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Quotes by Nigerian Authors

"Each one of us, and, indeed, all those who aspire to national leadership must bring their own visions, views and styles to the business of reforming Nigeria, and the search for solutions."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"Each one of us, and, indeed, all those who aspire to national leadership must bring their own visions, views and styles to the business of reforming Nigeria, and the search for solutions."
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64
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."
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Babatunde Olatunji
"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."
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54
"The history of our country is not the history of any other country in the world which is either practicing advanced democracy or struggling to lay the foundation for democracy."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"The history of our country is not the history of any other country in the world which is either practicing advanced democracy or struggling to lay the foundation for democracy."
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52
"My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing at all to do with a volatile human condition or struggle or whatever. It enriches me as a human being."
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Wole Soyinka
"My horizon on humanity is enlarged by reading the writers of poems, seeing a painting, listening to some music, some opera, which has nothing at all to do with a volatile human condition or struggle or whatever. It enriches me as a human being."
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37
"When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool."
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Chinua Achebe
"When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool."
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33
"The challenge as we saw in the Nigerian project was to restructure the economy decisively in the direction of a modern free market as an appropriate environment for cultivation of freedom and democracy and the natural emergence of a new social order."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"The challenge as we saw in the Nigerian project was to restructure the economy decisively in the direction of a modern free market as an appropriate environment for cultivation of freedom and democracy and the natural emergence of a new social order."
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33
"My joy knows no bounds... I will devote all my energy and all the powers available to me to the service of Nigeria and humanity."
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Olusegun Obasanjo
"My joy knows no bounds... I will devote all my energy and all the powers available to me to the service of Nigeria and humanity."
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32
"I always keep a ball in the car. You never know."
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Hakeem Olajuwon
"I always keep a ball in the car. You never know."
Car,
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32
"Nigeria is a West African nation of over 100 million energetic people. It is endowed with lots of natural resources but lacks human resources."
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Philip Emeagwali
"Nigeria is a West African nation of over 100 million energetic people. It is endowed with lots of natural resources but lacks human resources."
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30
"When I look at the system here and look at my position - not just as a basketball player, but when I look around me at the values of the people and the culture and compare them with the values of where I came from - I feel so blessed to be from Africa."
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Hakeem Olajuwon
"When I look at the system here and look at my position - not just as a basketball player, but when I look around me at the values of the people and the culture and compare them with the values of where I came from - I feel so blessed to be from Africa."
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30
"See, even despite pious statements to the contrary, much of the industrialized world has not yet come to terms with the recognition of the fallacy of what I call the strong man syndrome."
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Wole Soyinka
"See, even despite pious statements to the contrary, much of the industrialized world has not yet come to terms with the recognition of the fallacy of what I call the strong man syndrome."
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28
"The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering."
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Ben Okri
"The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering."
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28
"During the week that I arrived in the United States, I saw an airport, used a telephone, used a library, talked with a scientist, and was shown a computer for the first time in my life."
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Philip Emeagwali
"During the week that I arrived in the United States, I saw an airport, used a telephone, used a library, talked with a scientist, and was shown a computer for the first time in my life."
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27
"Nigeria has no business with poverty. With our human and material resources, we shall strive to eradicate poverty from our country."
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Olusegun Obasanjo
"Nigeria has no business with poverty. With our human and material resources, we shall strive to eradicate poverty from our country."
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27
"And gradually they're beginning to recognize the fact that there's nothing more secure than a democratic, accountable, and participatory form of government. But it's sunk in only theoretically, it has not yet sunk in completely in practical terms."
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Wole Soyinka
"And gradually they're beginning to recognize the fact that there's nothing more secure than a democratic, accountable, and participatory form of government. But it's sunk in only theoretically, it has not yet sunk in completely in practical terms."
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27
"Remarkable is the greater openness of the Catholic Church towards people of other religious traditions and persuasions. The development has not been without problems, since some people have resisted it and others have pushed openness beyond the desirable point."
