There is hardly cheering news in the land anymore. We were forced to look beyond our porous borders. We earnestly searched for consolation and comfort. In other lands, we found our “lost” ones in great abundance.
We just have to celebrate these “lost” Nigerians. Why and how we carelessly lost them cannot be in dispute. How did we come to this? The reasons are glaring and profound.
We literally pushed them out of their dear fatherland. We drove them into cold weather; far away from their homeland.
The truth is that we practically sold them into modern slavery. They are “lost.” Yet, they continue to excel beyond borders.
These unique Nigerians are something else. Our leaders virtually wrote them off. They wickedly condemned them to their fate. They thought they had no future, particularly the youth among them.
But these accomplished young Nigerians proved them wrong. They were edged out by misrule of their own country. They would not be deterred. They elected not to be intimidated or even discouraged.
Out in other countries, they became emboldened. Courage was derived from their determination to succeed. They assiduously worked on their weakness.
They converted it into an advantage. The burden became a blessing. In no distant time, they had a breakthrough. They secured a deserved turnaround. And weakness turned to strength.
The results? They are making waves in the Diaspora. They occupy the space all over the world. These “lost” Nigerians are the most sought-after anywhere their feet touch. Theirs is like the famed Greek King Midas of Phrygia. It is the Midas touch. Whatever they decide to touch turns to gold. They shine unhindered.
We need to reach to those stones our leaders rejected. They are the cornerstones and pillars of institutions in foreign lands. They are growing the economies of those countries.
Their exploits are quite astonishing. Our great losses are the huge gains of those nations. They are building structures and strong institutions of those countries. And they are doing it with total commitment. Because they have a huge stake.
These samplers are what we lost to recklessness and hot-headedness. Their escapades would stun and amaze you at the same time:
On December 31, 2020, President Joe Biden of the United States picked on Osaremen Okolo. He brought her in as he was assembling his cabinet members.
A daughter of Nigerian immigrants. She was appointed member, Biden-Harris COVID-19 Response Team. She was born to Nigerian parents but raised in Massachusetts. She graduated from Harvard College in May 2017.
Adewale Adeyemo made it as Biden’s Deputy Secretary, Treasury. He had served as the president of the Obama Foundation. He was born in Nigeria but raised in Southern California. The 39-year-old obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He later became a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
Biden was not done yet with Nigerian brains. He found another in a lady, Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo. Promptly, he made her one of his legal advisers at the White House.
Funmi, who married another Nigerian, Tunde, is from Kogi State. She attended Berkeley Law College, USA. Daughter of an immigrant in Florida, she was general counsel, House select subcommittee on COVID-19.
This Biden is all out for Nigeria’s best. He would not fail to identify them when he sees one. The very reason he picked on Nigerian-born Enoh Titilayo Ebong. He made her Acting Director, U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
The agency said: “Ms Ebong leads an agency that partners with the U.S. private sector to develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in emerging economies, while supporting U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services.”
She was excited. Who would not be? She spoke her mind, devoid of frivolities: “I’ve long believed in USTDA’s mission and programme, which are fully aligned with the President’s vision of strengthening the country’s economy and addressing climate as an essential component of American foreign policy and national security.”
Ebong is fulfilled already, even in a foreign land! Perhaps, that couldn’t have happened in her Nigeria. She would never regret being “lost” to the Diaspora.
She grew up in Lagos. Her father, Ime James Ebong, was a Nigerian civil servant. He rose to become a permanent secretary.
Earlier, three Nigerians won offices in the November 3, 2020, U.S. general elections. They could only achieve that in a sane clime. They dared not here. The wobbling system would have played them out. The reason they were “lost” in the first instance.
Esther Agbaje became the first Nigerian-American to be elected into the Minnesota House of Representatives. She represents District 59B. The 35-year-old Harvard Law graduate is a Democrat.
She defeated Republican Alan Shilepsky and Green Party’s Lisa Neal-Delgado. Agbaje is interested in prison reform, fighting racial discrepancies and housing, among others.
Another Democrat, Oye Owolewa, was elected shadow member, House of Representatives, District of Columbia. He defeated incumbent Joyce Robinson-Paul and Sohaer Syed. He has roots in Kwara and Oyo states. He also became the first Nigerian-American to occupy the seat.
His agenda: “In this role, I’m going to fight for DC statehood and bring our values to the lawmaking process. While today is the day for some celebration, the hard work also follows.”
And re-enters Nnamdi Chukwuocha! He won re-election as member, Delaware House of Representatives, District 1. He is Democrat without opponent. He first came into the House in 2018. He has experience in local politics.
The samplers and their exploits cut across continents and oceans. They are outstanding and spectacular.
It also happened in faraway Scotland. Late last month, 42-year-old Nigerian, Yekemi Otaru, did it. She was named Chancellor, University of the West of Scotland. The 42-year-old inspirational entrepreneur holds four degrees.
Otaru responded with a profound pronouncement: “Now is the perfect time for me to be joining the university’s journey in inspiring and educating the next generation of graduates, equipped with the skills needed to help society recover from the (COVID-19) pandemic.”
She is the first of three children of Dr Raphael and Mrs Sarah Awoseyin of Ayedun, in Oke-Ero Local Government, Kwara State.
The train moved to the British royal family. Prince Charles appointed Eva Omaghomi as director, Community Engagement.
Her roles, to “help take forward their royal highnesses’ work with minority groups in the UK, Commonwealth and globally, building on a legacy stretching back to the 1970s.”
The list is growing by the minute. They are soaring in foreign lands like eagles, conquering new territories.
Here we are in Nigeria, sliding rapidly to the precipice. Great tragedy! We are sinking deeper into the unknown. It has been one day, many woes. And the end seems not to be near or in sight.
We keep on sending them out in droves. Peace has almost completely eluded us. Yet, our leaders wickedly stick to their deadly guns.
They criminally hold on to doing the same thing several times over. And without positive results. Abnormality has become their new normal. It’s the order of the day.
Those who forcefully claim to be our leaders have turned tin gods. They fake everything under the sun. They are our nightmare, our trauma.
We will not fail to tell them. All the feats of those “lost” to the Diaspora point to one stark reality: No nepotism, no ethnicity and no federal character. Their exploits have everything to do with competence and ability.
If you are not competent, you remain incompetent. No two ways to it. What you don’t have, you can’t give. It’s as simple as that.
That is a factual fact. No “integrity” can torpedo this. It cannot be changed anywhere. Not even in this our eerie and frightening clime.