I’m a nation builder, and I like to just leave it at that. It encompasses all that I do. But even as I say it, I want you to know it’s not an exciting thing to say. Not for me. Not given the situation I find myself in, in terms of building this country.
Every day I wake up, I see my metrics, and it looks like I’m not doing anything right. There’s an issue about insecurity here. There’s vote buying. There is abuse of human rights over there, corruption over there. I wake up everyday, faced with the realities of the country. Think about being the CEO of a bank, you set a target, you want to hit X amount in turnover at the end of the year, you work towards it, and you almost have control over how that happens. As a nation builder, you are dealing with different stakeholders. In Nigeria particularly, you are dealing with a population that is under-educated, that is unemployed, and you are dealing with both internal and external politics. There are those who internally do not want Nigeria to succeed. There are those who externally do not want Nigeria to succeed. With all of this, you don’t want to wake up after giving ten years of your life and wonder, have I made any progress?
If you listen to a Fela song today, you would think he just dropped it. You listen to African China, you wonder did this guy just drop this song? It is not to say that we’re not making progress. We are. However, you can’t overly celebrate your progress because you have wicked problems around you. Wicked problems because they are so dynamic. One of them is that we are not working as a united people. You have to convince the Igbo man that the Yoruba man is his fellow Nigerian. You have to convince the Hausa man that the Yoruba man is his brother before you even start to deal with the fundamental issues of governance, politics, human rights and whatnot.
It’s a lot of work.
So when I say I’m a nation builder, it comes with a lot of burden. A lot of responsibility.
I do not believe that Nigerians understand that they can get a better life, that they even deserve a better life. I have traveled across 28 states in the country. I have gone to villages. I have seen poverty, I have seen suffering. I have also seen luxury and wealth. And I think the gap between the rich and the poor is just too much.
I want a Nigeria where you can wake up in the morning and not have to pray that you have electricity. I grew up in a home where you would pray in your morning devotion “Lord, we pray that they bring light today.” “Lord, as we are going out, bless our coming in and our going out” because there are potholes. “Lord, give us good health” not because you have any history of ailments, but because you know that once you fall sick, the likelihood of you not surviving is very high.
My mission is simple. I want everyday Nigerians to be awakened to who they are. I know that sounds vague. But there’s so much in it.
Oftentimes I have sat back to think about Nigeria, and I shed some tears. I’m not saying this to be dramatic. I have sat down and said to myself “why am I so concerned about Nigeria?” I’ve had all the opportunities to leave the country. I’ve helped my friends leave. They’d come to me needing recommendation letters, I’d help them get what they need. They’ve left. I’ve seen guys who were driving the nicest cars in Lagos, as though they were the biggest boys in the country, now traveling to the UK or Canada or the US, and they are happy riding bicycles in the cool of the day, living a simple easy life. But I refused to leave.
I’m doing a nine-to-five and I’m distracted. It’s as though the nine-to-five is a distraction. I can’t take my eyes away from the realities of my fellow Nigerians. I’m seeing a child on the streets who should be in school, and I’m in so much pain. I’m seeing a woman carrying two kids, begging for money. I feel so much pain. I don’t say it’s her choice, maybe she made the decision. It could be true that her decisions led to that situation, but that’s not how I see it. I see it as a failure in the leadership of the country that has led to this woman being here.
I see somebody beat a traffic light. I am concerned. I see someone throwing trash from their window. I’m concerned. I see drainage that is blocked. I am worried. These are things that people would not necessarily think about. They just say, well, Nigerians, it’s what it is. But those things bother me.
I do not think people just wake up to say, I want to become a pastor. The same way I don’t think you should just wake up and say, hey, I want to become a nation builder. I just want to put my life at risk, put myself out there to be dragged, to be seen as someone who acts as though he’s the righteous one. I’ve been told I act as though I’m righteous. I’m the saviour. Only because of my demands for good governance. Only because of my demands for Nigerians to live a life that is worthy of a human being.
But I think I was born to do this. Based on patterns. Based on my always coming back to this same thing that is not profitable. And I should say that if it was profitable, if I was making so much money, one would understand. But it is taking from me and not giving to me.
I remember speaking to a young lady who had just finished law school, about to do her NYSC, and she said to me that she wants to become a nation builder. I looked at her and said “listen, young lady, this thing will take from you more than what it will give to you. You don’t even have anything to give right now, so it will drain you. I admire your desire, but I need you to understand what you are asking for.”
