₦airaland Forum

Aikon:
Nice one. although you didn't mention some key points such as African Time, paying ones way through, asking for tips for any little favour and so on

Ttipsy:
Civilization is our problem. we claim to be. but we ain't.

flexyrule:
Being too religious - I give you a loan, time to pay up you start telling me "by God's grace"... Was God there when I gave you a loan? And I know that your salaries have been paid, you have withdrawn the money and you're telling me about God's grace.

People would rather tarry in churches and other religious place of worship to fast and pray about Nigeria's problems, but simple things like paying their taxes, obeying traffic, returning lost items to the owners and all of what the OP listed above is a problem.

Nepotism and tribalism... Go to some offices, the whole place seems like a villiage market. You can tell who the DG or head of a unit of a particular MDA is by ethnicity of majority of the staff there. If a yoruba man is the DG... That ministry would be an extension of Ogbomosho LGA secretariat. If it's an IGBO, then expect an ARIA-RIA market setting, Hausa... You'll think the office is the National mosque liason office.
They don't advertise vacancies, they just slot in their relatives and kinsmen whether qualified or not. That's why our public service is the worst in the whole world!


Over dependency on luck and favour instead of skill and hardwork.
Majority of Nigerians believe you must be lucky or favoured to make it. They don't believe in hardwork and skill. That's why we're always relying on prayers for things God has already bestowed us with the ability to accomplish. This one I concur, everything is by his grace, travel in night on the express at your peril, and you are asked why take such a risk, the usual response is I am covered by the blood of Jesus. On Nepotism, an example that baffles me is Lagos. Despite the business community being dominated by the Igbo's, Alausa is predominately Yoruba.

semyman:
WAEC why?
Found of
Or
Fond of?

gratiaeo:
Our problem is our leader since independent but we like to always blame ourselves instead of politicians who are the real problem.

Ekpekus:

Well written but I will add one fundamental one..
ENFORCING THE LAW irrespective of who/where the person comes from.
Whoever breaks the law should be dealt with accordingly.. this will go a long way to help.
People do things, not because there are no laws but because they have the mindset of "nothing dey happen".. if something actually happens when we break the law, everybody go sit up straight.
Like for China, if you are found guilty of corruption, irrespective of who you are, na jail straight.. abeg nor dey, I dey sick I wan go abroad for medical checkup nor dey.. you dey go jail.

Olumyco:
Prove...

So if the country spend a huge amount of money to build a drainage system and people turn it to a dump site...so what will you say

Olumyco:
Nigeria's problem is not Leadership but 70% of her citizens and 30% of her system. Drop bad attitude today and watch 70% of our country's problem disappear.

There have been talks and discussions on how Nigeria can come out of her numerous problems. To me I think we need to first begin with change of attitude. Our mindsets/mentalities are not right and these have affected our attitudes. I believe if we can change our attitudes, the larger part of our problems will be solved. Below are ten attitudes every Nigerian out there needs to work on and drop.

1. Most Nigerians are found of the habit of throwing things like plastic bottles, sachets of pure water and so on around which litter the environment. This is a bad attitude that we must drop. When you finish drinking a sachet of pure water, don't throw it to the ground. Keep it in your pocket or inside your bag and dispose it properly into a dust bin or a dump site. We most complain that our cities and towns are dirty but we have failed to acknowledge the fact that we are responsible for this. We complain of poor drainage system but the not too good ones we have are being packed with wastes by us and this often leads to flooding. If you and I learn to dispose those things we dont need again properly it will help our environment. Pouring dirty water on the road, throwing shells of fruits on the ground and so on are some of the bad attitudes we need to drop as a good citizen.

2. Drivers and Car Owners in Nigeria are found of disobeying traffic rules by using "One Way" concept to skip traffic on the normal road they are in. This is bad. Driving through One Way as people would say is a bad attitude. Nigerians should learn to be patient. This bad attitude has cost us more evil than good. We blame our leaders for our problem in this country but we fail to realise we are our own problem. Is it President Buhari that said you should go and take "One Way"? And why must our Government spend so much to enforce law on the people?
As a driver or a car owner, never drive through one way. Irrespective of how intense the "hold up" is. Obey traffic rules

3. Nigerians are found of this habit of displaying impatience by jumping queues. You just came and then go to the front to start begging someone to allow you enter or want to force your way through. This is very bad.
Never jump a queue. Don't go and talk to your friend to allow you to stay at his front or at his back. It's a bad attitude. Learn to respect people who came before you. Learn to be patient to queue at the back of the last person on the queue.

