Saturday, January 31, 2026

Nigeria has not recorded any giant stride in social and economic developments since its independence in 1960. It is not as a result of any curse or unfortunate climate or weather but the fact that the political leadership has continuously failed to be committed and patriotic in working for the development and progress of Nigeria.

Nigerian leaders have blatantly rejected discipline and ethics in leadership and governance. Our leaders do not possess any culture that gears us towards thinking country first. They are first and foremost led by their selfish and personal greed.

While other nations are thinking and working towards developmental goals, progress for country, Nigerian leaders are doing the opposite. In other countries, their leaders strive to place their countries in the world map of great achievements. They create avenues to bring comfort to their populace. In the Nigerian situation, what concerns our leaders most is to amass wealth for themselves, their children and possibly their tenth generation.

A look at Asian countries today compared to the 1960s when most of them removed themselves from the toga of colonialism, will make any dissecting mind to ask questions.

Today, countries like China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and many others are standing on their own and recording great accomplishments. These countries have conquered poverty and hunger among their people. They are facing other challenges of life. I am not guessing but relying on a World Bank published report, available facts and present standard of living of citizens in those countries.

These countries took steps that eventually discovered their potential. They have committed themselves to the elimination of every tag of underdevelopment and backwardness. They frown at and have confined to the dustbin of history all indices of ethnic and religious sentiments for the sake of national growth.

They understood the dangers of these two – ethnicity and religion and, did away with them to save their countries from the wicked claws of underdevelopment and retrogression.

They recognized education and technical training as being essential to the survival of any country. These countries invest so much in education and technical skills. They have built schools and training institutes that are well equipped, engage teachers, pay the staff well and fund these centres to achieve desired results.

In Nigeria, there is no functioning technical training centre. All the polytechnic and technical colleges built in the 1980s have gone obsolete and instead of making efforts to bring them to life in line with their mandate, government is busy planning how to convert them to the status of universities as if that is the issue.

None of our Universities can be rated among the first 700 in the world. It is also on record that, no University certificate from Nigeria is acceptable without scrutiny anywhere in the world.

The Asians and developing countries of the world keep expanding on their successes while correcting their mistakes. They keep funding research because they know what that means to development.

It is confirmed that there is no funding for any research in Nigerian Universities and other tertiary schools. All the requests made by the tertiary institutions to government to fund research have met deaf ears.

The Chinese, Malaysians, Singaporeans, etc. worked hard to industrialize their countries. They invested huge resources in their industries to manufacture for exports than for consumption.

In China, for example, according to a report, owning a television set or a bicycle was a luxury in the 1980s. They had companies manufacturing these items mainly for global consumption. So, they exported these goods to make money for their country.

The ‘Asian tigers’ as they are fondly called and other developing countries of the world recognized the importance of airports, seaports, railways, electricity and accessible roads and they invested and built many of such facilities. This is to improve their economy.

They know that modern day economy can only survive with some form of engineering, call it ‘social and economic engineering.’ Manufactured products are expected in the markets via these means and in good time too.

The movement of persons and goods in Nigeria can be very tedious and discouraging for most business men. A man travelling from Maiduguri to Aba with his farm produce will automatically spend days on the road. This is as a result of bad roads and non availability of efficient railway system. This is a complete negation of modern day trading.

It is not so in China, UAE or Singapore for instance. Efficient governance, science and technology have made transportation of persons and goods to arrive destinations within those countries in a matter of minutes or hours as the case may be.

Discipline, ethics, justice, laws and rules that people must obey exist in those countries. In Nigeria, we have the complete opposite, a culture of indiscipline and lawlessness everywhere. These don’t allow for economic development in any country. A law in Nigeria is usually flawed by the same people who made them.

No country or community survives with different laws for her people. Laws are made for all irrespective of class or social status. Nigeria can be made right when for instance, the Inspector-General of Police and his Military counterpart issue an order barring their personnel from following private individuals as security guards and, we see such order obeyed. But, we still see these high ranking officers serving as security guards at private homes and escorts to both wives and girlfriends of these bourgeoisie.

In other countries, they have enhanced their security with scientific gadgets, technology and well trained, equipped and mobilized personnel. In Nigeria, the best of our security and well equipped personnel are made to secure the political class and the rich in our society while the rag-tag and hungry cops are left to man the rest of the society.

Nigeria’s insecurity challenges are still unsolved because the government of the day has not decided to end it. By extension, you can accuse the government of conspiracy.

Corruption is now seen as a way of life in Nigeria. Year after year, from the Presidency to the parastatal, States to local governments, monumental corruption go on unhindered.

Recently, Alhaji Abdul Rasheed Maina, known to have been convicted for looting the police pension funds was made a patron by a branch of the NBA in Abuja, FCT. No person can authoritatively explain how he became a free man today and how he served his punishment at the Correctional Home. This certainly does not in anyway point to a country that is serious in the war against corruption.

Nigeria simply romances corruption hence the increase in cases. No severe punishment to deter anyone. In the last ten years, a calculation of stolen funds in Nigeria is enough to incapacitate any country.

Nigeria does not have any reason to be in poverty with the kind of massive financial and natural wealth in the country. Budgets that are read out year after year by the Federal and State Governments, if religiously implemented should take Nigeria to an advanced level. But how the money fritters away is mind boggling.

In Nigeria, we’ve renovating same roads since 1960. For 65 solid years, Nigerian leaders have been building same roads. It actually calls for retrospection.

Our railway system, refineries, steel complexes, teaching hospitals, housing estates, national stadiums are all dead. Where are all our trillions channelled into? How are these monies spent? What were our own leaders thinking or doing that, the leadership of other countries moved ahead of us?

As I do this piece, Nigeria is in darkness because the national grid has once again collapsed, the second this year. We can bet it will collapse next month. The same national grid collapsed many times last year. Why has the federal government not taken decisive action to end this disgraceful incessant collapse?

Electricity is critical to the survival of any economy. Why can’t the federal government assemble experts and resources to put a stop to this shameful collapse?

For 65 years we still shout ‘up NEPA.’ When are we going to tell this as a story to our grandchildren? Senegal, Ghana, most African countries enjoy regular electricity. What’s wrong with Nigeria?

Nigeria has huge land resources controlled by the government but does not have any farmland anywhere in the country. Ordinarily, Nigeria should invest massively in agriculture and be the greatest food supplier to Africa and the world.

In the last couple of years, Nigerian trained doctors and nurses have left the shores of Nigeria in their thousands for America, Europe, Asia and other African countries for better pay. Our hospitals still remain mere consulting clinics in our sixty-five years of age. It is disheartening, heartbreaking.

Our elected and appointed officials are not bothered, they carry on, as long as their personal accounts keep increasing. After all, they own estates and businesses in developed countries of the world. Ttheir families are comfortably outside. Nigeria can ‘yamutu’ ‘wetin concern dem!’

Like Nigerians have noted, this is the worst National Assembly ever. Nigeria has never had such legislature, not at all. We have always had very vibrant and eagle-eyed men and women occupying the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly.

But here we are, lawmakers always ready to toe the line of the executive without questions. The work of the lawmakers is to ‘harass’ the executive to be responsible to their duties. As we approach another election, these men or another worst set may be voted in. The question remains: Dear Nigerians, how did we get to this sorry state?