The 1st few pages of this discussion are pretty enlightening. I didn't know we had a middle class in Nigeria. When did that happen? I just see a clear and cut line. You are either rich or poor no in betweens. Having said that, Nigeria is the RICHEST POOR COUNTRY I know. It's not that we don't have the resources or means to progress - because we do. The only fact it that everyone by that I mean the people at the top are only thinking about themselves and their families. Corruption and greed rules Nigeria

Now you might say "hey that's not true or there's corrupton every where even in the so called US" and you're right! the only problem is that as they are feeding their bank accounts they currently letting some trickle down to the masses. It's just a way of camouflaging their crimes.
There are so many ways to build our country up again but we need infrastructures and security in place. We need a pragmatic leader not an idealist -someone who understands the very fabric of our Nation.

I really want to go back to my birth land to contribute in any way possible but dang the move just scares the ish out of me. And that is just not right at all.

Meddler:

I really want to go back to my birth land to contribute in any way possible but dang the move just scares the ish out of me. And that is just not right at all.

Are you certain that the ONLY problem we have as a country is one of leadership?

Off course not. But most of our problem stems from lack or competent leaders in our country. If we have a competent, pragmatic and intellectual leader we might actually see some progress in our country.

Meddler:

The 1st few pages of this discussion are pretty enlightening. I didn't know we had a middle class in Nigeria. When did that happen? I just see a clear and cut line. You are either rich or poor no in betweens. Having said that, Nigeria is the RICHEST POOR COUNTRY I know. It's not that we don't have the resources or means to progress - because we do. The only fact it that everyone by that I mean the people at the top are only thinking about themselves and their families. Corruption and greed rules Nigeria

Now you might say "hey that's not true or there's corrupton every where even in the so called US" and you're right! the only problem is that as they are feeding their bank accounts they currently letting some trickle down to the masses. It's just a way of camouflaging their crimes.
There are so many ways to build our country up again but we need infrastructures and security in place. We need a pragmatic leader not an idealist -someone who understands the very fabric of our Nation.

I really want to go back to my birth land to contribute in any way possible but dang the move just scares the ish out of me. And that is just not right at all.

I love this line of your post.

At the stage we are, idealism will never work. First of all, we need leaders that can show the people that good things can happen/exist in Nigeria regardless of the bad.

That way, we can change the mindset of lots of Nigerians who have already been wired to think that only corruption can work.

And slowly, we will shift the good:bad ratio in favor of the good.

When we have won enough Nigerians over, idealism can work. And then, we will have lots of good people(patriotic converts) to fight in favor of what is right/just.

That is the only time we will be able to use the US to compare our state of development.

Sad, but true, right now, most of the people who ask that justice in Nigeria should be perfect probably have minimal stakes in the country.

Sad, but true, right now, most of the people who ask that justice in Nigeria should be perfect probably have minimal stakes in the country.

So true. People are just too scared to go back home including me. It's really hard for someone who has lived majority of their adult life in a first world country to make that transition. You go back with the expectation that the basic necessities will be there at your finger tips and the organization you're so used to. the sad thing is that there's no patrotism in our country. Every man/woman for themselves.

Meddler:

Off course not. But most of our problem stems from lack or competent leaders in our country. If we have a competent, pragmatic and intellectual leader we might actually see some progress in our country.

You need to acquire some humility if you are serious about contributing to development in Nigeria. The truth is from your unguarded utterances you know next to nothing about Nigeria.

Meddler:

Off course not. But most of our problem stems from lack or competent leaders in our country. If we have a competent, pragmatic and intellectual leader we might actually see some progress in our country.

What makes you believe that MOST of our problem stems from lack of competent leaders in our country?

that preety true,

I didn't now nigeria had a middle class . what I do know is the richer class are arrogant and self preserving, they need to learn to put others first sometimes and let go of their "me-me-me" mentality, lol

Kobojunkie:

What makes you believe that MOST of our problem stems from lack of competent leaders in our country?

isnt that a really dumb question kobojunkie?

cap28:

isnt that a really dumb question kobojunkie?

Nope. . . it is a valid question!

Pennywise:

I have no business with you. I deal only with legitimate and documented people like paddy lo and Kobojunkie. You are neither. You have only one antidote- and that is Immigration. Say all you want but If I get your real name kperen. That is the end.

who are you?

You seem to have an extremely inflated opinion of yourself.

thank you my friends i just join today thanks,

What makes you believe that MOST of our problem stems from lack of competent leaders in our country?

I hope you're been sarcastic. if not then I'm not sure i know of an appropriate way to dignify your answer but I will give it a go.

Scenario
Let's just say you're handed N1 million absolutely no strings attached. U're given all the necessary tools to build the house of your dreams. And I mean everything. The only thing u have to do is pick out construction workers, brick layers etc. U start interviewing for these various open positions and come across great talents - people with 10-15 years experience doing this kind of work and they come highly recommended and then a couple that claim they have comparable skills and qualifications but have no way of verifying their so called qualifications and experiences. After the interview, u offer the job to the latter group. Couple years later your house is complete and to ur utter dismay u're house comes out looking like crap. Hmmm, I wonder why.


Now apply that analogy to Nigeria's situation and try and figure this out for yourself. And let me know if you need a more straight forward answer to your question.

You need to acquire some humility if you are serious about contributing to development in Nigeria. The truth is from your unguarded utterances you know next to nothing about Nigeria.

I'm glad I read u're previous post before I posted my reply. Humilty? I'm not sure i understand where u're coming from? How does being humble play into my previous post?

Well you come across as if you have the solution to the most  pressing national issues are at your fingertips despite the fact that by your own admission you have hardly lived in Nigeria.
But it makes sense for you to adopt the listen and learn mode before you come up with your blanket statements about Nigeria or its leaders.

Meddler:

I hope you're been sarcastic. if not then I'm not sure i know of an appropriate way to dignify your answer but I will give it a go.

Scenario
Let's just say you're handed N1 million absolutely no strings attached. U're given all the necessary tools to build the house of your dreams. And I mean everything. The only thing u have to do is pick out construction workers, brick layers etc. U start interviewing for these various open positions and come across great talents - people with 10-15 years experience doing this kind of work and they come highly recommended and then a couple that claim they have comparable skills and qualifications but have no way of verifying their so called qualifications and experiences. After the interview, u offer the job to the latter group. Couple years later your house is complete and to your utter dismay u're house comes out looking like crap. Hmmm, I wonder why.


Now apply that analogy to Nigeria's situation and try and figure this out for yourself. And let me know if you need a more straight forward answer to your question.

No she is not being sarcastic. It is a valid question.
In fact your analogy shows that you have not really been following the discussion on this thread.
It is not about the old tired and failed formula of  the government pumping in more money into commercial ventures and appointing the right people but instead facilitating and fostering the policy whereby national economic development is led by the private sector

Meddler:

I hope you're been sarcastic. if not then I'm not sure i know of an appropriate way to dignify your answer but I will give it a go.

Scenario
Let's just say you're handed N1 million absolutely no strings attached. U're given all the necessary tools to build the house of your dreams. And I mean everything. The only thing u have to do is pick out construction workers, brick layers etc. U start interviewing for these various open positions and come across great talents - people with 10-15 years experience doing this kind of work and they come highly recommended and then a couple that claim they have comparable skills and qualifications but have no way of verifying their so called qualifications and experiences. After the interview, u offer the job to the latter group. Couple years later your house is complete and to your utter dismay u're house comes out looking like crap. Hmmm, I wonder why.


Now apply that analogy to Nigeria's situation and try and figure this out for yourself. And let me know if you need a more straight forward answer to your question.

But your analogy points to you(i.e the people) being the problem. You had the choice to employ skilled and verifiably talented workers to get the job done but you instead chose to go with the mediocre bunch. Why would you expect gold from that bunch?

