Wed 12 Jan 2011 | Manual: How To Build Nigeria Of Our Dream – Part 1 | Rufus Kayode Oteniya January 12, 2011 More from this author Warning: I beseech you not to read this piece if you are contented with the way Nigeria is; you are only advised to read if you desire a better nation. At independence, the dreams of our past leaders were to build a great and united nation devoid of ethnic and religious strives; an egalitarian and prosperous society that would be respected in the comity of nations; a land where everyone would be his brother’s keeper regardless of the inherent differences and a people who would respect the laws of the land. Fifty years on, we are farther from these dreams than we were at independence. As a concerned citizen who is not only tired of where we are, knowing pretty well where we could have been, but who is also tired of hearing the older generation tell the younger ones of an epoch of prosperity, peace, decency, transparency and accountability in our national life that many of them never knew, I’ll be dedicating this series to building Nigeria of our dream. In this first part, I’d be addressing CHANGE which is one of the most important elements in realising the Nigeria of our collective dream. It is universally known that no one can be doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. The only way to get a different result is by changing the approach. If you don’t like the way Nigeria is, ‘Just Change It.’ The power to do so lies within you and the change starts with you. Nigeria is unquestionably in a critical state where all that we desire now is nothing but a change. Up till now, it’s unfortunate that the more we need change, the more it eludes us and the more we hope for it, the more we remain the same. The kind of change that we need will not come from the north nor from the south neither will it come from the east nor from the west, it will only come from within. If you think that the change