simply and only the leaders. a lot of us dont give enough credits to our past leaders genius. i thought hard as to the reason why nigeria has had no revolution and no successful civil war. and its quite simple, our bad leaders are smart. they dont act alone and benefit alone, but rather spread their rot to as many as possible. the very leaders that should have opposed the head of state become part of the head of state. and the corruption keeps flowing downwards. change the head, the rest will follow.

well this is plain and simple.

the people are to blame.
like Fela said.
we dey fear the thing we no see.
we hardly fight for anything, we blame the leaders.
well guess what? we give them way, we call them "sir" and "madam" and give them the respect they never earned.

It's our damn fault!!!!!
so stop bitching and start a revolution.

leaders-for their lack of vision and empowerment.

traditional rulers- for being the first ones to assist colonization and slavery; and also for being the unspeakable     hindrance to a growing democracy and are the planted mines to disrupt unity.

nigerian citizens home and abroad- for accepting the status quo of situations, lack of innovations, and never believing in ourselves.

nigerians, cant raise their voice, spineless

EVERY SINGLE NIGERIAN IS RESPONSIBLE, IF WE ALL DID THE RIGHT THING , THERE WOULD NEVER BE AN ISSUE OF DECAY.

We all know them and they know themselves.MAMANGIDA/SHACARIN/AKINLOLE/OJB/EX GOVS,EX MINS,EX INSP GEN OF POL,EX THIS AND THAT
THEN the new breed SEMEN CONTRACTORS ESP THAT PROF_FORMER MIN EX EVERYTHING.
NIGERIA CAN NOT MOVE FORWARD PROPERLY UNTIL
SYSTEMATIC PROBE OF PAST LEADERS
PREVENTION OF FRAUDS
SERIOUS PENALTY FOR LOOTERS

WE ARE HUNGRY DESPITE OIL
WE ARE SUFFERING DESPITE BEING GIANT OF AFRICA
WHATS THE IQ OF THOSE RULING US?

who is responsible? what a question, "we the people",

Partially the government that is very corrupt and partially the people who continue to put up with a useless government.

sorry

Nna, make we no look too far. Na me & you, na we we dey dig our own grave daily as we dey shit for pant for fear to ask for our rights instead of thanking dem leaders for pittance priviledge. Imagine person wey never get im salary for four months, oga come give am Xmas egunje valued at 10% of im monthly salary go dey talk sey im oga na better person. And na so im go dey get hope sey in turn go come to be oga or worse still im self dey play small oga for im level.
All dis respect for money people na im wey dey kill us. No respect for person wey dey work hard, wey get ideas, wey sabi book-we go say na so so theory be dat. Meanwhile nobody go employ illiterate for im office.
Bottom line is money no be everything, values are all we need. Same goes for our black slave brothers in the US, South America, Carribeans & UK.
But then we can START to make a difference by refusing to chorus "If you can beat them join them"

kobojunkie: God bless your heart!!

Oh Come on. When are Nigerians themselves going to take responsibilty for their own inaction?? We ALLOWED the army to continue to ruin us as we instead like cowards continued to live in fear. We are the ones who would not speak up and fight for our rights all that time. We are the ones who did not and may still not want a better Nigeria bad enough. When are we going to stop passing around the blame and put it where it belongs?? We have people in here who have benefitted from free money. We have people in here who want to get paid for not doing anything. We have people in here who will see crime and turn away. Come on!! We are the reason the country is where it is today. You think say if millions of Nigeria yari, this country will remain the same?? People like OBJ, IBB and the other goons there are riding on the fact that they see us all as cowards. Until we stand, unite as a people and say enough, nothing much is going to happen. We are slowly watching different countries come in now to tear off a bite of the country wherever they can and we all sit saying WIND OF CHANGE IS BLOWING. LMAO!!!! I am telling you, if Nigerians decided to say NO MORE and actually did something like wake up tommorow and matched around Aso Rock one time, those people will shake in their boots and realize that we mean business this time. Sunny Okosun said it best, TOGETHER WE ARE GREATER, TOGETHER!!

