The Quiet Men

I'm going to write about Nigerians in the diaspora. Nigeria? Yes the same country which has over the years acquired its well deserved reputation for Fraud, Corruption, lack of respect for any form of order or authority and more recently a penchant for kidnapping Foreign Oil workers.

On the bright side, Nigeria has produced a fairly Impressive list of achievers globally, there's something about the competitive nature of the Nigerian, which could possibly be attributed to the fact that 200 Million energetic and Intelligent people have been squeezed into a comparatively small land area. This is the same country that produced Wole Soyinka- winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and Professor Kenneth Dike Harvard Professor of History of the 50's

There are a few popular Nigerians, mostly associated with the arts and sports, who are not necessarily associated with their home country, but who are relatively well known:

a. Seal; b. Sade; Daley Thompson; c. Hakeem Olajuwon (NBA player and member of the US Basketball Olympic winning Dream-Team; d. John/Justin Fashanu; e. Victor Ubogu (Rugby); e. Martin Offiah (Rugby); g. Keziah Jones; h. Shirley Bassey; i. Dr Alban; j. Adewale Agbaje (From Lost and The Mummy Returns);k. Chiwetel Ejiofor; l. Kriss Akabusi; m. Tunde Baiyewu (Lighthouse Bloody Family); n. Gina Yashere; o. Krystal Rose; p. Patti Boulaye; q. Baz Bamigboye- Arts Journalist; r. Herbie Hide- World Boxing Champion; s. Philips Idowu- Olympic Athlete; t. Ben Okri - Booker Prize winning author u. Lemar etc.

The fact is that Nigerians have always excelled in the professions, for over a hundred years Nigerian professionals have travelled to Europe and the USA to get an education and have- uncharacteristically for Nigerians- gotten on with it quietly. The purpose of this post is to focus on some of these people- the quiet warriors, who often against all odds have made their mark at their jobs and achieved considerable success. There are a long list of older achievers such Judge Sowande, the Jazz Drummer turned Barrister turned Crown Court Judge (in the 50's) who blazed the trail for the latter exodus of Nigerian prodessionals, however this list largely consists of the present generation of Nigerian born professionals in the UK and the US. On peculiar thing about these being that many of these people received a large part of their professional education in Nigeria.

a. Segun Aganga - Managing Director Goldman Sachs Hedge Funds
(Educated University of Ibadan, Oxford).

b. Adebayo Ogunlesi- Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Client Officer Credit Suisse NY (Educated Oxford, Harvard Law School).

c. Professor Fidelis Odita QC. Leading Corporate Finance Silk and Author also a Visiting Professor Oxford ( Educated University of Lagos, Oxford)

d. Oba Nsugbe QC Leading Financial Crimes Silk and Recorder of the Crown Court
(University of Nigeria)

e. Lord Victor Adebowale (Life Peer)

f. Dokun Omidiora Vice President Citibank- Europe

g.Chinwe Chukwuogo-Harry. Artist, Commissioned for a portrait of the Queen.

h. Sola Oni- Professor of Medicine only Black Member of the Board- General Medical Council.

i. Sokari Douglas Camp- Sculptor with works exhibited at the British Museum, Satagaya Art Museum Tokyo.

j. Ronke Phillips- Journalist/Broadcaster

k. Dr Femi Elias- Legal Author, Lecturer Kings College, London, Consultant UN International Law and err..wicked Bass Guitarist, rated as one of the world's top 15 Bass Guitarists.(University of Lagos, Kings College London).

l. Richard Iferenta- (Solicitor) Partner KPMG London, Corporate Taxation (University of Nigeria)

m. Segun Osuntokun- (Solicitor) Partner DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary

n. John Adebiyi- (Solicitor) Partner Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

o. Dr Stanley Okolo- (Consultant Physician)Medical Director North Middlesex Hospital
(University of Ife)

p. Commander Eme Onyike -(Scientist)- Royal Navy (HMS Cumberland) Weapon Systems Engineer. (University of Nigeria, Kings College London)

q. DC Chukwudum Ikeazor (Barrister and Policeman)- Winner of the Anne Frank Award for Moral Courage on recommendation of Sir John Stevens (and yes he's my cousin, failure is a bastard as you know, success hath many friends)
(University of Nigeria)

r. Philip Emeagwali- Computer Scientist/ Winner of the Gordon Bell Prize (The Nobel Prize of Computer Science) for his work in single-handedly performing the World's fastest Computation, using a Super Computer. Described by Bill Clinton as one of the greatest minds of the Information age and by CNN as one of the Father's of the Internet. A survivor of the Nigerian Airforce bombings of Civilian targets in Biafra
(University of Oregon)

s. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie- Author- Orange Prize nominated Purple Hibiscus
(University of Nigeria)

t. Ayo Oke- Broadcaster/Journalist

u. Mr Bruce Okoye- Consultant Paediatric Surgeon -St Georges Hospital Tooting

(University of Nigeria)

v. Mr Olu Obaro- Consultant Radiologist Newham General Hospital

(University of Lagos)

w. Ogechi Nwachukwu- Chartered Accountant-Vice-President PPM-America
(University of Nigeria)

x. Obinna Ugochukwu- Programme Manager- IFC-World Bank

(University of Nigeria)

Y. Nowa Omoigui- Professor of Medicine- (Cardio-Vascular Disease). University of South Carolina- Columbia.
(Educated University of Lagos)

Z. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala- Vice-President- World Bank

There are loads more Nigerian professionals, quietly getting on with their task in various sectors of this and other economies, no noise, no fuss and who never get the publicity that one dodgy miscreant gets- which then tars the whole clan with the dubious brush of negativity.

Nigerians and indeed a large number of Africans, have a very progressive and proactive attitude to education, achievement and indeed possess a strong work ethic. One of the best things the Government has introduced is the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, where people with skills to contribute come over here and inject their skills into the economy, only the ignorant would say that "we don't need them", imagine the NHS without Foreign Doctors/Nurses, read the writing on the wall chaps, Britain isn't producing enough of its own, deal with it and stop complaining and send some of your kids to Uni if it hurts you so much. Additionally I need to point out that all of the people mentioned in this post are either naturalised Brits or indeed born here.

The simple lesson here being that stereotypes are often unfair, whilst there are admittedly a large number of dodgy types who give this country a bad name, but clearly there are a lot of good things to come out of that country and in all honesty, I'm proud to acknowledge these. The only other question being, if we've got that many smart people, how come the old country is in such a mess? Could that be because they're mostly here? No, they're here because the old country did not appreciate their attributes and many like me resisted the urge to migrate until we were completely fed up with the seemingly immovable obstacles. That in itself is the real tragedy.