Ten ways Nigerians are responsible for the Nigeria’s unproductivity

No matter how good a government we have, Nigeria is never going to become a productive nation as long as her citizens have these 10 vices

[1] Nigerians are too passionate about their religious faiths. An overwhelming number of Nigerians are more interested in going to heaven than making their country a better place. Indeed many would burn Nigeria down to the ground just because they believe it will facilitate then going to heaven.

[2] Nigerians are too closely attached to their ethnic groups and traditional rulers. I subscribe to views of Samora Machel when he said: “For the nation to grow, the tribe must die.”

[3] Nigerians love entertainment and merriment to an obscene level. We invest money in parties that should be contributed to cooperative societies to create jobs.

[4] Nigerians hate being called just plain Mr or Ms. No other people on the world love amassing titles like us.

[5] Our misguided orientation has led us to believe that how much material wealth you have is a measure of your worth.

[6] We Nigerians believe that public transport is for the poor and lazy. Gustavo Petro once said: “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”

[7] Erroneously, Nigerians believe that their federal government has the capacity to solve all of society’s socio-economic woes.

[8] Probably most destructive of all is the fact that we love high-end products, yet produce none of these goods ourselves. As a people, we are shamelessly happy to import all our consumer goods. On contrast, in South Korea, their national slogan is: “Anything we don’t produce, we don’t need.”

[9] We are embarrassingly sycophantic. Decades of living under military rule has engrained the oga-at-the-top mentality into our psyche. Our top-to-bottom mentality makes it impossible for an average Nigerian to refuse to over unreasonable orders from people in positions of authority.

[10] Nigerians appreciate the value of education. However, this means they disrespect people who did not go to university irrespective of what skills they possess. You simply cannot build a global super power when your population thinks this way. A higher level of thinking is required.

Ayo Akinfe