4. Nigerians like 'awoof'. We always want to achieve things without paying money. Stop this attitude. It is bad. When there is a service or product that requires money, please pay. If you don't have, wait till you will have. Look at the Electricity issue in Nigeria. Non-payment of electricity bills is one of the problems. Also illegal connection is another issue. Develop a mindset that paying for a service you are benefiting from is the best. Government is not Nigeria's problem but the attitude of the people. Stop looking for free things. Try and always pay for what you need and want. Look at our private schools, a parent will put his child in this type of school and refuse to pay but can pay for Aso Ebi when a ceremony arises. How will the school pay salaries to their staffs? Some Youths wants a situation where by they can call or browse without paying... looking for cheap code up and down, even desiring that the credit codes of these our telecom companies leak out and then begin to use it. We need to change our mindset on this, so that we will not be part of this country's problem.


5. Nigerians have this mindset that the law is made for the poor and not the rich. They believe with money you can breach the law and bribe your way through. This is a bad attitude.
Stop bribing your way out of the breach of the law. Pay penalties when you breach the law. You don't have driver's license and you are driving and now you are caught and instead of you to ask for the penalty and do the right thing, you are bringing out money to bribe. It is bad. Nigerians should stop giving law enforcement agencies money. Try and know the law and the fines. Many Nigerians always put up this contempt attitude against the law. They just do things anyhow with the hope that if anything happens they will pay bribe. All in the name of "Money Stops Nonsense".
The problem of corruption begins with this bad attitude. People who pay bribes are liable to collect it too when the opportunity comes. Desist from doing this. Pay fines, royalties, charges and whatever you are required to pay when you fall victim of the law or use a service. The World will not collapse on you for doing this.

6. Nigerians have this I don't care attitude. You see an inscription that says "No Parking" and you went ahead to park there. What's the meaning of that? You see "No Hawking" and you go ahead to hawk there. Nigerians should desist from this bad attitude of I don't care. Be observant of rules inscribed on sign posts or walls or whatever around you and obey.

7. Many Road Users like pedestrians, drivers, hawkers, riders and so on have this bad attitude of anger. You and I must have witnesse one driver calling another driver "Fool", "Animal" and so on... even cursing the person. This is not good. It is true that someone one the road might have done something wrong, if you cannot correct him politely please keep quiet and go your way. Also if you were insulted or cursed on the road, ignore, don't talk and go your way. If you know you have made a mistake on the road, say sorry. Learn to admit and apologise. We are our own problem. This bad attitude of insulting and cursing another road user can result to a terrible fight. It can even cause hold up on the high way. Why should we be behaving like this? The insult or the curse won't affect you. Just ignore the person and see the person as not being matured and move on. A matured person should be able to control his or her emotions.

8. Going to the house of a Politician or a rich person to hail, bow and beg for money is a bad attitude. This is one of the reasons we are backward. Stop making these people look like they have solutions to your problems. Stop collecting fish. Learn to catch fish yourself. This is very common with Street boys, Thugs and people in the small towns and villages. When a politician or a rich man is passing or goes to his village, the next thing you see is people flocking around the person. It's a bad attitude. It takes thinking outside the box to see that this thing is wrong. This bad attitude has enthrown thuggery and God Fatherism in our country.

Also is begging someone for money indirectly by hailing him and asking him for what he brought for you. This is common with gatemen, people/officers who work at Airports, non-teaching staffs who work at tertiary institutions and so on. Learn to believe in yourself and work for your own money and stop depending on someone.

9. Extorting People is another bad attitude common with Nigerians. A taxi driver during rainfall can decide to inflate the transport fare just for nothing. Imagine a seller saying a bread of 100 naira is 300 naira just because he or she sees you as a stranger or from another tribe or that you are desperate about it. It's bad looking for money this way. Products or Services that have fixed price should not be inflated for any reason. It is cheating. You are taking advantage of the person by leveraging on circumstances surrounding the person at that time.

10. The whole attitude problem can be summed up in one sentence as "Achieving a goal easily and quickly without following due process". Many Nigerians hate "Due Process". We want fast things. We want quick money. We want easy money. No one wants to labour following due process. No one wants to do the right thing. May God help us.
If we don't drop these bad attitudes, it will be difficult for us to develop as a nation.
Many people are ignorant of the fact that Leadership is not our problem but the attitude of the citizens. Even the leaders come from the citizens, so the problem is taking everywhere. A Nigerian is always a Nigerian and no matter the position he or she occupies whether low or high he will continue to cause problem for the country.
The rubbish throwers, queue jumpers, one way drivers, indirect beggars, extortioners etc are part of our problem in this country. So are The Almajiris, the Agberos, the Omo Oniles, Thugs, Cultists and other evil people.

In conclusion, before you step out of your house in the morning always take time and ruminate over those bad attitudes you are using to cause problem for this great nation and then make up your mind to desist from doing them. Tell yourself, I want to be a good citizen by doing the right thing always. I must not be part of this country's problem any more. Then step out do your work, earn your money, help someone, be happy and make your environment a better place. If every Nigerian can do this and become good citizens, 70% of our problem will die a natural death and Nigeria will become very developed.

