NIGERIA came into being today, 100 years ago, when British colonialists merged two administrative entities –Northern Protectorate and South Protectorate. The journey since then has witnessed many landmarks among them the Civil War of 1967-1970.

Over the years, Nigerians have sharply criticised the merger. They blame it for most of the country’s woes. Debates about Nigeria hardly run a full course. They are a catalogue of lamentations. Supply of ideas to improve the country is in deficit.

Celebrations would last throughout the year. The centenary would be incomplete without attention shifting between blaming leaders and the British for Nigeria’s parlous state. Some still question the desirability of the union.

Leadership has stalled Nigeria’s development, whether under civilians or the military. Last October, 12 senators, on a motion on Nigeria’s 53rd independence anniversary, expressed their regrets about Nigeria lagging behind Malaysia and Brazil, which they called its “contemporaries”. The bases for the comparisons were emotional contraptions about promises Nigeria held at independence. In the centenary, the complaints would be louder. We hope that actions that would minimise intractable federalism, jumbo-sized corruption, and legislators who think only about their welfare, would be part of the agenda to chart a new path for Nigeria at 100.

Ethnicity is on the ascendency again. Nigeria is celebrating absence of competitiveness, its interpretation of federalism. Believers in regional governments as the answer to the nation’s challenges have not considered the quality of leadership. We share resources without a care about producing them. We have skewed federalism to creation of new injustices through quota in all spheres and most regrettably in schools admissions.

Malaysia, Brazil and Singapore with whom some tend to compare Nigeria, grew on competitiveness and provision of basic infrastructure that improve the standards of living.  Leadership that stiffled the country in the past 100 years has not changed much. Politicians think everything is about them. If they are able to gain political power at their aspired levels, Nigeria is making progress. Where they fail, they stand against everything governments are doing unless they attain their ambition.

Many who fail to gain current leadership space do not appreciate their failure  in past roles as local government officials, security officers, governors, ministers or commissioners in the States and various federal agencies. They have no qualms joining the lamentations on Nigeria’s poor leadership.

The centenary should be the profound year for Nigeria’s future. The National Dialogue is a great platform on which to address Nigeria’s challenges.

A guide to re-building Nigeria could be to establish the centrality of Section 14 2b of the 1999 Constitution, “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” to good governance.