Human rights activist and political commentator, Ann-Kio Briggs, has criticised Nigeria’s political leaders for decades of mismanagement that have left the country trailing behind its potential.
Speaking on ARISE News Night as part of Independence Day reflections, Briggs lamented that since 1960, Nigeria has repeatedly squandered opportunities through poor leadership and misplaced priorities.
“From 1960 till now, we should have done far, far better,” she said.
Briggs recalled historical accounts that 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 into a global hub of commerce and innovation as an indictment of Nigeria’s failure to harness 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 Nigeria’s stagnation to the repeated emergence of unfit leaders in positions of power.
“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.
Briggs stressed that true patriotism lies in acknowledging the nation’s failings rather than glossing over them.
“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 argued.
She added that the Niger Delta region, which has fuelled Nigeria’s oil-driven economy for decades, has continued to “scream for development and better governance” without real progress.
Earlier in the programme, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Kukah, echoed similar sentiments, faulting Nigeria’s unwillingness to confront uncomfortable truths.
“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,” Kukah said.