The resources you speak of belong to the people, not those we have in governmental offices and positions. The government is supposed to be controlled by the people, not the minority who now control it. The way I see it, there is absolutely no way that a minority, we are talking about 0.05% of the current population could be where they are today if they are not being enabled, directly or indirectly by the people. In the case of your analogy, there is absolutely no way that house could have been completed and come out crappy if you had invested time into monitoring the project and making sure it came exactly the way you wanted it to.

So, again, I ask, are you sure those in leadership positions are really the cause of all the problem in the nation?

It is not the fact that the bbc is saying the truth that is being debated but the stupid way the western world jumps at exposing the ills of 3rd world countries(which is good any anyway) of which they facilitated.

It is not the fact that the bbc is saying the truth that is being debated but the stupid way the western world jumps at exposing the ills of 3rd world countries(which is good any anyway) of which they facilitated.

It's a shame that some people argue on nothing and think that they are making a reasonable contribution. It becomes easy to run pages over pages of criticism and no substance is traced to your level of participation of Nation building ( how often do you volunteer to making your community a better place; this instance - 9ja)

When you compare a well developed economy of over 200 years to a country of 50 years without looking at the history of the former, your argument becomes lopsided.

The most annoying is that you are not even counted when the time to electing a CREDIBLE leader comes; most likely had never voted in any election in 9ja ( now you tell me is my vote even counted). We are part of the problem even though we are not in power when we fail to get involve in our community development.

We may continue this pointless argument for centuries, yet never reach a conclusive answers as to how we want to look like in the next decade. If you see these things as challenges and not insurmountable problems, only then are we assured of moving forward.

The British had faced lots of problems before in their quest to Nation building ( has any of you read of the bubonic plagues), they over came by finding solutions and not arguments likewise the Yankees.

We should start asking ourselves what we can do to help our neighbours.

Kobojunkie:

So, again, I ask, are you sure those in leadership positions are really the cause of all the problem in the nation?

Let us get things straight. Leaders are the products of the society . In other words  the prevailing societal norms, tradition and culture go a long way to determining the type of leaders that emerge from that society.`

The question is what system fits contemporary Nigerian culture?. What system properly incentivizes workers and management of commercial ventures? What system minimizes embezzlement, nepotism and mediocrity? What system unleashes in a positive way the natural entrepreneurship of Nigerians?

Clearly the answer is the free - market system with attendant full privatisation of strategic industries, rather than the old formula of pumping in more money and appointing the "right" people to head government run companies

tensor777:

Let us get things staight. Leaders are the products of the society . In other words the prevailing societal norms, tradition and culture go a long way to determining the type of leaders that emerge from that society.`

The question is what system fits contemporary Nigerian culture?. What system properly incentivizes workers and management of commercial ventures? What system minimizes embezzlement, nepotism and mediocrity? What system unleashes in a positive wat the natural entrepreneurship of Nigerians?

Clearly the answer is the free - market system with attendant full privatisation of strategic industries, rather than the old formula of pumping in more money and appointing the "right" people to head government run companies

I do not agree with you at all in this !

@ Kobojunkie
You are entitled to your own opinion . However the taste of the pudding is in the eating. Already, in industries which are fully privatised like Telecommunications, Fashion, Financial services, Music, and Film Production, Nigeria occupies the foremost position in Africa'
On the other hand for industries that are still government controlled, for example electricity, the performance has been substandard despite all the money pumped into them and the "right" appointments.

tensor777:

@ Kobojunkie
You are entitled to your own opinion . However the taste of the pudding is in the eating. Already, in industries which are fully privatised like Telecommunications, Fashion, Financial services, Music, and Film Production, Nigeria occupies the foremost position in Africa'
On the other hand for industries that are still government controlled, for example electricity, the performance has been substandard despite all the money pumped into them and the "right" appointments.

I am sorry but what you have up there is not what I see happening!