Victor Dirikebamor: Why is Nigeria So Underdeveloped?

Nigeria is populated with people who has nothing to lose. Nigeria is ruled by people who has nothing to lose.

If you burn down Nigeria today, they won't be affected, they won't be worried, they are sure to be unperturbed.

Nigeria political leaders have houses in several capitals of countries in Europe and America. Their children school abroad. Their families live abroad at the expense of Nigerians.

These are some of the financial misdeeds of past government officials from 2009 to 2015, and it should come as no surprise that most of the monies is flown abroad to safe havens in developed countries with direct or indirect cooperation of their citizens.

$2.2 billion illegally withdrawn from Excess Crude Oil Accounts, of which $1 billion supposedly approved by President Jonathan to fund his reelection campaign without the knowledge of the National Economic Council made up of state governors and the president and vice president.
NEITI discovered $11.6 billion was missing from Nigeria LNG Company dividend payments.
60 million barrels of oil valued at $13.7 billion was stolen under the watch of the national oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, from 2009 to 2012.
NEITI indicates losses due to crude swaps due to subsidy and domestic crude allocation from 2005 to 2012 indicated that $11.63 billion had been paid to the NNPC but that “there is no evidence of the money being remitted to the federation account”.
Diversion of 60% of $1 billion foreign loans obtained from the Chinese by the Ministry of Finance.
Massive scam in weapons and defense procurements, and misuse of 3 trillion naira defense budget since 2011 under the guise of fighting Boko Haram.
Diversion of $2.2 million vaccination medicine fund, by Ministry of Health.
Diversion of Ebola fight fund up to 1.9 bn naira.
NIMASA fraud under investigation by EFCC, inclusive of accusation of funding PDP and buying a small piece of land for 13 billion naira.
Ministry of Finance led by Okonjo Iweala hurried payment of $2.2 million to health ministry contractor in disputed invoices.
NDDC scams and multifarious scams including 2.7 billion naira worth of contracts that does not confirm to the Public Procurement Act.
Police Service Commission Scam investigated by ICPC that revealed misappropriation of over 150 million naira related to election related trainings. ICPC made refund recommendations, but many analyst indicated prosecution was more appropriate.
In late 2013, Nigeria's then Central Bank governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi informed President Goodluck Jonathan that the state oil company, NNPC, had failed to remit US$20 billion in oil revenues owed to the state.

A Nigerian political leader is like a rat who goes out to invite other rats to rob his masters house.

A former Bayelsa state governor never had a house in Bayelsa state all through his tenure, it was years after he left office when he was to receive president Buhari, during his presidential campaign to the state that he hurriedly put up an edifice. Tell me what does such a man stand to lose if you burn down the whole Yenagoa.

Many rich men in Nigeria do not invest in Nigeria. They don't care what happens to Nigeria, they simply have nothing to lose.

Also, Many poor persons in Nigeria has nothing to lose and they don't fight nor complain if things go South in the country, Nigeria is of no economic value to them. Why should they fight?

Nigeria is infested with bystanders. People with the “I don't care mentality”. They are so afraid to die but has nothing to live for.

As far as Nigerian billionaires don't invest in their country, as far as their children don't school or live in Nigeria our collective development is always going to be like that of a snail.