Opinion
Still On Nigeria At 54
I f lipped through the pages of our national existence, I chuck
led, from our historical amalgamation towards the last page of our journey so far. I kept flipping through the pages and got my eyebrows raised and my mouth opened. With what my eyes met from the first page, I imagined my country, Nigeria, like an eagle that would spread her wings and soar far into the sky. The arable lands and huge mineral deposits were undoubtly conspicuous. These facts, I was not willing the contend. But while I flipped further, the pages soon became heavy, I got nervous and my eyes starved with so much passion. Suddenly, my eyes went cloudy and beads of perspiration clothed me as I saw the misfortune. I felt my country was doomed. The pages became troubled but while I went further I felt an elixir of hope. Then I went to the fifthy-fourth independence day page and I said to myself, what do we really celebrate? For it seems like the eagle’s claw has suddenly gone blurnt, that it can no longer fetch its prey”.
I once had a neigbour, a young Nigerian who lived with his parents. He was full of vision and had plausible insights. He had immense love for his country. He would always say “I am a Nigerian”, at any sheer opportunity. He was so patriotic that when others would anatagonise the Nigerian society he would rise like a lion to defend his country. His intellectual prowess were deeply convincing but his parent were unable to send him to a tertiary institution. His parents were very poor, so he resorted to scholarship hunt. For three years, he found none, kept applying, always surfing the net. He finally found one and he applied for it. The young Nigerian was so glad that his efforts had paid off as he scored impressively in the scholarship examination. Few days later, he almost went crozy after he learnt that he could not get the scholarship although his scores were astounding. The young Nigeria was not from one of the Education, less privileges states. An insider from the scholarship board revealed to him that his space had been bought. The young Nigerian was deeply broken. He gave up everything he stood for and lost hope in the Nigerian vision. He joined the local street thugs to terrorize the local community. What this demonstrates, is how favouritism and tribalism have destroyed the pillars of development of the Nigerian society; how it has destroyed the intellectual prowess of witty-unprivileged-young-Nigerians an has blurred the true image of the Nigerians dream and character.
Truly, the eagle would bleeds for the inconsistency in the Nigerian Educational System. Many a student has had more years added to their respective courses in their various Nigerian Universities. The Impact of the Last ASUU Strike that halted academic activities throughout the federation, is still enormously felt. And this is why most Nigerian parents would prefer to send their children to Ghana than to our inconsistent Nigerian universities. And the unintended consequence is that it degrades the status of our universities and defiles the strength of our economy being ranked among the top 20 economy by 2020. And this further explained why the international community would not place any of our universities among the first 1000 universities in the world.
The eagle can no longer hold the pains from her wound. It weeps deeply as the insurgency in the North by the Boko Haram sect lingers. Linked to international Islamic Jihadist group, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram has crippled the economy of the North and has sent thousands of innocent Nigerians to their early graves through their orchestrated suicide bombings, gun attacks and the declaration of a caliphate. The sect has terrorized Nigerians and made our gallant military appear weak before the international community.
I might even decide to highlight the fact that while Egypt, Ghana, Benin among other African countries, can boast of adequate power supply. Nigeria still groans in perpetual darkness brought about by epileptic power supply. Or is it the fact that the common Nigerian has lost hope in our judicial system. This is because of the events that have evolved in recent years, exposing the weakness of our judicial system.
But at this juncture, I would like to ask, if all these maladies that have wounded the eagle, is the only single story we have after 54 years of Independence.
A single story of catastrophe, of cancerous tribalism, of epileptical power supply, of dilapitated infrastructure and of a lost Nigerian vision. No, that should not be our single story after 54 years of independence. It is because we still have a lot to celebrate despite the odd. We must renegotiate the Nigerian Character.
