By Ernest Osogbue
The promotion of 45 lecturers to professors by the University of Abuja sometime in April 2025 got me thinking about the state of our nation and how we can get things going. Nigerians love promotions and celebrations, and on a daily basis, we find reasons to celebrate one success or the other. The advent of social media has added fuel to this craze. As a result, one is usually inundated with the news of one feat or the other achieved by a Nigerian.
You will be hard-pressed, however, to see the impact of these achievements on the development of our country. For instance, since when Oluwatobi Amusan broke the World Record in the 100mH in 2022, many Nigerians have embarked on breaking different Guinness World Records. While this speaks to the resilience of the Nigerian, it also exposes our penchant for chasing shadows rather than substances. There is this ‘I pass my neighbor’ mentality that Nigerians have that is very irritating. People just wish to show off or seek undue attention. Unknown to many, this behavior is driven by poverty mentality. The other day, a former world record holder attempted another world record by cooking the largest pot of jollof rice. You begin to wonder what this is all about.
There is no doubt that Nigerians love to make a name for themselves. the question, however, is what kind of name. I recall that some years ago, a prominent female banker was named as the Banker of the Year, at the annual banker’s awards ceremony. There was wild jubilation as she celebrated the feat, and the profile of her bank was elevated. In a swift turn of events only a few months later, she was convicted and sent to jail for fraudulent practices. In a similar manner, a prominent Abuja based socialite set tongues wagging across the country last year, when she literarily took over a small Caribbean Island, spent thousands of dollars to ferry, accommodate, and feed her well-wishers in a lavish birthday celebration that lasted for over one week. In another twist, she was declared wanted a few weeks later by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for money laundering.
In a recent interview, David Adeleke, aka Davido, admitted to a close friendship with convicted cybercriminal Hushpuppi. He alluded to the fact that the hardship in Nigeria sometimes pushed people into criminal behavior, if only for them to enjoy the good life briefly. This was his way of defending Hushpuppi. I don’t agree with Davido. There is no room to window-dress a crime or make excuses for criminal behavior. Anyone desiring a good life must legitimately work for it. Having said that, however, Davido’s position gives insight to the mentality of some Nigerians and how they justify criminal behavior.
Nigerians have the highest number of private jets. Expensive Japanese, Korean, American, and German cars litter our roads. We dine at the fanciest restaurants, drinking choice liqueur. Our women wear choice braids, expensive Brazilian, Venezuelan, and Peruvian attachments. Our homes are adorned with mahogany and oak paneling, with exotic animals as our pets. Despite these luxuries, Nigeria stinks to the outside world.
There is a negative perception of Nigeria and Nigerians in many parts of the world. This perception supersedes any individual accomplishment one could achieve. Nigerians are seen to be bold, intelligent, hardworking, and friendly in most places. That is on the positive side. On the other hand, Nigerians are known for their 419 scams, their impatience and aggressive behavior, drug pushing, romance scams, cheating tendencies, etc. Nigeria as a nation is reputed to be the poverty capital of the world, the nation with lowest internet density, lowest electricity production per capita, the nation with the highest infant mortality rate, the highest maternal mortality rate, one of the most terrorized countries in the world, with bandits, insurgents and kidnappers acting as they please. A former British Prime Minister once described Nigeria as being fantastically corrupt. Exam malpractice and sex for marks have been normalized in our institutions of learning. In fact, Nigeria is perceived as a country in shambles by most people around the world and by even some Nigerians.
Despite the above, there is no effort by Nigerians to create a world record by providing solutions to these problems. We are more interested in creating personal impressions and for breaking records that have no bearing on solving our problems. The green Nigerian passport carries a stigma wherever you go. Rachel Oluwabukola Martins, better known as DJ Dimples, a Lagos based entertainer, recently narrated her ordeal in the Philippines. She was humiliated, deprived of her humanity, and then unlawfully deported simply because she is Nigerian. Imagine Filipinos disgracing a prominent Nigerian.
With the number of professors we have in the country, how come we only produce 5,000 megawatts of electricity? When China produces 5.6 billion megawatts. What are the professors of electrical engineering doing? After celebrating their promotion to professors, what happens next? How does it feel to be a professor of agriculture in a country that can not produce enough food for its citizens? It is only in Nigeria that you would find a professor of literature who has never written a story.
As long as we all go by the pronoun ‘Nigerian’, anything that affects Nigeria affects us all. Wherever you brandish the Nigerian passport, you are immediately flagged for extra screening. Your individual success is of no consequence. What immigration officials see is a person from a country with a negative perception. Professor Wole Soyinka complained recently of being flagged by the US embassy in Nigeria and how he was asked to appear for a visa re-interview, which he rejected.
That is exactly the point. Rather than chase these meaningless world records, could we sit down and try to solve our nation’s problems?
it is about time we came together to remove those issues that give Nigerian a negative perception. I believe this should be the most important record Nigerians should be striving to break. When you encounter a Swiss, a Canadian, or an American, you immediately ascribe their nation’s success to them. It does not matter whether the person is a failure or a success in their country. In the same manner, when you encounter a citizen of Afghanistan, Yemen, or Bangladesh, it would not matter to you whether they were individually successful, your first impression of them is your perception of their country. This proves that your individual accomplishments are immaterial when the perception of your country is negative.
Europeans and Americans laugh at Nigerians when we try to impress them. They see through our posturings and make a mockery of us. Femi Otedola recently gave out his daughter in marriage in three different locations; Dubai, Monaco, and Iceland. Adedeji Adeleke, the father of Davido, splashed millions of dollars for him to marry Chioma in the USA. Who were they trying to impress? You could marry in a pigsty. What matters is how the couple lives. These posturings are unnecessary. Your countrymen and women are dying of poverty, being kidnapped, and killed by bandits, molested by insurgents, and you are trying to impress people? We are making efforts to impress people who despise us. Like my late uncle used to say; you can wash a pig, you can clean a pig, and you can even oil a pig, but a pig will always remain a pig. You could chase clout all you want, create world records, become a professor, and own the most expensive car. In the end, you’ll always remain a Nigerian. Let us, therefore, work to clean Nigeria first, before chasing clout.
