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OPINION

Published

8 months ago

January 14, 2026

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NIGERIA’S TROUBLING COLLECTIVE MENTALITY FAILURES
By: A G Abubakar

In the 1970s, it was fashionable to mount a spirited defence of sub-Saharan societies against any reference to governance failure, often dismissing such critiques as racist. Later, imperialism was added to the interpretive lens. Both explanations were seen as Western ploys to denigrate Africa, plunder its resources, and subjugate its people—a case of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Half a century later, however, a rethink is unavoidable. While elements of those perceptions remain valid, African societies themselves have increasingly proven complicit in their developmental predicaments.

Nigerians, inclusive, appear to suffer either from inherent vulnerabilities of mentality or from historical experiences that have left indelible marks on the collective psyche. Both victim and perpetrator are therefore culpable. It is what the Hausa proverb captures succinctly: idan ɓera na da sata, daddawa ma na da wari—if the rat is accused of stealing, the locust-bean seasoning itself also emits a tempting smell.

The most damaging form of this complicity is a mentality that struggles to identify challenges, accept ownership, and act decisively. It is a mindset unable to internalise the truth that if you do not act for yourself, no one else will—not for you as an individual, not for you as a race, and not for you as a nation. The world owes no one relevance beyond statistics; only value confers identity.

Information and knowledge, it is often said, constitute that value and power. Whether secular or theological, societies that acquire and apply either tend to improve their well-being. They deploy them to overcome deprivation, ignorance, disease, and premature mortality. According to the UN, over the past half-century the world has reduced poverty, increased life expectancy, lowered illiteracy, and curbed major global conflicts.

Global extreme poverty—defined as living on $2.15 per day—fell from over 40 percent in 1986 to less than 10 percent by 2019. Global mortality rates have dropped by about 60 percent since 1950, while life expectancy rose by roughly 20 years by 2023. Adult literacy increased from 67 percent in 1976 to 86.36 percent in 2023. Major wars of a global nature have also declined since the Second World War in 1945; battle-related deaths, way back in the 90s has dropped to a third of the 1970s.

In Nigeria, these global gains remain largely illusory. Only last year, the country was described by the World Bank and IMF as the poverty capital of the world. Insurgency, terrorism, banditry, killer herdsmen, secessionist militias, and communal violence have turned life into a disposable commodity. Carnage has become routine, depressing life expectancy. The USA, has even accused Nigeria for doing little to stem the killings. With over 20 million children out of school, Nigeria’s literacy rate lags far behind the global average. Sadly, these grim indicators apply to much of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) —even in the 21st century.

Rather than interrogate the form, content, and application of the knowledge that they consume, these societies have embraced an evasive escape—attributing their failures to the Almighty. Nigerians, in particular, have adopted a cloaked mindset that renders them oblivious to their relative and worsening backwardness. Innovation, manufacturing, maintenance culture, and orderly systems are subconsciously assigned to “other people.”

This debility is often explained through historical grievances—slavery, colonialism, neocolonialism, and even Marx and Engel’s “historical dialectical materialism” —while ignoring the rigidity of mentality. A mindset that unites intellectuals and the uninformed alike under a banner of perpetual victimhood, forgetting that other societies endured comparable traumas and yet transcended them.

China suffered imperial domination by the Mongols between the 14th and 18th centuries or even before; Korea endured Japanese imperialism. Much of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia were victims of both domestic and international slavery before being colonised by European powers. Britain, Spain, Portugal, the Dutch, France, etc were in the forefront of the historically ignoble practices. The Jews experienced centuries of bondage in Egypt. Most have moved on since.

Some have voyaged into space and even gunning for the moon, while Nigerians—and much of sub-Saharan Africa—cannot safely access farms or village markets. The prospects of improvement grow dimmer as mindsets remain trapped in the search for scapegoats and divine intervention, instead of human agency.

