Who and What are the problem of Nigeria

Let's share our thoughts, "A problem known is halved solved".

What do you think is the problem of Nigeria ?.

Who do you think is the problem of Nigeria ?.

What do you think is the problem with Nigeria ?.

Obasanjo ,IBB ,Buhari and Ojukwu are the problem of Nigeria.

To me, "who" is not so much the problem as "what". If "what" can be taken care of, who is "who" to stand in the way of Nigeria's progress? The major "whats" include:
selfishness;
religion instead of spirituality;
ethnicity;
corruption, greed and covetousness;
lack of patriotism;
wicked leadership and compromising followership;
vanity.

All of us possess (or are possessed by) some or all of the "whats" to varying degrees. To target "who" to eliminate" is to eliminate all of us. For instance, when you see somebody making huge noises about the ills of the society, you would think he/she is an angel. Let him/her get to power and see how dramatically he/she has changed.

Summary: leave "who" alone; tackle "what".

I agree with you Sir and my what is CORRUPTION and LACK OF TRUE PATRIOTISM (LOYALTY) to our great country.

You can not rule out the what,Idi amin of Uganda ,King Jon lee of North korea and other Dictators have finished their country.

Thanks, tserge, for sharing my view. I daresay that "what" causes "who". Take care of "what" and get a reformed "who". Even as chinelu rightly pointed out, some bad dictators destroyed their countries, indicating that "who" is also important. Yes, "who" is important but its root cause is "what". Solve the latter and get a better former. In societies where they have taken care of their "whats", their "whos" are less of a problem. A nation gets the leadership it deserves.

I like the 'What' and the 'Who' analogy. But to me the problem with Nigeria is its Elites in all strata of life. We have all come from humble backgrounds, but we move the stakes to fit our circumstances. In so doing we forget our backgrounds and those that are there.
Frankly speaking of the 150,000,000 Nigerians, the Elites -about 6% - are the problem with Nigeria, because they are religious leaders, High Chiefs, Politicians, armed and pen robbers, Emirs, security chiefs and all the rest. The docility of the rest, molded and shrouded in God's name and the selective laws of the land, is made the doormat to wipe the feet of these few.

My dear kks, I quite understand your argument. But look at it this way: the "who" is a mere reflection of the "what", just as your computer screen reflects what the software in your CPU contains. The "what" is the cause while the "who" is the effect. It will amount to a mere palliative if we tackle the effect rather than the cause.

Maybe we could meet at the middle of the road: tackle both the cause and the effect at the same time, i.e. by mounting enlightenment campaigns and spiritual sermonising at the same time as we are dealing ruthlessly with the bad leaders. However, we should be prepared to handle a troubled conscience for having misled and condoned the bad leaders in the first instance.

For instance, when a man gets rich overnight, we did not talk nor inquire into the source. When he started using his ill-gotten wealth to provide some amenities in the community, we hail him. When he decided to cap it all with political power, we embraced and encouraged him. Now that he has got there and is very corrupt, we are complaining. Are we not the cause?

The "who" has always been the target tackled in most countries where revolutions have taken place, including Russia and China. Such revolutions were bloody, and some innocent people also paid the ultimate price with their lives in the process. That is why I believe that we should avoid targeting the "who", but rather pay more emphasis on the "what". As listed out in my original post on this topic, the "whats" include the docile "us", who have kept quiet and felt unconcerned for too long. It is never too late to mend.

By way of illustration, let me share an experience with you. A community in one of the Central States wrote a petition against one of their own sons to the CEO of my former employment, asking the organization to confirm if it paid its employees so much that that their son had managed to build a one-in-town mansion in their community. While I can't remember how the organization handled the petition at the end of the day, I doffed my hat for the courageous and patriotic act of the community. That is the kind of approach we need to adopt if we are serious about taming corruption in our country. That is the essence of my emphasising the "what". God bless us all.

I agree with you that the who has been the cause of all ethnic havocs and massacre,even the Jews holocaust was on this note.

How ever my what is Lack of adequate preparation for all task,making bogus plan with no iota of implementation formula.

That man called IBB is the problem of Nigeria and Nigerians,since he annulled the first ever transparent democratic election in Nigeria,things have been falling apart,the centre could no longer hold and we are no longer at ease.

I agree with your position entirely Gembiz and that is why I like the analogy. What I mean is this. Take a bit of your remedy for tackling cause and effect by mounting enlightenment campaigns and spiritual sermonizing, and dealing ruthlessly with bad leaders. Even if we are prepared for a troubled conscience, you have to use the Media for the campaign. Who owns the Media? Who gives sermons? The Clergy that are in most cases worse than Politicians, for they terrorize in the name of God to sustain their life style. Dealing with bad leaders? The Courts are at their pleasure for they, not justice, determine guilt. We have seen people determined to change things at Odi and Zaki Biam and you know what happened. All the facilities that one can use to remove the 'what' are in their warehouses well guarded by wolves, dogs and pigs.
Our docility has passed the calamitous proportions along time ago, to the extent that generational movement affects nothing. Remember the Tiv riots in the first republic and what followed. Would you think after that and Zaki Biam you would have an AGF from that tribe in this day and age that would trifle with peoples lives?
I am simply pointing out that yes what you said is absolutely correct, BUT only in normal settings. We peaked in abnormality over ten years ago.