Abiodun Oladipo

Why Couldn’t Nigeria Build What Iran Built Under Sanctions? Aside from the obvious fact that Iran is not just an old country but one of the world’s oldest continuous civilisational states, with a deep cultural memory and a durable sense of historical self, the real difference may be simpler: when pressure comes, Iran can still fall back on an idea of itself as a nation, while Nigeria too often falls back on its fragments. Iran itself is ethnically diverse, but it has preserved a rich political and cultural continuity stretching back to the Achaemenian period, and modern sanctions against it have been layered on for decades, from the post-1979 rupture with the United States to the far tighter multilateral restrictions of the nuclear era. Nigeria, by contrast, has still not fully agreed to be a nation in the emotional sense. What we have often done instead is elevate a hierarchy of competing loyalties: place of origin, ethnic group, faith, and only then the republic. We magnify these attachments when convenient and weaponise them when useful. Even the language of national belonging is frequently conditional, activated less by shared civic purpose than by the proximity of one’s own section of the country to power. A few years ago, I was in London with friends from different Nigerian ethnic backgrounds when the subject of patriotism came up. A British friend asked what Nigeria meant to us, and the answers around the table were tellingly different. I told him then that loyalty to the Nigerian state is, for many people, rarely a first instinct. For many, it comes after loyalty to community, religion, or ethnicity. That may sound harsh, but it is not wholly detached from what survey evidence has found: Nigerians often express tolerance for diversity and many say there is more that unites them than divides them, yet experiences of ethnic discrimination weaken national belonging, and groups that feel excluded from central power are more likely to prioritise ethnic identity over national identity. True to that sentiment, the most vocal patriot at that table that day happened to share an ethnic, religious, and regional affinity with the president of the day. So we teased him that his nationalism was animated by the feeling that the Nigerian state had become legible to him through the man in charge. He was patriotic, yes, but in the way many of us are patriotic: when the centre feels familiar, when power sounds like our language, prays like us, or comes from our own corner of the map. We singled out another friend at the table as almost constitutionally incapable of that kind of patriotism, not because he was deficient in civic sense, but because he came from a bloc whose relationship with the Nigerian centre had long been defined by frustration, ambition, and failed bids for national power. For such a person, national identity can feel less like a common inheritance than a waiting room for other people’s victories. That, too, is part of our problem: too many of us experience Nigeria not as a shared home, but as an arena in which our “public” must capture the state before the state becomes ours. That is why sanctions do not produce the same political psychology everywhere. In countries with a strong civic core, external pressure can trigger a rally-round-the-flag effect, however temporary. This is because the people recognise the flag as theirs. In a country where national identity is thin, pressure does not necessarily produce cohesion; it can intensify competition among internal factions, each of them calculating survival and advantage through narrower loyalties. 1/2

This is an elite mindset, Natasha. 100k can do so many poor people selling stuff in the market a lot of good. When they say Indians have lesser people in poverty than Nigeria, it's not because they have a large number of persons that are wealthy, it's because they have very large number of persons in micro schemes that are being empowered in this manner just to make sure these persons in the bottom rung of the ladder do not collapse totally. Truth is, this category is actually in hundreds of millions over there. You'll be shocked what these category of persons can turnover from 100k in a month and I can tell you that if every politician like Akin is doing this, Nigeria will leave the extreme poverty zone in no distant time. However, I'm proud of how mature, very sensitive and sensible you've become over time.

We will be doing our children a grave disservice if we let the offspring of these wicked politicians rule over them.

I will never pity people who rose on the back of people's enterprise and then defame them for it. Papa Ajasco had always been the IP of WAP way before he appeared on TV. He could have started a skit series, his own show, or 300 other things, but no, he chose to blame his employer who paid him for work done & signed a willing contract. Many of his generation have pivoted or even relocated. This is a terrible entitlement mentality that should be condemned.

Would like to read a study on the Nigerian messianic complex: the need to crown a new messiah every three market days. VDM, Rita, now Ella.

I saw someone accuse the commissioner of trying to toast her cos he offered to ride with her, abeg make una dey pretend to think sometimes.

Now that the dust has settled, some of us can now speak out. The truth of the matter is that sometimes when we say these things, some people actually think we say things for fun or something. No, we say it to help people learn, especially from experience. I have noticed too much noise and aggression on here, wailing about the Lagos State Commissioner for Information. I personally believe that it is the APC supporters who actually make some of these people popular, because how will someone who said there are not enough buses and who is now calling the attention of the State Government to this suddenly become a point of vociferous defence of the Government? I have said it on many occasions, these people who you defend no really send una. If you don't have a personal relationship with some of them, all these defences sometimes are not necessary. They will throw you under the bus. This is why I keep saying that as a people, even if you want to support someone, be bold enough to tell them where there are gaps, and if you cannot, do not gag those who speak the truth to power. Take it as feedback, where necessary. Now, the Lagos State Commissioner of Information has disowned all you defenders and said they never asked you to do all those things you did. You're now angry. But this isn't the first time something like this has happened. A whole lot of times. These people have always told you via their actions and inactions say dem no really send una yet you all keep doing the same thing. That was how you people ran a campaign against the SA on Tourism, calling for his sack. How far? The guy is still doing his job, nobody sacked him. The same way y'all screamed about that NYSC lady everywhere, you even made her quite popular. How far? She's enjoying and living her life. Let me reiterate my point, it is not everything you APC boys and girls need to jump on at first instance, and want to criminalize every action you don't agree with, especially when they raise genuine societal issues. At the end of the day, you are pawns. I hope you realize in time. Some of us have made the same mistakes, we speak from experience. You'll be shocked that those who either criticize or abuse the Government more are enjoying access and perks more than those of you sleeping and waking online doing defensive work no one sent you to do. Be human, address issues from a point of empathy and reason. Like I told some friends, if you say you are angry that BRT buses got burnt, no problem. Acknowledged the sufferings being presently faced and reference where we were coming from regarding the destruction of BRT buses, and remind citizens that it is our resources that are used for this purchase and won't be good destroying them while imploring Government to get more buses. When you give a balanced perspective, people will react more reasonably to you because you've shown valid concern. But no, every time you denigrate and insult and input bigotry into the conversation. Those at the top don't do bigotry when they do business or share money or loot our common patrimony. I just want to speak sense today. Use your head. Even the people who will form the next Government will still not send you. Have you seen Sanwo Olu? Don't you see the way he enjoys himself? Don't you look at the people he mingles with? How many times have they granted audience to you people who spend day and night defending them? If anything happens to you today, ask yourself, who will come through for you? Who will speak up for you? Always remember you are human first before your political party or learnings.

This is pathetic

Egbon, you stand for absolutely nothing and you are just as dangerous as any other terrorist. You in fact seem to benefit from the dysfunction. After all, of what relevance would you be in a sane society. Like I said, you stand for absolutely nothing. Just radicalism and noise. Shame!!!

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My son is in primary 2 and his school fees in a year is over 2million naira. People want quality education but don’t want to pay the commensurate value for it.

Them: how do you expect quality education when teachers are poorly paid. Me: I agree. Teachers can’t give quality education if they are paid poorly. Me: if you want teachers to be paid well and to get quality education, you have to pay good money for school fees, except government subsidises it. Them: I don’t agree. You can get good and quality education without paying high fees. Some of you walk around out confused thinkings