TODAY, governments at all levels are celebrating Nigeria’s Independence Day. Nigeria is 64, as an independent country. It is Africa’s most populous country.
It has, in the last six decades, weathered a lot of storms to be one of the world’s most remarkable, even notorious, countries. Globally, Nigerians rule every sphere of life, from the economy to religion, sports and entertainment. Warts and all, the Nigerian military and the police have made remarkable strides across the African continent and on the global stage, and the conception that many people have the world over about the African continent is basically Nigerian.
Indeed, Nigerian cuisine is fast gaining the trust of people around the world, from Europe to America, and Asia. However, Nigeria’s essential problem, namely that of leadership, remains at the core of its troubles. Nigeria lacks leaders who care deeply about the people.
Enormously blessed with natural endowments, Nigeria suffers from the dearth of quality leadership. The leadership recruitment process, from party primaries to actual elections, is a study in brigandage. Party primaries and general elections are blatantly rigged, with the beneficiaries asking the aggrieved to “go to court” in an imperial, self-confident tone that suggests the absolute futility of such an exercise.
Nigerian leaders huff and puff about their commitment to the cause of national development but it is mere artifice. Nigeria is home to the world’s poorest, the global c.