In Nigeria, individuals routinely produce children beyond their capacity to care for, then lament behavioural problems and blame divine destiny. Evasion has become a lifestyle. A person beats traffic lights, gets knocked down, survives—and attributes it to divine ordination. Even death resulting from reckless behaviour is explained away as the will of God. Self-accountability is conspicuously absent. Waste is dumped into drains, waterways are blocked, floods and diseases follow—and prayers are offered for prevention. Government is blamed, even as perpetrators present themselves as victims. The irony is staggering.

Communities ignore early warning signs of insecurity until violence consumes them. Only then do leaders search for culprits and call for prayers. Denial precedes disaster; imagination flourishes afterward. Farmers fell trees indiscriminately, refuse sustainable practices, yet complain of poor yields and soil exhaustion—again blaming fate. Even, personal choices are made on impulse, devoid of vision or sustainable interests. The people, thus keep recycling politicians they love to curse for non performance, usually after appeals to premordial sentiments and gifting palliatives that could last few days. Thereafter, deprivations take over; as the politicians kept switching political camps in pursuit of material gains since democracy in Nigeria lacks ideological anchor.

The story is not different with the elite class. They can attend the best schools, excel academically, travel the world and get enlightened, speak queen’s English (blow big big grammar), but in the end hardly rise above the ordinary. The mindsets never change. Something akin to a well trained circus tiger, that remains what it is after a beautiful performance; a four-legged creature
The educated youth are not left of the mentality confusion too. Those searching for opportunities – jobs, businesses, spouses etc – cannot even link their constraints to such obvious factors as economic downturn and the need for a pragmatic way out. Instead, they resort to the metaphysical, by moving from one prayer house/cleric to another, making sacrifices and procuring anointing oil, white handkerchief and the likes for an elusive breakthrough .

Worse still, public functionaries in the sexagenerian bracket (60+) who steal public wealth to become emergency billionaires, knowing fully well that they have less than two decades of “active” life. Statistics has also shown that stollen wealth, unlike the institutional one, hardly thrives after well after the grandmaster thief. Yet Nigerians are helplessly trapped in this infamy.

Government mirrors this mentality, too. Infrastructure is built without maintenance culture. Industrialisation is preached while power generation is neglected. Saboteurs are blamed for predictable failures. When crises escalate, defence budgets balloon. Yet corruption drains resources, resulting in poor equipment, soldiers’ welfare and motivation; allowing violence to mutate and expand.

Existential threats then trigger national prayers. Mosques and churches mobilise. Phantom enemies are invented. The Almighty is summoned to fix self-inflicted chaos. Is this not strange?

Historical experiences matter, but something deeper is at work. Why this resistance to responsibility? Why the insistence that God should clean up messes deliberately created by humans endowed with reason? Why should the people resign themselves to being consumers of other people’s industrial outputs without questioning why they couldn’t do the same thing? Why feel mentally comfortable with it?

Nigeria and indeed the SSA must embark on sincere self-introspection. If education has failed, it must be reformed. If religion has been misapplied, lessons must be drawn from societies where faith, and culture coexists with progress.

The education system and intellectual class must reassess learning content. If mental colonisation persists, it must be dismantled, for a new and progressive mindsets to evolve. It is tragic for an entire people to reconcile themselves to permanent marginality. Certainly, not after dark peoples’ dark experiences in history right from the times of Noah, Egyptian Pharoahs, the slavery days, the colonial and neocolonial periods and down to the balkanisation of the continent.

Africa was partitioned at the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 and subjected to colonialism, followed by neocolonialism. Globalisation, the internet, and now artificial intelligence have completed a subtler chain of domination. The psychological impact has been profound—and escaping it may take generations. But this has to happen.

At some point, history stops sympathising and starts judging. No society can permanently outsource responsibility to slavery, colonialism, fate, or God without paying the price of irrelevance. Nations rise not because they pray harder, complain louder, or remember their wounds longer, but because they confront themselves honestly and act ruthlessly on that truth.

There comes a moment when a people’s suffering ceases to be tragic and becomes willful. God, having endowed humans with intellect, does not suspend causality for societies that locked their mindsets away. Nations that reject accountability do not collapse by conspiracy; they decay by choice. Nigeria’s crisis is therefore not metaphysical but moral—a rebellion against the discipline of cause and effect, and being obvious of it; consciously or otherwise.

Until this society accepts that progress is not a prayer point but a consequence of deliberate action, that faith without responsibility is superstition, and that victimhood is the most expensive ideology a nation can adopt, the future will remain a closed door—locked not by enemies, but from within. If Nigerian and indeed SSA societies have unique problems, which all nations have, they should accept it; work on it, and join the world in improving humanity.

If this obvious expectation sounds untenable then may be it is time to interrogate certain concepts that could help in understanding the people’s mindsets and how they may be influenced and shaped. Science has arguably tried to employ theories of epigenetics, niche construction, and cultural-historical model to shed light on the disposition of a people’s mindset. It would seem that while epigenetic factors shape predispositions of the mind, niche construction produces an environmental and institutional culture that discourages risk-taking and inquisitive inquiry, the two operating in a mutually reinforcing relationship.

Epigenetics, according to contemporary biological and behavioural science, refers to heritable changes in gene expression that do not alter DNA sequences but are influenced by sustained environmental pressures such as stress, deprivation, or social instability. Niche construction theory holds that humans actively modify their social and ecological environments, and these modified environments in turn reshape behavioural norms, incentives, and constraints across generations. The cultural-cognitive model further explains how shared beliefs, values, and learned heuristics become internalised as “common sense,” guiding perception, reasoning, and acceptable behaviour.

Taken together, these forces profoundly shape knowledge organisation, narrowing epistemic horizons, and entrenching cognitive biases that privilege conformity, risk-avoidance, and inherited assumptions over critical inquiry and innovation. Maybe it is time for a deeper introspection.
A.G.Abubakar agbarewa@gmail.com

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Gov AbdulRazaq Lauded Over Conferment Of Sadauna Of Ilorin Title

Published

17 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Our Reporter

Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has been hailed for the conferment of the prestigious Sadauna of Ilorin Emirate title on him by His Royal Highness, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR.

Giving the commendation on Tuesday in a statement in Ilorin, the state capital, Alhaji Yakubu Garba Gobir, who is the Sarkin Gobir and Madawaki of the Ilorin Emirate, described the recognition and honour on Governor AbdulRazaq as well deserved, timely and apt, giving his huge contributions to the growth and development of Ilorin Emirate and Kwara State as a whole.

Gobir specifically commended the Emir of Ilorin for conferring this distinguished title in recognition of the qualities and contributions of the new Sardauna, noting that it is a solemn call for greater responsibility, leadership, loyalty and devoted service to the Emirate and its people.

He added: “The title of Sardauna occupies a position of profound significance in the history, heritage and traditions of the Ilorin Emirate. I commend His Royal Highness, Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR, the Emir of Ilorin, for conferring this distinguished title in recognition of the qualities and contributions of the new Sardauna.

“The title embodies courage, leadership, loyalty and devoted service to the Emirate and its people. Your elevation is therefore not merely a mark of honour; it is also a solemn call to greater responsibility and continued service.

“As a fellow title-holder in the Ilorin Emirate, I am particularly delighted to welcome you into this distinguished circle of traditional leadership. I am confident that you will bring to the office the same qualities of leadership, dignity and unwavering commitment to public service that have distinguished your tenure and career.

“At a time when our Emirate and our State require men and women of character, wisdom and courage to advance the interests of our people, I am certain that you will make a meaningful contribution to the enduring unity, progress and development of the Ilorin Emirate.”

