Nigeria, March 2 -- In the dusk of the last sweltering Saturday, under a nest of affiliates, Samuel, a critic, sidled up to me and said: "Things are improving". And I replied, "Yes. It was certain that they would."

Samuel is not alone in this volte-face and patriotic testimony. Many Nigerians across all artificial lines are affirming the same - the glorious dawn long predicted is nigh.

Performance is the best PR. PR avails not much without the undergirding of substance. PR without the stuff of performance is propaganda. Simply, the tangibles and intangibles of performance are the platter on which the smorgasbord of PR is prepared.

The verdict is unanimous. Nigerians, critics and proponents alike, are all agreed that the economy has tur...