hen Awo, Balewa, and Zik realized that individually, none of them had enough gravitas to win a national election convincingly they retreated to their regions to consolidate their respective positions; Awo got entrenched in the west, Balewa consolidated the north while Zik vacillated in the east. Thus ethnic politics was institutionalized in Nigeria!

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Since gaining independence in 1960 Nigeria's politics has been mired in ethnic wrangling, the sort that is symptomatic of failed states. Let' be clear on this: there has been no discernible effort to eschew ethnic disharmony in the society simply because it serves the purpose of Nigeria's oligarchy. The consequence of all this is that political institutions are today no more than a patchwork of disparate constituents with starkly different interests. The sad part is that this generation has latched on to the mistakes of the previous generation and made matters even worse. To the extent that this generation has done so much damage to the Nigerian society and its citizens, it would not be an overstatement to describe it as 'the lost generation'.

As the west fretted over Y2K, Indians seized the opportunity to demonstrate their technical competency. But even before then, India was quite aware that technology was the only way to put development on a fast-track. That's why it established various Indian Institutes of Technology across the country. Today, most Indian students are embarrassed to tell you that they are studying political science or philosophy because that's not what India is known for. So, as the new millennium approached the west relied on Indian expertise for complex software and hardware solutions. This newfound friendship led to an enormous respect for Indian intellectuals to the extent that most western hi-tech companies now feel comfortable establishing their subsidiaries in India. Today, Bangalore is to India what Silicon Valley is to the United States. Better still, Bangalore can quite aptly be compared to Bologna, Italy of many centuries ago when it was the hotbed of intellectual inquiry in Europe. Almost every developed country has had a period when its intellectuals set out to ask tough questions about their society; whether it is the enlightenment period, or the renaissance period or inquiring about the essence of life and deity or the causes of the wealth of nations or the role of government in the society, it is through such inquiries that societies define themselves and form a 'collective personality'.

The question is: where was Nigeria when all this was happening? Well, we were busy obtaining PhDs so that we can prefix our names with Dr. in order to sound different and intimidating. Go through the list of national office holders in Nigeria and you will see that nowadays it seems that a PhD is almost the minimum requirement. Then compare that with what happens in developed countries: you find PhDs mainly in academia and think tanks, not necessarily in politics. In the west people are appointed based on good education and demonstrated expertise which takes several years to acquire and therefore eliminates most PhDs. This goes to show the phony way that we conduct politics in Nigeria. With all the education that Nigerians have amassed one may ask: is the country better off today than it was, say thirty years ago? Have we taken advantage of globalization, the so called 'level playing field' in the words of Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and best selling author of The World is Flat? It seems to me that the only thing we can boast of giving the world as a result of global interconnectivity from the internet is 419!

Subsequent to my last article, Why America Blacklisted Nigeria I have received so many email comments. Unsurprisingly, the comments have been even; while some people praised the bravery of the article others thought it was written in bad taste. Therefore I would like to use a few lines here to clarify a few things. No where in that article did I side with Nigeria or the United States. The article was written with an objective bystander's evaluation of the relations between Nigeria and the United States prior to January 4, 2010. In other words, I asked my self: what would an objective bystander, knowing the tenuous relationship between Nigeria and the United States, conclude as to the reasons for America's blacklisting of Nigeria? Imagine, how was it possible for me to predict on December 29, 2009 (Nigeria: A Descent into Oblivion) that this was a possibility? For more discussion on this topic, please refer to Femi Ajayi's article, Vision 20/20, May 29, 2005. After that, please refer to The Guardian editorial opinion, Rebuilding Nigeria's Dangerous International Perception, January 12, 2010. How about the US National Intelligence Council Report on Sub-Saharan Africa, 2005 that said, inter alia: "while currently Nigeria's leaders are locked in a bad marriage that all dislike but dare not leave, there are possibilities that could disrupt the precarious equilibrium in Abuja"?. It's prediction? An outright collapse of Nigeria as a nation-state within the next 15 years! So, why should any reasonable Nigerian become so surprised by America's inclusion of Nigeria on the terror watch list? Can anyone reasonably argue that there weren't enough warning signs? Are we all going to sit around and let this prediction come true?

