CROSSROADS May 2018 | Page 3

AMBASSADOR’S NOTES the ways we are working together. At the same time, it shows the power of people creating Intellectual Property to enrich and transform our World.  W. Stuart Symington U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria O n behalf of all of my colleagues at the U.S. Mission in Nigeria, Welcome to the latest edition of Crossroads! This issue is special for two reasons.  First, it celebrates the partnership between creative Nigerians and Americans by describing some of CROSSROADS is published quarterly by the Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy, Nigeria EDITORIAL TEAM Aruna Amirthanayagam (Counselor for Public Affairs) Darcy Zotter (Public Affairs Officer, Lagos) Russell Brooks (Press Attaché) Olaoluwa Aworinde (Editor & photographer) Address all correspondence to: The Editor, Crossroads Magazine Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy Plot 1075 Diplomatic Drive, Central Business Area, Abuja, Nigeria Tel: (09) 461-4000. Fax: 09-461-4305 LAGOS OFFICE: U.S. Consulate General, Public Affairs 2, Walter Carington Crescent, Lagos Tel.: +234-703-150-4867/2444 E-mail: [email protected] Website: nigeria.usembassy.gov When ideas become intellectual property, they literally create new fi elds from dreams and grow enterprises that no walls can contain, creating new jobs out of imagination and new opportunities at the speed of inspiration. It has long been said, “buy land, they are not making any more of it.” The creators of intellectual property build new worlds from ideas. Painters and poets, artists and avatars lead us every day down paths they have just, as Walt Disney said, “imagineered.” I have now visited all 36 of Nigeria’s states and know fi rst hand the wealth of your nation and the “WOW factor” of your natural beauty:  your shores and rivers, mountains and plains, birds and animals, forests and fi elds.  In every state, I have met Nigerians who are living proof that Nigeria’s greatest resource is the Nigerian people, not oil or gas, soil or minerals, water or sunlight. I saw everywhere proof of In This Issue... History Months Pgs 4 & 5 Cover Story Pg 6 Nigerian’s resilience, diversity, warmth, imagination, and indomitable spirit.  I heard Nigerians, from one end of the country to the other, describe those very traits as what they love about Nigeria. Those ideas, that spirit is a powerful base for sustained Nigerian success as a united nation and as a leader as a global leader in the world of ideas. You create opportunities at the speed of hope with ideas that become industries and growth that outpaces need and fear.  My own fervent wish is that this year, many of you will fi nd new ways to turn ideas into enterprise and that intellectual property will help create fi elds large enough for every Nigerian to fi nd a place to prosper. We hope, too, as you approach the 2019 election, that - in the world of electoral ideas - the pre- election speech, the partisan platforms, and the electoral process itself - those who seek to earn your vote will always show the utmost respect for Nigeria’s greatest asset, the Nigerian people. W. Stuart Symington Vol. 24 No. 2 Nigerian Media Pg 12 English Language Education Pg 14 National Parks Emerging Entrepreneurs Pg 10 Pg 16 Sports Scholarships Love & Ashes Pg 18 Pg 11 CROSSROADS | May/June 2018 3