I have tried but I don’t find peace anywhere else, aside from serving people. I don’t even find peace in making money. I would write a great book and my first instinct is to give it out for free. Publish it with my own money, and my first instinct is zero concern about profits. Zero. When you say these things to people, it sounds like something from a fictional book. I remember when I was in science class in secondary school, I had a dream of being a mechanical engineer. I had designs of the kind of car I wanted to build in an Elon Musk type factory. If anybody had told me then that I would one day say I don’t find peace making money, it would have been comical.
I’m grateful for my wife. She understands that you need money to make the vision work. Whilst I might not be concerned about money, she is concerned on my behalf. I wrote a book titled “How Good People Elect Bad Government” and told her the book was going to sell for 15,000 naira. Then someone asked me the price, I looked at the guy and thought “can this guy afford 15k?” Then I said 10,000 naira. She stared at me and said “but you told me 15k.” I still struggle with that. There’s only so much you can do without resources. Even great things, things that require change, need money to finance them.
Dealing with everyday realities of Nigeria can be draining. I saw a video of children running from their school compound in Ogbomosho, Oyo State. What will the reality of that child be? What will be their outlook on life?. He is not in a war-torn zone. He did not ask to be born here. You’ve brought him here, he’s five years old and he is running for his life because he went to school.
I want a child to go to school, learn, come back home, eat, do some homework, help the parents in the farm, or whatever, and do it peacefully. Just grow as a normal human being. And a normal human being should not be thinking about surviving at that level. Your basic needs should have been met as you are living, before you get of age to take care of yourself.
There are too many broken children growing up in our society, and that is leading to a broken society. When I look at the number of people who are among the terrorists, the bandits, the kidnappers, I look at these people and I see teenagers. These are people who should be in school doing math quizzes, doing debates, going on excursions. What are you doing in the forest? How did we get here?
Imagine being a teacher for years, and the way you die is to get your head cut off on social media. Would that man have ever thought in his life that after giving himself to civil service, the way I would die is to be kidnapped, and somebody will cut his head on live camera and post it on social media for the world to see?
Until these things become abnormal, until Nigerians see it as abnormal, and not just say things like, “well, it happens” “it has happened” “it didn’t start in this government”, we will not move forward as a nation. When I hear that, I’m like “okay, it didn’t start in this government, what government is going to end it?” Does it have to start with this government for it to be ended by this government? The narrative has to change to “yes, it did not start with this government, but it has to end in this government?” instead of pushing responsibility to both the past and the future.
When you look at the demography, the economic class, the quality of education of those who are very active in deciding those who get into power, you realise we are all in trouble.
The people who are enlightened, well-spoken, ambitious know what is expected of a country blessed with over 220 million people, amazing natural resources and human resources, a population with over 60% below the age of 30. The greatness that can come out of this country. And then you look at the people who are deciding those in the legislative arm, the most powerful arm of government, the arm that decides what the people are requesting for, you realise we are in trouble if the more enlightened people do not rise up.
When you take 5k, 10k, 20k to vote for someone at the party primaries, you are not even aware of the power you are giving away. You think the person’s responsibility is to fix roads and buy transformers. That is not their primary responsibility. What you are doing is saying “I am giving you my voice, because I cannot speak in Abuja. I am sending you in my stead to speak for me.” But what you are whispering in their ear is “all I need is 20k. That is all I demand from you. Nothing else.”
It is why a senator can say his constituency is not asking for electronic transmission of results. And he is not wrong. His constituency does not even understand what electronic transmission of results means or what an electoral act is. It is why people had to go to Abuja to protest, when in every constituency we should be protesting, but those in the constituencies are not concerned about such things.
The effort is deliberate, to make the people poor and dependent. Because it is whoever feeds you that determines what you speak with your mouth and how you think with your mind.
When you can afford to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and imagine, for some reason, you get preoccupied and we become hungry and do not eat for a few hours. You would feel disoriented. You would want to eat something. Now imagine that is your perpetual state. And someone comes to you and says “give me your Permanent Voters Card (PVC). All you need to do is stand in line and make sure I represent you in the Senate.” You will stand in that line and collect that money. Because you are not self-reliant. You have no value that creates wealth. The only time you think you are valuable is when money exchanges hands, because you have a PVC and you have a membership card.
But imagine those same people are resourceful. When they pull their hands to the plow, they can make money. Their demands will change.
