In the three weeks before January 11, 2025 when I returned, I was away from Lagos back in Mbaise, my ancestral home, to bury my mother-in-law, Ezinne Eunice Egowure Okahia. During that period, a lot happened, the most consequential being the election of Senator John Azuta-Mbata as the President-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, despite the vile machinations of some wet blankets. We will come back to that shortly.

Contrary to the fears of many that the Southeast would typify the Hobbesian state of nature where “man’s life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short,” Alaigbo was bubbly. Getting there was the problem. Those who chose to travel by air, paying exorbitant airfares that seemed to have been reservedly exclusively for Ndigbo, still endured flight delays and sometimes outright cancellations.

But it was even worse for those who travelled by road as I did. The journey on the approximately 543 km stretch from Lagos to Owerri was nightmarish, much of the highway, especially the Benin City Bypass in Edo State, having become a death trap. If nothing is done to rehabilitate the Bypass before the rains return, it will be impossible to drive on it. Am I optimistic that something will be done? Not at all as long as the Federal Government remains distracted with its ?15.6 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

Then the humiliation by policemen and soldiers. Most of the checkpoints on the roads are nothing other than extortion centres.  The soldiers in particular act with impunity, whimsically blocking major roads and orchestrating needless traffic gridlock just for the fun. There is the particular case of the military checkpoint at Eziama-Obiato on the ever-busy Onitsha-Owerri Road where soldiers act with reckless abandon without regard for consequences. They block the road at night until about 6.30am. It does not matter to them that there could be emergencies. In the daytime, motorists are not allowed to drive past the barricade with passengers on board. They disembark and trek to meet the driver. It is all an attempt to humiliate the people. Definitely, there are more civilized ways of securing lives and properties.

But the Second Niger Bridge was a beauty to behold, a testament to the positive impact quality infrastructure could have on the lives and economy of a people. Much of the homeland was peaceful, a pleasant reminder of what was before the storm started. There was record homecoming particularly those living in the Diaspora and a palpable resurgence of the well-known Igbo values of hospitality, family, community, life, and respect for elders. The fabled Igbo communalism spirit (onye aghala nwanne ya) was in full display. The few that had shared with the many that didn’t have, no matter how little.

In all, except for the unfortunate and condemnable incidents of violence in Anambra and Imo, particularly the tragic killing of no fewer than 18 people in several communities in Orsu LGA, Imo State, on January 5; the murder of Father Tobias Okonkwo, a Catholic priest, at lhiala on December 26; abduction of Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli, reverend sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ, in Orumba North LGA, Anambra State, on January 7, there seemed to have been a consciousness among the people that the indiscriminate violence and sundry acts of criminality were counter-productive and inimical to the economy of the region.

It behoves the entire Igbo elite – political, economic and socio-cultural – not only to denounce these atrocious acts of violence but also ensure that going forward, the Southeast does not relapse to the Hobbesian state of nature. While there may be some forces from outside involved in these heinous crimes, the truth is that majority of the culprits are Igbo youths, a reality that calls for introspection.

And that takes me back to the historic election of Senator Azuta-Mbata, who represented Rivers East in the Senate between 1999 and 2007, a bonafide Igbo of Ikwerre extraction as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide on January 10. Ndigbo will continue confounding those who claim to know them and their disunity heterodoxy. Azuta-Mbata’s election, once again, punctures that hackneyed stereotyping of a people they deliberately chose to misrepresent because his election is a measure of the unity of purpose and clarity of vision of the Igbo elite.

When the plot of those who thought money could buy them the Ohanaeze presidency failed as it should, they resorted to puerile blackmail and name-calling, sponsoring protests on the harebrained ground that Ikwerres are not Igbo. But how can a man whose name is Chibuike, Nwaike, Uchendu, Chukwuemeka, etc. claim he is not Igbo? Going by the etymology meaning of language, which is the study of the origin of words, the Ikwerre dialect is even more relatable to what some people refer to as Central Igbo, also known as Standard Igbo or Izugbe, which is the most widely understood dialect of the Igbo language, than the Nsukka, Ohafia or Izza dialects, for instance.

In a video, one Eze Godspower Onuekwa, who claims to be the President-General of Ogbakor Ikwerre Cultural Organisation, threatened fire and brimstone. “It is now rumoured that Ohanaeze Ndigbo intends to make an Ikwerre man the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo… Any person, no matter how highly placed, who may decide to accept this offer eventually becomes an enemy to the Ikwerre people,” he declared.

