Nigeria of A Particular Concern
‘Erraticality’ with Johnson .O. Da-Silva
Nigeria stands today at a dangerous crossroads. The phrase “of particular concern” is not merely a descriptive headline, it is a diagnosis, a warning, and a mirror reflecting a nation struggling under the weight of unresolved crises. From the corridors of power in Abuja to the smallest rural communities, the signs of distress are unmistakable. A country endowed with abundant human and natural resources is gradually slipping into a condition that alarms citizens, observers, and partners alike.
This column takes a broad, panoramic view of the unhealthy state of the nation; socially, politically, economically, morally, and institutionally, and why Nigeria has become a country of particular concern.
1. The Economy: A Giant in Chains
Nigeria’s economy has all the indicators of a distressed household:
- High inflation that crushes the poor and squeezes the middle class.
- A currency in freefall, making essentials unaffordable and businesses unstable.
- A mono-product economy still dependent on crude oil despite decades of promises to diversify.
- A youth population eager to work but trapped in unemployment.
Most painful is the lived reality: families skipping meals, businesses shutting down, and purchasing power collapsing daily. When citizens begin to rely more on survival tactics than opportunities, the economy is no longer just weak, it is sick.
2. Security: A Nation Living on Edge
Nigeria’s security challenges now cover nearly every geopolitical zone:
- Banditry in the North-West
- Boko Haram and ISWAP in the North-East
- Farmer–herder crises across the Middle Belt
- Kidnapping epidemics nationwide
- Militancy in the Niger Delta
- Urban criminality in major cities
Many communities live under permanent fear. Some citizens have normalized sleeping with one eye open. Even within last week and now, information is in circulation as regard to the forth coming yuletide with warnings for citizens especially the church community such as “Do not hold vigil, Get security aid to guide services, etc and guess what, these advise are alledged to be coming from security operatives that should have do the needful so we can have a safe country. When a country’s internal security is perpetually overwhelmed, that nation is indeed of particular concern.
3. Governance Failure and Leadership Fatigue
Governance in Nigeria suffers from:
- Inconsistency of policy
- Weak institutions
- Politicization of everything
- Corruption that drains resources meant for development
- Leaders disconnected from the realities of ordinary citizens
Public trust in government has eroded to record lows. Nigerians no longer believe in the announcements, promises or reform agendas because history has taught them to expect very little. A country where citizens do not trust their leaders is a country drifting without a compass.
4. Education in Disarray
The education sector mirrors the national health:
- Overcrowded classrooms
- Teachers who are overworked and undertrained
- Inadequate funding
- Outdated or under-updated curriculum
- Poor learning outcomes
- Rising dropout rates
- Rising out of school children rates
- Universities disrupted by strikes and declining research capacity
Parents are desperate; private schools are inconsistent; public schools are collapsing; students are caught in between. If education is the backbone of a nation, then Nigeria’s backbone is dangerously weak.
5. Social and Moral Decay
Beyond metrics and policies is a deeper rot:
- Get-rich-quick mentality
- Increasing cybercrime and ritual killings
- Erosion of community values
- Religious manipulation by false prophets
- Breakdown of family structure
- Celebration of wealth without asking questions of source
When moral foundations collapse, law and order become difficult to enforce. Society becomes chaotic, unpredictable, and fragile.
6. Youth Disillusionment and the Japa Wave
Nigeria’s youth, its greatest asset are leaving in droves.
Doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, creatives, tech talents gone.
Those who remain often feel trapped between frustration and hopelessness. A country where its brightest minds see no future is one whose long-term survival is at risk.
7. Infrastructure Collapse
From electricity to roads to healthcare:
- Power supply remains unreliable after decades of reforms.
- Many federal roads are death traps.
- Healthcare systems are overstretched; hospitals lack basic supplies.
- Water and sanitation infrastructure are outdated.
When infrastructure collapses, development collapses with it.
8. A Fractured National Identity
Nigeria’s unity is repeatedly tested by:
- Ethnic division
- Regional suspicion
- Religious tensions
- Power struggles
- Perceptions of marginalization
Rather than functioning as a united federation, the country often operates as competing blocs with citizens identifying more with tribe than with nation.
9. Global Perception
Nigeria’s external image has become concerning:
- High emigration rates
- Credit downgrades
- Travel advisories
- Rising reports of fraud, corruption, and insecurity
- Brain drain affecting international confidence
A country does not become a global concern overnight; it takes years of accumulated warning signs.
10. A Hopeful Yet Urgent Path Forward
Nigeria can still recover. Nations have risen from worse. But it requires:
- Courageous, visionary leadership
- Strengthening institutions, not individuals
- Investment in people, education, technology, health
- Security reforms rooted in intelligence and accountability
- A shift from consumption to production
- A national mindset change from entitlement to responsibility
Nigeria is sick, but not dead. Troubled, but not finished. Wounded, but not without hope.
What makes Nigeria of a particular concern is not just the crises, it is the dangerous gap between what the nation is and what it should be.
It is the tragedy of wasted potential and delayed destiny.
Nigeria must urgently confront its challenges before concern turns into catastrophe.