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"Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey." ---Benjamin from animal farm.

Nigeria is not going to change for the better anytime soon. And the reason stares at you each time you look into the mirror. It stares at me as well. The average Nigerian is so complacent that the rot will keep getting worse and worse until things simply disintegrate. As things stand in Naija, we are already a very dysfunctional state and things have fallen apart, yet we do nothing!

The attitude of the Nigerian in that of Benjamin in George Orwell's 1945 classic Animal Farm. Benjamin was one of the longest lived animals, had seen a lot, but did nothing to warn the other animals of the pigs' corruption which he realised was steadily unfolding. As a matter of fact, his favourite statement was, "Life will go on as it always has gone on, badly."

That is the attitude of the average Nigerian. Having observed how we behave as a people, I have come to the conclusion that the average Nigerian is not unhappy with the rot around him. Rather he is unhappy with his own position within that rot. Ergo, if he is the top-dog, then the rot is alright because he can then lord it over the serfs that still have to eke a living in that rot.

Not much better exemplifies that attitude than two quick stories I must tell.

The first one happened only two Sundays ago. I had gone to the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Mohammed Airport to pick up someone. The flight was delayed (as usual), and having not had anything to eat that day, I went into the only available eatery there, a Mr. Bigg's. I ordered a meal of hot-dog and a drink. I sat down and went through the motions of unwrapping the hot-dog and taking a bite. It tasted strange to me, so I took a look. Inside my hot-dog was a dead insect. Immediately I called the closest waiter and showed him what I saw. The young man actually had the nerve to hiss and walk away, so I promptly lost my temper and walked back to the counter to shout. What shocked me was the reaction of the other patrons of the place. They could not care less. One person actually asked me why I was disturbing them "because of ordinary N300!" I left that place in shock, without getting either a refund or a replacement meal.

Lesson: it is the little N300s that count. If we can't stand up and fight for those small things which add up, then how are we expected to stand up and be counted when our roads begin to develop gashes which later turn into gullies? This is precisely the same thing that happened when NEPA began to first take the power for one day, then one week, now forever!

About a decade ago, a friend of mine became a local councillor somewhere in the former Bendel state. Overnight this young man's life changed. He became a 'big boy'. What surprised those of us onlookers who had grown up around the guy (he is a few years older than I am), was how haughty and arrogant he became. As far as he was concerned, he was the next best thing to God. People who know him still wonder what happened (and for the records, his humility has returned now that he is out of power).

However, a cursory observation of the obeisance paid to people who get into positions with the slightest trapping of power explains to me what happened to this young chap.

In Nigeria, the moment the most stupid and ignorant illiterate wields just a little power, everyone around him begins to tell him how good and smart he is. His wife overnight becomes 'mummy' to all around her. Anyone who so much as mouths (not to talk of voicing) the slightest criticism to him becomes an enemy at that instant, and all the sycophants around our friend will do their utmost to destroy this 'enemy' in the hope of currying some favour real or imagined. Small wonder that our government officials as an example genuinely believe that they can do no wrong, and that they have all the answers to whatever happens despite the fact that their policies are so obviously failing. Small wonder that when their tenures are coming to an end they do every and any thing to retain some vestige of that absolute power that Nigerian society confers on anyone who is fortunate to get into a position of authority within his own domain,

With these twin factors of complacency and obeisance, those of us who think that Nigeria is about to change are dreaming. Probably the best advice I can give to us is to wake up.