omoharry:

Nigeria's problem is not Leadership but 70% of her citizens and 30% of her system. Drop bad attitude today and watch 70% of our country's problem disappear.

There have been talks and discussions on how Nigeria can come out of her numerous problems. To me I think we need to first begin with change of attitude. Our mindsets/mentalities are not right and these have affected our attitudes. I believe if we can change our attitudes, the larger part of our problems will be solved. Below are the attitudes every Nigerian out there needs to work on and drop.

1. Most Nigerians are found of the habit of throwing things like plastic bottles, sachets of pure water and so on around which litter the environment.


This is a bad attitude that we must drop. When you finish drinking a sachet of pure water, don't throw it to the ground. Keep it in your pocket or inside your bag and dispose it properly into a dust bin or a dump site. We most complain that our cities and towns are dirty but we have failed to acknowledge the fact that we are responsible for this. We complain of poor drainage system but the not too good ones we have are being packed with wastes by us and this often leads to flooding. If you and I learn to dispose those things we dont need again properly it will help our environment. Pouring dirty water on the road, throwing shells of fruits on the ground and so on are some of the bad attitudes we need to drop as a good citizen.

2. Drivers and Car Owners in Nigeria are found of disobeying traffic rules by using "One Way" concept to skip traffic on the normal road they are in.

This is bad. Driving through One Way as people would say is a bad attitude. Nigerians should learn to be patient. This bad attitude has cost us more evil than good. We blame our leaders for our problem in this country but we fail to realise we are our own problem. Is it President Buhari that said you should go and take "One Way"? And why must our Government spend so much to enforce law on the people?

As a driver or a car owner, never drive through one way. Irrespective of how intense the "hold up" is. Obey traffic rules

3. Nigerians are found of this habit of displaying impatience by jumping queues. You just came and then go to the front to start begging someone to allow you enter or want to force your way through.


This is very bad. Never jump a queue. Don't go and talk to your friend to allow you to stay at his front or at his back. It's a bad attitude. Learn to respect people who came before you. Learn to be patient to queue at the back of the last person on the queue.

4. Nigerians like 'awoof'. We always want to achieve things without paying money.

Stop this attitude. It is bad. When there is a service or product that requires money, please pay. If you don't have, wait till you will have. Look at the Electricity issue in Nigeria. Non-payment of electricity bills is one of the problems. Also illegal connection is another issue. Develop a mindset that paying for a service you are benefiting from is the best.

Government is not Nigeria's problem but the attitude of the people. Stop looking for free things. Try and always pay for what you need and want. Look at our private schools, a parent will put his child in this type of school and refuse to pay but can pay for Aso Ebi when a ceremony arises. How will the school pay salaries to their staffs? Some Youths wants a situation where by they can call or browse without paying... looking for cheap code up and down, even desiring that the credit codes of these our telecom companies leak out and then begin to use it. We need to change our mindset on this, so that we will not be part of this country's problem.

5. Nigerians have this mindset that the law is made for the poor and not the rich. They believe with money you can breach the law and bribe your way through.

This is a bad attitude. Stop bribing your way out of the breach of the law. Pay penalties when you breach the law. You don't have driver's license and you are driving and now you are caught and instead of you to ask for the penalty and do the right thing, you are bringing out money to bribe. It is bad. Nigerians should stop giving law enforcement agencies money. Try and know the law and the fines. Many Nigerians always put up this contempt attitude against the law. They just do things anyhow with the hope that if anything happens they will pay bribe. All in the name of "Money Stops Nonsense".


The problem of corruption begins with this bad attitude. People who pay bribes are liable to collect it too when the opportunity comes. Desist from doing this. Pay fines, royalties, charges and whatever you are required to pay when you fall victim of the law or use a service. The World will not collapse on you for doing this.

6. Nigerians have this I don't care attitude. You see an inscription that says "No Parking" and you went ahead to park there.

What's the meaning of that? You see "No Hawking" and you go ahead to hawk there. Nigerians should desist from this bad attitude of I don't care. Be observant of rules inscribed on sign posts or walls or whatever around you and obey.

7. Many Road Users like pedestrians, drivers, hawkers, riders and so on have this bad attitude of anger.


You and I must have witness one driver calling another driver "Fool", "Animal" and so on... even cursing the person. This is not good. It is true that someone on the road might have done something wrong, if you cannot correct him politely please keep quiet and go your way. Also if you were insulted or cursed on the road, ignore, don't talk and go your way. If you know you have made a mistake on the road, say sorry. Learn to admit and apologise. We are our own problem. This bad attitude of insulting and cursing another road user can result to a terrible fight. It can even cause hold up on the high way. Why should we be behaving like this? The insult or the curse won't affect you. Just ignore the person and see the person as not being matured and move on. A matured person should be able to control his or her emotions.

8. Going to the house of a Politician or a rich person to hail, bow and beg for money is a bad attitude. This is one of the reasons we are backward.

Stop making these people look like they have solutions to your problems. Stop collecting fish. Learn to catch fish yourself. This is very common with Street boys, Thugs and people in the small towns and villages. When a politician or a rich man is passing or goes to his village, the next thing you see is people flocking around the person. It's a bad attitude. It takes thinking outside the box to see that this thing is wrong. This bad attitude has enthrown thuggery and God Fatherism in our country.

Also is begging someone for money indirectly by hailing him and asking him for what he brought for you. This is common with gatemen, people/officers who work at Airports, non-teaching staffs who work at tertiary institutions and so on. Learn to believe in yourself and work for your own money and stop depending on someone.

9. Extorting People is another bad attitude common with Nigerians.

A taxi driver during rainfall can decide to inflate the transport fare just for nothing. Imagine a seller saying a bread of 100 naira is 300 naira just because he or she sees you as a stranger or from another tribe or that you are desperate about it. It's bad looking for money this way. Products or Services that have fixed price should not be inflated for any reason. It is cheating. You are taking advantage of the person by leveraging on circumstances surrounding the person at that time.

10. The whole attitude problem can be summed up in one sentence as "Achieving a goal easily and quickly without following due process".

Many Nigerians hate "Due Process". We want fast things. We want quick money. We want easy money. No one wants to labour following due process. No one wants to do the right thing. May God help us.

If we don't drop these bad attitudes, it will be difficult for us to develop as a nation.

Many people are ignorant of the fact that Leadership is not our problem but the attitude of the citizens. Even the leaders come from the citizens, so the problem is taking everywhere. A Nigerian is always a Nigerian and no matter the position he or she occupies whether low or high he will continue to cause problem for the country.

The rubbish throwers, queue jumpers, one way drivers, indirect beggars, extortioners etc are part of our problem in this country. So are the Almajiris, the Agberos, the Omo Oniles, Thugs, Cultists and other evil people.

In conclusion, before you step out of your house in the morning always take time and ruminate over those bad attitudes you are using to cause problem for this great nation and then make up your mind to desist from doing them. Tell yourself, I want to be a good citizen by doing the right thing always. I must not be part of this country's problem any more. Then step out do your work, earn your money, help someone, be happy and make your environment a better place. If every Nigerian can do this and become good citizens, 70% of our problem will die a natural death and Nigeria will become very developed.

God bless Nigeria and her people.

Thanks.

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