Gobir offered prayers for a successful, impactful and enduring tenure for the new Sadauna, adding:
“May Almighty Allah grant you wisdom, sound health and strength, and may He make your tenure as Sardauna of Ilorin a source of lasting honour to you, your family and the entire Ilorin Emirate.”

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FG Commissions KWASU ICT Centre To Enhance Graduates Employability

Published

17 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Our Reporter

Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin.

The wife of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has commissioned a TETFund/Renewed Hope Initiative-backed ICT Experience Centre at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.

It would be recalled that KWASU is one of the six tertiary institutions selected for the pilot phase of this intervention, with one institution representing each of the Nigerian six geopolitical zones.

Represented at the commissioning on Tuesday by the wife of the Vice-President, Nana Shettima, Tinubu said the project is a testament to the federal government’s commitment to advancing education, digital inclusion and enhancing graduate employability.

“The TETFund/Renewed Hope Initiative ICT Experience Centre we are commissioning today represents opportunity, innovation, knowledge, and the future of young people in Kwara State and beyond.

She said: “This initiative aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which places emphasis on youth empowerment, education, innovation, and economic transformation. Mr President is committed to creating opportunities that will equip Nigerian youths with knowledge and skills required to thrive in a modern and competitive world.”

Senator Tinubu said the facility was designed as a modern technology centre equipped with ICT laboratory, interactive digital display, conference facility, and exhibition spaces, adding that it would be an environment for learning, creativity, research, and technology advancement.

According to her, the ICT centres had been commissioned at the Ekiti State University on May 28, University of Cross Rivers State on September 4, Anambra State Polytechnic on September 10, adding that the Centres at Kaduna State University and Taraba State Universities would be commissioned soon.

“The next phase of this intervention will cover 15 institutions in Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Katsina, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Yobe, and Zamfara states which construction is currently ongoing. This expansion demonstrates the administration’s commitment to ensuring that more Nigerian youths, irrespective of their locations, have access to digital learning opportunities,” she said.

She encouraged the students to take ownership of the facility, maximise the opportunity it provides, and use technology positively to enhance their lives, community, and the nation.

In his speech, the Executive Secretary of Tetfund, Architect Sonny Echono, said the centres are being established across selected Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, with the Kwara State University, Malete proudly hosting the facility in the North-Central Zone.

“Through practical training and digital skills acquisition, TETFund seeks to enhance graduate employability, foster innovation and position Nigeria to participate more effectively in the global
technology-driven economy,” he added.

Echono also said that the ICT Experience Centre is designed to equip students and lecturers with critical digital skills in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Robotics and Software Development.

He added: “The Centre being commissioned today is one of the foremost ICT Experience Centres being delivered across the country, and the third to be commissioned this year. The Centre is equipped with modern digital devices, Computer systems and relevant software to facilitate training, practical learning and skills development. The facility is appropriately furnished and
fully air-conditioned, with supporting power and municipal infrastructure.”

Also speaking, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Shaykh- Luqman Jimoh, said the new facility represents vision, belief, and an investment in the Nigerian youth to better shape the future of our
nation.

The Vice Chancellor described the ICT Experience Centre as an investment in human capital, in innovation, in entrepreneurship, and, most importantly, it is an investment in the future of Nigeria.

“This Centre will provide opportunities for our students to develop practical digital skills and engage with contemporary technologies. Importantly, it is our hub for interdisciplinary engagement.

“This ICT Experience Centre is therefore a timely, critical, and strategic infrastructure that will definitely enhance research, teaching, learning, entrepreneurship, and community service. This intervention is at the core of what this university seeks from partners and donors: synergies that add value and impact on today and the future,” he started.