God bless Nigeria and her people.

Thanks.

https://www.rhitten.com/rhites/10-bad-attitudes-nigerians-must-drop-to-make-the-country-great-30998044812570746

ClintonNzedimma:
Nigeria is a very complex Domino. Many of us grew up being the archetypal good citizen but changed due to when the system was used to directly oppress you. No matter how you preach, if you cant fix the head , you definitely cant fix the tail. The inner psychology of the average Nigerian is more complex than you think but sadly who will tell you?. Take for example Nigerian entertainment, if someone wants to criticize a celebrity for something, he or she is termed a hater, the children of the Niger on twitter will first attack the financial status of the person criticising, they dont know they have affected another thread of domino.
If you dont do some of things you listed as bad @OP. Its the same Nigerians that will still come and tell you are a JJC or you aint street smart

galadima77:
Or O' level examination miracle centers

semyman:
WAEC why?
Found of
Or
Fond of?

Olumyco:
We need to first change. We produce leaders. They dont jump down from planet Mars.

With bad attitude even with good drainage system we will still soil it with nylon, bottles and co.

Even if law enforcement agents are sent around to upload cleanliness law, they will still collect bribe and the who infrastructure collapses again.

The little infrastructure we have, if we all obey the law and maintain them, you think it's not enough for us to boast of

Besides what do you expect from someone of age 50 years who has been disobeying rules. It means the person must have been throwing plastic bottles into our gutters for like 45 years. It means he has been bribing for 45 years. It means he has been jumping queues for 45 years....in short he has been disobeying laws for about 45 years. Now he or she becomes a governor or president....so how will the person perform?

We need to correct the problem now. All these bad attitudes are exported to Aso rock and our governor houses. A leader can't perform with these bad attitudes.

The fundamental problem is these bad attitude.

A refined person who have a right mindset will not misbehave when he gets to power.

Nigerians think and understand these things

mutvy:
11.
If someone from an ethnic group or a religion belief do something wrong, stop blaming all the ethnic group or all the people practicing the religion.
This has caused so much hatred and division in Nigeria.

flexyrule:
Being too religious - I give you a loan, time to pay up you start telling me "by God's grace"... Was God there when I gave you a loan? And I know that your salaries have been paid, you have withdrawn the money and you're telling me about God's grace.

People would rather tarry in churches and other religious place of worship to fast and pray about Nigeria's problems, but simple things like paying their taxes, obeying traffic, returning lost items to the owners and all of what the OP listed above is a problem.

Nepotism and tribalism... Go to some offices, the whole place seems like a villiage market. You can tell who the DG or head of a unit of a particular MDA is by ethnicity of majority of the staff there. If a yoruba man is the DG... That ministry would be an extension of Ogbomosho LGA secretariat. If it's an IGBO, then expect an ARIA-RIA market setting, Hausa... You'll think the office is the National mosque liason office.
They don't advertise vacancies, they just slot in their relatives and kinsmen whether qualified or not. That's why our public service is the worst in the whole world!


Over dependency on luck and favour instead of skill and hardwork.
Majority of Nigerians believe you must be lucky or favoured to make it. They don't believe in hardwork and skill. That's why we're always relying on prayers for things God has already bestowed us with the ability to accomplish.

olujastro:
Great points!
For me I have summarised the problem of Nigeria in one word..... Nigerians are too self-centred.
We take actions for our benefits alone not minding how it negatively affects the rest of the populace.

That's why a Nigerian will endanger the lives of others by bursting fuel pipeline just to get free petrol to sell for small change in his pocket. I don't think this happens elsewhere.
That's why a Nigerian is perfectly fine with tricking embassies or abusing visas to get his way at any cost even if other Nigerians will innocently suffer future visa denials because of his action.
That's why people steal money meant for public hospitals while others die of easily curable sicknesses.
That's why govt manages to build electricity infrastructure and another goes to steal or vandalise them putting others in avoidable darkness.
A bus driver knows his brake is faulty but will insist on managing it just to make money even if it causes passengers to die from brake failure.
The list goes on...

semyman:
WAEC why?
Found of
Or
Fond of?

gratiaeo:
Our problem is our leader since independent but we like to always blame ourselves instead of politicians who are the real problem.

Olumyco:
These leaders, did they jump down from another planet? Are they not Nigerians? These leaders were once like you and I breaching the laws, behaving anyhow... so what do you expect when they get to the corridors of power.

You are nursing a Child and you think you can take away bad character from him when he is grown... instead of taking him or her when he is still young

If we Nigerians cant work on these attitudes and change, I am afraid we can never produce a good leader. That's the implication.

We want good leaders.... where will they come from? Are they not going to come from us.

We need to think and change. We are our own problem