Nigeria’s electricity generation is near nil. Millions of Nigerians and thousands of businesses depend on generators that generate toxic fumes and devastating noise. Nigerian businesses are growing and developing faster in Ghana than in Nigeria, while the Nigerian environment is now widely used in documentaries to demonstrate the impact of environmental disasters. Health care has been so neglected that almost every Nigerian politician travels abroad to seek medical help. Where should ordinary people go? They have no money and still depend on the dilapidated health facilities scattered around the country. There is a general breakdown in the provision and availability of other basic infrastructure. Water is scarce and Nigeria made the global news in August as a result of deaths related to cholera. Toilets are primitive in many localities and the level of sanitation is extremely low. Malaria also remains a threat, especially for children under four and pregnant women. Nigeria is one of the last countries in the world with records of polio incidence. While the politicians and corrupt individuals continue to amass wealth, the majority of the masses - more than 70% - continue to live in poverty. The politics of Nigeria is the source of our greatest national shame. Somewhere along the line we threw away merit and replaced it with mediocrity. Tribal politics rose to unassuming heights and corruption ate deep into the fabric of society. The concept of 'politics of the belly' and the complete absence of morality in public office ensured that Nigeria fell from grace to grass with lightening speed
Around the 1970s the quality of Nigerian education was the pride of the black race, the envy of many developing and developed nations of the world. At that time, it was alleged by some that an American degree was equal to a sixth form certificate in Nigeria. After about three decades of systematic mismanagement by both military and civilian rulers, the Nigerian education has so plummeted that what we have today is a mere shadow of its past glory. it has been said that the criteria for assessing any educational system are the curriculum of study, the state of infrastructural facilities, the quality of students, the quality and quantity of staff, the competence of leadership, the level of funding and the direction and consistency of policy In the area of curriculum and policy, the main problem is not with formulation as such but implementation. The implementation of laudable policies has often been hampered by incessant change of government,unstable academic calendars, poor and inadequate facilities, lack of motivation for staff, insecurity of life and property and the unwillingness of the products to make positive contribution to society. As a result of all these, the National Policy on Education which sought to inculcate the ideals enumerated earlier, has rather turned around to churn out morally decadent and intellectually inept child who is a threat to both parents and society. The Nigerian youth are yet to imbibe the right type of values and attitudes. Rather, Nigerian schools and campuses have become breeding grounds for cultism, gangsterism, hooliganism, armed robbery, sexual promiscuity, examination malpractices, and a host of other vices. Instead of producing pragmatic and altruistic students, the Nigerian educational system churns out students who are egoistic, individualistic and escapists who are not interested in solving society's problems. Another area of serious decline is that of staffing. *Time has gone when teachers were the best both in character and learning. Today, teachers at all levels of the educational system do more of 'cheating' than 'teaching'. Teachers have become businessmen in academic garb. A situation where teachers are making industry of copyrights violation by way of 'handouts' sales to unsuspecting students at exorbitant prices, while the students themselves are just too glad to do less schooling, does not augur well for our educational system and the future of our country. What we have today is a pathetic story of pathetic teachers producing pathetic citizens. In the area of leadership, merit is no longer a factor in appointing Vice-Chancellors and Provosts of Universities and Polytechnics respectively in most cases. Consequently, what we have today are politicians in the academic robes who parade themselves as leaders of tertiary institutions in the country. Successive governments in Nigerian have not helped matters at all. Their tactic of systematic neglect has turned Nigerian educational institutions to an arena of the absurd. Apart from under-paying teachers (which had led to massive brain-drain), the money allocated to education falls kilometers short of the UNESCO recommended 25%of annual budget. For instance, in 2003 only a paltry 1.83% was allocated to education. No wonder that what we have today in many of Nigerian institutions of learning are "leaking roofs, unpaved floors, totally unsanitary conditions, and a general picture of neglect that reduces some institutions to the status of glorified animal pens.
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