Nigerian Oil 

Prepared by Lucia Valente January 2020 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnqLPSCWads 

 

I visited Nigeria in February 2017 with two purposes: meet with and present to professors at several universities and, make connection with non-profits with a view to collaborate.   

At the time I had hoped to introduce CCN’s education technology to Nigerian universities.  Yet, after many presentations and much effort, we were not successful in that regard. We were successful in linking with non-profits and are so pleased to see how our work through Loss of Generality (LoG) has unfolded successfully with young people in Nigeria currently receiving training from LoG.  .   

Several young people have engaged with LoG and three of them are well entrenched in our training program.  Four of our new team members are at the initial stages of training and are making excellent progress.   

Why is my visit and LoG’s subsequent engagement with our Nigeria team relevant to the current Nigerian oil situation?   

Many people with whom I speak about Nigeria are somewhat negative about the country and its people.  And when we look at videos such as this one – Nigerian oil – we definitely can agree that something is wrong in the country.  No doubt there is corruption and the wealth generated by oil is not reaching the vast population. Yet, I would state that there is corruption in Ireland also.  Often, I have to remind people about the bankers and government officials who allowed banks to bring Ireland to the brink of collapse.  And then think back to what happened in the US – is that also corruption?   

We know that corruption transcends countries – it is the human condition – it exists in every society and unlike most of the people with whom I interact, I do not accept that Nigeria is any worse than other countries.    

When I was in Nigeria, I met several young people who are bright, intelligent, hard-working, motivated, ambitious – yet do not have ease of access to top quality education; do not have ease of access to the acquisition of advanced education.  There is nothing lacking in the work ethic and intelligence of Nigerians – yet the weight of apathy by leaders and the overlay of corruption is stalling the momentum that the country deserves and should have given its natural resources of which oil is just one.   

I made a conscious choice to concentrate on what I can do to make a positive impact in the world with a specific focus on young people who have ability; desire; commitment; ambition and yet do not have the real possibility in their locale to realize their dreams.  My approach is to transcend the weight of the system that works against the inherent motivation and drive and give people hoe and specifically advanced skills.  That is one way to beat corruption.