It is for the same reason that the current government could not win an election in the places where people could earn and live without the government’s 5k, 10k, 20k used to buy votes. The current president lost in Bourdillon where he stays. He lost in Banana Island, in VGC. He lost in every urban area where you cannot buy people’s votes. He even lost Lagos as a whole. That tells you that poverty has been weaponized. If we solve the issue of poverty and make people self-reliant, we will solve the problem of vote buying by at least 30%. And I’m being pessimistic with that number.
We went for an outreach near Ebute Metta. It was for people displaced from the Yaba-Makoko axis, relocated all the way to Okokomaiko, near Badagry. They came from that distance, to collect relief materials. A carton of noodles, flat mats(not mattresses), and some toiletries. I stood there receiving these people. Battered, tired men and women, old and young, with kids on their backs, holding one in their hand, dragging another. I asked one woman where she was coming from. She replied that she had been waiting since 5am and this was past 1pm. She had come all the way from Okokomaiko and arrived at Ebute Metta at 5am. I asked myself “If you got to Ebute Metta at 5am, what time did you leave your house to come and collect a carton of noodles?”
Now if you give that woman a bag of rice, you think you haven’t served her?. You have served her!. So we can say rice is the response the government offers to the complaints of people but we are not the ones who elect these people into power. Those who elect them do not place the same demands as those of us who don’t. It is why you see youth empowerment meaning a shoemaker’s toolbox, a knitting machine.
Thousands of mats were shared somewhere, this means that there are thousands of people who do not have beds to sleep on. For that person who received the mat, they will vote and say “if this man can give me a mat, maybe he will give me a mat and noodles next time.”
Until we fix poverty. Until we fix self-reliance. Until we can make those at the grassroots able to create wealth, in whatever capacity that is of value to this country, we will still remain where we are.
My ideology is simply driven by the fact that I do not believe that God created anybody to go and suffer in Nigeria.I have seen countries rise from worse situations. I have seen countries go to the dust and come back as great nations. Singapore. Rwanda. Indonesia. Ghana. Ethiopia. I have seen them say “we have to get things right.” And I’ve seen them progress year by year because they have quality leadership in the political space and a citizenry that is awakened to what it means to live in a sane society. I know it is possible. And I also know that God did not send anybody to Nigeria to come and suffer and just die.
Look at the Lebanese community in Lagos. They have almost taken over the hospitality sector; restaurants, fun places. People don’t always understand why. What makes a country habitable is when you are comfortable in it. The Lebanese in Lebanon are in disarray. So when they move to Nigeria, because it is not their country, they create comforts. They create a hospitable atmosphere for themselves. Where their kids go to play, where they go to have a good time; they’ve built those places. To ensure that even as immigrants, there is somewhere they can find comfort. If the country is not comfortable, people cannot live and work effectively.
Every Nigerian would be allowed and have an enabling environment to live their dreams. If you don’t have any dream, that is left to you. But your dream should not be truncated by the ineffectiveness of government. You should not become a carpenter when you were meant to become a mechanical engineer because you are in Nigeria. You should not be at a disadvantage automatically just because you are a Nigerian. You should not always be playing catch up just because of where you were born. Even on the global stage, you are second tier, third tier, just because of a green passport.
One of the top ten richest men in Africa, the GMD of BUA Group, was traveling to South Africa. He got to the airport and they told him his visa had expired. They sent him back to Nigeria. This is a man building a refinery, a cement factory. Top two in Nigeria in terms of wealth. And he’s standing at that airport while people arriving from Europe walk in without a visa. Whether you are rich or poor, as long as you carry a Nigerian green passport, you will suffer the same effect of bad governance. It might be on a different scale, but everyone suffers. It is in our own collective interest to be genuinely concerned about the state of this country.
I was thinking one day about why other African countries seem jealous of Nigeria. And then I got clarity, they are not jealous. They are irritated. Genuinely irritated. Nigeria is a blessed country. God has blessed us with everything we need to succeed. And when other Africans see us running into their not-so-great country, they are wondering “we are here demanding better, and you are here settling for it. When in your own house, you could have done so much more.”
In South Africa they are chasing Nigerians away. South Africa does not have half of the resources that could transform Nigeria. Nigeria’s population is more than double theirs. Our population is younger. But we are running there, why? They have electricity. They have good roads. And they are saying to us “you didn’t build this for us. Why do you want to come and benefit from it? Go back and build your own country.”
I met a friend one time who is married to a Kenyan. He told me that in his estate he’s guaranteed at least 18 hours power supply 80% of the time. There was a time it was unstable for a few hours. His wife was complaining. He had to tell her that what you’re enjoying here is not what others are enjoying. The wife did not believe it. She asked “how come people are not protesting?”
And it hit me. We have normalized abnormal things for so long. Power is supposed to be 24/7. When we get it for five hours, we are good. We don’t even complain anymore. Nobody protests for not having power. When a policeman kills an innocent citizen, that is when we protest. Nobody protests when there’s no power in the hospital. Nobody protests when healthcare fails. Nobody protests when roads are bad, when education is poor, when there’s no employment. We only protest when a life is taken. That is how far we have been pushed.
There’s a responsibility on Nigerians within and outside the country to change the story. Our founding fathers did the same thing. They went to school in England, saw what was working, said to themselves “if this is the way a country should be, why can’t it be the same for our country?” They came back in their 20s, 30s, 40s, none of them was 50 or 60, and they demanded independence. That is what those outside must do now. Involvement in knowledge sharing, and funding institutions that are driving change here. Also putting pressure on the government from where you are, through embassies, through the countries you reside in. Don’t just travel and say “I have escaped.” You settle, you give birth, you naturalize, you fight for the foreign passport rigorously, and the only thing you send back is a few pounds, a few dollars for your family. That is not enough.
We must begin to see that the privilege you have should not be an escape with no return. You must deliberately get involved in creating communities, opening doors to funds, to grants, to institutions, to knowledge, to possibilities. Because it is duty that makes a man leave his family and go to Sambisa Forest to fight. It’s not passion. So you must see it as a duty, not a nice thing to do. A duty.
I believe in servant leadership. Leadership that thinks about the next person. A communal leadership, which is something we actually grew up with, at least 20 or 30 years ago. When you did something wrong and your mother’s friend or your neighbor saw it, the person corrected you even before your mother came home. That communal way of living that made people think “if you become spoiled, it affects me too. Because you and my son are friends. Because you are staying in this community. If you become wayward, you will terrorize us. So I have to correct you.”
Leadership where everyone understands that it is my responsibility to see Nigeria transform. Not the government’s responsibility. My responsibility is to put the government there to lead the affairs. Our responsibility, not theirs alone, is to see the country progress. We need to move away from “e no concern me” to “it concerns all of us.” Because until we get there, we will keep pushing responsibility to other people and giving excuses for why we are negligent.
We say “it’s stressful to get our Permanent Voters Cards.” “Politics is a dirty game. I don’t have the heart for it.” “I can dig a borehole in my house.” “I’m in a gated estate, I don’t need the government.” Until we move away from all this, we will not progress. And I say this knowing that it was the system that first pushed us here, where we said, since the government is misbehaving, let me fix up my own space. We formed estates with Independent Power Plants, our own water boards, our own tarred roads, access codes at the gate. That is where we began to have problems. Because the moment you disconnect yourself from the government and become purely individualistic, you cede the country.
We must become servant leaders who are responsible for everything. Including insecurity. We must be able to say “the reason this country is not safe is because I did not vote in the last election.” When you see it that way, even if the election ends at midnight, you will stay. Nobody will need to tell you.
So what does this actually look like?
It starts small. It starts with you. Get your PVC. Not as a chore but as a declaration that your voice has a price that no politician can afford to pay. Read. Stay informed. Share what you know with people around you; not to argue, but to awaken. That is why I wrote my book, not to make money, but because knowledge, when it spreads, changes what people are willing to accept and what they are willing to demand. Support the organizations doing the unglamorous work on the ground. Fund them. Volunteer with them. Talk about them. And if you are outside Nigeria, do not treat your relocation as an ending. Treat it as a positioning. Use your access to open doors; to grants, to institutions, to conversations at the embassy level, for the people and the work still here.
None of this is comfortable. None of it is fast. But it is the work that needs to be done.
The burden is not exciting. I would rather be the founder of some FinTech company, telling you our numbers and where we’re headed. But this is what I keep coming back to. Every time I try to run, I am distracted. I don’t find peace anywhere else.
I was born for this. Not because I chose it but because every layer of my life has brought me back to the same place. Back to the people, back to this country, back to the belief that God did not send any Nigerian to this earth to simply suffer and die.
Nigeria has to work. And it starts with us.
Purchase Daniel’s Book, How Good People Elect Bad Government: https://paystack.com/buy/how-good-people-elect-bad-government?fbclid=PAT01DUAS5CEhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA81NjcwNjczNDMzNTI0MjcAAacwPlT8PpmUf5GblXEIi68jjfWBo8bHcFy04jzpvYDXw-4IHgXOxjUULvn0-Q_aem_DtIP0yZQt71ZpEp9epkNLQ
