Nigeria – Industrious, Innovative and Enterprising, with Achievements

191. We take technology and expand it in ways those who created it could not have imagined. For instance, take the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) which allows you to send broadcast messages to all addresses on your contacts list; Nigerians recently found a unique way of advertising the different businesses they do. Someone started a message highlighting the fact that many people in Nigeria are entrepreneurs or provide a service and included his BB PIN in the message and sent to all his contacts with the charge that they state the service they provide, include their PIN and send on to all their contacts too. This seemingly small campaign has gone “viral” with whole lists of entrepreneurs and their BB PINs being passed from phone to phone. This is a clear sign of the ingenuity of Nigerians!

192. The average Nigerian is inherently intelligent. History is replete with stories of Nigerians all over the world, achieving academic feats, one of which is Saheela Ibraheem, who at the age of 15, has actualised the goal of gaining admission to the prestigious Harvard University, with aspirations of becoming a research scientist, studying the human brain.

193. Nigeria boasts mega business moguls, enterpreneurs and billionaires such as Aliko Dangote, who has been dubbed as Africa’s richest man. Aliko Dangote heads the Dangote group with business involvements in transportation, flour mills, agro sacks, cement, sugar, salt etc

194. Nigeria is the first country in Africa to successfully design, build and launch a satellite (under supervision of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd) into orbit (NigeriaSat-X, Aug 17, 2011)

195. The average Nigerian typically does not wait for the government to come and solve his problems. He is a master of improvisation and will sort his issues out. This is why incidents like food riots are rare in Nigeria.

196. Nigerians are great manufacturers, innovators and creative producers. Nigerians are productive and become forces and icons everywhere they are found.

197. Literary Culture: There’s something about the water we drink in Nigeria that instigates an appreciation for good literature. Nigeria is a highly relevant force in the literary world. Wole Soyinka is a Nobel Laureate, Chinua Achebe has written classics, Chimamanda Adichie and Sefi Atta are doing well and very soon, Chibundu Onuzo would achieve greatness.

198. Budding Fashion designers: Yes. It’s a line every Bunmi, Amaka and Amina has decided to tow but to disregard the effort and originality of our Fashion Designers would be disrespectful. Tiffany Amber, Lanre Da Silva and Deola Sagoe are building world renowned brands, not to mention the legacy developed by the likes of Abba Folawiyo, Maureen Onigbanjo, Remi Lagos and Zizzi Cardow.

199. Nigeria is one African country with a commendable drive for formal education. According to The Journal of Pan African Studies, Nigeria has over 30 Federal and State universities, 20 polytechnics, and consequently, an annual graduating class of over 70,000 in a multiplicity of disciplines.

200. Nigeria produced the first black African Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, being the first African country to achieve this feat.

201. Andrew Ejemai, a 10 year old Nigerian living in the UK, passed the A level exams at such a young age, and obtained admission into Eton College, England.

202. Nigerian as a country has made significant contributions to the developed economies of this world in terms of human capital and intellectual contribution.

203. Nigerians are intelligent, brilliant minds who have proven their mettle in various fields – Wole Soyinka was the first African to win the much coveted Nobel prize for literature in 1986. Chinua Achebe’s classic novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ was ranked as number 14 in a list of top 100 books in the world by Newsdesk in 2009. Others include Cyprian Ekwensi, Mabel Segun, Chimamanda Adichie and Helon Habiila whose literary works have won both international and local awards at various times.

204. Nigerians have excelled in the fields of economics and finance, managing well established global bodies. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the current Minister of Finance, was until recently a Managing Director at The World Bank. Obiageli Ezekwisili is currently the Vice President for Africa at The World Bank. Mr Adebayo Ogunlesi is a first class graduate of Oxford, and Managing Partner of Global infrastructure Partner (GIP), a concessionaire of London’s Gatwick International Airport.

205. In the field of engineering, Jelani Aliyu received multiple awards for his breakthrough in car interior design. He is currently the lead exterior designer for General Motors in the United States. His design-Chevy Volt has been described as an American Revolution as well as hottest concept in the design line.

206. One of the most popular books written in the field of process control engineering was Co-authored by a Nigerian Professor, Babatunde Ogunnaike, currently lecturing at the University of Delaware. The book, Process Dynamics, Model and Control, has enjoyed amazing reviews on Amazon and has been sold as one of the top 100 books in control engineering world.

207. Nigerians are enterprising with a rare ability to invent things from the ordinary.

208. We are innovative and can develop something out of nothing…Give Nigerians space and they would clear your doubt.

209. Nigerians are creative-We don’t have access to many technologies that can make our work easier, but we improvise and become creative with what we have

210. Nigerians are very industrious and the country has got a vast amount of opportunities.

211.Nigerians are industrious people. They are so hard working that they find a way to earn a decent living irrespective of the tough conditions of living. You just have to give kudos to the resilient spirit of people that are struggling to make ends meet in a country where public infrastructure is almost nonexistent.

212. Nigerians possess a competitive spirit, and can be very positively opportunistic, always seeking out the smallest window to win legitimate competitive advantage.

213. There are clusters of youths working together and doing great things. There are bad eggs everywhere, here too. Do a Google search for Nigeria, youth development and leadership, and see what you get.

214. Nigerians can be extremely savvy businessmen, starting with almost nothing and growing billion Naira companies. Need proof? Look at Dangote & Guaranty Trust Bank.

215. Nigeria is now synonymous with inspiration and positive change!