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Life Expectancy in Nigeria and the Link to the Quality of Leadership

Life expectancy in South Sudan, a war-torn country is 58 years, 5 years higher than Nigeria's. Nigerians have one of the lowest longevity in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the CIA (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/print_ni.html), more than a 126 million Nigerians that constitute about 62% of our population are 24 years or below; and only a paucity number are seniors (above 65 years). What happens as Nigerians grow older, many die of simple ailment that would not kill a dog even in some other African countries - this happens because of corruption. Our hospitals are undertaker houses and the ethics of the profession is "dead" among most many medical practitioners in Nigeria - many are heartless when you hear their dealings with sick people - I speak from experience on this latter point.
In 2018, the urban-rural population in Nigeria became ratio 1:1 for the first time; the projection is that this year, 2019, more than half of our population will live in cities across the country and the significant impact of this on agricultural production is negative. All because of lack of good leadership - our country lacks the right type of leaders that supposed to lead initiatives that will change lives, unlock potentials and create wealth out of nothing but human ingenuity that is daily wasting away. Wake-up, my people, wake-up.

Nigeria needs an effective government to reverse all these bad indices of growth. Except for marginal to stagnant growth during OBJ, successive governments in Nigeria since the mid-1980s have worsened the state of our being and livelihood. Millions of Nigerians, trained by the resources of the country, have left and are now responsible citizens in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK, USA, Scandinavia, China, even Malaysia. More than 24,000 Nigerian medical specialists (OBG, Surgeon, Psychiatrists, Geriatricians, Pediatricians, etc.) practiced in the US as of 2014, according to Obama - I could count up to 20 who my friends or relative.

Feb 16 is another opportunity for us as a people to decide and make the right choice of leaders. If we get it right, we will begin to see a reverse of the trend and our land that flows will milk and honey will become visible and take its rightful place among the committee of nations.

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