I've been battling this thought now for a while and I am so frustrated by Nigeria's current situation. Our parents went to college in the US and the UK and they couldn't wait to get back home to start their lives. Now our generation is coming up with creative ways to leave the country and stay away for as many decades as possible. How can a country so blessed with natural resources, human resources be in such disarray? I'm not boasting when I make this comment but Nigerians are some of the most innovative,brilliant and resourceful people in the world yet we cannot use these things to our advantage in OUR OWN country.
When will every Nigerian start living for something else beyond themselves? What does our lives mean when we're gone? What legacy have we left for those coming behind us? When will we say we will NOT ACCEPT leaders who are narrow minded anymore?
Think about how shallow we are as a people when our biggest goal in life is to make ALOT of money and have many people saying yes sir, yes ma to us. Most of us are perfectly content with making money just for ourselves! I know Nigerians who will invest N40m in a bullet proof car when the car without its bullet proof features will only cost maybe N16m! What if you buy the car at its regular price and invested another N10m in the community around you? Build wells where people can get running water, buy books, shoes, clothes etc for the less fortunate people around you. Create jobs so they are not solely dependent on you. Better yet, invest in hospitals and technology so if you or any of your family members get sick you don't have to be flown to another country less you die because of a lack of proper medical care in YOUR OWN country.  Think about it you might have less enemies that way and not have to worry about a bullet proof car; besides people that want to kill you can wait till you get out of the car!
Now we've "elected" self serving leaders that they do what they want and no one has the guts to stand up to them and say what you're doing is WRONG and will NOT be TOLERATED! We have been told we have a democracy right? If that's the case then we should be able to practice it! Even countries that have dictators are standing up to their dictators and saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I won't even bother to venture into the oil subsidy issue because anyone with an ounce of a brain cell knows that this does not benefit the people. Those in power run this country like a family business; recycled politicians are not what Nigeria needs. Obviously what they've done in the past has not worked so why would we want them back or their family members?
We have a justice system that is at best dormant! How can President GEJ say to the Nigerian people that they are investigating the recent bombings in Abuja and expect people to believe him when the attorney general(Bola Ige) of the entire country was assassinated and no one has been brought to justice so many years later? They have been insulting our intelligence for so long and we as a people have agreed to eat with the swine even though we have a right to eat at the Kings table. I once heard a comedian say Nigeria is a very benevolent nation. We are the only nation that is able to give stable power to other countries but we don't have stable power in our country; we are the only nation able to send our military troops to stabilize other countries yet we cannot stabilize our own country. It'll be naive to think any ONE MAN is the answer but a collective grassroots effort is needed to begin to plant seeds of change from every corner of every face me I face you, all the way to Aso Rock Villa. I don't think we need a law professor, or a medical doctor or Harvard graduate as president to know to do whats right by the market woman whose been selling chicken for the last 20 years, or the danfo driver whose been doing that forever, or the new college graduate who refused to sleep with a professor instead worked hard to make it. What if every Nigerian starts to think about doing what's right by their country instead of their bank account? In other words stop collecting N500m for a contract you're only going to spend maybe N100m on. You are a THIEF if you do that and you are part of our problem!
All we need is to use the common sense God has given us. I NEVER advocate violence I only advocate a forum for open dialogue that results in actions that cause the desired end result and that should be the goal of every "democracy." For now I rest,

The day when Nigerians stop waiting for imaginary god to come down from imaginary heaven to solve the country's problems and decide to take the bull by the horn and solve thier problems themselves is the day when Nigeria will eventually begin to progress.

My brother (abi na sister ), all this one you dey talk na flenty turenchi. No offense.

Simple answer to your question: all the ills you quite rightly noted will drastically reduce when true federalism is enthroned; when we revert back to the regional structure we had in the 60's; when the bulk of revenues from each region are kept for development locally, with only a small fraction remitted to a VERY WEAK CENTRAL GOVERNMENT; when antiquated policies of federal character and quota system are abandoned; and finally when there are no more sacred/untouchable cows, and criminals in government are SEEN to be punished to serve as a deterent.

We can blow grammer from now till the 2nd coming of Christ, but nothing will change until we get the fundamentals right.

PROUD-IGBO:

My brother (abi na sister ), all this one you dey talk na flenty turenchi. No offense.

Simple answer to your question: all the ills you quite rightly noted will drastically reduce when true federalism is enthroned; when we revert back to the regional structure we had in the 60's; when the bulk of revenues from each region are kept for development locally, with only a small fraction remitted to a VERY WEAK CENTRAL GOVERNMENT; when antiquated policies of federal character and quota system are abandoned; and finally when there are no more sacred/untouchable cows, and criminals in government are SEEN to be punished to serve as a deterent.

We can blow grammer from now till the 2nd coming of Christ, but nothing will change until we get the fundamentals right.

I'm a guy btw and no offense taken,

For a while I thought regionalizing power and even an eventual breakup of the country is what was needed but that's not the foundation of our problems from what I see. The issues have become national I believe. If you decentralize government but our attitudes towards life doesn't change then you'll have the same problems.

The problem with Nigeria is very simple: TRIBALISM!!!! People will vote for the Devil or absolve him of blame as far as he speaks their language. They will egg the Devil on to continue doing evil as far he's from their village. Oh, and they'll vote him in with 97.8% vote if he tells them what the "E" in his name stands for. If it requires for one man to thumbprint ballot cards 150,000 time just to get their tribe's man in, then, By God, thats what is going to be done.

Nigerians will also kill in the name of Religion (really tribalism) just because their man did not win the election.

The Politicians know how narrow minded, shortsighted and ignorant the people are and they take advantage of this.

Now, you tell me: WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

kingoflag:

The problem with Nigeria is very simple: TRIBALISM!!!! People will vote for the Devil or absolve him of blame as far as he speaks their language. They will egg the Devil on to continue doing evil as far he's from their village. Oh, and they'll vote him in with 97.8% vote if he tells them what the "E" in his name stands for. If it requires for one man to thumbprint ballot cards 150,000 time just to get their tribe's man in, then, By God, that's what is going to be done.

Nigerians will also kill in the name of Religion (really tribalism) just because their man did not win the election.

The Politicians know how narrow minded, shortsighted and ignorant the people are and they take advantage of this.

Now, you tell me: WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

While I agree with your point in many ways I still believe the issue is beyond TRIBALISM. That is undoubtedly an issue but our main problem is every man living for himself; in other words we lack visionaries! Our people don't see beyond the next big paycheck!

So I tell you my brother that now ENOUGH IS ENOUGH as far as I am concerned. My goal is not to just discuss endlessly but to build a grassroots effort that will eventually be mobilized into a strong voice of our people. Again I say its not about one person doing it all but all of us doing something.

I don't think it will be ever be enough unless something unexpected and I pray not generally violent happens. It goes beyond corruption and even tribalism. We have been in the hands of a clique of ex-generals and their lackey politician serfs. The system of evil is self sustaining and morphs itself into even young "enlightened" chaps like dimeji bankole. At least in the past there was the faint hope of military intervention from genuinely patriotic ppl now we are at the mercy of half baked and mediocre career politicians. Even if this country splits 200 ways those elements will return home and take over leadership positions and the cycle will continue. Back to your question, I can assure you that a major purge will take place, probably by the members of the clique themselves

The problem is that we still have the mindset of 19th century primtive savages. Our minds have not evolved compared to our European counterparts