Can we all say amen to these sayings of the wise ones:
"A NATION CAN BE ONLY AS GREAT AS ITS PEOPLE WANT IT TO BE. A NATION CAN BE ONLY AS FREE AS ITS PEOPLE INSIST THAT IT BE. A NATION’S LAWS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS IT’S PEOPLE WILL WANT TO SEE THEM ENFORCED"

"HE WHO KNOWS, AND KNOWS HE KNOWS, HE IS WISE- FOLLOW HIM. HE WHO KNOWS, AND KNOWS NOT HE KNOWS, HE IS ASLEEP- WAKE HIM. HE WHO KNOWS NOT, AND KNOWS NOT. HE KNOWS NOT, HE IS A FOOL- SHUN HIM. HE WHO KNOWS NOT, AND KNOWS HE KNOWS, HE IS GENUINE AND LEARNING- BE COURAGEOUS AND PATIENT TO TEACH HIM"

The masses are responsible. Look at the last election we just accepted it and talk about it. That will not happen in Hungary and other third world countries. I think the majority shoulb be blamed,yoruba and hausa. They occupy nearly every top position in the country.

PDP (40% of Nigeria problem)
AC (20% of Nigeria problem)
ANPP (15% of Nigeria problem)
PPA (15% of Nigeria problem)
Other political parties (10% of Nigeria problem)
All ex HEAD OF STATE, GOV, MINSTERS, COMM,.
Solution: PROBE ALL POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDER SINCE 1966 (jail some kill the rest)

when are we going to wake-up from slumber. GIANT OF NOTHING

Nigerian's Attitude

Its the colonian Masters
They gave us our independence before oil was discovered in Nigeria.How i wish they found oil before they left.

shouldn't we not rephrase the question; and rather ask" What can we do to make Nigeria great?"

The way up for Nigeria is for "you and I" to start off in our own little sphere of influence.

All Nigerians need to evolve a spirit of nationhood first and foremost, love Nigeria against all odds with its warts, spots and all, it may be hard l know, but lets start from somewhere, we can go on to build the Nigerian character to be more encompassing towards" what can l do for my nation, rather than what what can my nation do for me". For a change let us see ourselves as the agents of change for a greater Nigeria, e.g lets Nigerianise the Malcolm X "l have a dream" concept. work to actualise the Nigerian dream. Become positively a Nigerian brand. Lets please not resign ourselves to a dismal fate. We got huge potential.

For a change lets even do an indepth study of what propelled the super-powers to greatness? Will it be wrong to say that their people on individual case by case basis may have played some roles, don't you think? Do not under estimate what one individual can achieve once he sets his mind on it.

Our leaders sure have a huge chunk share of the blame, but how about you, you, you? We have sat enough in our comfort zones whilst decrying this notorious leadership.

Where-ever you are; why not illuminate that place, talk right, think right and act right, Let others wonder; hey there goes a Nigerian,

If you can make a better leader, in fact not just a political leader, name it! Better still, you could also aspire to get on board the leadership of this nation and change the system. Why do we just sit on the fence and criticise leadership all day long. Talk is cheap bro. All it takes is raw boldness and confidence.

Go take a look at the constitution and check what it takes to vie for a political office, it would amaze you that the opportunity is rife for any one above 18+, no criminal record, has GCE or its equivalent etc, all of which l presume you are eminently qualified, so don't you see you have what it takes to go up there and strive to make an impart on the down-trodden? then go for it and let children yet unborn celebrate you tomorrow as a national hero. See how the present day Americans revere JF Kennedy, the Indians; Mahatma Ghandi, closeby South Africa; Nelson Mandela, etc. These were just mere men made of flesh and blood but on their individual stead, caused national changes, So you nko? Do not think you are too small or put yourself down.

Know what, a guy you may wave off as just an everyday guy who is not a money bag by any standard took this bold step and actually contested for the governorship of his state, he did not have any God father, he did not even contest under the ticket of the powerful ruling PDP and he did not seem to belong amongst incumbent " powers- that- be-' in his state and they were even against him, yet he took this bold step, people who knew him closely thought he was just plunging himself into an excercise of futility, today the story has changed and one thing led to the other,alas today he is the present governor of that state.

You may say he was just lucky; but that is luck predicated by being at the right place and so that when opportunity came calling, he was prepared to grab it.

None of the Nigerian leaders on top was born with leadership trust on him, some were born under poorer circumstance than you can imagine-talking about those we call 'our leaders" Its just that whilst we are indifference, we inadvertently grant them free access- the journey begins with such steps.

Become active stakeholder on these issues. Power to lead cannot be granted to you on a platter of your complacency or non-participation; so contest and the worst scenario is you lose, so what, did you hear that George Washington failed how many several times?

So people, lets dust off the ashes of mourning and get up and face, confront or tackle (whichever) our national issues squarely but courageously. We can get there, we have what it takes, our destiny is right in our hands. Lets not despair. What have you done today to move Nigeria forward. That should be our collective guiding principle.

Finally lets borrow the MTN on-going current advert slogan: "Go start something, every move counts"

Make that move now; Less complaint and more action.

Every one of us; with bad orientation from our elders.

Nigerians themselves  

, ME AND YOU
for our actions and inaction

YOU PEOPLE SHOULD KEEP KOOL because WE ARE ALL IN IT AND ACCORDING TO THE GREAT ONE "FELA" {SUFFERING AND SMILLING} WETIN WE GO DO?

religion! religion!! religion!!!
  just ask me why, I'll detail things in full. we are blind and deep asleep.
Non of us knows where our problems is even the so called govt. are equally confussed on nigerian problems.
Let turn the hands of the clock backward before the arrival of slave trade and colonian masters from there we come back to the present time we are now, we will figure out what wents wrong in black nation. The whiteman brings to us what has being setting there technology back to us we just embrace it and keep it tight. our eyes will not clear untill we chase it out of our life. we are totaly confuse.

@poster

If i was to cast a stone, it would go directly to the Nigerian Institutions. That's where the decay all started and that's where the decay is spreading from. Secondary school leavers seeking and gaining admission through fraudulent ways.

YOu and i know too well that examination malpractice is a key to the failure of our Institutions and indeed the center of decay in our nation is from there.

Consider government workers who take bribe, teachers who seek extra favour in order to credit students, lectures who needed to be sorted and the junk of Nigerian graduates who only hold papers but cannot prove what they claim with degrees. Engineers with mouth, and so on.

In order to make Nigeria a better place, the starting point is restructuring the Educational Institutions.

Your parent and you are the one that is responsible

Ahmadu Bello, Zik and Awo. Under their watch, an elitist group were created whose only claim to fame was been a politician. Appropriating state resources for their personal comfort. These guys and their cohorts became overnight lords replacing the colonial masters, living in GRA's and driving imported cars when majority of the population remain ignorant of their role in the new independent nation. They took advantage of this overwhelming ignorance to perpetuate themselves and their successors in government. That has led us to today's Naija where the culture of corruption and nepotism seem normal to the average Nigerian.

although i have always believe in being part of d solution and not the problem, no one should blame anyone , because we are all the cause , we shd blame ourselves,if we all check ourselves individually Nigeria will be a better place.chao

lasmiles:

no one should blame anyone , because we are all the cause , we should blame ourselves,if we all check ourselves individually  Nigeria will be a better place.chao

You mean i have to take the blame of what Fulani/Hausa and their Friend Yoruba caused for this country?. God forbid.

Who else would have done that; NIgerians destroyed nigeria

@ Oziomatv

Can u elaborate on the religion aspect please?
I don't quite follow. You placed an emphasis on the white man. Please keep in mind that the majority reliogion is islam and that isn't from the white man but from arabs.

Now please elaborate.

We are all responsible for what we are passing through today. No one is exempted even me, my parents and relatives.