Just outside President Goodluck Jonathan's office sat 17 ambulances, just in case he or one of his aides fell ill. They were seldom if ever used.
No actual health-care facilitynationwide had as many, andin fact a few still have none at all. But as soon as a Nigerian newspaper took a photo of the ambulances andpublished a story about them, they suddenly disappeared -- probably to an underground garage.
Jonathan is president of Nigeria, which should be among the world's most prosperous nations. After all, it produces an estimated 2.4 million barrels of oil each and every day. With oil now selling at $93.61 a barrel, that's $224 million in income daily. And yet many hospitalscan't afford to buy an ambulance. The reason, in my view: Nigeria is the most corrupt nation on earth.
Sure, Transparency International lists almost three dozen states as more corrupt -- Chad, Haiti, Laos, Yemen, Cambodia and the like. But are any of those nations as wealthy as Nigeria -- taking in $81 billion
annually, just from the sale of oil? No, not even one of them. So Nigeria steals and squanders more money than any other nation, making it the world's most corrupt, by that measure.
Nigerian journalist Musikilu Mojeed finds all this so discouraging.
"With its geopolitical power, economic resources and middle class," he laments,"no country (with the possible exception of Saudi Arabia and Egypt) has the power to change the course of black/African civilization like Nigeria." After all, Nigeria is Africa's most populous state -- and large,twice the size of California.
So Nigerians are living an opportunity squandered -- particularly now. Egypt is in turmoil. In just the last few days, in fact, many Egyptians have been calling for a military coup -- anything to rid the state of its widely despised Muslim Brotherhood government. And a new report by the World Economic Forum ranked Egypt the least safe and secure tourist destination among 140 tourist nations evaluated.
Egypt has lost its place as the Arab/African worlds' leader, and Saudi Arabia never had it. So for Nigeria, the time is ripe. But its leaders seem interested onlyin stealing the state's moneyto make themselves rich beyond imaging. Think about it: $81 billion a year just from the oil, while most every local government official still tells his people the nation just doesn't have enough money to fix the roads, schools or hospitals. (Roads are in such terrible shape that government officials generally travel anydistance by helicopter.)
And Nigeria's people -- well,they are as mistreated as any on earth. In only nine nations -- among them Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia -- do more mothers die during childbirth. And in only 10 states, including Chad, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, is the average life expectancy lower. Right now the average Nigerian's average life span ends at 52. That may be why the median age of Nigerians is just 18.
A few months ago, the Economist Intelligence Unit published an evaluation of the best places for babies toborn in 2013, given their probable welfare as children and the chance for a safe, comfortable, prosperous life.Switzerland, Australia and Norway were the top three. The United States came in at 16th, largely because"babies will inherit the large debts of the boomer generation."
Dead last: Nigeria. "It is the worst place for a baby to enter the world in 2013," thereport said.
Even with all that wealth, only just over half the population has access to clean drinking water, and one-third to a toilet, UNICEF says. Two-thirds live below the poverty line. Only one child in four who contracts pneumonia is given antibiotics, and only about half the population is literate.
The CIA also cites endemic"soil degradation; rapid deforestation; urban air and water pollution."
Read more here:
http://kevindjakpor..com/2013/03/president-goodluck-jonathan-should-be.html

TRASH. I hate our greedy African politicians the same way I hate these bloody white supremacists. This goat is foaming as if he cares, as if he loves the black man. What did Britain do for Nigeria and any African country? These donkeys are part of our problem, they taught our leaders how to be brutally corrupt, nonsense...

I don't blame the whites. Afterall, we swallow everything hook, line and sinker from them. This is why whoever wants to create awareness about himself must first comment on Africa. Why must our educational curriculla be developed based on topics in their own lands. This is why we are unable to solve our own problems because of the peculiarity of our issues. How many of our foreign trained engrs came home to build just a single machine. Do we ask why we must be importing ev'thing? Until we chart a course with a view to being on own, we may not be free. Nobody can fix nigeria in day, we should not heap so much on Jonathan.

Ricky_Ross: TRASH. I hate our greedy African politicians the same way I hate these bloody white supremacists. This goat is foaming as if he cares, as if he loves the black man. What did Britain do for Nigeria and any African country? These donkeys are part of our problem, THEY TAUGHT OUR LEADERS HOW TO BE BRUTALLY CORRUPT, nonsense...

Yes,they taught our leaders how to be brutally corrupt,bt it is a matter of choice,our government should be blamed for corruption,if the british tells us to do something,we have the right to refuse it,but our greedy and corrupt government who only cares about themselves and their families and not remembering the pains of the masses will always accept stup!d policies

psucc: I don't blame the whites. Afterall, we swallow everything hook, line and sinker from them. This is why whoever wants to create awareness about himself must first comment on Africa. Why must our educational curriculla be developed based on topics in their own lands. This is why we are unable to solve our own problems because of the peculiarity of our issues. How many of our foreign trained engrs came home to build just a single machine. Do we ask why we must be importing ev'thing? Until we chart a course with a view to being on own, we may not be free. Nobody can fix nigeria in day, WE SHOULD NOT HEAP SO MUCH ON JONATHAN.

common cut that off,we all no dat nobody can fix Nigeria in one day,but let him start building this country,and when the next person gets there,he would continue in the path of building this country,but the way it is;it is either Jonathan is c!ueless or under pressure and if he is under too much pressure,he knws the nxt steps;he knws what he should do.

I.hate.nig.gov.:
common cut that off,we all no dat nobody can fix Nigeria in one day,but let him start building this country,and when the next person gets there,he would continue in the path of building this country,but the way it is;it is either Jonathan is c!ueless or under pressure and if he is under too much pressure,he knws the nxt steps;he knws what he should do.

Yes much as I agree with you that he must start something, we should also not put so much target for him as he himself may have his failings as a man. And above all, we must also agree that he is doing the best only that we are taking undue advantage of the social media to make Jonathan a scape-goat of past maladministration. Building will take sometime we must agree.

"With its geopolitical power, economic resources and middle class," he laments,"no country (with the possible exception of Saudi Arabia and Egypt) has the power to change the course of black/African civilization like Nigeria."

That has always been my grief with the Nigerian situation. No one, AA, white, asian, hispanic, will ever respect blacks until the black race can pull itself up economically. And that burden/opportunity has always lied with Nigeria.

But as always, we are a squandered opportunity. A living proof of the height of greed and wickedness, when a few men corner the entire wealth of a country so that even their fourth generation can't exhaust all the stolen money. Makes me sad every time.

I.hate.nig.gov.:
common cut that off,we all no dat nobody can fix Nigeria in one day,but let him start building this country,and when the next person gets there,he would continue in the path of building this country,but the way it is;it is either Jonathan is c!ueless or under pressure and if he is under too much pressure,he knws the nxt steps;he knws what he should do.

He is building the country ofcos. There is growth in almost all the section. The indices r pointing up I tell u

Impeached for what?abeg leave ny presido alone

Jonathan.. Baddest President Ever Liveth!!

baynix: Jonathan.. Baddest President Ever Liveth!!

Pls I beg that you through your heart in the ring come 2015, even if you start as a Councillor, people like you need be put to test. I bet you will never give pure water to your supporters. Not actually attacking your person but putting it straight to you that we need to also see the good side of others and not to condenm them outrightly.