...The SaintsAwards Project...

There's a West African proverb that says; a richman is not known by the amount of money he has in the bank or at his disposal but by his philanthropy to immediate families made up of indigent members of the community and well being of his society; based on this idea, some richmen in our society in a bid to prove this assumption has gone as far as fathering a whole community of indigent helpless families by paying school fees, feeding and even providing accommodation where necessary.

This, therefore remain a yardstick by which we accept that you are rich even if you are not this buoyant but being able to render assistance to any member of the society both at home and in diaspora irrespective of ties, creed, race or color classify you as a richman. So in Africa, if somebody says he is rich or great, we will ask you; what have you done for the common people? Or what feat have you achieved that has benefited any member of the community? In the absence of any of these laurels, you are living in your own world and will bury yourself when you die. One songwriter helped us to conclude it with a line from his lyrics...

'We need each other more than ever before'
I can't be rich while my brother is poor
Everybody need just someone to care"...etc

All over the world I have come to observe that the feel is the same. Free men, bondmen, rappers, jazz artist and musicians of all genres, politicians, clergy and businessmen, all preach the same message of brotherhood we African have hold so dear; the gospel of family as an integral part of the large society, the message of one people, people of a different tastes, ideas, beliefs, race and color coming together as one family.

In 1985, a group of musicians of all colors come together shouting?We are the world"," We are the people", We are the one to make a better place, So let's start building" to sum it up in one word the general idea was the message of tolerance.
There is no me without you. Whether I am a Nigerian and you are Chinese, Iraq or American, Indian or Pakistan, Arabs or Jew, the list is endless. Nobody, either as an entity or an organization or a nation has ever thrived successfully on non-interference either as a policy or custom without a recourse to that line of partition we call 'belief system' or 'policy' that separates one people from the other.

In the dark ages of slavery, the white man came to Africa because he could not do without the Blackman' that is the basic truth, he could not die alone in the misery of life and bury himself like we Africans do say, he could not till his farmland of sugarcane alone, so he crossed the borderline of belief system and policy and came to Africa, some even settled in Zimbabwe and South Africa today, you have African Americans all over the world, Chinese Americans, Amerindians etc all living together as a family in the United States.

Like the African laurels states; America has achieved an appreciable feat because a lot of the common people has benefited from her immense brotherliness directly or indirectly irrespective of some percentage of bias, which makes us human. It was in the light of this development that China, one of the world's center of ancient civilization and playing a major role in the global change sweeping across our world today decided to open its shores; credits to Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese foremost leader of reform after the demise of chairman Mao Zedong.

In his own words; " We cannot afford to remain shut to the outside world and expect an effective change. China is one of the world most populated country and great in almost every facet of life, a blessing that could be credited to its people oriented policy of which Deng Xiaoping has foothold his policy of openness for a people who for over decades has defied nature's quest for togetherness, one world order of family, and a mutual co-existence of economic and civil advancement; nevertheless, all these bars were shattered in the 12th month of the year 1978 when Deng changed the past closed-door policy and sent students and various talents to the advanced countries in the world to acquire special training and needed skills and see how the other part of the world lives.

In his speech, he explained in detail that people should emancipate their minds and seek truth from facts卬o one part of the world can boldly boast of victory over the present world situation of political antagonism, racial discrimination, crime and lost love among us the blessed people of the world without a cross border relationship.

According to Deng, The present world situation is still the two subjects of "peace and development" and It is a well known fact that there is no peace and development without some sparks of crisis and misunderstanding to deepen the reform Deng posits that it is essential that people overcome the influence of rigid thinking and embrace the new world order of correct ideology and reasoning.

In line with the teachings of this great leader, the treatment given to Nigerians in China today has flawed the Chinese acceptance of the precepts of their great leader on social and economic reform.

Most Nigerians all over the world have a bad reputation, I wouldn't dispute that, and every progressful society has them, those who want to be happy by making others unhappy, the street urchins, society miscreants, failures and fairy dreamers who want to reap where they did not sow. People with an almost intolerable tendencies, they are found all over the modern world today. And it has been the fight of every progressful government to oust them for a sane healthy society. There is no justification that a nation of over a hundred million people lacks one sane mind of civility and principle and should be treated like underdogs.

Like every developing country in the world, Nigeria has her colossal problem of crimes and societal ills to deal with amidst pitiable political situations that has weakened this great country for over 25 years of her 40 years existence, and it has also been the fight of the present government to eradicate some of these ills if not all. If Nigeria is corrupt, all over the world there is corruption in high places running down from the top down to the rung of the ladder, maybe ours is too pronounced. But the fact remains that all Nigerians cannot and never be corrupt?/P>

They are Nigerians all over the world, which I am proud to be one who have contributed immensely to the development of their host countries overseas from the United States, UK, Europe and even in some Asian countries of which China is among and we don't encourage disorderliness and lawlessness as some of our countrymen has portrayed us in bad faith. I was invited right from Nigeria on essential duty to teach spoken English in one of the biggest universities in Henan province of which without I have no other business coming to China.

A young man once complained bitterly how his international passport was flunged out of the window because he went to make an enquiry on process of visa extension on grounds that a Nigerian once misbehaved in that city, there have been cases of one Nigerian misbehaving and war is declared on anybody holding the green passport creating so much tension among some responsible individual going about their legal means of stay in China.

China is a developing country and definitely has its problem of surging crime wave common to all developing countries, a situation most developed countries has come to grip with in almost all spheres of which I have immensely appreciated the friendliness of the Chinese police in maintaining law and order and safety of their foreign visitors but in the words of Deng Xiaoping, the one who has made it possible to have foreigners all over the modern China, development is not without its inherent problems of misappropriations of values, reason why he explained in detail that people should emancipate their minds and overcome the influence of rigid thinking and embrace the new world order of correct ideology and reasoning.

All Nigerians are not and cannot be criminals. If a Nigerian is arrested for breach of law and order in his host country he should be punished accordingly and that should not be inclusive of any other responsible Nigerian legally mindful of his alien status. They are as more Chinese in Nigeria than Nigerians in China and we all live together as brothers irrespective of color, policy or belief system if anybody breaks the law of his host country he will be punished according to the law. A situation where one national is singled out as the rotten apples is not welcoming in our developing world.

Let's liberate our mind and learn how to divert our aggression to the proper channel which is one great ideal of a modern nation and also learn to tolerate each other in respect to our great leaders like Deng Xiaoping, Abraham Lincoln etc who for ever preached the message of tolerance for a progressful world of peace and brotherliness.