the Boko Haram insurgency is one of the
most lethal conflicts in the history of
Nigeria one morning in April 2014 as on
my way to work and stuck in traffic just
a few meters down the road when two
bombs exploded at a crowded bus station
with small satellites and code Nyonya in
Abuja the explosions killed at least 80
people and injured more than twice that
number as I hide refers beside a few
minutes later I saw the devastating
aftermath as bodies were loaded on the
backs of open bed trucks and driven of
humans who just a few minutes before
were bustling with life managing the
worries of meeting their daily needs now
suddenly rendered lifeless these
bombings were of course just one of many
that happened at the height of the Boko
Haram insurgency where thousands of
Nigeria’s were getting killed on an
almost daily basis report habit that in
2014 alone 10,000 Nigerians were killed
by Boko Haram 10,000 Nigerians now the
curious thing for me though is the kinds
of conversations that emerge from
terrorist activities of Boko Haram
outside Nigeria the insurgency which
began in 2009 by jihadist rebel group
was reported as an armed rebellion
against the Nigerian state but within
Nigeria the conversation was quite
different people spoke of it like it was
another instance of religious clash in
between angela’s Muslim and Christian
communities these acts of terrorism came
to be understood in the context of
long-standing issues of religious
disunity in Nigeria now the big issue
which I could see what that Nigerians
were dying when I recall the people who
died in the gang a bomb being I do not
think of them as Muslim or Christian or
Yoruba Ibero house’
I do not care about your political
leanings or their ideologies I simply
think of them as Nigerians and humans
just like me but here where people
relegation that he concerns is a country
place their outlook was conditional they
would be outraged only when the group
that they affiliated with was attacked
other groups coming on the attack well
not really their concern even as I speak
the Boko Haram insurgency continues in
Northeast Nigeria and reports at the
beginning of this year conservatively
put the number of casualties so far at
20,000 people with two million displaced
this differentiation of the real issues
a lot of people to distance themselves
from the realities of those living in
conflict zones it influenced what I call
the authorization of realities the idea
that there is a we versus them mentality
towards issues that undercut the very
essence of all our daily lives so
otherwise means to make or regard the
president all social group as alien or
different other ization has become the
nominee for Nigerians
we analyzed issues through the lens of
segregation and we see ourselves small
through the things that separate us
other ization is how we define identity
and representation but authorization is
not really surprising it comes from a
language and cultural Berea in a very
diverse country Nigeria has worked over
250 different ethnic groups we have six
geopolitical zones two main religions
and then we are broadly divided into a
lively North and South region some of
the barriers that we see manifestations
of a colonial heritage indirect rule
imposed by the colonial masters was
primarily focused on the extraction of
resources which meant that Nigeria’s
polonio structure was mapped to allow
the easier
struction of those resources but the
because actual development of our land
and our people for other areas are
influenced by a weak state structure and
poor policies dangerous land and oil
economy the decline of the formerly
industrial sector and widespread
corruption our factors that contributed
to wives in McConnell widespread
inequality in the country for our laws
and policies have created a no alien
reality all Nigerians are equal but some
are more equal than others and so
dangerous have come to find solace not
in the entity called Nigeria but India
little groups and affiliations these
groups could be ethnic religious
political genderized economic or even
social in nature and that’s where it
starts this authorization of reality but
as long as we continue to authorize our
problems and issues choosing to pick the
injustice is deserving a lot of our
attention and deciding to speak out only
when issues directly affect us will make
no progress to counter authorization I
argue that we need more moral
magma Nations implements the unique
human ability to conceive a fellow
humanity notice objects whose values
resting their utility alone but as
persons the idea that we are all people
and we are all here with the clear moral
imagination asks the question can you
look beyond how a decision affects you
to see how it affects others when I
think about moral imagination some
examples come to mind the first is this
woman dr. Mia Stella deliver dr. that
avocado wider spread of the Ebola virus
in Nigeria by placing 1 105 infected
patients in quarantine
despite pressures from the Liberian
government she maintained
and in August 2014 she tested positive
for the virus she died a few days after
by her singular act alone dr. Oliver
saved the lives of hundreds possibly
even thousands of Nigerians because she
had never met never seen never spoken to
I also think of the late Afrobeat legend
Fallon lacunae Papaji Fela was born into
an upper middle-class family so he came
from wealth but Electro’s to be a
champion for the poor he’ll amid firms
of protests criticizing the mistreatment
of Nigerians by the then military rulers
his songs were directed against
widespread corruption inequality
unemployment and political stability
instability in the country his
opposition of the military was both open
as it was Walker on one hand felassan
was so popular with the people and on
the other it vets the rule as so much
5,000 soldiers attacked his own Fela was
beaten severely
his mother thrown from a window and
killed his house his home and his studio
burned to the ground and all of his
recordings destroyed even until this day
after his death the last music antigens
continue to influence our culture
politics jalal ad-din muhammad Rumi a
poet and scholar who died in the 11th
century says only from the heart when he
Church described dr. Abadi one fella
could have decided to run away to also
ignore the problem or to do nothing
but rather than otherwise the issues
they chose to do something about it they
had immense capacity for moral
imagination Jacqueline Novogratz the
founder of acumen fund and the woman
that I deeply admire once said what
we’re really and for us human beings is
for others to see you’re special
Nigeria’s affair with bad leadership
continues today because we continue to
elect between two public office who have
become expert at authorizing realities
they see us much as been they do not see
us as people deserving of dignity and
respect just like they are which is why
our leaders who cordon off the road
causing endless traffic gridlock for
miles just saw their convoy can pass by
with ease lack of moral imagination
explains why our leaders who send their
children to good schools outside the
country but our children continues to
learn the flow of classrooms with
leaking roof tops broken doors and
chalkboards lack of moral imagination
explains why our leaders will quickly
quickly fly their children outside the
country when involved in an accident
personally escorted by the Minister of
Health to the airports while doctors
continue to go on strike in Nigeria and
people keep dying every day from lack of
oxygen in our hospitals experts say that
optimally often requires more than
strength of character requires empathy
and the awareness to discern what is
morally relevant in a given situation
but it’s not just our leaders that lack
moral imagination we the people we all
like it as well when you refuse to pay
your staff at the end of the moon when
you sneer at minority groups demanding
for their rights and when you support
bad governance simply because the group
you affiliate with is empower you
display a lack of moral imagination you
have otherwise the realities of others
and you do not see how your decisions
and actions affect them earlier this
year my youth led development
consultancy called the cyber solutions
design the leadership manual now the
core of the lessons contained in the
manual is the idea that leadership is
not a position leadership is an activity
and so anyone at any point can be a
leader and so everyone really should
have moral imagination
we plan to work with organizations and
youth groups to deploy this training and
if we hope that more young people will
practice leadership through moral
imagination in their everyday lives
a few years ago I took an online course
by plus document called introduction to
moral imagination I remember my sister
laughed at me when I told I was taking a
course to learn empathy but of course
taught me that when we authorize we
become comfortable with doing nothing we
do not see how our actions and inactions
can affect others but authorization is
an illusion the cocoon that allows us
vary our heads in the sand wear pins
around us get worse in conclusion I
believe that we must all develop our
capacity for moral imagination in our
everyday lives we can practice moral
imagination through our words actions
but also our work my friend that fuels
our travels to areas of conflict and
takes compelling photographs of people
affected by war just opposing their
images on the image of something that
they think about constantly filiberto
Studios press fascinating oil paintings
of our people with poor eyesight to the
world without glasses or contact lenses
works like these show the realities of
the lives of others and you can do the
same to your rights in VR research your
speech I know we all hope for a
developed country one with functional
systems and credible leadership but a
greatest capacity remains in us the
people I use with their ambitions and
intelligence hold the greatest capacity
to transform this country but we cannot
do it alone we need each other so let us
stop seeing ourselves as comrades and
let us learn prudence to our realities
first difference should not create fear
and different does not mean less
difference is not less valid it’s just the friends thank you
most lethal conflicts in the history of
Nigeria one morning in April 2014 as on
my way to work and stuck in traffic just
a few meters down the road when two
bombs exploded at a crowded bus station
with small satellites and code Nyonya in
Abuja the explosions killed at least 80
people and injured more than twice that
number as I hide refers beside a few
minutes later I saw the devastating
aftermath as bodies were loaded on the
backs of open bed trucks and driven of
humans who just a few minutes before
were bustling with life managing the
worries of meeting their daily needs now
suddenly rendered lifeless these
bombings were of course just one of many
that happened at the height of the Boko
Haram insurgency where thousands of
Nigeria’s were getting killed on an
almost daily basis report habit that in
2014 alone 10,000 Nigerians were killed
by Boko Haram 10,000 Nigerians now the
curious thing for me though is the kinds
of conversations that emerge from
terrorist activities of Boko Haram
outside Nigeria the insurgency which
began in 2009 by jihadist rebel group
was reported as an armed rebellion
against the Nigerian state but within
Nigeria the conversation was quite
different people spoke of it like it was
another instance of religious clash in
between angela’s Muslim and Christian
communities these acts of terrorism came
to be understood in the context of
long-standing issues of religious
disunity in Nigeria now the big issue
which I could see what that Nigerians
were dying when I recall the people who
died in the gang a bomb being I do not
think of them as Muslim or Christian or
Yoruba Ibero house’
I do not care about your political
leanings or their ideologies I simply
think of them as Nigerians and humans
just like me but here where people
relegation that he concerns is a country
place their outlook was conditional they
would be outraged only when the group
that they affiliated with was attacked
other groups coming on the attack well
not really their concern even as I speak
the Boko Haram insurgency continues in
Northeast Nigeria and reports at the
beginning of this year conservatively
put the number of casualties so far at
20,000 people with two million displaced
this differentiation of the real issues
a lot of people to distance themselves
from the realities of those living in
conflict zones it influenced what I call
the authorization of realities the idea
that there is a we versus them mentality
towards issues that undercut the very
essence of all our daily lives so
otherwise means to make or regard the
president all social group as alien or
different other ization has become the
nominee for Nigerians
we analyzed issues through the lens of
segregation and we see ourselves small
through the things that separate us
other ization is how we define identity
and representation but authorization is
not really surprising it comes from a
language and cultural Berea in a very
diverse country Nigeria has worked over
250 different ethnic groups we have six
geopolitical zones two main religions
and then we are broadly divided into a
lively North and South region some of
the barriers that we see manifestations
of a colonial heritage indirect rule
imposed by the colonial masters was
primarily focused on the extraction of
resources which meant that Nigeria’s
polonio structure was mapped to allow
the easier
struction of those resources but the
because actual development of our land
and our people for other areas are
influenced by a weak state structure and
poor policies dangerous land and oil
economy the decline of the formerly
industrial sector and widespread
corruption our factors that contributed
to wives in McConnell widespread
inequality in the country for our laws
and policies have created a no alien
reality all Nigerians are equal but some
are more equal than others and so
dangerous have come to find solace not
in the entity called Nigeria but India
little groups and affiliations these
groups could be ethnic religious
political genderized economic or even
social in nature and that’s where it
starts this authorization of reality but
as long as we continue to authorize our
problems and issues choosing to pick the
injustice is deserving a lot of our
attention and deciding to speak out only
when issues directly affect us will make
no progress to counter authorization I
argue that we need more moral
magma Nations implements the unique
human ability to conceive a fellow
humanity notice objects whose values
resting their utility alone but as
persons the idea that we are all people
and we are all here with the clear moral
imagination asks the question can you
look beyond how a decision affects you
to see how it affects others when I
think about moral imagination some
examples come to mind the first is this
woman dr. Mia Stella deliver dr. that
avocado wider spread of the Ebola virus
in Nigeria by placing 1 105 infected
patients in quarantine
despite pressures from the Liberian
government she maintained
and in August 2014 she tested positive
for the virus she died a few days after
by her singular act alone dr. Oliver
saved the lives of hundreds possibly
even thousands of Nigerians because she
had never met never seen never spoken to
I also think of the late Afrobeat legend
Fallon lacunae Papaji Fela was born into
an upper middle-class family so he came
from wealth but Electro’s to be a
champion for the poor he’ll amid firms
of protests criticizing the mistreatment
of Nigerians by the then military rulers
his songs were directed against
widespread corruption inequality
unemployment and political stability
instability in the country his
opposition of the military was both open
as it was Walker on one hand felassan
was so popular with the people and on
the other it vets the rule as so much
5,000 soldiers attacked his own Fela was
beaten severely
his mother thrown from a window and
killed his house his home and his studio
burned to the ground and all of his
recordings destroyed even until this day
after his death the last music antigens
continue to influence our culture
politics jalal ad-din muhammad Rumi a
poet and scholar who died in the 11th
century says only from the heart when he
Church described dr. Abadi one fella
could have decided to run away to also
ignore the problem or to do nothing
but rather than otherwise the issues
they chose to do something about it they
had immense capacity for moral
imagination Jacqueline Novogratz the
founder of acumen fund and the woman
that I deeply admire once said what
we’re really and for us human beings is
for others to see you’re special
Nigeria’s affair with bad leadership
continues today because we continue to
elect between two public office who have
become expert at authorizing realities
they see us much as been they do not see
us as people deserving of dignity and
respect just like they are which is why
our leaders who cordon off the road
causing endless traffic gridlock for
miles just saw their convoy can pass by
with ease lack of moral imagination
explains why our leaders who send their
children to good schools outside the
country but our children continues to
learn the flow of classrooms with
leaking roof tops broken doors and
chalkboards lack of moral imagination
explains why our leaders will quickly
quickly fly their children outside the
country when involved in an accident
personally escorted by the Minister of
Health to the airports while doctors
continue to go on strike in Nigeria and
people keep dying every day from lack of
oxygen in our hospitals experts say that
optimally often requires more than
strength of character requires empathy
and the awareness to discern what is
morally relevant in a given situation
but it’s not just our leaders that lack
moral imagination we the people we all
like it as well when you refuse to pay
your staff at the end of the moon when
you sneer at minority groups demanding
for their rights and when you support
bad governance simply because the group
you affiliate with is empower you
display a lack of moral imagination you
have otherwise the realities of others
and you do not see how your decisions
and actions affect them earlier this
year my youth led development
consultancy called the cyber solutions
design the leadership manual now the
core of the lessons contained in the
manual is the idea that leadership is
not a position leadership is an activity
and so anyone at any point can be a
leader and so everyone really should
have moral imagination
we plan to work with organizations and
youth groups to deploy this training and
if we hope that more young people will
practice leadership through moral
imagination in their everyday lives
a few years ago I took an online course
by plus document called introduction to
moral imagination I remember my sister
laughed at me when I told I was taking a
course to learn empathy but of course
taught me that when we authorize we
become comfortable with doing nothing we
do not see how our actions and inactions
can affect others but authorization is
an illusion the cocoon that allows us
vary our heads in the sand wear pins
around us get worse in conclusion I
believe that we must all develop our
capacity for moral imagination in our
everyday lives we can practice moral
imagination through our words actions
but also our work my friend that fuels
our travels to areas of conflict and
takes compelling photographs of people
affected by war just opposing their
images on the image of something that
they think about constantly filiberto
Studios press fascinating oil paintings
of our people with poor eyesight to the
world without glasses or contact lenses
works like these show the realities of
the lives of others and you can do the
same to your rights in VR research your
speech I know we all hope for a
developed country one with functional
systems and credible leadership but a
greatest capacity remains in us the
people I use with their ambitions and
intelligence hold the greatest capacity
to transform this country but we cannot
do it alone we need each other so let us
stop seeing ourselves as comrades and
let us learn prudence to our realities
first difference should not create fear
and different does not mean less
difference is not less valid it’s just the friends thank you
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