The transition to immortality of great persons like Apple co-pioneer, Steve Jobs and American ace astronaut, Neil Armstrong, conjure both emotions and special historical moments.

At the height of the struggle for supremacy between the United States of America and the defunct Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the Soviet Union was able to beat America to the space race by putting its Luna 2 unmanned spacecraft on the moon on September 13, 1959.

The rivalry opened a new, thrilling chapter. The President of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, went to a joint session of Congress on May 25,1961 and solemnly avowed the commitment of the USA to blunt the Soviet achievement by “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely” by the end of the decade.

True to this pledge, but long after Kennedy was assassinated, Neil Armstrong led the historic first landing on the moon aboard the Apollo 11 mission. When he took the first floating step on the charismatic satellite of the Earth, he said: “That’s one small step for (a) man and a giant leap for mankind,” a statement which Reuters describes as “one of the best known quotes in the English language.”

He thusly planted the American flag on the moon, and buoyed that nation into the conviction that American can do anything. That is exactly the spirit that is now driving a campaign to have him given a state burial, an honour reserved mainly for former presidents, but which was last bestowed on World War II and Korean War hero, General Douglas MacArthur in 1964.

Beyond being the famous astronaut, Armstrong was an accomplished airman, who helped test-fly many new forms of military, leisure and commercial aircraft, thus also helping give aviation unlimited horizon. Through his efforts, scientists are now exploring the possibility not only that life may exist somewhere else in the universe but inter-galactic exchange of visits is a possibility in the deep future.

The astronaut died from complications of a heart by-pass surgery, on August 7, 2012, just two days after his 82nd birthday.

For us here in Nigeria, the lesson from Armstrong’s life is obvious. We must take the renowned Nigerian spirit of enterprise to greater heights.

Nigeria has produced a good number of achievers in war and peace times, such as Professor Philip Emeagwali, the Father of the Internet; Barth Nnaji, Professor of Robotics; Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate and Professor Chinua Achebe, the greatest novelist from Africa and many others. But our warped system did not enable them to stay here and thrive, and hence their sojourn abroad.

We must emulate the Americans and create a system where an enabling environment meets with local ingenuity. That way, we can set ambitious goals as President Kennedy did, and meet them. Adieu, Neil Armstrong!