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The greatest tragedy confronting Nigeria today is not corruption alone. It is a national mindset that has quietly taken root over decades—a belief that prosperity comes not from creating wealth, but from gaining access to the public treasury.

Our collective greed has saddled us with what I call the Treasury Mentality: a dangerous national addiction to government money. Nothing appears more powerful in Nigeria today than the aspiration to find an unobstructed tunnel into the national treasury. Whether through politics, public appointments, government contracts, patronage, inflated procurement, or outright corruption, access to public funds has become the highest measure of success.

Across the country, millions dream of a life-changing payment from government. Some pursue it legitimately through public service, contracts, or employment. Others seek it through fraud, ghost workers, diversion of public funds, or outright theft. The methods may differ, but the underlying expectation is often the same—that the national treasury exists to transform individual fortunes rather than to advance the common good.

In such an environment, wealth creation takes a back seat to wealth extraction. Enterprise is overshadowed by influence. Innovation is replaced by connections. Productivity gives way to patronage. The defining question is no longer, “What value can I create?” but rather, “How do I get my share?”

The consequences of this mentality reach far beyond corruption. It has eroded the very values upon which prosperous nations are built. Honest work is increasingly viewed as naïve. Integrity has become a handicap rather than an asset. Public office, once regarded as a sacred trust, is too often seen as an opportunity for personal enrichment. Resources intended to improve the lives of millions are diverted to satisfy the greed of a privileged few.

Perhaps the most disturbing consequence is that selfishness is no longer condemned—it is celebrated. Those who acquire sudden wealth, regardless of its source, are admired, honoured, and emulated. We rarely ask how fortunes were made. Instead, we applaud displays of affluence, rewarding the appearance of success rather than the character behind it. In doing so, we unintentionally teach younger generations that influence matters more than industry, and access matters more than ability. Meanwhile, the true business of nation-building has been neglected.

A country of more than 220 million people cannot survive by merely sharing oil revenues or borrowing money. It must constantly build, maintain, and improve the infrastructure that sustains everyday life: hospitals that heal the sick, schools that educate future generations, roads and bridges that connect communities, reliable electricity that powers industries, safe drinking water, efficient drainage and sewage systems, waste management, emergency medical services, fire protection, public transportation, digital infrastructure, and countless other systems that make modern life possible. These are not luxuries. They are the foundations of national prosperity.

Yet throughout our history, we have built too little and maintained even less. Rather than developing the skills, industries, and institutions capable of designing, constructing, and maintaining these essential systems, we have become addicted to awarding contracts—often to foreign companies—and celebrating projects instead of building national capacity.

The results are visible everywhere. Roads deteriorate within a few years. Hospitals lack equipment and maintenance. Water systems fail. Electricity remains unreliable. Public buildings decay. Every budget becomes another opportunity to award contracts instead of strengthening the institutions responsible for keeping the nation functioning long after contractors have departed.

The consequence is a vicious cycle of dependence. We import what we should manufacture. We outsource what we should master. We borrow to finance projects we struggle to maintain. When those projects inevitably fail, we repeat the cycle with another contract, another loan, and another promise.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that our national conversation has become distracted from the issues that truly determine our liberty, dignity, and prosperity. Public debate revolves around personalities, defections, political calculations, and the next election, while the slow collapse of our infrastructure, institutions, and productive capacity receives only passing attention.

Leadership has not escaped this culture. Too often, success is measured by the size of budgets approved rather than the quality of institutions built. Public resources are managed for political advantage instead of long-term national development. Wealth accumulates in private hands while the systems that sustain society continue to weaken.

No nation becomes prosperous by consuming more than it produces. No country develops by treating government as the primary source of wealth. Great nations are built by citizens who create value, innovate, manufacture, cultivate, invent, and invest. They are sustained by governments that build enduring institutions and invest public resources wisely for the benefit of present and future generations.

Nigeria’s greatest challenge, therefore, may be neither oil nor politics. It is overcoming the Treasury Mentality and replacing it with a culture that rewards production, innovation, integrity, maintenance, accountability, and service.

Changing governments alone will not change Nigeria. We must first change the values that shape our ambitions. Until we stop treating the national treasury as the nation’s greatest opportunity and start treating productivity as its greatest virtue, we will continue mistaking personal enrichment for national progress—and consuming our future instead of building it.

The wealth of a nation is not measured by the size of its treasury, but by the productivity of its people. Until Nigeria learns this lesson, every budget will enrich a few while impoverishing the future. The day we replace the Treasury Mentality with a Production Mentality will be the day Nigeria truly begins its journey to greatness.

Engr. Hf Dauda MoiSoro

Writes from Potiskum

August 2, 2026