When Walter Rodney wrote How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, he pointed fingers at colonial powers who plundered the continent’s wealth and weakened its institutions. But today, Nigeria’s problem has evolved. It is no longer colonialism that holds us back—it is us. Our suffering is now homemade. While the world races ahead in science, innovation, and development, we are crawling in reverse. We were meant to be global competitors, yet we’re stuck in a cycle of betrayal, corruption, and deliberate backwardness. The bitter truth is this: no one is holding Nigeria down anymore—except Nigerians.
Our roads, rarely built for connection and commerce, are now ambush zones for kidnappers, hired assassins, and political fulani herdsmen who maim and kill without immpunity . Places meant to drive growth have become death traps. Leaders are power drunk. The poor are trampled daily like weeds under political boots. As Mallam Nasir El-Rufai once lamented, “Every leader after Obasanjo failed because they were handed power.” And when power is handed out like charity, those who receive it do not understand its weight. The real tragedy? These power-holders were not imported. They are Nigerians—just like you and me. The people destroying Nigeria are not foreign; they live among us, and they are us.
We obey the toxic instructions of political mafias with disturbing loyalty. We fight to protect them. We kill and die for them. We abandon logic and patriotism to follow men who have turned Nigeria into their personal business empire. And we do it with our full chest, as if enslaving ourselves is a badge of honour. Our political lords don’t need foreign armies to oppress us—they use our own hands, our own mouths, and our own fear. As Amartya Sen puts it, “Development requires the removal of major sources of unfreedom.” But here, we chain ourselves and throw away the key.
We ignore competence and celebrate tribal loyalty. We sell votes and then complain about stolen futures. We bribe our way into jobs, cheat in exams, and support corruption as long as it benefits “our person.” As Dambisa Moyo warned, “Good governance cannot exist without a culture that respects institutions.” But in Nigeria, institutions are slaughtered on the altar of favouritism and survival. Even the educated elite have become expert defenders of mediocrity. Imagine, the state law is becoming more powerful than the Nigerian law- a muslim sister who got converted to Christianity is facing death penalty while corrupt leaders are walking freely.
Beloveth, The real war is not between North and South—it’s between selfishness and nationhood. Rodney said underdevelopment is a process—one that keeps people poor by design. Today, we are both the designers and the victims. The church preaches prosperity but is helplesss on justice. The mosque promotes peace but ignores hunger. As Bishop David Oyedepo once thundered, “When a nation rewards thieves and punishes the righteous, it is under a curse.” In Nigeria, criminals cut ribbons and receive titles. Meanwhile, teachers, farmers, and honest workers are treated like beggars in their own land. We have turned wickedness into strategy and silence into wisdom.
But we cannot keep mourning forever. There is still time to rewrite the story—if we truly want to. Development is not magic; it starts with choices. With citizens who reject bribes. With youths who believe in building, not fleeing. With leaders who serve, not steal. As Claude Ake once said, “The problem in Africa is not the lack of democracy, but the manipulation of it.” Nigeria doesn’t need a new saviour. It needs Nigerians to stop being their own oppressors.
This is the painful reality of our times. Nigeria is not suffering because of bad luck, colonial leftovers, or foreign enemies. Nigeria is suffering because too many Nigerians have chosen personal gain over public good. No one is to blame but us. But if we broke it, we can fix it. The world is moving forward. Will we keep bleeding, or finally begin to heal?
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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