Premium Times op-ed: Nigerians must act now to end governance failure
The burden of Nigeria's survival can no longer be deferred to the next election or packaged into desperate prayers; it falls squarely on citizens to shed fear, organise horizontally, build parallel community security networks, fiercely interrogate public officials, and ensure every act of governance failure carries severe social and political cost for perpetrators. This call to action comes from a Premium Times opinion piece highlighting how Nigeria’s celebrated resilience has become a psychological cage enabling a predatory ruling class to pillage the homeland while citizens pray for miracles or flee abroad.
The op-ed argues that national decay compounds exponentially, not linearly, pointing to over 20 million out-of-school children—more than Lagos State’s population—and the proliferation of permanent Internally Displaced Persons camps across Northern Nigeria as monuments to surrendered territory. It cites Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which makes the security and welfare of the people the primary purpose of government, noting that governments failing to keep children safe in schools, farmers safe on farms, worshippers safe in places of worship, and travellers safe on roads have woefully failed that sacred bond. Drawing parallels with Venezuela’s collapse and South Korea’s turnaround through public obsession with education, anti-corruption crackdowns, and citizen protests, the piece warns that Nigeria risks engineering an illiterate, traumatised generation guaranteeing unending unrest.
What specific step will you take this week to organise with neighbours or colleagues to challenge governance failures in your area?