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Francis Arinze
"Remarkable is the greater openness of the Catholic Church towards people of other religious traditions and persuasions. The development has not been without problems, since some people have resisted it and others have pushed openness beyond the desirable point."
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27
"Because I am not formally trained in the medical sciences, I can bring in new ideas to AIDS research and the cross-fertilization of ideas from different fields could be a valuable contribution to finding the cure for AIDS."
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Philip Emeagwali
"Because I am not formally trained in the medical sciences, I can bring in new ideas to AIDS research and the cross-fertilization of ideas from different fields could be a valuable contribution to finding the cure for AIDS."
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27
"There's something about the theater which makes my fingertips tingle."
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Wole Soyinka
"There's something about the theater which makes my fingertips tingle."
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26
"When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see."
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Chinua Achebe
"When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see."
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25
"The acknowledged legislators of the world take the world as given. They dislike mysteries, for mysteries cannot be coded, or legislated, and wonder cannot be made into law. And so these legislators police the accepted frontiers of things."
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Ben Okri
"The acknowledged legislators of the world take the world as given. They dislike mysteries, for mysteries cannot be coded, or legislated, and wonder cannot be made into law. And so these legislators police the accepted frontiers of things."
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24
"Nigera is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be."
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Chinua Achebe
"Nigera is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be."
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24
"Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar."
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Nnamdi Azikiwe
"Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar."
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23
"It is wrong to use equal language for unequal actions."
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Peter Akinola
"It is wrong to use equal language for unequal actions."
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23
"In all my novels, I deal with the many problems and prejudices which exist for Black people in Britain today."
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Buchi Emecheta
"In all my novels, I deal with the many problems and prejudices which exist for Black people in Britain today."
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22
"When I enrolled in college at age 19, I had a total of eight years of formal classroom education. As a result, I was not comfortable with formal lectures and receiving regular homework assignments."
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Philip Emeagwali
"When I enrolled in college at age 19, I had a total of eight years of formal classroom education. As a result, I was not comfortable with formal lectures and receiving regular homework assignments."
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22
"We will not, on the altar of money, mortgage our conscience, mortgage our faith, mortgage our salvation."
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Peter Akinola
"We will not, on the altar of money, mortgage our conscience, mortgage our faith, mortgage our salvation."
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22
"You can leave your mark in the sand of history just by discovering the secrets of greatness through time conversion."
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Sunday Adelaja
"You can leave your mark in the sand of history just by discovering the secrets of greatness through time conversion."
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22
"Most importantly, nothing has happened to change my conviction that freedom and the love of liberty remain the essential defining attributes of our national character as a people."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"Most importantly, nothing has happened to change my conviction that freedom and the love of liberty remain the essential defining attributes of our national character as a people."
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22
"The greatest religions convert the world through stories."
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Ben Okri
"The greatest religions convert the world through stories."
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21
"Basketball is in my blood. It is my obligation to try."
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Hakeem Olajuwon
"Basketball is in my blood. It is my obligation to try."
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21
"You see, I was told stories, we were all told stories as kids in Nigeria. We had to tell stories that would keep one another interested, and you weren't allowed to tell stories that everybody else knew. You had to dream up new ones."
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Ben Okri
"You see, I was told stories, we were all told stories as kids in Nigeria. We had to tell stories that would keep one another interested, and you weren't allowed to tell stories that everybody else knew. You had to dream up new ones."
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21
"It is of course the nature of historical contraction that the shortest distance to a historical destination is never a straight line."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"It is of course the nature of historical contraction that the shortest distance to a historical destination is never a straight line."
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21
"The reason is that till date, in spite of advances in information technology and strategies of information, the written word in the form of books still remains one of humanity's most enduring legacies."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"The reason is that till date, in spite of advances in information technology and strategies of information, the written word in the form of books still remains one of humanity's most enduring legacies."
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21
"Israel has created a new image of the Jew in the world - the image of a working and an intellectual people, of a people that can fight with heroism."
