Letter to Nigeria at 60

Wow! 60 years already! Chai! You don old o! (You are now old). Time flies and with the passage of time, comes a need for self assessment and evaluation. Truly, you are laden with so much potential but you have not met expectations. Nigeria has the highest population of black people in the world. Nigeria has the 8th largest crude oil reserves in the world. Nigeria has abundant mineral resources including coal, copper, iron ore, bitumen and much more. Arable land and water resources are also in abundance. In other words, the geographical territory is blessed beyond measure.

What then is the problem? Why has the so called "Giant of Africa" not lived up to the most modest of expectations? Why has stable power become consistently evasive? Why is corruption still the norm? Why is the poverty level so high? Why are we so reliant on crude oil? When will our refineries ever work? Why is Nigeria a challenging location for setting up and building businesses? Why has the nation found it difficult to move on after securing independence from British colonial rule? Is it the battalion of military coups? But we have since departed from military rule since 1999, 21 years ago! We will attempt to find answers to these troubling questions. Here are a few thoughts that appear commonplace:

1. Bad Leadership: Leadership is the platform to drive the actualization of corporate visions that take people to places better than where they were coming from. If Nigeria has not lived up to its potential, it is fair to question those at the helm of the nation's affairs. For example, it is surprising to note that most of the critical infrastructure in the country was established during military administrations. In some cases, some feel that if the colonialists had not left, we may be as infrastructurally equipped as South Africa. At all levels of the national structure, public officials have been laden with responsibilities and significant resources to drive the needed change. From all indications, for the last 60 years, they have failed.
2. Poor Citizenship: Where national leadership fails, active citizens hold them accountable. We however have a high level of political apathy and disinterest in the state of affairs. Possibly, the damage of military rule and successive failed governments appear to have dented the average Nigerian's psyche. There is a high sense of disbelief in the possibility of a positive change after a series of consistently failed promises. However, citizens cannot be spared blame as they show in other endeavours, the dedication, passion and sacrifices that is lacking in the nation's affairs. Elections are marred with poor voter turn out, and very few are interested in the formation of political parties or the engagement required to ensure an effective and efficient political process. When you compare it with the energy channeled to reality shows, music, comedy, entertainment and sports, you may realize that we can do much better. As reported in several media, over 900 million votes were cast in this season of the reality show, Big Brother Naija. If half of that energy was channeled in the actualization of a better Nigeria, we would all be better for it.
3. Poor Vision Casting: In the official document of Christianity, there is an instructive message that lends argument to this that says "where there is no vision, the people perish". There is no clear idea of where we are going to and where we desire to be across all facets of our national endeavours. Do we want to have the best educational systems in Africa? Do we want to be as strong as Germany in Science and Technology in the next 20 years? Also, where a vision is cast, communication must follow. Despite having a full fledged ministry for Communication in each successive administration, this continues to be lacking. Like the proverbial Tower of Babel, we are not communicating and have lost sight of the big picture if at all it even exists.
4. Poor Implementation: When visions have been cast, for most part, implementation has been lacking. We have heard of Housing for all by the Year 2000. We have heard of Vision 2020. What has been lacking however is the commitment to seeing these visions and plans through. When members of the opposing political parties assume office, it appears to be a trend to disregard the visions and ongoing projects of the previous administration. Regardless of ethnic, political and religious divide, we must work together to make visions come true. The United States, China and India have learnt how to put their differences aside to build their economies and their respective nations. We need to do the same.
5. A high level of disbelief: Belief is an underlying foundation to drive change. It propels the respective individual harbouring the positive idea to positive action. We hear the sayings "God bless America" and "God's own country" as positive affirmations that have become commonplace. These reinforce positive action and over time, along with concerted efforts create a better place for all to live in. Over time, the United States has become a "Dream". If you don't believe it, you don't get it.
6. Poor systems: Our systems are lacking efficiency. For instance, our educational systems do not produce the best of graduates. Our universities do not have sufficient capacity to take in candidates who score above average in the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB). This heavily reduces the chances of securing admission into preferred courses of interest leaving candidates with the choice of settling for alternative courses or waiting for another year to try again. In other climes, there are numerous opportunities for aspiring undergraduates to secure admission in as many universities upon each admitting year. You will have heard of Nigerians abroad who secured scholarship with multiple universities to choose from in the same academic/admission year. Our health system does not admit victims with gun shot wounds until they produce a Police Report. Our health system requires cash deposits or HMO registration confirmation before treatment. Our financial system is very dependent on cash as against supporting credit which is a vital foundation upon which national economies are built. Loans are restrictive as the interest rates are exorbitant to many. Our mortgage system for example needs much improvement if we want to improve access to housing. If we improve our systems, we will improve the standard of living.

There are more reasons to state but it is important to consider what we can also do as well.

1. Personal Contributions: One of the things required is personal contribution. The state of the nation is also dependent on the sum total of our individual efforts and contributions. For instance, the United States has benefited from the individual contributions of people like Bill Gates, Ellon Musk, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Tyler Perry etc. She has benefited from organizations such as Amazon, Netflix, Facebook, Google and the like and their contributions to the national economy. We can all contribute our quota to put Nigeria on the map. I love what is happening in the entertainment sector and in Nollywood. Kemi Adetiba, Funke Akindele, Mo Abudu and several others have put Nigeria on the map. More efforts like these will go a long way.
2. Recognizing our comparative advantages: Nigeria lacks a number of things. However, there are several other things that work to our advantage. Individuals and organizations that have succeeded in Nigeria recognize this and have learnt to succeed regardless of government and the gripping challenges. For instance, we have a healthy population that drives high level consumer demand. We have new markets that are evolving and are awaiting optimization. We have a communal culture which drives communication over the phone and the internet. Linda Ikeji, Bella Naija, Instablog and the Telecommunications companies realize this. Some things do not work but there are many other things that do that also present opportunities waiting to be tapped.
3. Completing landmark projects: There are a number of projects that can add significant leverage to Nigeria. Some of these projects include the Dangote Refinery, the Ibom Deep Sea Port, the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Mambilla Power Project, Second Niger Bridge, the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Eko Atlantic, Lagos Light Rail Project and many more. If we can conclude these, we are set for greater things with enormous resultant opportunities therefrom.
4. Improving civic participation and engagement: There is very little we can achieve if we do not have active involvement in the selection, engagement and support of the people who lead us. That is how other leading countries work. From the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan and others, they have good leaders because the citizens defy the odds and ensure that the best people possible lead them. They select and hold leaders accountable. They make demands and monitor the performance of their elected representatives. We have mostly been lacking in this requirement and this remains a vital wheel in our national progress and success.
5. Keeping the faith: Martin Luther King had a dream in his fight for freedom and equality and kept the faith. We all witnessed how it came to reality. Over time, the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States showed how much possibilities the reality of that dream could bring to pass. We need to stay the course. It is only Nigerians that can fix Nigerians. If we abandon the project, we cannot expect things to improve. The prosperity of other countries we seek solace in was built on the sacrifices of its citizens and the benefits of their belief and contributions. If we do the same thing, we are likely to get the same result.

Happy birthday Nigeria. You are not yet there. In fact, you are far from it. We will choose however to continue the journey hoping, trusting and working our way to one day and very soon, get there.