[b]I will use two examples to illustrate this. Kenya and Russia.[/b]

Transparency International commonly bandied around in Nigerian media to say just how corrupt we are. But I was awakened to a rude reality today which got me shaking as I made the assertion that the problem with Nigeria is NOT corruption but stupidity.

The same TI which most of us know and we use to call ourselves the most corrupt nation (a wrong fact, we are not even in the 10 most corrupt league) has a table for perceived corruption index. See https://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results . This is a very recent index.

With a score of 27 out of 100 (100 means no corruption), we have the honour of sharing the score with Cameroon, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, and Russia; our equally corrupt brothers Russia and Iran are significantly more developed. Kenya scored 25 out of 100 (in short they seem more corrupt than us), and Zimbabwe 2 out of 100.


Since Kenya is an African nation, it is more justifiable to compare African with African. And by T.I, Kenya is more corrupt than Nigeria.

Literacy rate by UNESCO in 2015 -
Kenya 78%
Nigeria 56%
Gender difference for Kenya 6.5%. For Nigeria 19.5 (More illiterates overall in Nigeria than in Kenya and more illiterate females in Nigeria than Kenya).

Unemployment rate
Kenya 9.2%
Nigeria 7.6%
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS

Infant mortality
Kenya 64.72 deaths per 1000 births.
Nigeria 96.14 deaths per 1000 births

Where to be born index (Quality of life index)
Kenya 7.32
Nigeria 2.99
A higher rate is better here. For instance South Africa has a Quality of Life of 110.92. So better life exists in Kenya than in Nigeria.

Quality of Infrastructure
Kenya - 3.2
Nigeria - Nigeria didn't even rank. Our infrastructure is that poor!
http://www.statista.com/statistics/264753/ranking-of-countries-according-to-the-general-quality-of-infrastructure/

Spending on Education (% of GDP spent on education, 2012 figures)
Kenya - 6.7%
Nigeria - - (Didn't rank again?)
http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/expenditure-education-public-gdp


To cap, the Human Development Index (higher is better)
Kenya 0.535
Nigeria 0.504

And considering the fact that Nigeria's 2015 GDP is $493 billion USD, and Kenya's is $63 billion - Nigeria's economy is about 8 times Kenya's, it is amazing that Kenya fares better than Nigeria on most counts (even though T.I says Kenya is more corrupt than Nigeria).

Here on Nairaland (@Pavore9) said "Love d intellectual write up, far from burning energy on PDP vs APC! lt is common to see 33,000 litres tankers on Kenyan highways not filled with petroleum products as we are used to but with fresh milk produced locally, heading to other countries!"

“Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.” ― Margaret Atwood.

The evil of corruption must cease, but we need something beyond anti-corruption to move the nation forward. We need intelligent and smart leaders. The real problem causing this mess (even corruption) is the low human capital.

From Wikipedia
Human capital is an important factor for the wealth of a nation due to its influence on the overall production of the country. Technological progress can provide more efficient production-methods like machines and computers, but skilled labor is necessary to manage and develop them as well as to improve the quality and productivity of the existing labor. The formation of Nigeria's human capital is therefore of great importance in the coming years if Nigeria wants to be competitive in the future. However, Nigeria is having a problem with its human capital.

The Human Development Index (HDI) provides a measure of human capital development in three dimensions: income, health, and education. The latest values of HDI shows that Nigeria is ranked 156 with the value of 0.459 among 187 countries. The value places Nigeria in the bottom, meaning that Nigeria is considered to have low level of human development.

Exactly

Yes?
Stupidity and corruption.
You are right
That is one part of the picture.
The other part. National budget,taxes and corruption in the public sector
***********nationally budget

South africa - $128 billion
Indonesia - $129 billion
Nigeria-$ 28 billion

95 % of that tiny amount is swallowed up by the government through recurrent expenditure and corruption.
Yet Nigerians expect their country to look like the aforementioned countries.

Nigerians do not pay taxes but end up paying for it through
Road accidents
Low life expectancy
terrorists attacks
Armed robbery
Taxes to Chairman of road transport union
Gunshot at Police check point
Disease infested environments

Poor education or having to pay through the nose for private education.
Yet they wave shiny iphones and expect the roads to build itself.

To me, stupidity is when over 169million people fold their hands and wait for someone else to decides whether they will LIVE or DIE, EAT OR STARVE, GET EMPLOYMENT OR REMAIN UNEMPLOYED, WHETHER TO GET EDUCATION OR NOT; Fellow Nigerians its time to take our destinies in our hands rather than handing our 'TOMORROW' to a few politicians who seems fulfilled when tears of agony roll down our chest.

Brilliant inference there. Though corruption exist stupidity takes it to another level. In Russia for example, they are planning to start producing a higher percentage of what the consume in order to cushion the effects of dwindling oil income. They know that producing their needs locally will keep their monies in Russia and boost their economy fastest, but in Nigeria we know same fact but dare not try to produce our needs locally. Stupidity appears inherently there in Nigeria's case.

