Hello, Barrister Banji Alabi. I thank you for your patriotism and show of or display of pride in your home country, Nigeria. According to your statement, “The truth is that life is better in Nigeria than in the US.” What a questionable statement considering the realities, and the prevailing political, economic and social conditions of both countries. I found this statement to be ludicrous, laughable and utterly a joke and I decided to treat it as an academic exercise. But your comparative analysis between Nigeria and the United States needs much to be desired. In fact, it is like comparing apples and oranges. You cited the acute homelessness and shootings in schools as evidence of violence in the United States as a point of discourse and reference. Of course, these events or activities periodically happened, it is not the American way of life. But the United States is a well-known civilised society, where its citizens are constitutionally given the right to bear arms and Americans without any criminal records and proof of clean background checks have easy access to purchase guns. The former President Joe Biden’s government had tried on many occasions to pass national legislation or law to ban the sale and possession of assault weapons but without any significant success.
The question of homelessness is attributed to mixed factors involving the high costs of housing, lack of affordable housing in many American cities and mental illness affecting the poor and low-income people, who are struggling with the ailments. Believe it or not, shelters are provided for homeless Americans in major communities across the United States, but some of them prefer and choose to live in their vehicles or cars, which gives them independence and freedom from the regulation of their activities at the shelters.
Nonetheless, I consider Nigeria and the U.S. to be two parallels, which are diametrically opposed and can never converge to one another in many spheres of life, such as good governance, transparency, accountability, integrity, honesty, handwork, health care delivery, public security and safety of the American citizens, good quality of life, strong educational system, etc.
In this write-up, my purpose is to examine, analyse and discuss the disparities and stark differences between the ‘Giant’ of Africa, Nigeria and the U.S., one of the leading economies and free countries in the world, characterised by the free press, freedom of speech, liberty, human rights, etc. Why do you think the United States is the preferred destination for immigrants from around the globe, who are being oppressed and persecuted by the political/military dictators and authoritarian regimes at home? Undoubtedly, Nigeria is laden with contradictions, conflicts and political corruption of the state, which are acting as barriers or obstacles to achieving good governance and sustainable development in the country. Imagine the Academic Staff Union of Universities in 2020 went on a nine-month national strike, which led to the closing of the federal and state-owned universities in the country. I can’t recall that the university staff union in the United States is that monolithic, monopolistic and powerful to call for a national strike against the American government to force it to its knees and the negotiating table with the union and to receive the staff unpaid allowances.
The ASUU strike of nine months in 2020 had negative effects on the quality of the university education in Nigeria, especially because it offered a bad image of university education in the country. The Federal Government should learn some lessons from the ASUU strike by keeping its agreement and promise of paying an outstanding allowance to the university lecturers. It appears that there is a lack of honesty, truth and trust between ASUU and the Federal Government. ASUU strikes are a source of instability in Nigeria’s tertiary education system, which has forced many Nigerian parents to make the difficult choice of sending their children or wards to a more stable, reliable university education in foreign countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, etc. Of course, sending these children to foreign universities increases the financial burden of the Nigerian parents, especially making their payments of school and tuition fees, which requires approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria, to obtain a foreign exchange to remit money to the university. The process of obtaining forex approval for students in Nigeria is extremely difficult and cumbersome.
But you conspicuously and deliberately ignored, omitted and missed the problems of moral decay, insecurity, terrorism (Boko Haram in the northern region of Nigeria, kidnapping of Nigerians for ransom and banditry, food insecurity (the recent food shortages and the rise in food prices in the country), multi-dimensional poverty and massive corruption in the country. For example, the EFCC has charged many government officials with corruption and fraudulently looting of the treasury or misappropriating and money laundering of government funds by elected politicians or appointed political officials, such as the former Minister of Petroleum Resources in the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, Diezani Alison Madueke; former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris; former Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele or former Governor of Delta State James Ibori, former Governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello, etc. Remember that these are government funds, allocated for the implementation of social programmes and development projects in the country. The alleged looting by the many state governors helped to explain why the infrastructure across the country is in deplorable, dilapidated and poorly maintained conditions in many towns and cities.
Today, where are these allegedly corrupt political leaders and government officials? They are free Nigerians walking in the Nigerian streets, living an opulent and comfortable lifestyle in the lives of the rich and famous without shame or conviction by the courts or without prison terms.
In Nigeria, where there is no transparency, accountability, fairness and justice in the country’s governance and criminal justice system. Many court judges partake in the ‘web of corruption’ in the country, which contrasts with the American judicial system and experience. Corruption does exist in the U.S., but at the least minimum rate in comparison to the ubiquitous corruption in Nigeria, particularly in the government and private sector of the Nigerian economy (such as in the commercial banks.). The huge amount of money looted by the political leaders and civil servants is kept in the banks and lavishly spent on the building of mansions, and acquisitions of landed property around the globe. For example, recently the US Government returned $52.88m to the Tinubu Government in Abuja from the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison Madueke’s loot.
