It is surprising that after all these years Nigeria is still lagging behind in terms of total development.My people,is it because of the leaders,lack of resources,or we've just been condemned to be underdeveloped.Please contribute to this topic as your views in no small measure contributes to the growth and success of Nigeria.

Lack of Visionary Leadership.

Weve Had More Rulers Then Leaders in The Last 40 years.

Even When we had Farmers (OBJ & Co.), They Sowed Nothing But The Seed of Discord.

bad governance and selfishness

nigeria wats d problem, ?
the problems in nigeria are the types peculia with black africa,
the ancient world powers or civilizations were


b4 the advent of modern europe of french, english, german and latin
now america, japan and china there was Egpty first ruled by a Black Pharoh who enslaved the jews,

Most development of world powers are not personalized self centered economy like the govt of OBJ.

i believe that the day black africa and most especially Nigeria begins
to run an economy that is not a self engagement of the ruling class and

the most importantly the day the black man loves and value his fellow black man that is the day slavery will end but at it is "our nation and her rulers are still under the bondage of the white skin is god over all at least the notion is that the Supreme God is white skinned"

The day it becomes compulsory for a Lecturer to have produced 100 first class students b4 he is honored to be called a Proffesor dat day the pride that befall egpty of old shall be a lifted. our profs are to proud to be leadeing examples.

in one word "Pride of Heart" is d cause of our under development,
a saying says pride goes before a fall,

ITK, ONLY ME, HOLIER THAN THOU, SADISM, EROTICA PLEASURE, DRUNKENESS, DISLOYALTY, IRRESPONSIBLE, LACK OF LOVE, UNSATIFIED APPETITE  pls with all these elements in a black skined man how do we begin to hope for development?

Now after 50 years nko?

CORRUPT RULERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
AND MUGUN FOLLOWERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Well, the issue is not peculiar to Nigeria. Take us side by side with our peers in sub-Saharan Africa, and you'll find that Nigeria hasn't done badly. We could have done a whole lot better, but we are still a force to be reckoned with in Africa.

The general problem is the absence of maturity in Black Africa. This has lead to a lot of problems, no nationalism, no collectivism, no truly dominant class of 'African progressives', no central idealogy.

Virtually all the nations in SSA did not exist in their current form pre-slavery and colonialism. As a result of that, we have had to contend with a lot of political, social, and cultural issues. This isn't peculiar to Africa; it has happened in other parts of the world at various stages in their development. At least six hundred years ago, Europe was a Europe of despots and impoverished citizens. Over time, the Renaissance and a thinking Europe emerged, which led to a new political class, and ultimately social and political upheavals.

The good thing is we are progressing. Although we are learning at great cost, when you look at it in modern terms. Our other contemporaries in Asia are managing their learning curve better, and cheaper as well. For Nigeria and many other African nations, we always have the issue of 'one step forward, ten steps backward'.

The great mineral wealth is also a major hindrance. Just look at Nigeria and Congo DR. Potentially the two wealthiest nations in Africa, they have both ended up the greatest abusers of natural wealth.

Hopefully we will get somewhere eventually. Not 'there' but 'somewhere'.

Jarus:

Now after 50 years nko?

I hope we won't be in the same state after 100 years.

Recycled leaders, illiteracy. . . need I go on

donspony:

Recycled leaders, illiteracy. . . need I go on

AND SATANIC RULERS LIKE IBB, OBJ, OJUKWU, ABACHA, YARADUA, ABSALAM AND MANY MORE LIKE AKALA, OHAKIN, ORJI KALU, AKPABIO, OGD, YERIMA, YUGUDA, SARAKI, ALIYU, OYINLOLA, IBORI, UDUAGHAN ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

JONATHAN[b][/b]

donspony:

Recycled leaders, illiteracy. . . need I go on

AND SATANIC RULERS LIKE IBB, OBJ, OJUKWU, ABACHA, YARADUA, ABSALAM AND MANY MORE LIKE AKALA, OHAKIN, ORJI KALU, AKPABIO, OGD, YERIMA, YUGUDA, SARAKI, ALIYU, OYINLOLA, IBORI, UDUAGHAN ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

JONATHAN[b][/b]

You and I

kola_yusuf:

You and I

MINUS ME OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nigeria was born to FAIL!!!!!

seanet,

Why must you add Ojukwu? He is not a Nigerian leader!

