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Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? - Politics - Nairaland

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Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by iwaeda: 10:42am On Mar 04, 2021
By Olu Fasan

THE outside world is puzzled about Nigeria. How can a country be so richly endowed and yet so utterly backward? Foreigners always lament how Nigeria is badly governed, how its resources are unconscionably squandered and how it has become a fragile state. Yet, Nigeria doesn’t only have a rich natural-resource base, its talent pool is the envy of the world.


Everywhere you look globally, Nigerians are occupying positions of responsibility and leadership. From science to engineering, literature to the arts, economics to other social sciences, Nigerians are recognized worldwide for their expertise and achievements.

Earlier this week, on Monday, March 1, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, formally assumed office as the first African and first female Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO. World leaders have not stopped celebrating this great Nigerian. But while Okonjo-Iweala is the highest-ranking, she is not the only Nigerian with a significant international job. Dr Amina Mohammed is the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji is the President of the International Criminal Court. And at the World Bank, Dr. Sandie Okoro is senior vice president and general counsel. The list goes on!


Yet, while Nigerians bestride the world like a colossus, running world bodies and standing out from the crowd in other fields of human endeavour, their own country is in utter mess. Why is the world drawing from Nigeria’s talent pool while the country itself is so backward?


You might ask: how backward is Nigeria? Well, take any global index – human development, social progress, government effectiveness, corruption perception, global terrorism, etc. – Nigeria languishes at the bottom. Nigeria is among the worst-performing countries by most international standards. If you don’t believe in global indexes, what about the lived experiences of ordinary Nigerians – the appalling insecurity, the abject poverty, the abysmal delivery of basic services, the institutional decay – all of which underpin the country’s woeful social indicators?


Everyone, public official and commentator in Nigeria should read the two internationally-acclaimed books that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala wrote about her experiences as a minister. For in the two books, she sets out in granular detail Nigeria’s governance challenges and why progress continues to elude this country.

In the first book Reforming the Unreformable, she lists four problems: 1) poor economic management, 2) poor governance and weak institutions, 3) the inability of the state to deliver basic public services, and 4) a hostile environment for private-sector growth. In her second book Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, she said that Nigeria is in a parlous state because of “inappropriate policies, inefficient and non-transparent institutions, corruption, capture by leaders and rent-seeking internal and external elite.” These well-known problems chime with the symptoms of state fragility listed in a joint report by Oxford University and the London School of Economics.

But why do these problems exist? Charles Hauss, a professor of public affairs at George Mason University, USA, says in his book Comparative Politics that “Nigeria’s problems cannot be attributed to a shortage of talented people”, adding: “Nigeria’s problems rest with the behaviour of people who fill key positions.” In 2018, during the launch of her books in London, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was asked why Nigeria was backward despite its talented people, she replied: “Countries that have more cohesion, a social contract and common vision of the future are likely to do better.” Put simply, Nigeria lacks these attributes.

Yet, these are symptoms of deeper structural problems. Let’s remember that many of the Nigerians who are holding, or have held, key international positions were once involved in running Nigeria. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala herself was twice finance minister, and also coordinating minister for the economy, a de facto prime minister! Yet, she couldn’t achieve much. Why? As she says in her books, there are powerful vested interests that “constitute one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the way of Nigeria’s progress.”


But why does Nigeria have a political system that perennially produces bad leaders, puts mediocrity above meritocracy, allows elite capture, lets public officials act with impunity, and engenders tensions and disunity rather than cohesion and a shared purpose? The answer is simple: Nigeria’s political structure and Constitution are not fit for purpose.

Take checks and balances and accountability that underpin any true democracy. Nigeria’s Constitution creates an executive presidency and concentrates power in the hands of one person, with no effective checks and balances and no accountability mechanism. If that leader lacks vision and competence, then the fish rots from the head down. A country that has an over-powerful but incompetent president, who lacks a positive and grand vision of the future, can never make progress.

