Nigeria, Feb. 19 -- There is an unyielding feeling that Nigeria's failure to take its place as Africa's great country and a crucial player in the comity of nations is the chief reason Africa as a continent has struggled badly with underdevelopment. There are many who would argue that the surging insecurity here and worsening poverty engulfing the African continent are largely byproducts of Nigeria's epic struggle to realize its potential.

Conflicts, climate change, and corruption have worsened Africa's affliction, plaguing its countries and casting a long pall over more than a billion people. Then, there are the wars.

In the global village that the world has become, what affects one person or one country often reverberates across other...