Absence of national consensus, Nigeria’s greatest challenge

By Chinenye Nwaogu
Nigeria’s greatest challenge since independence is not poverty, corruption, insecurity, unemployment, poor infrastructure, or even weak economic growth. These are merely symptoms of a deeper structural problem that has remained unresolved for over six decades: the absence of a cohesive national consensus on the nature of the Nigerian state, the direction of national development, and the framework through which collective aspirations should be pursued.
Virtually every successful nation is built around certain fundamental agreements. Citizens may disagree on politics, parties, and personalities, but there is usually broad consensus on the character of the state, the ...