Africans Debate on Whether Nigeria Is Ready to Be the Continent's Number One Power

BBC Africa asked Nigerians and other Africans to share their views on the prospect of Nigeria becoming the leader of the Dark Continent.

With its fast developing economy which recently overtook that of South Africa, abundant natural resources, can it overcome the Boko Haram menace, poverty, corruption, ethnic conflicts?

Simi Fajemirokun, an Abuja-based management consultant, said our country is already at the top of her game, leading by the "sheer size of its population" and influencing the world through technological advancement, music and film industry. He reminds that it has historically been a peacekeeper in West Africa, citing its role in bringing stability to the region and quelling the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Although he acknowledges that Nigerian leaders, due to lack of "sense of awareness and purpose," have imposed confused policies and initiated blunders ("such as the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, the passing of an anti-gay law" were mentioned by Mr. Fajemirokun), he is quick to add that old will fast give way and the "new Nigeria" is to be unveiled soon.


Elnathan John is a lawyer and writer also based in Abuja. Responding to the question by BBC Africa, he asked his own: whether Africa is going anywhere, and if Nigeria is ready to rise from the chaos she’s currently engulfed in. All across Africa, he notes, "countries still work at cross purposes, travel within the continent is prohibitively expensive, major powers antagonize each other, … and poverty and conflict is on the increase." Similarly, much of Nigeria's growth "has had nothing to do with government planning, policy or promotion," benefiting only from Nigeria's dysfunctional infrastructure, political and social systems. Worse still he notes, Nigeria refuses to acknowledge that multiple crises are threatening its relative stability ahead of the 2015 elections.

Chibundu Onuzo, a Nigerian writer studying in the United Kingdom, said Nigeria needs not only to focus on her achievements and worldwide acknowledgement, but also on primary and essential sectors such as education, health, security, electricity and roads. While hooking the rest of Africa on Nollywood movies and Nigerian music, our country still lags behind Rwanda or Mauritius in addressing basic needs of its indigenes. He stresses the need for a "visionary leadership" that would help transform Nigeria.

Simon Allison, a South African, responded with a firm "No," saying Nigeria's "newly inflated gross domestic product" is only a set of "re-arranged numbers on some bureaucrat's spreadsheet," while South African economy is more diversified, sustainable and ultimately attractive to investors. He says his country deserves the title of the "African superpower" more that Nigeria with its corruption and chaotic governance, drug and scam scandals.

Another South African, a risk analyst based in Johannesburg, Ronak Gopaldas, is more positive in his evaluation of Nigeria’s potential. While saying that political setbacks, poverty, unemployment, outbreaks of ethnic and religious violence are issues that need to be dealt with, he adds that Nigeria "is unlikely to devolve into a failed state" because there are multiple promising sides of it. Mr. Gopaldas says "the country's compelling investment proposition, massive growth prospects, abundant natural resources, an engaged and entrepreneurial diaspora, on-going reforms in the power and banking sectors, and emerging opportunities in the agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors" mean that Nigeria will likely have more hits than misses in the long term.

Nicole Amarteifio, a Ghanaian creator of the web series, An African City, employs a more global approach by observing that every African country is responsible for the leadership of the continent, regardless of their size and population number. He compares the African continent to a relay race where "the team is only as strong as its weakest runner."

Antony Ragui, Kenyan, the mind behind the I Paid a Bribe website in Nairobi, says Nigeria needs to "fix its foundation" to assume a leadership position. He singled out the very same problems Nigeria is notorious for – corruption, bureaucracy, lack of goodwill, for weak governance, regulatory failure, unstructured economy, drug dealing and scams.

Who do you think is responsible for creating Nigeria's image: the leaders, ordinary Nigerians, or their combined forces? Do you think Nigeria will ever be acknowledged as the number one power in Africa? More importantly, do you think Nigeria deserves that title?