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Nnamdi Azikiwe
"Israel has created a new image of the Jew in the world - the image of a working and an intellectual people, of a people that can fight with heroism."
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21
"Initially I probably didn't even call it acting, but dressing up or something. As a kid I think you fully imagine the world in which you want to inhabit, so you put some clothes on and just kind of freely imagine this world, and it's a total imaginary world."
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Hugo Weaving
"Initially I probably didn't even call it acting, but dressing up or something. As a kid I think you fully imagine the world in which you want to inhabit, so you put some clothes on and just kind of freely imagine this world, and it's a total imaginary world."
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19
"Stories serve the purpose of consolidating whatever gains people or their leaders have made or imagine they have made in their existing journey thorough the world."
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Chinua Achebe
"Stories serve the purpose of consolidating whatever gains people or their leaders have made or imagine they have made in their existing journey thorough the world."
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18
"All these boundaries - Africa, Asia, Malaysia, America - are set by men. But you don't have to look at boundaries when you are looking at a man - at the character of a man. The question is: What do you stand for? Are you a follower, or are you a leader?"
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Hakeem Olajuwon
"All these boundaries - Africa, Asia, Malaysia, America - are set by men. But you don't have to look at boundaries when you are looking at a man - at the character of a man. The question is: What do you stand for? Are you a follower, or are you a leader?"
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18
"Debate and divergence of views can only enrich our history and culture."
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Ibrahim Babangida
"Debate and divergence of views can only enrich our history and culture."
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18
"The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future."
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Philip Emeagwali
"The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future."
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18
"It is better we disintegrate in peace and not in pieces."
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Nnamdi Azikiwe
"It is better we disintegrate in peace and not in pieces."
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"When you get to that level, it's not a matter of talent anymore - because all the players are so talented - it's about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions."
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Hakeem Olajuwon
"When you get to that level, it's not a matter of talent anymore - because all the players are so talented - it's about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions."
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17
"The first book I wrote was The Bride Price which was a romantic book, but my husband burnt the book when he saw it. I was the typical African woman, I'd done this privately, I wanted him to look at it, approve it and he said he wouldn't read it."
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Buchi Emecheta
"The first book I wrote was The Bride Price which was a romantic book, but my husband burnt the book when he saw it. I was the typical African woman, I'd done this privately, I wanted him to look at it, approve it and he said he wouldn't read it."
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17
"Briefly, to program it requires an absolute understanding of how all 65,536 processors are interconnected."
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Philip Emeagwali
"Briefly, to program it requires an absolute understanding of how all 65,536 processors are interconnected."
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16
"A man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself."
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Chinua Achebe
"A man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself."
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15
"I think I'm much less self confident today. I actually went through a quite painful period because of that thinking that I was completely hopeless. But I think that's something that we all go through at various times of our lives and it was quite a sustained thing with me."
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Hugo Weaving
"I think I'm much less self confident today. I actually went through a quite painful period because of that thinking that I was completely hopeless. But I think that's something that we all go through at various times of our lives and it was quite a sustained thing with me."
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15
"I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular course of action."
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Wole Soyinka
"I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular course of action."
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15
"You see life is predictable. What you do with your time now will dictate how your life will become tomorrow."
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Sunday Adelaja
"You see life is predictable. What you do with your time now will dictate how your life will become tomorrow."
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15
"I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare."
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Ben Okri
"I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare."
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14
"Let me make a solemn pledge before all of you, before the whole world and before God, that I will devote all my energy and all I possess in my power to serve the people of Nigeria and humanity."
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Olusegun Obasanjo
"Let me make a solemn pledge before all of you, before the whole world and before God, that I will devote all my energy and all I possess in my power to serve the people of Nigeria and humanity."
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14
"Even among the married, sexual satisfaction must not be sought in a way which disregards man's character as a person and degrades him to the animal level."
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Francis Arinze
"Even among the married, sexual satisfaction must not be sought in a way which disregards man's character as a person and degrades him to the animal level."
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