Who says? Onuekwa cannot claim to be a more accomplished Ikwerre than Azuta-Mbata. So, on what basis will he declare him or anyone else who proclaims his Igbo heritage a quisling and pronounce a fatwa? In any case, if Onuekwa and his co-travellers think it is their right to claim a phantom Bini Heritage, why deny others who think otherwise the same right?  When that childish gambit failed, they came up with the claim that zoning the Ohanaeze presidency to Rivers State is a territorial expansionist ploy by Ndigbo.

How? Ohanaeze is an umbrella organisation of all Igbos worldwide. While it is true that majority of them live in the five Southeast states, a significant number also live in other states outside the Southeast. So, does an Igbo man from Rivers being in the leadership of Ohanaeze translate to “annexation” of the State by Southeast? Will Rivers become the sixth Southeast State?

If there is nothing wrong with a Yoruba from Kogi or Kwara identifying with Afenifere or his kith and kin in the Southwest, why will that of Ndigbo be different? Are there no Ijaw people that are bonafide residents of Lagos and Ondo? Does the fact of state of origin make them less Ijaw? Are Ijaws from Delta, Edo, Rivers not bonafide members of the Ijaw National Congress (INC)?

The irony is that all the losers who are making noise because they lost out were waiting in the wings to see if the Southeast Igbos would breach the Ohanaeze Constitution on rotational presidency by denying Rivers its turn to produce the President-General. They would have used it as one more evidence in their war of attrition against Ndigbo, their bête noire. They failed.

Now, the job of Senator Azuta-Mbata is clearly cut out. Article 2:3 of the Ohanaeze constitution, says the organization is to to serve as a focal point of reference, of direction and of collective leadership in matters affecting the interest, solidarity and general welfare of the Igbo; to promote, develop and advance Igbo language and culture, to promote honour, dignity and self-respect among Ndigbo and encourage their achievement orientation in various aspects of life, to assist and encourage the formation of Igbo self-help, mutual assistance and improvement organizations wherever Ndigbo may reside and to promote peaceful coexistence with other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.

With what I witnessed in the Southeast during and the election of a bridge-builder as Ohanaeze president, 2025 may well be the beginning of Igbo renaissance after the years the locusts ate.

What Time Is It?

The world is at a historic inflection point, transitioning into a new world order. Today, I am on a mission to x-ray how the world’s ecdysis works, connect vital dots and form patterns, and to derive timeless, universal and useful principles that anyone can leverage while navigating the blizzards of change on the horizon. Just as snakes shed their old skin through the process of ecdysis to remove parasites and grow new skin, our world is currently undergoing a similar ‘molting moment’.

The world is radically and rapidly shifting in ways unprecedented in our lifetime, though not without parallels in history. History still rhymes with the signs of the times. Our exploration takes us back to the 17th century, a period when the concept of modern nation-states emerged following the Thirty Years’ War in Europe. Before this, it was the era of antagonistic states and kingdoms. Britain, for instance, transitioned from a kingdom to a country and eventually to an empire, and now, back to base. At its peak, she controlled nearly 75% of the world.

When Britain was the world’s “Kabiyesi” it monopolized the seven critical Levers of power: education, currency (with the pound sterling as the world’s reserve currency), trade, military might, high productivity, London as the world’s capital, and the “3Vs (voice, vote, and veto). Shortly before Britain’s dominance, the Dutch Empire thrived with the Dutch guilder. Though other great empires came, ruled and disappeared, none matched the British Empire in spread, size, or scope. The author, Lu Guanzhong was right: ‘’The empire long divided must unite, and long united must divide. Thus, it has ever been’’

Since the end of WW2 on September 2, 1945, the United States has been the world’s de facto General Overseer (GO). The USSR, much like today’s Russia, was a military power but lacked economic dominance. Consequently, the world has been considerably “Americanised” using western democracy, globalization, trade, media, financial aid, blackmail, and, at times, military force in hawking and selling the American values. For example, less than half of the 99 internationally recognised states in 1945 were democratic, but today about167 countries practice democracy, courtesy of America.

Money was once “hard” meaning it was backed by gold under the British Empire. This changed on Sunday night, August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon announced that the United States would no longer honor its commitment to allow paper dollars to be exchanged for gold. With this singular broadcast, money became “soft or fiat”, devoid of equivalent gold backing. That decision granted America an unprecedented and unfair geopolitical advantage that continues to shape the global economy.

