Nigeria Past and Present: What is the way for the Future?

BY IDOWU ADEWARA

Nigeria is a country that has never lacked potential. What it has lacked is the discipline, leadership, and collective will to turn that potential into a prosperous reality for most of its people. Both our past and our present moment confront us with the same question: will we finally learn from experience, or will we continue recycling the same mistakes in new forms?

A look into the past shows that Nigeria did not begin as a carefully negotiated national project. Its creation in 1914, through the amalgamation of diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious groups, was driven largely by colonial administrative convenience rather than shared identity or consensus. British colonial governance prioritised extraction over development, centralised authority over participatory governance, and obedience over citizenship. Institutions were designed to serve imperial interests, not to foster accountability or national cohesion.

At independence in 1960, Nigeria inherited these structures without sufficiently reimagining them. The early post-independence years, marked by political instability and ethnic rivalry, quickly gave way to military rule. For decades, the military dominated Nigeria’s political life, interrupting democratic learning and weakening civilian institutions. Decision-making became highly centralised, dissent was suppressed, and accountability was treated as optional.

Perhaps the most consequential development in Nigeria’s political economy was the discovery and exploitation of oil. The oil boom of the 1970s presented a historic opportunity to transform infrastructure, education, and industry on a grand scale. Instead, oil became both a blessing and a curse. It fuelled corruption, and the neglect of agriculture and manufacturing, sectors that had once sustained broad-based livelihoods. While oil revenues promised prosperity, they entrenched a rent-dependent economy. Productivity, innovation, and taxation were sidelined as the state became reliant on oil proceeds. Successive military and civilian administrations treated the nation as a dispenser of oil rents rather than a platform for productive enterprise and social investment. This culture elevated proximity to power over competence and replaced genuine economic planning with routine federal allocations.

The return to civilian rule in 1999 raised hopes for a new chapter rooted in constitutionalism, accountability, and growth. More than two decades later, democracy has survived, but it has yet to mature into a system that reliably delivers security, justice, and opportunity for the average Nigerian.

Elections remain high-stakes contests, frequently marred by vote-buying, low turnout, and a dangerous mix of apathy and cynicism. Institutions meant to check power, including the courts, legislatures, and regulatory agencies, too often bend under political pressure, patronage, or chronic underfunding. The result is a steady erosion of public faith in the rule of law.

Public office, rather than being widely viewed as a platform for service, is commonly perceived as a route to personal security and enrichment. This perception has shaped a leadership culture that prioritises political survival over stewardship. Policies change with administrations, long-term planning is sacrificed for short-term advantage, and public trust continues to weaken.

Yet leadership failure alone does not explain Nigeria’s condition. Civic culture has also suffered. Years of disappointment have bred apathy and resignation. Dysfunction is increasingly seen as normal, something to be endured rather than challenged. Elections are approached with low expectations, civic engagement is irregular, and accountability is often demanded selectively, if at all.

This mutual disengagement, with leaders governing without genuine accountability and citizens retreating into survival mode, has produced a fragile social contract. The state does little to earn trust, while citizens feel little obligation beyond navigating the system for personal survival.

The consequences are now evident. Nigeria’s young people, among the most talented and energetic in the world, increasingly view emigration as the most viable path to dignity and opportunity. Professionals leave not only in search of better wages but also in search of systems that function. Those who remain frequently contend with underemployment, frustration, and a growing sense of alienation.

Economically, the country struggles to diversify in any meaningful way. Infrastructure gaps persist, education systems underperform, and poverty remains widespread despite decades of substantial revenue inflows. Social divisions are deepened by insecurity, inequality, and mistrust. Morally, there is a creeping fatigue, a sense that little truly changes, regardless of who holds power.

Perhaps the greatest cost is the erosion of national belief. When citizens no longer trust that effort will be rewarded or that institutions will protect them, society becomes transactional, brittle, and vulnerable to breakdown.

Scholars of nation-building consistently argue that unity cannot be decreed. It must be earned through inclusive governance, equitable distribution of resources, and institutions that protect all citizens, not just those with connections. Where injustice is a daily experience, ethnic and religious identities become defensive shelters rather than components of a shared civic identity. Breaking this cycle requires action on three interconnected fronts: leadership reform, institutional rebuilding, and renewed civic responsibility.

First, leadership must be redefined. Nigeria does not merely need new leaders; it needs a new understanding of leadership itself. The country must move from personality-driven politics to institution-driven governance, where rules are clear, consequences are real, and public office is centred on service and measurable outcomes. Leadership should be understood as stewardship, not entitlement. Competence, integrity, and continuity must replace patronage and improvisation. Sustainable development cannot rest on individuals alone; it depends on strong, enduring institutions.

Second, institutions must be rebuilt deliberately. Strong institutions create predictability, fairness, and trust. This demands policy consistency, respect for the rule of law, and an end to selective enforcement. Education, healthcare, security, and the judiciary must be insulated from political interference and treated as national priorities rather than bargaining tools. Local governments must also be strengthened as genuine centres of development, enabling citizens to hold leaders accountable at the closest level to their daily lives.

Third, and most importantly, citizens must reclaim their role. Research on nation-building is clear that sustainable progress depends on active citizens who demand better, participate constructively, and hold leaders accountable beyond election day. While anger at bad leadership is justified, it is necessary to confront an uncomfortable truth: no corrupt politician acts alone. Rigged elections involve compromised officials and voters who sell their votes. Inflated contracts require collaborators in the private sector. Every bribe offered has someone willing to accept it. A nation cannot be repaired solely by those in power if those outside power have withdrawn from collective responsibility.

Nigeria’s history explains its present, but it does not excuse it. The past may have shaped the foundations, but the future will be determined by choices made now, by leaders who choose to govern with vision and by citizens who refuse to accept dysfunction as destiny.

Nigeria’s challenges are serious, but they are not unique. Other nations with troubled histories have rebuilt themselves through deliberate leadership, institutional reform, and active citizenship. What is required is not blind optimism, but disciplined hope anchored in responsibility, sacrifice, and sustained effort.

The task before Nigeria is not to search endlessly for saviours or to romanticise the past. It is to commit to the slow, demanding work of nation-building. History has brought Nigeria to this point. What comes next will depend on whether leadership rises to its duty and whether citizens choose engagement over resignation.

Only then can Nigeria begin to move from a nation that merely endures to one that truly works.

Idowu Adewara is a fellow of the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy.