimes in Nigeria.

A renowned online publicist for social change initiatives, Ohimai is currently at the forefront of Fix Nigeria! - one of Nigeria's biggest online movements on anti-corruption advocacy. In recognition of his visionary contributions, in the summer of 2009, Ohimai was one of the only two Nigerians selected to attend the course – “Managing for Integrity: Strategies and Approaches” at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. Currently Communications and Media Relations Executive of Guardians of the Nation International [GOTNI], he after a brief stint as Brand Consultant [Brand Development, Research and Strategy] with a frontline Brand Consulting firm in Lagos, resigned his appointment to fully pursue his passion for social change at the Youth Media & Communication Initiative [YMCI], Abuja where he currently functions as the organisation’s Creative Director as well as its Project Officer, Strategy and Communications, MakeYourVotesCount.org.

Ohimai maintains his personal blog at www.mrfixnigeria.blogspot.com
Comments


From Pedus
DR PEDUS C EWEAMA | Jan 6th, 2008
Hello Godwin, Impressive evocation of the reality of the Nigerian society. Good work! People like us in the diaspora are willing to help transform the socio-political terrain of Nigeria, and I think the role of the youth cannot be over-emphasised. The youth need to actively participate in the transformation of Nigeria beyond the virtual platform of TakingItGlobal. Please call on me in any area you think I could be of help in youth mobilisation and I will be there.



From Pedus
DR PEDUS C EWEAMA | Jan 6th, 2008
Hello Godwin, Impressive evocation of the reality of the Nigerian society. Good work! People like us in the diaspora are willing to help transform the socio-political terrain of Nigeria, and I think the role of the youth cannot be over-emphasised. The youth need to actively participate in the transformation of Nigeria beyond the virtual platform of TakingItGlobal. Please call on me in any area you think I could be of help in youth mobilisation and I will be there.



DR PEDUS C EWEAMA | Jan 6th, 2008
Hello Godwin, Impressive evocation of the reality of the Nigerian society. Good work! People like us in the diaspora are willing to help transform the socio-political terrain of Nigeria, and I think the role of the youth cannot be over-emphasised. The youth need to actively participate in the transformation of Nigeria beyond the virtual platform of TakingItGlobal. Please call on me in any area you think I could be of help in youth mobilisation and I will be there.



DR PEDUS C EWEAMA | Jan 6th, 2008
Hello Godwin, Impressive evocation of the reality of the Nigerian society. Good work! People like us in the diaspora are willing to help transform the socio-political terrain of Nigeria, and I think the role of the youth cannot be over-emphasised. The youth need to actively participate in the transformation of Nigeria beyond the virtual platform of TakingItGlobal. Please call on me in any area you think I could be of help in youth mobilisation and I will be there.



DR PEDUS C EWEAMA | Jan 6th, 2008
Hello Godwin, Impressive evocation of the reality of the Nigerian society. Good work! People like us in the diaspora are willing to help transform the socio-political terrain of Nigeria, and I think the role of the youth cannot be over-emphasised. The youth need to actively participate in the transformation of Nigeria beyond the virtual platform of TakingItGlobal. Please call on me in any area you think I could be of help in youth mobilisation and I will be there.

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