Human capital development is what drives an economy. Take for instance Dangote is pumping in billions in Kenya's diary industry with a plant for the production of powdered milk which am certain is for export to the Nigerian market because Kenyans have a strong preference for fresh milk. With his entry the over 1.8 million smallhoder diary farmers would be motivated to rear more cows to produce more milk because Nigerians would be drinking their milk!

One can imagine the impact on Ogun State's economy if the people there have developed the capacity in diary farming, one can imagine the millions they would be earning daily from the huge Lagos market that is next door to them!

Inconclusive 9ja

God bless you bros. The only thing that will make academics to cry to illitrates for education is stupidity and nigerians have it in abundance

APC is a party of career propagandist, destiny looters and fundamental hypocrites. Dine with them, and cut short your lifespan by 45%!


AMBODE, a common excommunicated civil servant sponsored the greatest and most expensive and sophisticated ads in the 4th Republic and NO ONE IS SAYING ANYTHING!!!!!!


AMBODE PAID LINDA N80M/MONTHLY (Source: Popular blogger Kemi). THATS JUST 1 of the over 30 Ad portfolios including the popular video ad where he hired over 10 Naija artists including Ice Prince, etc.



WHY THE SILENCE?


WHY THE ATTENTION ON AITChannels aired more ads for the APC. Why are we witch-hunting people for the same crime we committed? OMG! I HATE APC With Passion!



APC is the 666 (THE MARK OF THE BEAST) OF THIS GENERATION. DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH THEM, THEY WILL DESTROY YOUR LIVES PEOPLE!

DASUKI's LOOT is nothing when compared with the amount APC SPENT ON CAMPAIGN.


REASON NIGERIANS, YOU ALL SHOULD USE YOUR BRAINS!!! Before you become a programmed zombie, use your brain and analyse events as they unfold!!

I've been saying this for years now but some people don't get it. I have always maintained that our biggest problem isn't corruption but incompetence/cluelessness, which is essentially a human capital deficiency.

Even if, for the sake of argument, corruption is completely eliminated, Nigeria would still be a woeful place because things would still not work. It is that bad.

CPriest:
[b]I will use two examples to illustrate this. Kenya and Russia.[/b]
Transparency International commonly bandied around in Nigerian media to say just how corrupt we are. But I was awakened to a rude reality today which got me shaking as I made the assertion that the problem with Nigeria is NOT corruption but stupidity.
The same TI which most of us know and we use to call ourselves the most corrupt nation (a wrong fact, we are not even in the 10 most corrupt league) ...
http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/expenditure-education-public-gdp
To cap, the Human Development Index (higher is better)
Kenya 0.535
Nigeria 0.504
....
Human capital is an important factor for the wealth of a nation due to its influence on the overall production of the country. Technological progress can provide more efficient production-methods like machines and computers, but skilled labor is necessary to manage and develop them as well as to improve the quality and productivity of the existing labor. The formation of Nigeria's human capital is therefore of great importance in the coming years if Nigeria wants to be competitive in the future. However, Nigeria is having a problem with its human capital.
The Human Development Index (HDI) provides a measure of human capital development in three dimensions: income, health, and education. The latest values of HDI shows that Nigeria is ranked 156 with the value of 0.459 among 187 countries. The value places Nigeria in the bottom, meaning that Nigeria is considered to have low level of human development.

Good logic and conclusion at the end but...


I do not know about stupidity but I know of endemic and institutionalized corruption.

How stupid is a poor boy born in a war-ravaged Maiduguri - he sleeps in tents, eats from buckets, and sometimes goes around without food. His possibility of having any meaningful childhood remains in doubt. He was put in this condition not by someone's stupidity but by someone's deliberate action or inaction.

How stupid are traders and peasants that know their children deserve good education but could barely feed them.

What about graduates yearning for employment but were asked by the then Immigration heads to pay huge some of money - Many got killed in stampede not because they were stupid but because of someone's wickedness.

All together our leaders are less than 0.1 % of the nation's population. The current structure of the nation means we will continue looking-up to them for direction, even survival for a long time to come. I posit our wellbeing as a people is a reflection of our leaders honesty or otherwise, resourcefulness or otherwise, knowledge or otherwise.
For instance it is not our fault the previous governments refused to save when we were having bountiful harvest but we are all facing the brunt of resulting economic hardship now - we did not have any power, we are not stupid.

I agree with your conclusion but it is worrisome that:
# Our leaders know about these indices - not today.
# Many of them attended Ivy-league schools where finding solutions to problems is the hallmark.
# Nigerian leaders are usually rich, they hardly lack anything.
# Well-educated citizens hitherto known for demotic stands on media get into position of authority and start helping themselves.

While our problems are known and solutions fairly known, in reality, we need competent and selfless leaders for coordination.