We can still celebrate because despite the insurgence in the North. Our military has gallantly risen to quel the uprising. Our military has never been weak as they were perceived to be in these recent time. It is the same Nigerian Military that has been astounding in peacekeeping operation globally. Nigeria contributed her troops and funds to help bring peace to war-torn Africa countries such as Congo, Angola, Liberia, Sierra leone, (etc D’Ivor and Sudan. It is such feat as this, that made Nigeria to be dubbed: “Grant of Africa.” We can still celebrate. We must celebrate the resilience of our military.
We can still celebrate the strength of our educational system whom most persons had lost hope in. It is just recently that Port Harcourt was named as UNESCO World Book Capital. The city of Port Harcourt achieved these global feat despite all odds. The individual mental prowess of the Nigerian Student is conspicuous. I can recall the boys from the university of Ibadan whose mental fist dusted all other countries in the Africa Zain’s Scholar Challenges. These, we must celebrate.
We can still celebrate the work of our writers, Chinua Achebe, Chimamda Adichie etc. “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe portrays who we are. The book decorates the British shelves and that of all other countries globally. We must celebrate the Nigerian Wordsmiths.
We must celebrate our movie industry, Nollywood, which presents the greatest commodity produced by Nigerians and enormously consumed by them. The Nollywood showcases for the first time where Africans were able to tell African stories by themselves (Africans). The world was able to see African stories being told by Africans. The Nollywood movies are greatly watched by most African countries. We must celebrate this.
We must celebrate our unity. Although there is a strong uprising in the North but we must not fail to remember the civil war (1967-1970). If Nigeria did not disintegrate then, it means Nigeria remains one and can never be divided. We must celebrate what we all stand for. We must celebrate. This is what is deeply rooted in the Nigeria vision.
Finally, we must celebrate the clause, “I am a Nigerian.” For this is what holds us together. And if I turn over the next page after our filthy –fourth independence day, I will see the eagle, flying above all odds, flying above the single story of catastrophe. It can only be achieved by renegotiating the Nigerian character. It can only be achieved by not having a single story of our nation. We must rejuvenate the spirit of patriotism. In the word of Chiamamanda Adichie. “When we reject a single story, when we realise that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise”.
Clinton, a student, writes from Port Harcourt.
Ikechukwu Clinton
The line that separates betrayal and corruption is very thin. Betrayal and corruption are two sides of the same coin. Like the snail and its shell they are almost inseparable. They go hand-in-globe. Betrayal and corruption are instinctive in humans and they are birthed by people with inordinate ambition – people without principles, without regard for ethical standards and values. Looking back to the days of Jesus Christ, one of his high profile disciples-the treasurer, was a betrayer. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for just 30 pieces of silver. One of the characteristics of betrayers is greed.
So, when on resumption from his imposed suspension, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminilayi Fubara threatened to bring permanent secretaries who were found complicit in “defrauding” the State during the days of Locust and Caterpillar regime, he did not only decry a loot of the Treasury but the emotional trauma of betrayal perpetrated by those who swore to uphold the ethics of the civil service. Governor Siminilayi Fubara had least expected that those who feigned loyalty to his administration would soon become co-travellers with an alien administration whose activities were repugnant to the “Rivers First” mantra of his administration. The saying that if you want to prove the genuineness of a person’s love and loyalty feign death, finds consummate expression in the Governor Fubara and some of the key members of the State engine room
Some of those who professed love for Governor Siminilayi Fubara and Rivers State could not resist the lure and enticement of office in the dark days of Rivers State, like Judas Iscariot. Rather, they chose to identify with the locusts and the caterpillars for their selfish interest. Julius Caesar did not die from the stab of Brutus but by his emotional attachment to him, hence he exclaimed in utter disappointment, “Even you Brutus”. The wound of betrayal never heals and the scar is indelible. Unfortunately, today, because of gross moral turpitude and declension in ethical standards and values, betrayal and corruption are celebrated and rewarded. Corruption, a bane of civil/public service is sublime in betrayal. The quest to get more at the expense of the people is the root of betrayal and sabotage.
This explains why Nigeria at 65 is the World’s capital of poverty.