Today, the BRICS countries are pushing for de-dollarization, which is a move capable of reducing America to a glorified third-world country with nuclear weapons. China’s miraculous emergence as a strategic competitor to America seems to be altering the global power and wealth dynamics.

History appears poised to repeat itself. The fate of the world’s 8 billion people today highly hinges on seven state power bases and three significant non-state actors. These include the United States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Israel, Europe, the World Economic Forum (WEF), social media, and Elon Musk.

Recall that it was the irreconcilable global power struggles among the seven dominant state actors, Italy, France, Japan, the Soviet Union, America, Germany, and Great Britain that triggered WW2 between 1939 & 1945 resulting in the deaths of 60 million people.

Today, the potential triggers for World War III are evident such as:
China invades Taiwan.
Russia nukes Ukraine, Poland, or the United Kingdom.
Iran invades Saudi Arabia to establish Shia and oil dominance.
Pakistan invades India over the unfinished business of 1947 Kashmir dispute.
BRICS junks the dollar and adopts a new world reserve currency.
China attacks India over LAC control
And the mass spread of misinformation on social media, causing the False Flag resulting in nuclear Armageddon.

The current international landscape is shaped by strongmen with grand geopolitical ambitions to make their respective countries GREATER using unorthodox means, much like Adolf Hitler’s attempt in 1939 when he invaded Poland with a view to creating a Greater Germany.

Vladimir Putin’s desire to recreate the old Soviet Union (Greater Russia) has led to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pursuing a neo-Ottoman vision (Greater Turkey), evident in Turkey’s disruptive actions in the Middle East and Africa.
In Israel, Bibi (The Jews’ modern-day King David) envisions “Greater Israel” as seen in his military campaigns in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Donald Trump, said , paraphrased, he will take over the Panama Canal and Greenland over by money or by military might and convert Canada to America’s 51st state (Greater America agenda). Lastly, President Xi Jinping’s declaration that no power can stop the annexation of Taiwan underscores China’s pursuit of a “Greater China.”

The world stands at a crossroads, shifting from Globalism to Trumpism with history and ambition colliding in a state of confusing political conundrums.

The dynamics of today’s power triangulation differ slightly from those of the 1940s due to the emergence of non-state actors wielding considerable and often unaccountable power, such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), social media platforms, and Elon Musk, a private citizen who . metamorphosed to a Super Power overnight.The WEF’s influence on global politics and policies is concerning, profound and incomprehensible. WEF’s Young Global Leaders (YGL) has produced several Heads of Government. Elon Musk, on the other hand, represents a unique and unprecedented power base in modern geopolitics. The world has finally found the missing ‘’X’’ in Elon Musk!
As the world’s richest man, with a net worth exceeding $450 billion, Musk is on the trajectory to becoming the first trillionaire. By January 20, he is projected to become the second most powerful individual in America, and probably, in the world. Globally, if Twitter (now X) were considered a country, Musk, with 28 patents, would effectively be the president of the third most populous nation, with over 600 million monthly active users. In a paradox inexplicable, he has become the new MAINSTREAM MEDIA, his control over information is overwhelming.
Furthermore, Musk’s ventures extend beyond Earth. Through SpaceX, he holds the unique privilege of interacting with extraterrestrial possibilities (Aliens & Ghosts) and exploring uncharted territories in space. His influence on global politics is exemplified by his 2023 tweet suggesting that Ukraine cede Crimea to Russia, this is an idea that later became the official position of Trump’s envisioned 2025 administration. He has set Europe on fire from Germany to the UK, France, Canada, his love for the Far Right Movements is indescribable.

The Trump-Musk nexus has triggered something of a renaissance within the Far Right Movements globally which will impact immigration negatively, especially against Africans With Trump and Musk metaphorically positioned as the driver and conductor of the global limo tagged “TRUMUS limo” poses a significant gamble to geopolitics. The stakes are high, and the world watches with fingers crossed.

We are in a season of reimagining the global order amidst the welter of change and the interrelatedness of the forces of order and disorder. For instance, Caucasians are grappling with the irreversible decline of their aging, facing the reality of becoming a minority in their own countries by 2040. Simultaneously, concerns about de-globalization keep Beijing and Washington awake at night, while the threat of de-dollarization challenges America’s financial dominance. In Europe, the fear of Russia is the beginning of wisdom. For Africa, this is not the time for ‘’ostrich diplomacy’’. The continent must wake up and pursue her strategic agenda.

In the paragraphs that follow, we shall examine analogous historical moments to address pressing questions:

How solid are the blocks that hold BRICS together?

What is the probability of China replacing America as the new global superpower?

How will Trump 2.0 affect international relations?

Can Africa avoid a second wave of colonization?

Will humanity split along a new digital divide between rival tech empires?

What is the future of work, wealth and education?

Decoding geopolitics is akin to interpreting tea leaves, not always black and white. Which is why, to navigate this maze, I turn to the wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew (LKY), the ‘’Singaporean god’’ who transformed his country from a third-world nation to a first-world powerhouse in just 20 years. With the help of “Professor Google” I’ve set up a virtual conversation to seek his insights.

Tim: Compliments of the season, LKY. The world is aging, and it seems the Chinese dragon and the American bison are ready for a showdown. Meanwhile, Africa remains a passive spectator, and Nigeria remains enmeshed in multidimensional poverty. Can you share with me what you see in your geopolitical crystal ball in this transition hours?

LKY: Tim, it’s a pleasure having this virtual conversation with you. I can see your relentless effort (reading great books, digging into statistics and archives, interacting with Great Minds like Albert Einstein & Elon Musk) all with a view to making the world a better place. These are noble ideals, I must admit.
Your country, Nigeria, is one of the most blessed nations on earth. It appears God specially created America, China, and Nigeria on the same day as premium brands, late on a Friday night. Unfortunately, while the American and Chinese elites stayed awake, watching God intently during the creation process, Nigeria’s elites went clubbing. They returned by 4:05 a.m., inebriated, sleepy, and unconscious, whereas God had completed His work by 4a.m.
That, Tim, is why much of Nigeria’s wealth remains in the hands of foreigners who stayed vigilant on the Creation Day. You possess cobalt, nickel, lithium, Uranium, rare earth metals, oil, zircon, rhodium, liquefied natural gas (LNG) which are badly needed by the tech industry. Yet, many Nigerian elites remain clueless about the value of resources like the sands, stones and gravels which foreigners cart away daily from Nigeria.

Tim, you must do more than critical thinking, writing, mentoring, and advocacy in order to prevent the country from descending into a state of unmanageable mega mess.
Nigeria is terminally ill, with inflation at almost almost 40%, bank interest rates on loans at 40%, electricity at 300% increase, gasoline at 500% increase, currency devaluation at almost 200%, all happened with 15 months, do you need any economist to tell you that Nigeria is on a life support machine. What keeps Nigeria alive are essentially the remittance economy and the increasing opportunities for ICT remote jobs for the Youths.
Singapore, with less than 1% of Nigeria’s resources, has a GDP per capita for 2024 estimated to be between $89,369.71 and $104,127, compared to Nigeria’s meagre $1,000.

Your leaders travel the world, cap in hand, begging for what your nation already has in abundance. Nigeria has been awaiting “Arab money” since 2023 to stabilize its foreign exchange. Chinese engineers are relied upon to fix your roads and railways, Indian investors are expected to revamp your oil & gas industry, Russian experts are tasked with completing the Ajaokuta Steel Mill, while your elites receive medical treatment in France, drink Italian wine and drive Japanese cars! ‘’Na wa o, Tim’’

Where is Nigeria’s national self-esteem? No nation has ever been built solely through the transplantation of external “kidneys”. China was built with Chinese kidneys; Japan was built with Japanese kidneys. What, then, is the purpose of education in Nigeria if everything the country needs is imported, and all its challenges are outsourced?
For instance, against all odds, Ukraine in a dangerous war environment managed to grow in 2023. Its GDP increased by 5%, investments rose by 17%, tax revenue jumped by 25% year-over-year, and over 37,000 new businesses were registered
Yet, Nigeria that is at peace with her neigbours still looks up to Ukraine for food!!! ‘’una well done o” in Nigeria’’!

Tim: Tell me, LKY, great empires typically last an average of 250 years. America is now 251 years old as a nation and 80 years old as a superpower. China is eyeing the position of world’s class captain. What’s next?

LKY: Hmm, Tim. Let us search for the truth amidst the forest of facts and figures. As of 2024, the size of China’s economy stood at $18.28 trillion, while America’s was $29.167 trillion. China’s national debt stands at $14.9 trillion as against America’s $36.1 trillion. America spent $860 billion on research and development (R&D) compared to China’s $668 billion. China’s manufacturing sector contributed 28% of global output, whereas America accounted for 18%. According to WIPO, China filed about 1.64 million patent applications in 2023 as against America’s 418,262.

