By Idowu Ephraim Faleye: +2348132100608
Why is it that what works in other countries doesn’t work in Nigeria? It’s a question we have asked over and over again, but we never seem to get real answers. We import policies, infrastructures, systems, and even constitutions from thriving nations, and once they land on Nigerian soil, they suddenly become useless. It’s as if a mysterious force sabotages our every move towards development. But there is no mystery here. The enemy of Nigeria’s growth is not some hidden curse, neither is it our climate nor geographical location. The truth is hard, bitter, and uncomfortable: the Nigerian people themselves are the greatest enemy of Nigeria’s development.
Let us start with democracy, a system of governance that has worked wonders in many parts of the world. In developed nations, people vote based on values, ideology, and performance. The ballot reflects the collective will to progress. But in Nigeria, democracy is a marketplace. Votes are bought and sold like tomatoes in the market square. Leaders are selected not because they are the most competent, but because they can bribe their way through, threaten, deceive, or manipulate their way into power. The people, who should be the gatekeepers of democracy, have sold out for a plate of porridge.
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Other nations have taken their diversity and turned it into strength. America, with its hundreds of ethnicities, thrives on inclusion. India, with its complex cultural layers, finds harmony in structured diversity. China, with over a billion people, manages to organize itself and move forward. But in Nigeria, our diversity is a weapon. We use ethnicity, religion, and regional loyalty as tools for division. We do not see ourselves as Nigerians first. We see ourselves as Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Fulani, Christian, Muslim, or even states and villages. This constant competition and suspicion among us poison every effort at national unity.
Think about crude oil. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have turned oil into gold. They have built modern cities in deserts, lifted their people out of poverty, and established global economic relevance. Nigeria discovered oil long ago, but instead of using it to build, we used it to loot. The more oil we discover, the poorer we become. Our refineries do not work. We import fuel despite sitting on oceans of crude oil. Why? Because some people somewhere benefit from the dysfunction. They profit when Nigeria bleeds.
Subsidies are meant to ease the burden on citizens. Other countries subsidize housing, transport, healthcare, and education to improve the quality of life. In Nigeria, subsidies have become a curse. Billions disappear in the name of subsidy. The people it was meant to help never feel its impact. It is either stolen, diverted, or used as a tool for political manipulation. Who is responsible? The people in government? Yes. But also, the people outside it who aid, abet, and celebrate them.
Our bicameral legislature was meant to ensure checks and balances. Instead, it has become a drainpipe. Lawmakers are among the highest-paid in the world, yet the laws they pass rarely improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians. The legal system that should protect the weak and punish the wicked has become the playground of the rich. Justice is no longer blind; it sees faces and smells money.
Our correctional centres are factories of hardened criminals. Our borders are as porous as a basket. Our immigration system is designed to make life difficult for genuine travellers while helping traffickers and terrorists sneak in. Our security agencies are underfunded, under-equipped, and often compromised. Yet billions are budgeted yearly. Why are things not working?
Our schools meant to be centres of enlightenment, are now shadows of themselves. Students graduate without knowledge. Teachers are unpaid. Lecturers sell grades. Parents buy certificates. Our educational system is a factory of mediocrity.
Religion, which should guide morality, has become a tool for manipulation. Some of our religious leaders now worship money more than God. They preach prosperity over honesty, and miracle over hard work. People now measure righteousness by wealth, not by character. This madness has crept into our collective psyche. We no longer value modesty. We no longer ask how wealth was acquired. As long as you have money, you are celebrated.
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Look at our civil service. It was designed to be the engine room of government, but it has turned into a warehouse of sabotage. Projects are delayed, files go missing, and public servants extort citizens just to do their jobs. In hospitals, patients die because money meant for equipment was diverted. In the power sector, people steal electricity and officials steal revenue.
