Nigeria, March 29 -- Like many other "bothers" (our corrupted version of "brother"), I receive countless requests for financial assistance daily, relatives, friends, and even total strangers. These pleas have become woven into our social fabric, something we've come to expect, even in times of economic stability. But in these recent years of Baba Go-Slow and T-Pain, Nigerians are barely surviving, crawling on their feet, unsure where their next meal will come from.

Their stories are painfully familiar, university graduates roaming the streets for years, unable to find work, desperate for help to start a business. But the latest twist is even more troubling: many now recount how they borrowed money to bribe powerful Ogas in government ins...