In terms of the Global Innovation Index (GII), America ranked as the third most innovative country, after Switzerland and Sweden, while China was eighth. Numerically, China boasts the world’s largest army and navy, though both remain largely untested. On the other hand, America maintains 800 military bases across 70 countries and operates 12 supercarriers compared to China’s two active carriers.
Regarding military budgets in 2024, America spent $916 billion, while China spent $296 billion. In R&D investment as a percentage of GDP, Israel leads the world, with America ranking third and China eleventh. China’s greatest strength lies in its control of the global supply chain, as 40% of China’s GDP comes from value-added industrial output.

China’s ambition to build “One China” by reclaiming all annexed territories, starting with Taiwan, may be historically desirable but it would trigger World War III, a conflict that China cannot win.

Peace is profitable, war is costly. The “lost China” extends beyond Taiwan to territories in Russia (Outer Manchuria, 910,000 km²), Japan (the Senkaku Islands, about 330 km²), and India (the Line of Actual Control, stretching 3,488 km from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh).

Former President Deng Xiaoping understood the complications of reclaiming “China’s stolen lands” and thus developed the strategy of a “Peaceful Rise” If China’s main motivation is to control the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s most consequential technology company with a market capitalization of $874 billion, the better route would be to emulate South Korea’s success in building a Samsung.

Contextually, history shows that whoever wins the technology war wins the economic and military wars, in the ultimately analysis. Similarly, whoever is the best -in-class in innovation plus R&D wins the global technology game of throne. The new world order is a case of a prisoner’s dilemma- America knows she can’t control the wind, therefore, she is adjusting the sail of re-industrialization, reclaiming energy supremacy (Greenland has about 15% undiscovered hydrocarbons -oil and gas underground), sustaining her slim lead in Technology, especially in semiconductor by building a chip factory in Arizona in partnership with TSMC costing $6.6 billion under the new Chip and Science Act. Semiconductor is the Golden Fleece of technology power!
Even then, it took America about 65 years (1880-1945) of consistent superior performance over Britain (the then superpower) before emerging as the world’s class captain. This indicates that for China to replace America, it must outperform America in all critical sectors for about half a century, ceteris paribus.

Tim: Can you tell me, LKY, where is BRICS headed? Nigeria is anxiously waiting to be admitted. The bloc represents 35% of the world’s GDP and 45% of the world’s population. BRICS seems determined to supplant the Dollar which currently accounts for about 56% of foreign trade invoices globally. Also, what’s the future of globalization?

LKY: BRICS is going nowhere Period! Who are the policymakers in Nigeria advising President Tinubu to take Panadol for China and Russia’s headaches by joining BRICS? *What Nigeria is engaging in is “me-too diplomacy”.
BRICS consists of traditional rivals with no shared ideology, values, or vision. The dollar’s main “offense” is its abuse by America, but who says BRICS will not eventually be hijacked, abused, and manipulated by China like RMB?

Why is BRICS not advocating for the replacement of the United Nations since she has failed to prevent the outbreak of wars in the world? The solution to Dollar’s abuse is to compel America and the rest of the world, through the United Nations and the World Bank to revert to the pre-Nixon era monetary system of 1971. Moving forward, America’s Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky, must hold gold bars equivalent to the dollars it prints. The same principle should apply to China’s RMB and Europe’s EURO and others. The World Bank should be empowered to go round and verify the quantum of gold bars in each of the 200 countries in the world, to avoid a repeat of what happened in the past when America inflated its gold reserves. Consequently, there will be a gold rush which benefits Africa more than aligning with China to kill the Dollar. Africa needs to put mechanisms in place to stop illegal gold mining in her forests.
Secondly, Africa should not waste the current currency crisis, it is an opportunity to create a single Africa currency to facilitate trade among the 52 Africa countries. About 23% of the global trade is done with Euro currency. With Africa owning over 30% of the remaining raw materials left globally, ‘’AFRO currency’’ is a game changer.

India just pulled out of BRICS war against the dollar.

