COMMENTARY: THE BURNING BRIDGE: From Promise to Peril
The tragedy of a nation is not when it fails to cross to the other side. It is when it deliberately sets fire to the bridge while still standing on it. Every functional polity is built on a bridge. One side of the river holds raw potential; population, resources, diversity. The other side holds the promise; stability, prosperity, and justice. The bridge itself is made of invisible materials: trust in institutions, respect for rules, commitment to merit, and the willingness to produce rather than merely share.
In the early years of our political journey, that bridge existed. There was competition among the constituent parts. One region built monumental estates from agricultural proceeds. Another built the largest markets in West Africa from trade and commerce. A third built enduring educational institutions from its own internally generated revenue. The centre was weak, the federating units were strong, and development was a race. Then, gradually and consciously, we began to burn it.
The First Plank We Burned Was Federalism
We inherited a system where power flowed from the bottom up. We replaced it with a system where power flows from the top down. Revenue that was once generated locally and shared by agreed formula became revenue that is collected centrally and begged for monthly in the capital. The consequence is a political economy of dependency. When a state, whether it sits on vast arable land in the Middle Belt or on commercial ingenuity in the South East, cannot survive without a monthly allocation, it ceases to be a federating unit. It becomes an administrative outpost. We did not decentralize governance; we decentralized poverty and centralized patronage.
The Second Plank We Burned Was Merit
In any serious organization, the question is: who can do the job? In our polity, the question became: where is he from?
We institutionalized quota over competence in the name of balance. The result was predictable. When you fill a sensitive economic or security position not with the most capable officer but with the most politically convenient figure, you do not achieve balance. You achieve collapse. Consider a general example: A highly industrialized zone known for manufacturing and fabrication cannot get stable power because the agency responsible for transmission is headed by patronage, not expertise. A border farming community cannot secure its farmland because the security architecture is controlled from a distant headquarters that does not understand the terrain. We sacrificed excellence on the altar of identity, and identity has not saved us.
The Third Plank We Burned Was Production
At a point, the polity discovered easy rent. Agricultural marketing boards that funded regional development were abandoned. Factories that produced textiles in the northern axis were allowed to die. Ports and market systems that made the coastal and eastern corridors the commercial hub of Africa were choked by policy inconsistency. We chose rent over work. We chose importation over manufacturing. Today, the paradox defines our posture: a nation with vast gas reserves that cannot power its homes, a nation with millions of hectares of arable land that imports basic food staples, a nation with a median age of 18 that exports its brightest minds. We burnt the bridge of value creation and retained only the tollgate of value sharing.
This leaves us with three realities:
1. A Democracy Without Trust:Political parties no longer represent ideologies or economic visions. They are special purpose vehicles for capturing power. Defection is no longer an exception; it is the culture. Voter turnout continues to decline because citizens no longer believe their vote can rebuild the bridge.
2. A Federalism Without Local Life:We have three tiers of government in law, but one tier in practice. Local government administration, which should handle primary education, primary healthcare, and local roads, is largely non-functional. Security is centrally controlled yet insecurity is locally experienced.
3. An Economy Without Cushion: Necessary reforms were implemented on top of a decayed productive base. When there is no local production to absorb the shock, no reliable power for small manufacturers in commercial hubs like Aba or Nnewi, and no functioning value chain, reform feels like punishment. The middle class has been burnt along with the bridge.
WE MUST BUILD AGAIN
We cannot rebuild the old bridge. That structure is gone.
The task of this generation is not to lament where we are stranded, but to design a new crossing. That new bridge requires three non-negotiable pillars: institutional integrity stronger than individual ambition, devolution of power to enable competitive development among states, and a deliberate return to production where every zone is empowered to create wealth from its comparative advantage. A nation that burns its bridge must not spend its time blaming the river. It must learn to build again, this time with fire-resistant materials.
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