We will start a new decade, 2030 – 2039, five years from today. By then, humans might be going to space for holidays. Driverless cars may have become the norm on our streets. The average life expectancy is almost certainly higher in many countries. Artificial Intelligence (AR) will be working wonders in healthcare. Where will Nigeria and Nigerians be then? What will be our lot within the human community?

Nigerians should no longer be aloof to the affairs of their country and how they are governed from year to year. In 2025, they should, with one voice and one heart, resolve to change the trajectory of their country towards delivering a better life for all citizens (without exception) and becoming a more respected nation in the world.

As a Nigerian-American citizen, I have spent much of my adult life in the United States. I have worked as a productive citizen, paying taxes to help build the American society. Now, I am looking forward to retirement. But it is with a heavy heart because the country of my birth is moving at full speed in reverse gear. And I have family and friends back home whose plight depletes my joy.

We will start a new decade, 2030 – 2039, five years from today. By then, humans might be going to space for holidays. Driverless cars may have become the norm on our streets. The average life expectancy is almost certainly higher in many countries. Artificial Intelligence (AR) will be working wonders in healthcare. Where will Nigeria and Nigerians be then? What will be our lot within the human community?

Nigerians should no longer be aloof to the affairs of their country and how they are governed from year to year. In 2025, they should, with one voice and one heart, resolve to change the trajectory of their country towards delivering a better life for all Nigerians (without exception) and becoming a more respected nation in the world.

As a Nigerian-American citizen, I have spent much of my adult life in the United States. I have worked as a productive citizen, paying taxes to help build American society. Now, I am looking forward to retirement. But it is with a heavy heart because the country of my birth is moving at full speed in reverse gear. And I have family and friends back home whose plight depletes my joy.

My humble advice to the people and government of Nigeria is simple: Borrow a leaf from thriving and progressive countries in critical sectors and get your act together. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The world owes you nothing. You owe yourselves everything.

The most important thing to borrow is not money or even technology (as crucial as they may seem). It is the mindset of working relentlessly for the common good and posterity, not for immediate, selfish benefits or the interest of small groups closely related to us.

I arrived in America over 40 years ago, barely from my teenage years. I knew no one who could speak for me. But I received a decent education and regular odd jobs to pay my way through. It was a hard life, but the opportunity was available to me (and others like me) without minding my status as an immigrant. In the years since my graduation, I have paid back that favor with multiple interests. That’s how systems are built to be self-sustaining and grow.

No one I know feels that they owe Nigeria anything. Indeed, most think that Nigeria denied them opportunities and owes them arrears. Changing this narrative would require more than the leadership mindset shift I referred to earlier. The citizens must also be involved to hold elected and appointed leaders accountable and monitor their job performances. In doing so, they must be prepared to enforce their sovereignty or die trying.

As G.K. Chesterton rightly said, “The paradox of courage is that a person must be somewhat careless with their life to keep it.” The balance of duty, privilege, and fear keeps leaders on their toes.

In the last decade since APC came to power, it has become fashionable for Presidents to ignore or scorn public opinion while carrying on as kings and emperors with divine right to rule. This is a tragic development that must be quickly arrested. The Office of the Citizen is the most important in a Republic. The President and Governors answer to that office and take their instructions therefrom.

To exercise that office, citizens should demand regular town hall meetings from their elected leaders where they can ask questions and demand answers. If the answers are not provided or are inadequate, they should demand the resignation or removal of affected officials.

All public service outlets’ official email addresses, phone numbers, or social media handles should be in the public domain. Through these, citizens may file complaints about hardships, make suggestions, and report service failures from government officials or those asking for bribes to do their jobs. All allegations should be thoroughly investigated, and those found guilty should be fired.

Sometimes, even living in today’s Nigeria can be seen as an act of courage. Life should not be that way. Life should be enjoyed, not endured, by the living. Nigeria is a great country, blessed with enormous resources that can make it the most beautiful nation on earth.

Those of us in the Diaspora have a moral responsibility to help by using the expertise and experience gained from other climes to transform the country of our birth to be better than when we left and make us proud abroad.

The knottiest of Nigeria’s problems can be fixed simply by getting exemplary leadership into power – and insisting that the leadership recruitment system is not perverted. This ensures that leadership has vision and character compatible with the best values of the people. Can we see if the Chinese and Emirates of Dubai can do it?

♦ Dominic Ikeogu is a social and political commentator based in Minneapolis, USA.