KWASU Vice Chancellor also assured that the ICT Experience Centre would be put to maximum use for the benefit of students, researchers, and the University
community, adding that the “KWASU community would engage with the facilities in this Centre, we will use it. We will explore, experiment, learn, and innovate in i

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2027: Violent ;Kaduna as ADC, APC Supporters Trade Accusations….APC Calls For Police Investigation into the Vandalisation, attacks on its Office

Published

17 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Our Reporter

By Hassan Agboola

Tension is mounting in Kaduna State ahead of the 2027 general elections, following renewed exchanges between supporters of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and groups backing the administration of Governor Uba Sani.
The latest development came on Tuesday when ADC governorship candidate, Isa Ashiru, addressed supporters in Kaduna and, according to an account of his remarks, declared that the party was prepared to respond to attacks against its members.
Ashiru was also quoted as saying that it was Governor Uba Sani, rather than President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was responsible for the continued detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

However, available public records show that El-Rufai’s detention followed proceedings before the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), with the commission stating that his continued custody was based on a court-issued remand order.

The controversy over El-Rufai’s detention has nevertheless become a major political issue in Kaduna and beyond. The ADC has repeatedly criticised the handling of the former governor’s case and alleged political persecution, while other political actors have made different claims about the circumstances surrounding his detention.
Rising political temperature

Ashiru’s emergence as the ADC governorship candidate has added another dimension to the political contest in Kaduna. He defeated other aspirants at the party’s governorship primary in May 2026 and is now preparing for another governorship contest after previously representing the PDP in the 2019 and 2023 elections.
The political atmosphere has been further complicated by disagreements within the ADC and accusations from different groups over the party’s leadership and candidates.

A Southern Kaduna political group, for instance, recently questioned Ashiru’s candidacy and the choice of his running mate, allegations rejected by an ADC official.
The situation has also produced incidents involving ADC supporters and security personnel. In one recent incident, police dispersed an ADC solidarity walk in Kaduna, while the party subsequently accused opponents of attacking its members and warned that political violence could escalate ahead of the 2027 elections.

The former governor remains an important factor in the emerging political contest. El-Rufai was taken into custody in February 2026 after responding to an invitation from the ICPC. His family subsequently demanded his release, while the anti-graft agency maintained that his detention was authorised by a court.
Since then, the issue has increasingly featured in political statements by the ADC and its supporters, with the party accusing the Federal Government of political persecution and calling for the former governor’s release.
The development has created a new political fault line involving the ADC, the APC-led Kaduna State Government and supporters of the former governor.

While allegations have been exchanged over who is responsible for political violence in Kaduna, the competing narratives should not be confused with established findings. The ADC itself has recently rejected the suggestion that it has a monopoly on political violence and accused unnamed opponents of introducing thuggery into the 2027 political process.

With the 2027 election campaign yet to fully commence, the increasingly combative language from ISA Ashiru and his supporters has raised concerns about the possibility of further confrontation.
The immediate challenge before the political parties, security agencies and community leaders is therefore to ensure that political disagreements do not degenerate into violence, particularly in a state with Kaduna’s history of politically and communally sensitive conflicts.
As at the time of filling tid report the All progressive congress, APC , Kaduna state in a statement has condemned the attacks on its office and called for police investigation
Certainly. I’ll retain the substance of the report while correcting grammar, tightening the structure, and presenting it as a clean newspaper hard-news story.
Writing
APC Condemns Violent Attacks on Members, Party Offices in Kaduna
The Kaduna State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned alleged violent attacks on its members and the vandalisation of party offices and properties in the state.
The party also called on the police and other security agencies to investigate the incidents and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement, the Kaduna State APC Publicity Secretary, Sani Dan-Azare, alleged that some of the party’s members and supporters had been attacked, while some party and support-group offices were vandalised.
He also alleged that vehicles belonging to some party members were damaged during the incidents.
The APC described the attacks as unacceptable and urged security agencies to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incidents.
The party called on its members and supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, stressing that they should not resort to retaliation or take the law into their own hands.
The APC said it remained committed to peaceful political engagement and urged all political actors in Kaduna State to conduct their activities within the bounds of the law.
It further appealed to security agencies to strengthen security around party offices and other sensitive locations to prevent further incidents.