I found the return strategy and method to be interesting and clever because the U.S. Government used a third party, The World Bank to be in charge and monitor the disbursement of the $52.88m returned to Abuja, with a specific plan of how the money should be spent- providing rural electrification projects and training programmes in support of anti-terrorism in West, East and North Africa. I found this US intervention in the spending of the returned loot money to be revealing about its concern for corruption and the need for anti-corruption partnerships and reforms in Africa (Source: VOA Africa, “US Treasury Secretary Yellen Kicks off Africa Tour in Senegal,” Jan 20, 2023.) and the lack of trust between the Washington, DC and Abuja.
Arguably, there is the demonstration of poor judgment, irresponsible government policy and incompetent governance in Nigeria, where President Tinubu has been in office for more than 18 months, yet there is no national vision, goals, objectives, policies, programmes and plan to fight the monster corruption in the, which has eaten the economic and social fabrics of the Nigerian society.
Unequivocally, this author sees corruption as a leakage in the Nigerian economy through which a few Nigerians are milking and siphoning government funds and using them for personal interests and projects. Many Nigerians, who are in leadership positions create and operate a ‘fiefdom’ for themselves, such as in an educational institution/private schools. After all, the EFCC has a weak institutional capacity to effectively investigate and is a corrupt anti-graft government agency, which makes it less likely to carry out its mandate of fighting corruption to a standstill in Nigeria.
Also, I consider corruption as a vehicle for some government officials to amass illicit gains, and wealth and enrich a few Nigerians. As a result, these few Nigerians have become the foundation and pillars for the creation of a special class or group of ‘oligarchy or cabal’ in Nigeria, which involves the concentration of power and influence in the hands of wealthy and politically well-connected individuals in the country. In addition, these rich, wealthy and powerful Nigerians play the role of godfathers, sponsor and support a seeker of political office.
Hence, in Nigeria, there is no genuine election or true election of candidates rather it is the selection of anointed candidates for political offices by the state governors across the country. For example, in the recent elections of the 18 local government councils in Ondo State, many citizens alleged the abuse of political power and the use of the syndrome of anointed and selected candidates by the state governor.
This political strategy and behaviour by many of the state governors are detrimental to the growth and development of the nascent democracy in the country because the voice and will of the Nigerian people and voters are being oppressed, suppressed and sidelined. Bluntly put, the state governors are the ‘alpha and omega’ in state politics and governance, which they serve as impediments to and a ‘cog in the wheels’ of true democracy and federalism in Nigeria. For example, it is on record that the state governors are in opposition to the 774 local government councils’ autonomy law, which was recently passed by the National Assembly in Abuja and the Nigeria Supreme Court’s decision affirmed the local government autonomy in allowing a direct payment from the Federation Account to the third tier of government in the country. This means that the state governor/government is no longer a recipient and custodian of the local government money. Undoubtedly, there is great benefit in the local government autonomy, because it allows independence and freedom of the council to achieve direct control and management of its financial resources and to be accountable to the local people of the community. I believe this Supreme Court’s decision has resolved and settled the issue of the lack of true financial federalism in the country.
Back to the issue of massive poverty in Nigeria, where the federal or state government has no plans of meaningfully addressing the acute, chronic poverty and hunger in the country, which is affecting about 60 per cent of the Nigerian population. You might recall in 2018, Nigeria replaced India as the extreme poverty capital of the world (Source: CNN, “Nigeria overtakes India in extreme poverty ranking”, Jun 26, 2018.). At that time, 87 million Nigerians were living in extreme poverty in the country. I think that the figure for the Nigerians living in extreme poverty is higher because the information is about seven years old. I vividly recall that the Buhari administration promised to take 100 million Nigerians out of the poverty condition. I am not sure what was the outcome of the implementation of the Buhari anti-poverty programme. However, the Tinubu government has heavily relied on the mechanism of the handouts of palliative distributions and limited cash transfers to the members of the group. In a country where corruption is widespread, cash transfers to the poor are less effective in reaching the target group.
Also, in many respects, Nigeria lacks the social safety nets that are available to the American citizens, to protect and support the vulnerable citizens, who are on the economic margins, brinks of environmental disaster, are victims of floods, and are suffering from the consequences of or inappropriate government policies like the former Governor of CBN Emefiele’s change of the naira notes. That was the worst of times in Nigeria’s history and for Nigerians, who had money in the banks, but no access to withdraw it.
Whereas the United States, in its preamble to the constitution, seeks to promote the general welfare of the citizens. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture administers the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Programme, which meets human needs- feeding the hungry; the U.S. Department of Housing via its Section 8 programme provides vouchers for housing rental assistance and the famous Social Security helps elderly Americans to live their lives.
Imagine Nigeria is a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a producer and exporter of oil to the world market, but it is struggling and inundated with the problems of scarcity of fuel supplies due to the moribund of four government-owned oil refineries in the country, until recently when Dangote refinery came into operation. Nigerians are paying high prices at the pump for their imported refined fuel or PMS at the petrol stations (N960 per litre depending on your geographic location in the country). The country’s Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which is the ‘engine room’ for the petroleum and oil resources policy and its management, is a dysfunctional institution, corrupt and incompetent in its operations.
In 2022, the NNPC failed to make payments into the Federation Account (Source: Businessday NG, “NNPC fails to remit to FG for Seven Straight Months,” Sep 2022.). Where is the revenue generated by NNPCL in a seven-month period? Remember the role of the independent oil marketers during the fuel crisis in the importation of refined oil from foreign countries into Nigeria and the abuse of the oil subsidy program in the country, which President Tinubu removed on his first day in assuming office on 29 May 2023.
To make the situation in the country worse, Nigeria is faced with and affected by the government’s lack of planning and evaluation of the impacts of the removal of the oil subsidy regime, which threw the country into additional energy turmoil and put the oil marketers in limbo. Already, the country is grappling with an irregular and epileptic electricity/power supply, which has forced the Nigerian citizens and the manufacturing industries to find an alternative source of energy and to be heavily dependent on the use of electricity generators. The use of generators by Nigerians, businesses and industries is contributing to the air pollution in the environment, which is not helping the government’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country and bring the country to fulfilling its promise and meeting its stated goals under the 2015 Paris Climate Change Accord.
In fact, many factories and businesses have closed or left the country, because of the high costs of diesel to run the generators. How could a country like Nigeria with plenty of oil resources run and sustain its manufacturing sector of the economy without a cheap, steady and reliable power supply? Again, corruption bedevilled the oil sector of the Nigerian economy. In 2024. I had the opportunity to visit City-State Dubai, one of the emirates in the Middle East, I observed the quality of infrastructure- roads, electricity and water supplies provided for the citizens, businesses and industries with its oil revenue, honestly speaking, I cried for my country, Nigeria.
This lack of regular and reliable supply of electricity impedes the country’s industrialisation efforts and plans, which have implications for generating employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths. The unemployment rate in Nigeria was given at 9.2 per cent in the Q2 of 2024. If other factors, such as the inflation rate of 34.34 per cent, are added, the Nigerian economy must be really hot, boiling and cooking. More importantly, this high inflation rate helps to explain why Nigerian consumers are crying that goods and services are unaffordable.
But in the US, the inflation rate is less than 3 per cent, which the Americans are complaining and unsatisfied about because it is too high. As I was ending my write-up, I stumbled on a video clip trending in social media about a United Airlines plane on a flight from Lagos to Washington, DC, which developed technical trouble but was forced to return to Lagos for an emergency landing. According to the passengers on board the plane, it took the airport authorities forever to evacuate them. Question: Does the Nigerian government provide responsible governance and care for its citizens in the case of attending to this type of emergency associated with airplane emergencies? Similarly, I have read about the horrific and disturbing reports in the Nigerian newspapers regarding the failures of the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria to effectively respond to the worst floods in history and provide the much-needed emergency assistance to the victims of the floods disaster a few years ago across the country. You may recall the disaster responders in the United States, performed a brilliant service and effective job during the terrorist attacks on The World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon Building in Arlington, Virginia and other locations in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. Many of the first responders in the terrorist attacks in the United States were honoured and celebrated by the New York City Mayor and the American government.
During the early stages of the Russian War in Ukraine, many countries were quick to evacuate their citizens, but the students from Nigeria were stranded and in limbo waiting for assistance from the Nigerian government, with the conflict raging and getting worse by the day. Then, I asked the germane question of whether the country loves and cares about its citizens. But honestly, there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift on the part of President Tinubu’s government to show that the country loves and cares about the welfare of its citizens. I think that Nigeria’s immediate response and providing timely help to its citizens is the appropriate action to take at home and in foreign countries, which could be a benefit, an incentive to promote, improve and bolster the patriotism ideals, values and love for the country among its citizens. You bet that in any place or country, where an American citizen is in a conflict situation, the United States Government is known for providing an alert, warning first. It is also ready and willing to assist and evacuate its citizens from the conflict zone. The Nigerian government needs to change its culture of passivity and inaction to evacuate its citizens from the theatre of conflict or emergencies around the globe.
However, I am a sojourner in the United States still loving and caring for my birthplace in Nigeria and my hometown of Owo Kingdom. There is no place like home, sweet home!