Yes, we often blame the leaders. But let’s look at the leaders we’ve had. Gowon, despite his youthful age, was guided by intellectuals-Late Chief Awolowo. Murtala Muhammed was so treasured that even as a kid, I used to tell my immediate elder brother that I wanted to become Murtala. My brother would correct me, “You cannot become Murtala, you can only become the president”. Obasanjo handed over to civilians. Shagari was weak, but he wasn’t a monster. Buhari, Babangida, Abacha—they all had their flaws, but they also tried in different ways. Jonathan, Yaradua, and even Tinubu today, are doing what they can. Some failed more than others, but no single leader has held Nigeria back as much as the collective attitude of the Nigerian people.
We say our problem is an external influence, colonial amalgamation, or bad geography. But multi-ethnicity works in India. Amalgamation didn’t stop Canada or South Africa. Geography didn’t stop Japan, Singapore, or even Rwanda. What really stops Nigeria is the Nigerian.
Let’s face it: Nigerians are naturally and culturally corrupt. The average Nigerian will condemn corruption until they get the opportunity to benefit from it. From the man on the street to the man in the palace, corruption is a way of life. It is in our blood, our jokes, our music, our conversations, our families.
Look at our ancestors. The affluent in the olden days would wear heavily embroidered clothes, stack beads on their neck and arms, carry a beaded walking stick, and sit majestically while others bowed. Affluence was flaunted and celebrated. Those who had none were scorned. That culture of flaunting wealth continues today. It has simply been modernized.
Now, it is luxury cars, gold chains, designer clothes, and mansions. But the mindset remains the same: flaunt it, even if you got it through evil. We don’t respect the honest man. We praise the rich, even when we know they stole. We line up to greet them, cheer them, and give them front-row seats in churches and mosques. We give them chieftaincy titles. We invite them to speak at our events.
This is why nothing works. Someone steals money meant for defence, and soldiers die in droves. Senators vote against laws that intend to curb the stealing of money meant for defence. Roads collapse because the money for construction was shared among the contractors, supervisory engineers, civil servants and politicians.
Rail tracks are stolen without consideration for the lives of travellers, fake drugs are manufactured, people are kidnapped and dismembered for sales, pension funds are looted, and public officials stash money that ten generations cannot finish in foreign banks or bury them in the ground where it will rot. And yet, these same people walk freely, celebrated by the same society they destroyed.
How can development happen in such an environment? Even when someone tries to do the right thing, others are waiting to undo it. You build a system, and the next government destroys it. You save money, and the next government squanders it. Until we change our mindset, Nigeria will remain trapped.
Some say it is our destiny to suffer. Maybe. Because no sane nation would continue this way unless it is cursed. But curses are not eternal. They can be broken. Culture is not a prison. It can be reformed. But we must decide.
There is only one solution: brutal, decisive action. In many Asian countries, corruption attracts the death penalty. In the Gulf States, corrupt officials are executed. These countries were once like us, but they chose pain over poverty, justice over sentiments. Nigeria must stop treating corruption with kid gloves. We must stop celebrating thieves. We must start naming and shaming, jailing, and even executing those who loot the future of generations unborn.
If you are sick, and you see someone with your nature of illness take a drug and get well, would you not use that same drug? Nigeria is sick. Very sick. And the cure is clear: we must deal with corruption ruthlessly. Until then, we will continue to recycle suffering. We will keep importing solutions that fail. We will keep blaming leaders while enabling the real enemies: ourselves.
It is not enough to weep at the sight of poverty. It is not enough to criticize on social media. We must hate corruption with passion. We must reject every form of illegal wealth. We must teach our children that integrity matters more than affluence. We must stop worshiping money and start building values.
If we do not change, the cycle will continue. And Nigeria will remain what it has always been: a giant with clay feet, falling again and again, because its people are its greatest enemy.
Idowu Faleye is the founder and publisher of EphraimHill DataBlog, a platform committed to Data Journalism and Policy Analysis. With Public Administration and Data Analytics background, his articles offer research-driven insights into Politics, governance and Public Service delivery
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