Human rights activist and political commentator, Ann-Kio Briggs, has lamented Nigeria’s developmental struggles, declaring that the country has failed to live up to its potential since independence in 1960.
As part of an Independence Day reflection, Briggs said Nigeria had squandered its opportunities through decades of poor leadership and misplaced priorities.
“From 1960 till now, we should have done far, far better,” she said while speaking on ARISE News Night on Wednesday.
‘Dubai Once Borrowed from Nigeria’
Briggs recalled how, according to historical accounts, Dubai once approached Nigeria for financial assistance after discovering oil, but was turned away.
“We hear that Dubai once came to borrow money from Nigeria when they discovered oil. I am ashamed to say the story is that we drove Dubai away because we didn’t believe they could pay us back. Look at Dubai today and look at Nigeria,” she said.
She described Dubai’s transformation as an indictment of Nigeria’s poor management of its oil wealth.
“Dubai hosts the tallest buildings; architecturally, they are fantastic. In every way you look at it, in development, in investment, they’re investing all over the world. I would be surprised if Dubai’s money is not in Nigeria,” she added.
The Niger Delta activist attributed the nation’s stagnation to poor leadership and wrong choices at critical moments in history.
“We have had the wrong people in places of power, authority, and governance. As long as we continue to repeat having these people who do not know how to govern and how to develop the country, I’m afraid that with all the work that people like me do, we just end up talking about what is wrong in Nigeria,” she lamented.
She further argued that true patriotism lies in acknowledging the country’s failings.
“If you want to make changes, you have to accept the truth. It doesn’t make you any less patriotic as a Nigerian if you actually can accept that something has gone terribly wrong in Nigeria,” she noted.
Briggs stressed that the Niger Delta region, which has powered the nation’s oil-driven economy for decades, has continued to “scream for development and better governance” since independence.
She insisted that until leaders confront the country’s deep-seated problems with honesty, progress will remain elusive.
Earlier on the programme, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Kukah, also criticised Nigeria’s tendency to shy away from honest national reflection.
“Unfortunately, we have a country that doesn’t like to confront the truth. We live by ‘forgive and forget’. We bury the hatchet with its handle still visible,” he said.
Naijaonpoint reports that both speakers compared Nigeria’s lost opportunities to countries like Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, which started on similar footing decades ago but have since outpaced Nigeria in development and global relevance.
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