If you give a gun each to China, Russia, India and America and lock them up in a room with an instruction that each of them should kill their worst two enemies: China will rather kill India and Russia first with a view to reclaiming her lost territories, while Russia will finish-off China and India first and India will annihilate China and Russia first. By the time you open the door, the last and the only country you will meet standing will be America.
The other three nations have beefs to settle with one another which are more existential than the hatred they jointly have for America out of envy.

Globalization has not achieved its goal of creating a world of shared prosperity, rather, the income inequality between the global North and the emerging Global East vis-a-vis the Global South is growing bigger. Nonetheless, President Trump’s proposed ISOLATIONISM, in the name of ‘America First’ will be counterproductive. Africa must maintain a delicate balance between globalism and Africanism.

Made-in-China 2025 (MIC2025) was designed for the 8 billion world’s population; therefore, death of globalization connotes sudden death for China and slow death for America and ultimate death for the world at large.

Concerning Trump 2.0 foreign policy, the world will be in commotion if President Trump goes ahead to annex the Panama Canal and Greenland with military force and overwhelm Canada to surrender her sovereignty. There will be no modicum of moral justification left to criticize Putin and President Xi Xiaoping if both, too, go ahead to annex Ukraine and Taiwan respectively Welcome to 1939?

Though, those three countries are ‘’BEST BUY’’ for America, provided there is unanimity of interests between the buyer and the owners.

Tim: Tell me, LKY, what kind of deal should President Trump put on the table on January 21, 2025, to end the war in Ukraine? The World Bank has estimated that it will cost $486 billion to get Ukraine back on its feet.

LKY: Russia currently occupies almost 20% of Ukraine, amounting to about 100,000 square kilometres since 2014, including regions like Donetsk and Crimea. Approximately 3.5 million Ukrainians are estimated to be living under Russian occupation. Moreover, 17.3% of Ukraine’s population is of Russian ethnic nationality. On the other hand, Ukraine has encroached into Russia’s Kursk region, capturing around 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles). There are no easy solutions to this crisis, as both warriors are running out of body bags to bury the dead. However, President Trump should take the following steps:

Call for an immediate ceasefire on January 20, 2025.

Hold a tripartite meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy in Switzerland. The proposed deal should include the following.

Ukraine must withdraw from all Russian territory immediately

Russia must withdraw from all Ukrainian territories.

A referendum, supervised by the UN, should be conducted within six months. This will allow Russian-speaking Ukrainians to decide which country they wish to belong to. The referendum results, determined by a simple majority, must be enforced by the UN.

Russia and Ukraine should be admitted into NATO by April 4, 2026, coinciding with NATO’s 77th anniversary.

All sanctions on Russia should be lifted, and the country should be readmitted into the G8 and SWIFT payment Gateway. Furthermore, all criminal charges against Putin should be dropped.

America and Europe should establish a Ukraine Reconstruction Fund (URF) to raise $500 billion over ten years to rebuild Ukraine.

History shows that what Russia has done is not as grave as the atrocities committed by Germany and Japan during WW2, yet both nations were forgiven, rebuilt, and readmitted into the “Western Club” What prevents the West from adopting a similar approach today with Russia? It is worth noting that Putin has long expressed his desire for Russia to join NATO, albeit without “standing in line with countries that don’t matter”.

Tim: What about the Middle East? Lend us your wisdom, LKY, how can we end the cycle of crises there?

LKY: The Middle East is akin to one of the most complex mathematical problems; the Diophantine Equation, sometimes called the “summing of three cubes”. This equation challenges mathematicians to find values for x, y, and z such that x³ + y³ + z³ = K, for every value of K from 1 to 100.

“Summing up the three cubes” of the Middle East geopolitics is akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

The region’s issues are multilayered and complicated, much like solving the Diophantine equation. There is also a spiritual dimension to the crisis. Ending the cyclical crises requires a multi-faceted approach, involving local solutions rooted in trust, mutual respect, and external mediators who are genuinely unbiased. The path to peace in the Middle East is less about quick fixes and more about patience, sustained dialogue, and a commitment to equitable resolutions that underscore Israel’s security and Palestinian’s dignity. Tim, I read your 7th October 2023 article proposing a 4-state solution. It was radical yet doable. However, because common sense is currently uncommon in the Middle East, all proposed solutions, 4-state, 2-state, or 1-state, should be parked for now. Tim, as you rightly proposed in the said article, there are no religious, legal, political, or military solutions to the Middle East problem. There is only one solution, and this is “Humanity”. For now, Hamas must release all the remaining 92 Israeli hostages alive, and the IDF must stop the bombings.