In their best-selling book, Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson cite overconcentration of power in the hands of a leader as one of the reasons nations fail; they then recommend the diffusion of power with appropriate checks and balances. A former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has just been jailed for corruption; in Nigeria, he would be untouchable! The lack of checks and balances and accountability structures is a major obstacle to progress in Nigeria because it allows public officials to act with utter impunity.

Which brings us to another reason why, despite its talent pool, Nigeria is backward. This country is simply too big and too complex to be run centrally. Every large project must be split into manageable units to be successful. Nigeria, too, must be split into regional units, with power, responsibilities and resources devolved to regional governments. Nigeria needs true federalism; it needs regional powerhouses that can generate growth and prosperity.

True federalism, underpinned by structural rebalancing and equal and equitable treatment of ethnic groups and religions, will certainly also engender internal cohesion, a key condition for progress. Truth is, despite its talent base, Nigeria is backward because its structure and Constitution are deeply flawed. Until the structural defects are tackled through proper restructuring, Nigeria will remain stuck in a rut, while its talented people run the affairs of the world!
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/03/nigeria-is-stuck-in-a-rut-yet-its-citizens-rule-the-world-why/amp/

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Paperworka: 10:52am On Mar 04, 2021
Because its a faulty creation, its a creation out of greed and forced to its citizens

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by tutudesz: 10:59am On Mar 04, 2021
Nigeria biggest problem is sharing of allocation monthly undecided Some state receive N20 billion in allocation yearly, while their IGR is less than N5 billion yearly undecided

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by kabanayol9(m): 10:59am On Mar 04, 2021
Greedy leaders
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Nobody: 10:59am On Mar 04, 2021
We have a long way to go which brings me to one of my previous paragraphs where i said "Political offices holders in Nigeria only look forward to recuperate the toils of doing well in public offices as looting public purse" angry

I don't think the key problem is ineffectiveness of our institutions but the absence of social consciousness undecided

Let's think of it, What's the difference between Western leaders and African leaders?

Those Western leaders think ahead, maybe because the harsh climatic condition made them think future (survival).
Africa is 'too' endowed... If food and sex is constant... think like an African grin

What a politician will think is to amass wealth so that he/she keeps the endearments, even post tenure or seek for more. It costs a lot to keep people praising you or Where is it said that a former-former is now trekking around. Yet the truth is if power slips away there are other Lions who want to.. cool
To be factual, some African politicians are very innovative and will naturally do well but the structure is already polluted by those who must corrupt them, they are his PA, cooks, partymen....
e.t.c Social consciousness towards the growth, benefit for our future generation is the missing link.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by NaijaFutbol: 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
Wrong structure that pays people to be inept, uneducated and docile like Buhari

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by mimilogs: 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
it hurts a lot cry cry

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by LokoH(m): 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
It is because those who ought to be tail are leading, hence, Nigeria moving backward. The bright and creative ones, in other not to waste here look for a conducive ground in the west and start shining. While our quota leaders here hardly shine in the west

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by The5DME(m): 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
Too long to read.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Anigreat: 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
shocked



Checkout majority of Nigerians making waves in the world, Is either they are from south west, south east or south south. You won't see any quota system person holding any enviable position outside this shithole.


The reason Nigeria is in this mess is that, quota system people think they owned this shithole, as such, they do it as they like.

Imagine Someone like incoherent Buhari that is not fit to be a ward councilor, is a president of a country, a tribal bigot at that. Giving his fellow dull quota system brothers sensitive position. Why won't Nigeria stuck in rut?

The worse that is about to hit this shithole is still doing press up, but before then, BIAFRA, our only hope will come.


God knows then i love this country with everything in me, but the way quota system people are operating , there's no hope at all hence i pray earnestly everyday for the restoration of sovereign state of BIAFRA.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by HarryDuce(m): 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
The governing structure and the mindset of the citizens.

Nigeria shouldn't be governed centrally because of our diversity. How do we go about in practice? Who will take the reins?

Also, In most cases, once a Nigerian is exposed to a working system, they'll realise quickly the suffocating tendencies of our society and wouldn't want to turn back.