Lately, some people have begun to argue that since Farouk Abdulmutallab had some transactions and possibly contacts in Ghana prior to his infamous act, therefore Ghana is just as guilty and deserves to be on the terror watch list. This is simply wishful thinking. Moreover, it depicts a lack of understanding of America's foreign policy imperatives. Ghana will not be blacklisted because it is a model democracy in Africa. More importantly, Ghana does not have entrenched religious radicalism as Nigeria. As I have stated repeatedly, America's greatest concern is religious radicalism because it is the breathing ground for terrorists.

The blogosphere has been inundated with comparisons between terrorism and 419 scams. In fact, one person asked a poignant question: what if Abdulmutallab was 'Okoro' or 'Adebayo' or 'Effiong', would the outpouring of condemnation be different? Well, the answer is a resounding no! Evil is evil no matter how you spell it!! But, for the sake of intellectual curiosity, let's analyze the two crimes. A fine starting point is the punishment for each crime. In law, if you want to know the severity of a crime, just look to its punishment, it's that simple. The crime of 419 is an economic crime on a person or institution. The perpetrator carefully targets his/her victim and takes a shot. If the scam succeeds, the scam artist is enriched. If the scam artist is caught in the process, s/he is prosecuted and sent to jail for a period of time. But in order to be a victim (especially in the west) you must have access to the internet. More importantly, as my friend a UC Berkeley-trained lawyer rightly pointed out during my last visit to Nigeria, you must be predisposed to crime to be embroiled in a 419 scam in the same manner that Bernard Madoff promised greedy investors consistent double-digit returns. Therefore, my seventy-year old mom will never be a victim of 419 scams directly because she has no access to the internet but she could be at the wrong place for an indiscriminate terror attack. As for sentencing, depending on the size of the scam sometimes, it is not impossible for a 419 convict to escape custodial punishment.

On the other hand, terrorism is a crime against humanity. It stems from hate and jealousy wrapped into a callous desire to destroy lives and property. It is orchestrated by a group against a different group that does not share similar religious ideology. It is aimed at altering lifestyles by jolting the collective psyche of a society. It is indiscriminate in operation and it seeks maximum impact just to send a message. Has anyone thought about the significance of 9/11 and 12/25 in America? Well, let me tell you this: aside from being an emergency number (that is, 911), the date 9/11/2001 was a New York City mayoral primary election day. Of course, 12/25 is known to everyone all over the world but why was it chosen? Three words will provide the answer: hate and maximum impact! Accordingly, under sentencing guidelines, terrorism will attract the maximum penalty, up to and including the death penalty.

That said, neither 419 nor terrorism is good. But one is indisputably worse, and that's terrorism!

Let me tell you a few stories about my experience in some of my trips overseas. I'm sure that Nigerians who travel frequently also have similar experiences. Many years ago, I traveled with a group of colleagues to China. An experienced travel agent in New York helped us secure the least expensive itinerary: USA - China - Hong Kong - USA. After staying in China for two weeks, it was time for us to fly to Hong Kong and so off to Shanghai Airport, China we went. Because we were traveling in a group, the ticket agent requested that we submit our travel documents together. We were eight - five Americans, two South Americans, and me. I was carrying a Nigerian passport. My colleagues were checked in while I was referred back to the Hong Kong embassy in Beijing. It was then that I realized that our travel agent in New York had misinformed me. Being a United States permanent resident was not sufficient to guarantee entry into Hong Kong for someone with Nigerian passport irrespective of obtaining a Chinese visa.

So I called my Chinese friend in Beijing to arrange to pick me up at Beijing Airport in a couple of hours. As we drove to the Hong Kong embassy in Beijing, we were lucky just to pass through the gate before it was closed for the day. It was Thursday in June. So, I filled out the visa form and paid the necessary fees. Few minutes later, a stern-faced young man walked to the window and told me that there was no sufficient reason for me to be allowed entry into Hong Kong. I pleaded with him that I was merely going to stay a few days in Hong Kong and visit the Island of Macau and return to the United States. He wasn't persuaded. So I called my boss, a respected Chinese professor and he quickly drafted a letter and faxed it to the embassy. But it was getting too late and so I was asked to return the next day. As we drove away from the embassy, my friend's phone rang. On the other end was my boss and he asked to speak to me. Guess what? He told me that about a dozen Nigerian drug traffickers had just been arrested in Hong Kong! What a coincidence!!

