Fisheye View of Beijing Skyline at Night. Photo: VCG

Editor's Notes: The author is Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of New Telegraph Newspaper in Nigeria, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

I have been to a few great spots around the world. I have seen at over a dozen international capitals, yet nothing could have prepared me for Beijing, China. I have been back for a week and a day.  I can still see the city, emblazoned with the word "beautiful" in my mind's eye. And yes, I have been to London, Washington, New York, Dubai, Paris…but Beijing remains the most beautiful of them all. But in case you decide to tell me, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder,"allow me to offer up something I think we can agree on. Beijing is a study as well as a lesson on planned and focused leadership. China is a country that did not spring out of nowhere. It is a lesson in success birthed and nourished by leaders through the years who knew where they were going, where they wanted the country to be and then went on to meticulously fashion a vehicle that will take them to that destination. It's everything Nigeria lacks.

Foresight, single-minded determined zeal to build a successful nation; thick-skinned resolve necessary for the long haul to a beautiful future by leaders whose nation comes first. That's  the China I experienced and eventually fell in love with. The market was noisy but China knew what she was there to buy and she stayed focused on the commodity. Decades of planning, centuries of sacrifice and today it has paid off. The whole world, including (per Ray Echebiri) those who screamed "human rights abuse" is in China doing one thing or another. It's a country that cannot be ignored. All  multi-billion dollar corporation have manufacturing plants in China.  The days of sneering at China is gone, over and done with. China has paid her dues and today, the world can't negotiate anything unless the country is included. The road was long and arduous but it was a worthwhile journey. China is her, and here to stay, bright and happy in the world sun. 

Across from my hotel was the imposing China Bank of Construction and when we visited the Urban Planning Museum in Beijing, I told myself, no wonder they need a Construction Bank. The museum is an institution where you get to see how Beijing came to be. You are guided through centuries of careful planning, stone-by-stone, brick-by-brick meticulousness of Spartan leaders. The museum is a show-off, yes, but a worthy and wonderfully colorful trip. The walls have preserved the history of the first road, the transportation system is played out in a movie, beginning with the first wheeled cart to present day electric buses. Yes, their buses run on rechargeable batteries that last all day. Right under our feet was the architectural design of the city, encased in glass. Yes, we walked on glass in that museum. Every corridor, every floor, like the rest of the city, it was a tribute to the dedicated people who viewed today as yesterday, long before it arrived. Lucky folks, I said under my breath a dozen times. But success is never accidental.

Heroes are men who have the ability to make a decision, to do what needs to be done in spite of pain, and who can shed blood in order to make a difference. 

So, what was I doing in China? Leading a delegation of the Nigerian Guild of Editors to China. Our host was the China Radio International (CRI) Hausa Service. Yes, Hausa Service, you heard right. Our guides were fluent in their native tongue, and had names like Lubabatu, Bello, Murtala and Sanusi. They went with us everywhere.  Mind you, these were Chinese with Hausa names. Murtala was the most colorful, having stayed in Abuja for four years. He speaks a smattering of Yoruba. One delegate, Hussaina Banshika of FRCN speaks Hausa, and her review of their language abilities is a matter reserved for another day. CRI started transmitting in Hausa 50 years ago, broadcasts in 65 different languages, and Hausa is taught at two universities in China. How many of our television stations deliver the news in the language of their actual environment, least of all one that is spoken on the other side of the world? 

We arrived Beijing on July 23 after 15 hours in the air and five hours in Addis Abbaba, and hit the ground running. Oh, how we ran. It was the most exhausting and exhilarating trip of my life thus far, but it was worth every drop of sweat. Now, the NGE has partnered with CRI. The People's Daily of China wants us for a conference later in the year. I feel great as the humble servant of this elite group of media because the present EXCO promised to open new frontiers and broadenf the horizon of its members. We are just beginning to scratch the surface of this plan, but at least it's been a good start. The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjian and the Mission, paid our bills. Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu brokered this relationship. We are grateful and I am determined to ride to the coattails of Ambassador Zhou Pingjian and milk this union until we are full and belching, elegantly of course. The lessons from media I have told a bit, and will report in full to the National Assembly of Editors at ANEC 2017 in a few weeks. There is so much to be done, and so much we can do.

So, as for the God who created China, was it the same one who created Nigeria? I asked myself this question at a train station and then again on the bullet train to Tianjin. It is a question I ask myself every time I enter America. Where did the leaders of those nations come from? Did God close the factory line that produced the leaders of certain countries before he started molding African leaders? Where did Nigerian leaders come from? I'm sure most, if not all, of our leaders have visited China. What do our leaders see when they go abroad? What did they see when they went to China? Where do they see Nigeria 100 years from now? What do they want to do today to ensure one thing, just one thing, they saw in China that is replicated? China has done well. The roads are clean and wide. The natural vegetation (sometimes 500 meters wide) between the roads, in the middle of a city of filled with high-rises is unbelievable. Wasn't it all so unbelievable, really?

Yet, Nigeria has the capacity to catch up with China. Nigeria has the potential to be great because it has everything that is required to achieve greatness.

Except for one thing, a focused leadership. Leaders that want to do good, who want to be remembered for their political legacies, not for their scandals and stormy relationships. Herein lies the difference between China and Nigeria.  China has for centuries been ruled by men who knew where they were going and kept their eyes on the ball. As one local saying advises, when you are in the market, focus on the commodities and ignore the noise. Not so in Nigeria, at least not yet anyway. Leaders and followers talk at the same time. Indeed, they have always been engaged in a fierce competition amongst each other to see who can shout the most. A deafening cacophony indeed. 

At the end of the day, nobody has been heard. Not one commodity has been bought, sold, or traded, because nobody had the time to break away from the chattering and accomplish a real task.

There is a saying in China that it does not matter the color of the cat, as long as it catches the mouse. The cat can be black, white or brown, who cares, just as long as it doesn't get away. The Yoruba also have a saying that it does not matter whether you tie the wrapper round the waist or the waist around the wrapper, as long as the waist is not naked. In other words, as humans, as reasonable people in China or Nigeria, we know that getting the job done is what is important. So, why is China getting the job done and Nigeria isn't? Simple, we spend all our precious time checking the color of the cat. We concentrate more on whether it is the wrapper that comes first or the waist. 

How difficult can it be to do what needs to be done, and in an effective manner the Nigerian way?  China not only did that, but is still doing it.  Can we not just do what works for us? 

It's not rocket science to make one right decision. Just do one solid thing a year!