Very few people really care about progress in Nigeria and fewer are willing to take any kind of action. You will be shut down by your kinsmen before you even start.

President is corrupt? He should join the list of other corrupt politicians; man hasn't had breakfast.

You say your voters card was not issued to you, you complain, yell on social media about how corrupt the system is. The issue is resolved after much raucous. You disturb social media with "change" mantra. Someone from nowhere promises 10k for your vote. At that point doubt comes in and you begin to wonder; does your vote actually count? you conclude that it doesn't matter eitherway. Whoever wins would have won regardless. You take the 10k and the rest is history. Voter fraud what?

***

When you share the country with people like these, is no surprise one would look to where people don't like suffering by default.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Bampeh: 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
When you are in a pit, you will do anything to come out of it and you will try as much as possible not to return into that pit.

Nigeria = Pit
Doing anything = Creativity
Not to return to the pit = Hustler







Bampeh love Nigerians

1 Like

Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Bvlgari: 11:00am On Mar 04, 2021
Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World

amazingly true
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by LastProphet: 11:01am On Mar 04, 2021
Even though there are other factors for this, but the highest is the effect of jazz (charm). The best brains don't feel the need for jazz so they believe in effort and reward just like it happens in developed climes. But you see the incompetent out of fear for their own inadequacy resort to jazz, and because intelligent people have all options including migrating out of the country to the developed world where they will still excel, they shy away from struggling for local control here. Is why you see the majority of hopeless governors like yaya bello as heavy jazz men. Most of NASS, many politicians etc, all jazz men. And that is why you see poor decisions by leaders because most of them listen to some hopeless oracle or magician before taking decisions instead of using the objective reasoning that built the developed worlds. Look around your neighborhood and retrace 20-30 years ago, the brilliant students in class then compared to their classmates who were thugs then tell me who is better today. All the thugs I knew in my area while growing up are all honourable members of the state assembly today and drive home in convoy. Meanwhile the brilliant serious ones may have one quiet job somewhere and have no means of contributing to national development.
The next evil is quota system which the north is responsible for, I won't even dignify that one by explaining how hopeless it is. But it's the reason we have a dead public service that always come up with the dumbest policies

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Nobody: 11:01am On Mar 04, 2021
This is so true. Nigerians are great OUTSIDE her shores while Nigeria is stuck in a rut. It will literally take God to come down and change Nigeria (it won't happen) for anything to get better.

Nigeria should never have been a country in the first place. We're just a frenkenstein-like contraption that is just sleep walking through nation hood. It wasn't ever supposed to be so it will never work. When the whole world has moved on into the 21st century, looking for solutions to global problems, Nigerians are stuck in the middle ages, fighting ethnoreligious conquest wars.

When I was younger I thought Nigeria would change for the better but I've seen enough to come to this conclusion.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Franckelv230: 11:01am On Mar 04, 2021
Those old monstrous polithiefcians are the problem of this country.

Very crude, uneducated, archaic and heartless old nothings.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Omihanifa: 11:01am On Mar 04, 2021
The problem with Nigeria is mostly about bad leadership and the useless constitution that we are using.

For Nigeria to be great, we need new leaders who are selfless, innovative, God fearing and dedicated. And we should also do away with this outdated constitution and also purnish bad behaviour no matter who the person is.

The 1999 constitution is part of the reasons Nigeria can never develop in terms of infrastructure. How can the government say if a private entity generates more than 50mega watts of electricity, you must send it to the national grid undecided

The Kwara State government under the adminstration of Bukola Saraki built a power generating station in gamo so as to solve the issue of lack of electricity which the whole of Kwara State was facing at that time.

Only for the federal government to tell him that kwara state alone can't use that light, he has to first send it to the national grid, then the national grid will now share that electricity generated with the other 35 states in Nigeria undecided

At the end of the day Kwara State no see anything tangible gain from the investment.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Franckelv230: 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
Then you have a frustrated, ignorant, chained and blind populace, they have refused to liberate themselves from the shackles of old bad and evil men, rather would prefer to continue suffering and smiling as they themselves adapt to cruel life style.


