The question of what makes nations great, why some nations are rich and some are poor, is a question that cannot but bother the heart of every avid student of history.

Even though we live in an unfair world, where some men and nations acquire their wealth in ways that are not always as straightforward as we would like it to be, yet in the midst of it all, it is not impossible to discover principles and secrets for the greatness of nations.

Ladies and gentlemen, even though this article is woven around the theme that men and nations are not great by the virtue of their wealth, but by the wealth of their virtue, I am going to focus my attention on nations. That means, the focus of this article is not only going to be why men are great. I will be talking more, about a basic and fundamental reason that causes nations to rise and in the absence of which nations fail.

If the question were to be asked to experts in political science and anthropology, for reasons why nations are great. Their answers would be an endless enumeration of factors. Factors like population, geographical locations, human development, education, labor force, natural resources, etc.

However, I in this article will not be talking about what I call the obvious factors of nations’ development and growth. I will be examining this subject from the aspect of what few men would readily admit to. Experts and historians might not mention this factor we are talking about today, simply because they are not aware of it.

It is natural when we are looking for explanations and reasons for a cause and effect to quickly enlist the glaring physical evidences. What is much more difficult to discover however is the hidden, subtle, inconspicuous, factors that are not evident to the naked eye.

That factor for the greatness of nations we are going to be examining today, is evident in what I earlier pointed out: MEN AND NATIONS ARE NOT GREAT BY THE VIRTUE OF THEIR WEALTH, BUT BY THEWEALTH OF THEIR VIRTUE.

From the above, we see the disparity between the factor of material wealth and the wealth of virtue, as factors responsible for greatness of nations. It is also evident in my affirmative tone of the theme of this article that I am on the side of wealth of virtue as against virtue of wealth.

Unfortunately, we do not often see the advantages in the power of values and virtues. We are easily taken away by physical wealth, material possessions and the power of money. Life and history though, have repeatedly taught us that values and virtues are far much stronger than the physical wealth we often see. For material wealth emanates from values and virtues.

As an African, I don’t have to look far and wide to discover that material wealth alone is not enough to build a great nation. There are many countries in the world, especially in developing countries of Africa, Asia and South America that are enormously wealthy in natural resources and yet have a poor population.

African countries are blessed with an abundance of material wealth: gold, iron, diamond, oil, natural gas, coal, and other precious metals. Still, these countries are largely regarded as the poorest in the world. Why the disparity? Where is the discrepancy coming from? Where do we get the imbalance from? How come the incongruity? How can we explain this disproportionality? What is the explanation to the contrast between our potential and our reality today?

On the other hand however, there are countries that have long discovered the true secret of wealth and greatness of nations. Yes, these countries admittedly don’t have much natural and material wealth, but what they did not have in the physical, they made up for it in values and virtues.

When value systems are embraced by a nation, when the citizens of a country are truly rich in virtues, then material wealth is a matter of time. Moreover, these material wealth don’t just come and go, they come to stay as long as the virtues remain in the fabric of the nation.

A good example of such countries would be Singapore that cannot pride herself in an abundance of natural resources. But yet this country has been able to perform a modern day miracle, by becoming one of the few countries that has succeeded in going from the third world to the first world, in one generation. Today Singapore’s per capital GDP is higher than that of the United States of America.

The secret is the uncompromising stand of its then leader Lee Kuan Yew, to establish truth honesty as a rule of building the nation.

Switzerland is another country that was made famous and great by the values that were implanted in the society, through the teaching of the famous Protestant pioneer, John Calvin. Switzerland, does not possess a vast amount of natural resources, but they are abundantly wealthy in values, virtues and godly principles. Hence, as a result Switzerland has always been in the top countries with the highest standard of living in the world.

Countries like Japan, Sweden, and Austria are not overly known to be endowed with an abundance of natural wealth. However, because they have developed their wealth of virtues, they live better today than most countries who brag themselves in their virtues of natural wealth.

•Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, Transformation Strategist, Pastor and innovator who lives in Kieve Ukraine. He can be contacted at sundayadelajablog@gmail.com

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