Nigeria, May 30 -- In Hans Christian Andersen's immortal parable, The Emperor's New Clothes, an entire kingdom became hostage to a lie. Courtiers, ministers, noblemen, and ordinary citizens all participated in a grand performance of collective dishonesty, pretending to admire magnificent garments that did not exist. Fear silenced truth. Vanity overwhelmed reason. No one dared confront the emperor with the obvious reality before him because honesty had become politically inconvenient.

Surrounded by flatterers and insulated from reality, the emperor marched proudly through the streets naked, while the crowd applauded an illusion they knew was false. It took the innocence and courage of a child to finally utter the truth everyone else lacke...