I am writing this as a guy who has just experienced Nigeria for himself as opposed to the usual reading about Nigeria.I confess that I was engaged in intercity travel. On the road. We walked the streets and markets. I saw people parking their cars and walking miles back to work. I heard the frustration and anger of the public. I’ve seen restaurants where people pay a ransom for a plate of food. I sat in some bars and smelled the fear of Nigeria’s dwindling middle class.Where is Nigeria?Nigeria is in a dire situation. If you’ve ever heard me say something like this in my nearly 50 years writing for the media, this is a place so dangerous that tomorrow morning may be too far away. It should be interpreted as meaning.But first let’s start with gratitude. I agree that the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos has seen some improvement. Even though it’s still embarrassing to compare with international terminals in some small African countries, the MMA arrivals I saw seemed to develop an element of self-pride.The news is that the immigration area has been completely rebuilt and looks similar to how it looked some 40 years ago when the airport was new. However, since I arrived before dawn, I may have misjudged the situation, but I seem to have forgotten that the airport hall is supposed to have air conditioning. It seemed like the country had air conditioning installed.Once you leave immigration, the customs hall is still a jungle, with a single battered baggage carousel that has been tossing passengers’ luggage wildly around for the past 30 years, and motor park-style baggage handlers overwhelming arriving travelers. It featured a corps of .But that’s also where I experienced the biggest surprise. While we were passing through customs, we never once saw or heard anyone asking for money from the shameless officials.For that, I commend those in law enforcement, the Department of Aviation, and the Department of Immigration who are responsible for these improvements.If you have traveled recently and have related experiences, we would love to hear from you.Please note: This story only refers to my arrival in MMA. I am waiting for departure formalities.When I left the airport, I was surprised to find a country I didn’t recognize. Nigeria has not only lost its swagger; Losing balance. Last year, when I last saw her, Nigeria was poor and crazy, but still full of hope, promise, dreams, and energy.Just one year later, in 2024, Nigeria will be a different country. This Nigeria is a tired and confused country. It is mentally exhausted, psychologically disillusioned, and bleeding from the bullet holes of poverty and doubt. It is truly a country on the brink.What is plaguing Nigeria is extremely tragic and stems from several tragedies: policy incoherence, lack of leadership and administrative arrogance.Who is in charge of Nigeria?My point is not whether someone took the oath of leadership or not. That is, whether someone has accepted the responsibility of leadership. It usually means an individual who is challenged, motivated, and guided by the law and a sense of personal example. He will be challenged, motivated, and guided by law and example for the benefit of all.Because of this, Nigeria is in free fall. People exercise or try to exercise authority but do not exercise leadership. Officials are driven by cynicism and self-interest, and no one is truly motivated by public interest or common sense.Nigeria is in such bad shape that foreigners mock Nigeria in Nigeria. A piece of terrain that is usually reserved for when it is safe to leave the area. They openly declare that Nigeria is a jungle and we lack leadership, as if we did not know.they are right. We literally and figuratively drive beyond purpose. In every country except Nigeria, citizens treat traffic rules as if they were optional. Nigeria is now very accepting of the rules of the jungle, allowing drivers to freely swerve their cars in different directions and into oncoming traffic.In other parts of the world, police would frown upon such incidents and launch investigations, seize vehicles and issue traffic tickets. Not so in Nigeria. This is probably because the police take the initiative to disrupt traffic without any sense of irony or responsibility.Of course, this is acceptable to the Nigerian authorities, who demonstrate at every opportunity that there is no such thing as a traffic violation if it benefits them, their families, and political actors.This ironic and dangerous driving pattern shows who we are and why we have gotten ourselves into serious trouble as a people. Otherwise, we should realize how ridiculous the concept of “new hope” is now, when despair now rules Congress.Even if you believed in the Bola Tinubu government, it is now clear that it is wrong for Nigeria. It is a regime that is pushing itself against the people, but is determined to continue doing so for its own benefit.In this administration, it’s not just the policy that’s at stake, but also its implementation. It’s scary to go into an office or workplace, as I did recently, and observe how lazy and cynical our work habits and productivity are. Cause is effect and mediocrity is now normal and completely acceptable.What this means is that we are not just poor, we had achieved the status of poverty capital of the world even before Tinubu arrived. Our poor leadership and work habits are driving us deeper underground.Last week, President Tinubu himself promoted talk of a cabinet reshuffle that would only make the situation worse, explaining part of the problem with work practices. Rather than reducing the size of his cabinet to the basic standards required by the constitution, he instead expanded it and kept underperforming ministers in place.Simply put, his so-called personnel changes do not reflect the gravity of the challenges at hand. All he has achieved is to ensure the same old “Kabiyesi” regime of indifference that got us here.What this means is that the president either does not understand the precipice situation Nigeria is currently on, or lacks the capacity to make real change. There’s no evidence that he really cares.There is no way we can respond to any emergency or explosion that we have with business-as-usual thinking. If Nigeria’s starving troops cannot afford food, they will take it wherever they can and then take it again. If the growing number of beggars and out-of-school children do not receive real help, they will have to resort to self-help, which will turn ugly. Perhaps the Nigerian state believes that it is protected by massive insecurity.My experience in Nigeria this time is a warning that bulletproof vests are useless in traffic accidents.