Lugard is no our problem, he isn't the one embezzling our money. He isn't the one that told the so called talent endowed youth to vote in a vision less, backward and brain dead ancestor as a president.


Southern rulers always paint themselves as educated and wise, yet they watch their people wallow in suffering without doing anything to save them.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by dannyspeejay(m): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
Na war
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Warripikine: 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
#fulaniamaka
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by wellmax(m): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
Because we are al hypocrites.
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by DennisEche(m): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
Blame Buhari and his supporters
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by heendrix(m): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
Until there's a Bloody coup in this country with the Coup's intent to kill all these Old Archaic leaders we've got from the Top in Aso villa to the least as little as LG chairman or Area councillor nothing is gonna change and the funny thing is no one is Bold to start this Coup and its rather a Pity

Meanwhile; Can a Captain organize a Coup successfully in 9ja just asking for my Northern people

6 Likes

Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by onoms4luv(m): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
There is always light at the end of every tunnel.
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Queenlovely(f): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
The curse of knowledge

Nigerians are not smart, Smart people can always find a way out of any dilemma. It's like chess.

Nigerians are just book smart but not street smart. They still cling to conservative ways to solving problem.

To boot out politicians from office, you have to use unconventional means, don't follow the crowd. independent thought is what Nigerians don't have.

French, American, Europe, Russian, China etc are enjoying progress today because their ancestors made sacrifice for their children to enjoy tommorow.

Running to foreign land is not smartness but personal gain to earn income. Forget it these people are not smart.

Ask any Nigerian that graduated from Harvard how to save Nigeria. They will give you the old answers we already know. Answers that lead to nowhere. and a lot of complaining will follow.

One more thing is judge a man by what he does and not what he says he will do. Action is louder than voice. knowing and doing are not the same thing. if you know you must apply.

The solution to our problem must not necessarily start from the top, let us start from the bottom. one Community at a time. don't overlook Community. Facebook, Microsoft, PayPal,etc did not just start out as great,

Facebook started from Harvard classmates,if they had started with a large crowd, they would have failed, start small, one Community at a time and you will be amazed by what you can achieve.

Even if we have all these perfect men as leaders, change must also start from the grassroots, If Nigerians don't change nothing will change. China does not play with the grassroots. they don't ignore local leaders.

What we are doing is chest beating, Some people don't even know where Nigeria is on the map. we are not great, forget these propaganda, Half of Cuba citizens are doctors,

Cuba exports medical services more than any country in the world, yet they don't boast. let us just calm down and do our homework and see how things will fall into place. one step at a time

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Geesaintagape: 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
The reason is clear it was not design to grow from foundation n the leaders are enjoying the faulty design
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by pansophist(m): 11:02am On Mar 04, 2021
Nigeria will never get better as far as power resides in the north. You can't give what you don't have. The northern states are the most backward, poverty-stricken, broke, uneducated and religious part of the country, and you expect them to develop the whole country when they can't do it in their own region?

How many books have you seen written by a fulani man? How many business moguls, sportmen, and internationally recognized icons are from there? In the city, how many do respectable jobs, or rent an apartment like others and live with dignity? And Nigerian naively believe they will bring about change?

Charity begins at home.

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by 9jaRealist: 11:03am On Mar 04, 2021
>
Perhaps because, out there, they don’t have to deal with Nigerians everyday...
As is often said, Nigerians can often be the WORST thing to happen to Nigeria!
sad
>
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by wellmax(m): 11:03am On Mar 04, 2021
These are our main issues;
Tribalism
Religious extremism
Bigotry
Fake news
Unnecessary hatred
Injustice
believing every political propaganda

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Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Mindlog: 11:03am On Mar 04, 2021
Sad.
Re: Nigeria Is Stuck In A Rut, Yet Its Citizens Rule The World. Why? by Johnkennie(m): 11:03am On Mar 04, 2021
Backward Nigeria... Recycling Old Leaders.

Sad.

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