Nigeria, Feb. 23 -- Nigeria stands on extremely fragile foundations and many factors are responsible for the situation. They are to be found among the country's living a host of those responsible for her many problems. If Nigeria searches among the dead, even some of those who rendered her empty would be found.

The depredations really gained steam with the beginning of colonial rule in the 1880s, by the time Nigeria gained independence in 1960, many held their collective breath hoping that it was time for the country to turn a new leaf. There was to be no new leaf thanks to many military coups, a civil war, more military coups and a largely dysfunctional system of governance.

Nigeria somehow survived the tumultuous ten years between 198...