On why I remain bullish on Nigeria

Political development over the last 25 years, opportunities for subnational experimentation/variation, and nascent restructuring of political economy are reasons for cautious optimism

I: What is the trouble with Nigeria?

In The Trouble with Nigeria, Chinua Achebe blamed poor leadership for Nigeria’s woes:

The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of the its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.

On the morning after Murtala Muhammed seized power in July 1975 public servants in Lagos were found “on seat” at seven-thirty in the morning. Even the “go-slow” traffic that had defeated every solution and defied every regime vanished overnight from the streets! Why? The new ruler’s reputation for ruthlessness was sufficient to transform in the course of only one night the style and habit of Nigeria’s unruly capital.

That the character of one man could establis…