Nigeria ‘ll soon be envied globally, says Osinbajo

NIGERIA will soon be envied and a toast of the whole world, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said.

He spoke on Monday night in Abuja during the Independence Day Dinner and Gala Night.

Osinbajo said: “The reason why we are so optimistic is because we know that we are the best; we know we are going to excel. It may seem like it’s taking a while, and there are many problems, but every one of the over 1,000 days that I have been Vice President for, I grow stronger in my complete confidence that we are going to be the envy of the whole world in a few short years. Well, you might say that that is optimistic, why not, I am a Nigerian.”

He noted that Nigerians, irrespective of where they come from, have the same DNA.

The vice president said: “We love our country and this may not always be obvious, but you try insulting Nigeria if you are a foreigner and you will see our fierce and angry our reaction can be. A Nigerian can say the same thing, but if you’re a foreigner, don’t try it.

“We love our food, we love our clothes and  we love our merrymaking. We love to be successful and we love success. We are resilient, we are fair-minded.

“Nigerians always fight for the underdog. We believe in justice and the rule of law, even though our system still can do much better.  But we are by far one of the smartest and, perhaps, the most talented people on earth. And I don’t say that lightly.”

Osinbajo added: “In the U.S., Nigerians are the most educated ethnic group, not one of the most educated, but the most educated. Sixty per cent of Nigerians in the U.S., we are told, have college degrees.

“This is above the American average of 30%. And Nigerians in U.S. are one of the highest income earners, and I choose America as one example. Nigerians earn 25% more than the median U.S. income.

“The world’s fastest supercomputer was designed by a world-renowned inventor, Philip Emeagwali, a full-blown Nigerian. This means Nigeria has the patent for the world’s fastest computer. The wealthiest black African, a Nigerian. Isn’t that a good thing? We are also told that the wealthiest black woman in the world is also a Nigerian. Who knows who the next wealthiest African would be here.”

The Vice President added: “A Nigerian family, The Imafidons, who live in the UK, have been officially declared the smartest family in the UK, a family of about six children who have excelled in their academics in incredible ways.

“The designer of that famous car, Chevrolet Volt, is a  guy called Jelani Aliyu; super talented Nigerian from Sokoto State. He now works for the Nigerian government. And for those who think that we are only giants in technology and business, Anthony Joshua is the world’s best heavyweight boxer, for those who watch boxing.

“Everybody is dancing to Nigerian music, and our traditional attires, especially our women attires and headgears have conquered Africa.  Even our male attire; there’s just something about the Nigerian swag. Whether they like it or not, we Nigerians are just exceptional, we are just different. Anywhere you go, you know a Nigerian, don’t you recognise a Nigerian when you see one? You can just tell. If you see anyone reading a book on ‘How to become self-confident’, know that he is not a Nigerian; we are born self-confident.”

Osibanjo also called for the creation of a new tribe of Nigerians, comprising of men and women from all tribes and religions and tongues as a necessity in salvaging the unity in Nigeria.

He appealed for a new tribe of unified populace ready to build a healthy society, and stick together to fight injustice and corruption.

Osinbajo spoke while declaring open the nation’s first five-day unity photo exhibition introduced by the Official Photographer to the Vice President, Novo Isioro, called ANISZA at Abuja on Monday.

He explained that ANISZA is a collaborative project between the Federal Government and the private sector to showcase the untold stories of Nigeria’s unity since independence in 1960 through photography and images.

After walking through the photo gallery upon arrival, the Vice President hailed the exhibition, citing the photograph of Christians forming a protective shield around praying Muslims at the Shitta Bey mosque in 2012, as a symbolic imagery of Nigeria’s unity.

Novo Isioro explained that the name ANISZA was derived from the three major ethnic languages of Nigeria: ‘AN’ from the Igbo phrase ‘anuko onu’ meaning ‘togetherness,’ ‘IS’ from the Yoruba word ‘isokan’ meaning unity, and ‘ZA’ from the Hausa word ‘zaman tare’ meaning ‘one tribe.’