SAM OHUABUNWA'S PARADIGM

In the last week, if you watched the CNN channels in the United States of America, you will be 'assaulted' with the story of one old man named Donald Sterling who seemingly committed 'harakiri' by making what Americans called racist comments to his girl friend. Donald Sterling a Jewish American who is a very successful sports entrepreneur who owns the LA Clippers, a professional Basket Ball team that is part of the NBA got into big time trouble by making racist comments recently. He castigated his girl friend Stiviano for going out with black boys and bringing them to his games. He did not like the idea of sharing the girl with blackmen.The girl friend recorded this conversation and released it to the media and things have not been the same for Donald Sterling since then. Infact his world seems to have crashed. First, the NBA commissioner has banned him for life, he will not attend or participate in any NBA game again for life. Second he has been asked to sell his...

Sometimes it is challenging to be a Nigerian. I get to travel outside the Country once in a while. And often, the image of my Country puts me in some uncomfortable positions and I find my self struggling to defend the integrity of the Nation. When the military were in power, I got embarrassed severally in foreign fora as people made uncharitable remarks about my Country. They accused the entire Nation of being corrupt and wanted me to explain why corruption was rife in the country. I made strenuous effort to explain that there were many more Nigerians that were not corrupt than those that were corrupt. At other times, Nigeria was painted in the International media as a country of Drug pushers and I was hard pressed to explain that it was only very few Nigerians that were in the illicit drug business and that most Nigerians did not know what cocaine or heroin looked like, not to talk of taking them or trafficking in them. Those were the days,when each time a flight arrived from Lagos...

INTRODUCTION I am thankful to our Great God, the Merciful God of Nigeria, for bringing us here today. That we have a Country called Nigeria today is essentially by His grace, because we have done so much against this Nation, both by our actions and inactions, that it could have been dead. I am grateful to the leadership of this great bridge building organisation- South East, South South Professionals of Nigeria for the invitation to be part of this important dialogue. Let me start by asking the Permission of the Estate of the late Dim Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, the Ikemba Nnewi and the former Biafran Leader, to borrow the title of my speech which was the title of a speech he made in 1967 at the heat of the Nigeria's Political crisis. "ON ABURI WE STAND" Mr Chairman, your excellencies, the choice of this title is not to evoke memories of the Nigeria-Biafra war, because for many, the memory is mixed. The reason I choose this title is that the spirit of the cure of Nigeri...