A better Nigeria is POSSIBLE. Yes, it is.
While a competent President is imperative, the better Nigeria we all hope for will not come from one messiah President. It will come from three hard things we have avoided for too long:
Fixing Productivity, Not Just Sharing Money
Nigeria has been a sharing economy since the oil boom – FAAC allocation every month.
A Better Nigeria means moving from sharing to production: securing our farms so food prices can crash, providing reliable power so small businesses can actually make things, and fixing ports and roads so trade can work.
Subsidy removal and forex unification were painful, but they were necessary first steps. The real test now is whether that pain translates to factories, jobs, and food on the table.
Fixing The Elite Bargain
Nigeria’s problem is not lack of ideas. It is that our political system rewards ethnicity and religion over competence. We still vote for “our son” even when he is incompetent.
A Better Nigeria will happen when Nigerians start demanding performance at polling units, wards, LGAs, federal and state constituencies, and at state level — not just in Aso Rock.
The President gets the blame, but our Governors and Local Government Chairmen control most of what affects our daily lives. Our lawmakers have become merchants who become billionaires the moment they enter the National Assembly. That bargain must change.
Fixing Citizen Behaviour
We complain about corruption in Abuja, but we pay bribes to get NIN, to pass checkpoints, to get admission.
A Better Nigeria requires a new civic culture. Countries like Rwanda and Botswana did not get better because they found angels as leaders — they built systems that make corruption difficult, and they punished it.
Is anyone doubting that a Better Nigeria is still possible? For me, I believe. Not because I am naive, but because I have seen what Nigerians do outside Nigeria. The same Nigerian who cannot get uninterrupted electricity in Abuja runs a successful logistics company in Toronto – Canada, wins NHS awards in Kent, UK.
Our human capital is world-class. It is the system at home that fails us.
It will take a few years of great and consistent intentions from all of us — and a good election that produces leadership aligned with birthing a Better Nigeria is imperative. The 2027 elections may be the take-off point.
In the next couple of days, I will begin a series of write-ups on how we can make a Better Nigeria happen.
Let us all be part of this journey. Share, comment, suggest, and contribute where necessary.
Please join this conversation.