Ultimately, for the sake of FATHER ABRAHAM (so that he can rest in perfect peace) these two antagonistic siblings must find a way to coexist as neighbors, even if not as friends.

Tim: I’d like to hear your thoughts, LKY, on technology convergence. Where is technology headed?

LKY: The future of technology lies in Quantum computing with Artificial Intelligence (QCAI).

The world will increasingly be controlled by efficient and super-intelligent robots that are capable of reasoning independently of their creators, much like how humans’ reason independently of God. These “spiritual machines” with conceptual understanding comparable to humans, bring us ever closer to Singularity.

In the short term, this presents immense possibilities as humans collaborate and compete with machines. However, in the long term, humanity faces existential dangers, chiefly the risk of losing control over its creation, or the technology fall into the hands of bad guys- Armageddon is not impossible!

I foresee QCAI massively disrupting job markets sooner than expected, with unemployment rates soaring. Simultaneously, income inequality will widen drastically between AI tycoons and consuming countries like Nigeria

Tim, if you have influence over your government, urge them to invest in empowering Nigerian youths with skills in Quantum computing with artificial intelligence among other 4.0 industrial revolution skills.

For example, Lagos State can become the California of Africa and potentially grow its GDP to $1 trillion within 36 months, this is five times larger than Nigeria’s current GDP, by leveraging customized solutions powered by QCAI and distributed ledger technologies. On the darker side, QCAI’s militarization is an existential threat. Imagine a nuclear bomb operating independently of the President in the White House in an apocalyptic scenario, a false flag could trigger an uncontrollable cascading catastrophe.

I also foresee humanity splitting into antagonistic, competing digital empires along a new silicon boundary. If President Trump continues to pursue an anti-globalism agenda. China would be left with no choice than to come up with a separate computer network and architecture, rendering international collaboration difficult.

Moreover, QCAI tycoons may introduce Universal Basic Salaries (UBS) for those labelled as the “useless population” as suggested by Yuval Harari of the World Economic Forum. Finally, if Africa doesn’t get its act together, a second wave of colonization is not impossible.

Tim: Let’s turn our focus back to Nigeria. As the “Singaporean god” how did you build an education system that outperformed the West and catapulted Singapore to the First World in record time? I put it to you; you were a magician!

LKY: Tim, it wasn’t magic. Africa has black magic, but I don’t believe it works for nation building, otherwiseAfrica should be the greatest continent on earth today.

We built Singapore’s education system on three pillars, they are meritocracy, pragmatism, and relentless pursuit of excellence. We designed our curriculum to focus on critical thinking, science, and technology while aligning it with Singapore’s economic needs. Furthermore, we didn’t romanticize degrees or paper qualifications.

Vocational and technical education were given equal prominence. We built strong partnerships with global tech giants and invited them to set up R&D hubs in Singapore, ensuring our students were trained in future-ready skills.

Amazing discoveries in science, technology, mathematics, and extraordinary innovations never occur when students are taught, tested, and graded on cookbook formulas, especially by demotivated instructors in poorly furnished classrooms lacking modern infrastructure.

Students’ creativity gets lost in the maze of memorized physics equations and biology definitions.
Children learn to ride a bicycle by riding it, not by reading about it in a book.

Nigeria’s education system is broken, obsolete, and rotten, it needs a complete reimagining. Eking out infinitesimal improvements from a gravely sick system and relying on wrong metrics as measure of success will not catapult Nigeria to the top of the class.

Nigeria needs an entrepreneurial-oriented curriculum aligned with its core strengths, needs, and aspirations.
The new roadmap should be powered by QCAI focusing on the seven C’s that equip students with life-decisive skills, such as “Critical Thinking, Communication, Character, Complex Problem-Solving, Creativity, Cognitive Social Skills, and Citizenship Responsibilities”.

The world no longer rewards “knowledge workers” unlike in the pre-Google, pre-ChatGPT era because information and knowledge are now as accessible as sachet water. What the world needs are problem-solvers.

Over the past ten years, Nigeria spent more than $40 billion on education and medical tourism, according to the CBN Governor, Mr Yemi Cardoso. Yet, instead of dedicating $2 billion yearly for the next five years to upgrading six universities and two teaching hospitals to world-class standards yearly, thereby solving these twin problems over a period of ten years, your priorities are ambiguously lousy. Example? Your Judges got 300% salary increase, plus free accommodations for keeps, your teachers are in financial famine, wallowing in penury.

