Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Yar’Adua’s Absence Heightens Dismay Over Nation’s Future – CREDIT – AllAfrica
At the December 11 Colloquium on Nigeria sponsored by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in the United States, and led by famed novelist, Chinua Achebe, the most provocative presentation was made by former U.S. Ambassador Princeton Lyman. He decried the complacency of Nigeria’s elite regarding the country’s vulnerabilities.
According to Lyman, being the most populous African nation and a major petroleum exporter were no longer doing the country much good as it was becoming increasingly "irrelevant" in continental and international affairs.
The presence at the Achebe Colloquium of many distinguished individuals from Nigeria, the United States and Europe sent a different message: the persistent hope that Nigeria would somehow find a way to reverse its downward slide.