In 2006, I attended a seminar at Cambridge University, UK. We were housed at Selwyn College, a few blocks from Charles Darwin College and not too far from the famous mechanical bridge that is credited to Isaac Newton designed. We were over 100 participants from all over the world. Less than twenty four hours after our arrival, almost everyone knew the Nigerian in our midst; he was a member of the River State House of Assembly and he let everyone know it. A Kenyan consultant for UNDP was so disgusted that he told me he was simply appalled. On the other hand, one day during my stay, as I walked into the famous tavern, 'The Eagle', opposite Kings College right at Cambridge Square, I saw two young men who spoke in accented English. "Hello guys", I said. "Fine", one of them responded. They were Nigerians! The Eagle has become a must-see for every intellectual visiting Cambridge because it was there that in the 1950s two exhausted graduate students, Watson and Crick, while having some beers uttered the three words that changed the science of genetics forever: DNA. And why is Kings College significant here? Apart from being the destination of choice of British aristocracy, it is where John Maynard Keynes, after studying the financial crisis of the 1930s wrote his famous book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. So when you hear that China spent $586 billion to stimulate its economy or that the United States spent $787 billion on stimulus package, look to his book for the foundational theory for such economic practice.

Political scientists and sociologists often postulate that the leadership that emerges in any society at a particular time reflects the prevailing state of that society at that point in time. This assertion has some credence because after all these leaders are members of that society. Does this mean that the leadership of Nigeria reflects the Nigerian society in general? That's a scary thought!

Let's use some examples. Isn't it worrying that Ghana has constant supply of electricity and Nigeria doesn't? Do we fully appreciate the importance of constant electricity supply as a catalyst for economic development? Please follow this logic: because Nigeria doesn't have constant power supply, real estate investors are reluctant to build high-rise buildings; because land is underutilized there is the problem of congestion; and this leads to pollution and other social problems. Because of lack of power, many people who should be on dialysis and other power-propelled treatments at home are forced to stay in hospitals, leading to more strain on an already troubled system. Foreign companies are reluctant to come into Nigeria and so unemployment is not helped. And so on. And what is the reason for lack of consistent power supply? The powerful importers of generators have a stranglehold on the government! As one writer rightly described it, Nigeria is now a "generator nation"!!

Just recently, Professor Sam Aluko alluded to the real motive behind the clamor for deregulation in the oil sector - the interest being just in the downstream sector. This is the sector that has a direct impact on the public in terms of the price of gas at the pump. In this sector, deregulation is purely to continue the shameful habit of oil importation while Nigerian refineries stay idle like mannequins. Today, despite being the sixth largest oil producer in the world, Nigeria is still a net oil importer!

All this calls for 'national rebalancing'. Short of an overhaul, national rebalancing is the concept of resetting national priorities, knocking down walls, and asking tough questions. For example, the founders of America asked themselves just one simple question: what kind of country do we want? Having fled oppression from Europe and converged in the new world the founding fathers wanted to avoid the pitfalls they had experienced in Europe. Like the Chinese in late 1970s. As they realized that communism wasn't working as efficiently as they had hoped, they turned to semi-capitalism by gradually encouraging individual property ownership while freeing the markets. They began to establish various schools of economics and finance all over the country. Today, studying economics in China is almost as prestigious as studying law and medicine in the west. And what is the result of this reordering of national priorities? Today, the Chinese economy (gross domestic product) is growing at a sizzling rate of 8%. Just over a year ago, China surpassed Germany as the 3rd largest economy in the world at $3.4 trillion, just behind the United States ($13 trillion) and Japan ($4.3 trillion). How were they able to accomplish this within such a short period of time? They reordered their national priorities!

An audacious government can take on these challenges. It will begin by asking, for example, is the practice of one nation, two legal systems enhancing civil development in Nigeria? Here, we can examine China's experiment with Hong Kong for some clues. Another question may be: Is the practice of quota system encouraging meritocracy or stifling it? Is the poaching of academics from academia and appointing them to political positions really advancing our cause in higher education? Are the most qualified people at the helm of affairs or are people there because of their allegiance to a particular power structure? What can we do to diversify the economy and stop relying on oil for nearly 95% of our foreign exchange and thereby extricate Nigeria from the vicious circle called "the curse of oil"? How can the penalties for corruption be stiffened? Does the constitution provide adequate safeguard for succession and other matters? Isn't it ludicrous that while the president is incapacitated, there is no discernible process for the smooth running of the country? And so on�

John Onyeaku is a United States based accountant