With due respect, Tim, Nigeria’s elites have always ruled the country like a Monkey Republic, where the Baboons Bandits have hijacked all the ripe and unripe bananas. Now, the Jungle has Matured, there is uncontrollable commotion across the land, as the monkeys run amok.

Tim, history has not provided us with an example of a society where the Baboons Bandits has played this type of game successfully without dropping the ball!

Tim: What is your final word for Nigeria?
And what do you say to individuals who desire a better deal from life in 2025 and beyond, LKY?

LKY: First, Nigeria must decentralize to survive and thrive. No PLAN B! Ordinary Tax Reform Bill and CBN operations are politicized, and in 46 years, you can’t complete the Ajaokuta steel company and you have practically nothing to show for your oil wealth compared with Norway or UAE, it’s certain the superstructure you are operating is fundamentally flawed.
Where would Singapore be today if she had remained under the toxic partnership with Malaysia’s? The old Malaysia and Nigeria shared something in common, they are both House of commotion! Whereas, without peace and Elites consensus, Nigeria’s chances of modernization are ZERO.
Mandela, Rawlings, Ghaddafi, Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Balewa, etc all advocated or fought for a decentralized system as the ONLY VERITABLE way to make a plural, heterogeneous society like Nigeria work.
Are your elites saying they are smarter than the above named leaders and their counterparts in the UK, Canada, Switzerland, USA etc who established decentralization as the ONLY WAY to govern an heterogenous society like Nigeria successfully

Even from here, we can hear the long whistling, a dangerous, high pitched siren noise of the Nigeria’s pressure cooker. To avoid a blow out: decentralize.
Don’t wait for Nature’s caesarean operation in Nigeria. Nature’s C-Section is worse than an abattoir.

Finally, In the QCAI age: academic qualification is overrated; the winner is… SKILL. The new world order is going to be a gold-driven world, where Platform Economy is a game changer. Land and water will command the same respect as gold.
When Elon Musk coughed out a whopping $44 billion to acquire Twitter (now X) the uninitiated called him names. But today, he is the first private citizen in recent history to become a ’SUPERPOWER’, courtesy of the humongous power of the X Platform.
Gerit? If you don’t gerit, forgrit aborit!

Tim: Please, LKY, can you pray for Nigeria’s breakthrough in 2025? We are tired of hugging the global headlines for the wrong reasons.

LKY: Frankly speaking, Tim, my team and I didn’t rely on prayers to build Singapore. President Deng once confirmed to me that he and his team didn’t use prayers to build China either. Similarly, Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, the Japanese Prime Minister said himself and his team didn’t depend on prayers in rebuilding Japan after its destruction in1945. What else should God do for Nigeria? You are the apple of God’s eyes but you are, unarguably, laid-back. That said, I have nothing against prayers. After all, Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president, included daily prayers in his solution-mix to build America. It worked then, and it continues to work today.

I came away convinced that prayers without diligence, diligence without character, and character without godliness have been the bane of Nigeria for decades.This, Tim, is what I call spiritual 419, the greatest sin against God.

All told, since you are so passionate about Nigeria’s transformation and you believe strongly in the efficacy of prayers as part of the required solutions, I challenge you to draft an honest National Rebirth Prayer (NRP) that addresses the spiritual lacuna which makes your old and new National Anthem and Pledge ring hollow. Your country’s First Lady who adopted and launched a National Unity Fabric can equally champion and get the citizens to recite the prayers twice daily (7am & 7pm) and in all public gatherings, starting with the Federal Executive Council Meetings.

Tim: Well, LKY, here is my take concerning the National Rebirth Prayer:

“Almighty God, who has blessed Nigeria with this amazing and enviable land as our heritage, we kindly beseech Thee that we may prove ourselves a people conscious of Thy love and thankful to do Thy will. Teach us, O Lord, to love this land and its people. Open our leaders’ eyes to see that there are no pockets to keep dollars, euros, or pounds in burial shrouds, and no First Bank branch in heaven! Bless the citizens with common sense to be awake to their responsibilities. In our lifetime, we pray to witness Nigeria’s true rebirth as a land of righteousness, with elites who stand for the Common Good, liberty, truth, beauty, and justice turning Nigeria’s limo wheel, Amen”.

Tim: What time is it? 3:00 a.m.
Where is LKY?
Unzipping 2025… with a dream!