Nigeria is not a poor country, yet, millions are living in hunger, abject poverty and avoidable misery. What an irony. Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies and most populous nation is naturally endowed with 44 mineral resources, found in 500 geographical locations in commercial quantity across the country. According to Nigeria’s former Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Olamiekan Adegbite, the mineral resources include: baryte, kaolin, gymsium, feldspar, limestone, coal, bitumen, lignite, uranium, gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead, zinc, copper, granite, laterite, sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, gamer, etc. Nigeria has a vast uncultivated arable land even as its geographical area is approximately 923, 769 sq km (356,669 sq ml).
“This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities along the value-chain, for job creation, revenue growth. Nigeria provides one of the highest rates of return because its minerals are closer to the suffer”, Adegbite said. Therefore, poverty in Nigeria is not the consequences of lack of resources and manpower but inequality, misappropriation, outright embezzlement, barefaced corruption that is systemic and normative in leaders and public institutions. According to the World Poverty Clock 2023, Nigeria has the awful distinction of being the world capital of poverty with about 84 million people living in extreme poverty today.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data also revealed that a total of 133 million people in Nigeria are classed as multi-dimensionally poor. Unemployment is a major challenge in the country. About 33 percent of the labour force are unable to find a job at the prevailing wage rate. About 63 percent of the population are poor because of lack of access to health, education, employment, and security. Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) speculated that unemployment rate will increase to 37 percent in 2023. The implications, therefore, is increase in unemployment will translate to increase in the poverty rate. The World Bank, a Washington-based and a multi-lateral development institution, in its macro-poverty outlook for Nigeria for April 2023 projected that 13 million Nigerians will fall below the National Poverty line by 2025.
It further stated that the removal of subsidy on petroleum products without palliatives will result to 101 million people being poor in Nigeria. Statistics also show that “in 2023 nearly 12 percent of the world population of extreme poverty lived in Nigeria, considering poverty threshold at 1.90 US dollars a day”.Taking a cursory look at the Nigerian Development Update (NDU), the World Bank said “four million Nigerians were pushed into poverty between January and June 2023 and 7.1 million more will join if the removal of subsidy is not adequately managed.” These startling revelations paint a grim and bleak future for the social-economic life of the people.The alarming poverty in the country is a conspiracy of several factors, including corruption. In January, 2023 the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International, in its annual corruption prospect index which ranks the perceived level of public sector corruption across 180 countries in the world says Nigeria ranked 150 among 180 in the index. Conversely, Nigeria is the 30th most corrupt nation in the ranking. It is also the capital of unemployment in the world.
Truth be told: a Government that is corruption-ridden lacks the capacity to build a vibrant economy that will provide employment for the teeming unemployed population. So crime and criminality become inevitable. No wonder, the incessant cases of violent crimes and delinquency among young people. Corruption seems to be the second nature of Nigeria as a nation . At the root of Nigerians’ poverty is the corruption cankerworm.How the nation got to this sordid economic and social precipice is the accumulation of years of corrupt practices with impunity by successive administrations. But the hardship Nigerians are experiencing gathered momentum between 2015 and 2023 and reached the climax few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed power as president of Nigeria, removed the controversial petroleum subsidy. Since then, there is astronomical increase in transport fares, and prices of commodities. Living standard of most Nigerians is abysmally low, essential commodities are out of reach of the poor masses who barely eat once a day.
The Dollar to Naira exchange rate ratio at one dollar to N1,000, is the most economy-unfriendly in the annals of the history of Nigeria. The prohibitive prices of petroleum products with the attendant multi-dimensional challenges following the removal of the subsidy, has posed a nightmare better to be imagined than experienced. Inflation, has been on the increase, negatively affecting the purchasing power of low income Nigerians. Contributing to the poverty scourge is the low private investment due to.unfriendly business environment and lack of power supply, as well as low social development outcomes resulting in low productivity. The developed economies of the world are private sector-driven. So the inadequate involvement of the private sector in Nigeria’s economy, is a leading cause of unemployment which inevitably translates to poverty.
Igbiki Benibo
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world, the pursuit of success and growth has become an all-consuming force. Individuals, organisations, and nations alike, are locked in a perpetual struggle to achieve more, earn more, and surpass their rivals. Yet, beneath this relentless drive for progress lies a silent danger—the risk of self-destruction. This perilous pattern, which I call the self-destruct trajectory, describes the path taken when ambition and growth are pursued without restraint, awareness, or moral balance. The self-destruct trajectory is fueled by an insatiable hunger for more—a mindset that glorifies endless expansion while disregarding the boundaries of ethics, sustainability, and human well-being. At first glance, it may appear to promise prosperity and achievement. After all, ambition has long been celebrated as a virtue. But when growth becomes the only goal, it mutates into obsession.
Individuals burn out, organisations lose their soul, and societies begin to fracture under the weight of their own excesses. The consequences are everywhere. People pushed beyond their limits face anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnection. Companies sacrifice employee welfare and social responsibility on the altar of profit. The entire ecosystems suffer as forests are cleared, oceans polluted, and air poisoned in the name of economic progress. The collapse of financial systems, widening income inequality, and global environmental crises are all symptoms of this same relentless, self-consuming pursuit. To understand this dynamic, one can turn to literature—and to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In one of the novel’s most haunting scenes, young Oliver, starving in the workhouse, dares to utter the words: “Please, sir, I want some more.” This simple plea encapsulates the essence of human desire—the urge for more. But it also mirrors the perilous craving that drives the self-destruct trajectory. Like Oliver, society keeps asking for “more”—more wealth, more power, more success—without considering the consequences of endless wanting.
The workhouse itself symbolises the system of constraints and boundaries that ambition often seeks to defy. Oliver’s courage to ask for more represents the daring spirit of human aspiration—but it also exposes the risk of defying limits without reflection. Mr. Bumble, the cruel overseer, obsessed with authority and control, embodies the darker forces that sustain this destructive cycle: greed, pride, and the illusion of dominance. Through this lens, Dickens’ tale becomes a timeless metaphor for the modern condition—a warning about what happens when ambition blinds compassion and growth eclipses humanity. Avoiding the self-destruct trajectory requires a radical rethinking about success. True progress should not be measured solely by accumulation, but by balance—by how growth serves people, planet, and purpose.
This calls for a more holistic approach to achievement, one that values sustainability, empathy, and integrity alongside innovation and expansion
Individuals must learn to pace their pursuit of goals, embracing rest, reflection, and meaningful relationships as part of a full life. The discipline of “enough”—knowing when to stop striving and start appreciating—can restore both mental well-being and moral clarity. Organisations, on their part, must reimagine what it means to succeed: prioritising employee welfare, practising environmental stewardship, and embedding social responsibility in the core of their mission. Governments and policymakers also play a vital role. They can champion sustainable development through laws and incentives that reward ethical practices and environmental responsibility. By investing in education, renewable energy, and equitable economic systems, they help ensure that ambition is channeled toward collective benefit rather than collective ruin.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provides a tangible pathway for this transformation. When businesses take ownership of their social and environmental impact—reducing carbon footprints, supporting local communities, and promoting fair labour—they not only strengthen society but also secure their own long-term stability. Sustainable profit is, after all, the only kind that endures. Ultimately, avoiding the self-destruct trajectory is not about rejecting ambition—it is about redefining it. Ambition must evolve from a self-centred hunger for more into a shared pursuit of the better. We must shift from growth at all costs to growth with conscience. The future will belong not to those who expand endlessly, but to those who expand wisely. By embracing restraint, compassion, and sustainability, we can break free from the cycle of self-destruction and create a new narrative—one where success uplifts rather than consumes, and where progress builds rather than burns.
In the end, the question is not whether we can grow, but whether we can grow without losing ourselves. The choice is ours: to continue along the self-destruct trajectory, or to chart a more balanced, humane, and enduring path toward greatness.
Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi
