Nigeria’s biggest problem is not corruption, it is Federal Character
By Nigeria’s biggest problem is not corruption but Federal Character.
Federal Character is the “PROPORTIONAL” allocation of projects, appointments to Nigerians and Nigerian States irrespective of competence, science, need or empirical analysis, simply tribe coded as States is used.
Nigeria will go nowhere unless it plays its “first eleven“
To be clear, I am not even talking of individual political appointment but of location of industries and economic decisions.
There are many examples: International airports in isolated states and none in high commerce states, steel rolling mills in the middle of nowhere, refineries not depots located far away from any source of crude oil, only one functional deep sea port State along the entire Nigerian coast. These were not “corrupt” decisions but tribal decisions made under cover of Federal Character.
I wrote about Ajaokuta, I purposely left out the location in Ajaokuta, that was the first mistake.
Once it was located in Ajaokuta we needed an expensive rail and port. If Ajaokuta was ready 100% today how will we import the raw materials? Which port will handle them? Remember no real deep sea port apart from Lagos (Apapa).
Nigeria built Delta Steel to supply three rolling mills then it planted a rolling mill in far flung Katsina. What is the quantum of scrap in Katsina?
You see how we lose in the long run!
Someone also built power plants in the West but the power source is in the East. Then we pipe gas to the power plants. Why didn’t we site the power plants in the East and transmit the power to the West?
Federal Character gives a meter, and takes a kilometre. We must get serious, we are playing and chasing corrupt people here and there….to what gain?
Africa will not wait for a “giant” (small g) that cannot feed and protect her citizens.
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