SAT exam.

The problem with Nigeria is and will always ultimately be we Nigerians. Not just our leaders,  but the people as well. We talk of our leaders as if they were begotten in another dimension when they were born well within Nigeria's borders. They lived Nigerian society/culture just like everybody else in the country and for better or worse it helped to make many of them into the scumbags they are today. Some people are trying to do good in the government, but it is often to little in the face of overwhelming corruption and neglegence. You cannot change the mentality of a ravenous lion especially from within its stomach.

The biggest problem with Africans in general and Nigerians in particular is that we have culture of infancy when it comes our own development. When we talk about making progress on big problems the first thought in our heads should be entrepreneurial in nature. However, in Nigeria and much of Africa it is almost always " we just need good leaders in the government and the problem will get fixed" or the "Government should be addressing this problem" or the ultimate hale Mary of excuses "God will change things somehow".  We want other people to solve our problems. It ultimately boils down to mommy Obasanjo going to make sure the electricity is running 24 hours, or papa Yar'Adua will make the streets usable again, or even Uncle Johnathan is going to make elections are free and fair. Instead nothing happens and anyone who sets out to solve such problems are quickly retarded by realities of our society/system. The thieves at customs stealing imported supplies and asking for bribes, police obfuscating and demanding bribes, local politicians obfuscating and asking for bribes etc,  along every point. At the very least if the government is not going to satisfy the needs of the people it should step aside and allow the people to do it themselves. But that is not the mentality of most Africans and not how governments(even Western Ones) operate. If they fail or frustrate development there excuses are legion but boil down to they need more money,the previous administration messed things up, or too much corruption and graft. In the end we put up with all this crap too. I do not blame people for this though, because ultimately all these scoundrels own all the guns in the country so everyone knows the deal. However, so long as this system continues so will much of the continents suffering Nigeria included. A society where people are accustomed to coming together to resolve their own emerging problems is much healthier and much more dynamic then one where everybody is consumed with begging/hoping for some "Great Leader" to do it for them.

Another problem is that in our cultures human life is just too cheap. In another thread that shall not be named, it exploded with comments by individuals who were making noise about killing and harming a few people doing something that does not affect them in the least. If we cannot even come to grips with the principle of live and let live is it any surprise why our societies are plagued by murders, kidnappings, interfaith violence, and social unrest. All these miladies reflects a society that just does not give much value to human life beyond short sighted linguistic, familial, or personal ties. Again I do blame people for this as it has been the way things were done for a long time. However, until we take a serious look at who we are and who we want to be things are not going to change. How can we expect to remain the same at a social/cultural level yet expect simultaneously that Nigeria will come out looking different from 50 years and even better than the West? We should be prepared to forge a new identities of our own adopting what is good about any culture and discarding what is bad about ours. Cultures should evolve not stagnate like they have in Africa. A stagnant culture just promotes mediocrity and conformity at a time when ingenuity and unique people/ideas/behaviors are what is needed most. I feels that there have been some changes in Nigeria's various cultures, but conformity is above all the name of the game in our society. I mean look at our leaders.

In the end Africa and Nigeria proper needs some serious introspection.

The European Renaissance began when people started to think.
They simply got tired of being poor, dirty and hungry, and been brutalized by the church and the kings of that day.
The authorities did not like it, they burned a few people and villages to get their point across, but it still didn't stop anything. By the time the people got used to thinking, people started defying the authorities of the day, and damning the consequences.

More importantly, people began to think of solutions to their problems. While the activists were confronting the authorities, some people got busy and started evolving philosophies into art and science. The creative part of people took over. At the end of the day, knowledge empowered the people more than any guns or knives could have.

In Africa, we're still basically conforming. Worse than that, we are looking everywhere for salvation. I think, once we realise that our problems are our problems, confront them, and stop thinking we will solve it the European or American, or even Asian way, then we will have made a little progress.

Starts from the way we run our personal lives. Let's leave GEJ for a minute. How many people can say they are fully in charge of their personal lives? Most Africans are merely struggling to survive, including the ones in the diaspora, and in the process, chasing all manner of illusions and pictures of what they think is a 'better' life.

EzeUche22:

seanet,

Why must you add Ojukwu? He is not a Nigerian leader!

Are you sure he isn't a leader ?

Corruption.