Nigeria, July 15 -- In 1960, the agglomeration of predominantly three nations was recognised as an independent country. This became known as Nigeria. At the outset, all seemed to be working reasonably well. Power was distributed among its constituent units, and the determination to develop rested heavily on the regions. However, changes in the country's economic and political design, which increasingly placed politics at the centre of national life, was to gradually alter its trajectory.

Since then, generations of Nigerians have debated what Nigeria is, what it ought to have become in comparison with countries that shared similar historical trajectories, and why it has struggled to fulfil its enormous promise. These debates have often re...